I recently had reason, need more accurately, to tackle some plumbing in my house. For those who know me well, and know that the idea of me doing anything with a wrench is spine-freezing, be assured that it was only a set of faucets. But, they were the source of a leak that had progressed to another floor so the work was not optional.

But this is not about my absence of hand tool savvy. It’s about the fact that I had to shut off the water to the entire household to attend to the task at hand. Because I had to remove the taps and the sink and the attached drain, the water had to be off. Even I knew that.

This meant a significant number of hours without water. Now, I have a friend who lives part of the week in a cabin with no running water. He showers at the local KOA campground. But I am not such a hearty soul. I like my taps to flow, my toilet to flush and my shower head to rain down clean clear, temperature-controlled water.

All of this has me thinking about wonders taken for granted: the love of my family, yes, electricity, certainly, and even the blessed miracle of garbage pickup. But it may not surprise some that it also has me thinking about music.

I record regularly with a certain musician. For purposes of anonymity, let’s call him “Buck”. Buck and I record together as a band. Let’s, for fun, call this band “Postcard Comets”. What Buck and I do not do with any regularity as Postcard Comets is perform live. When an opportunity to play in Cleveland this month arose, Buck’s family obligations prevented him from going. That and the fact that he’s wanted in at least fifteen states.

Now, by rights, I should have been screwed. Based on compelling prior evidence, I do not rate my talents as a solo performer. So did I turn down the gig? I did not. I picked up the phone and called another friend of many years. For the purposes of this story, let’s call him “Howard Rabkin”. Howard is a bassist, guitarist and singer of no small ability. He went with me to Cleveland and I think it’s fair to say that the gig went fine, primarily because I have a resource like Howard that can be relied on to elevate the quality of my music and my life.

Parallel to all of this, I’ve been working with a singer songwriter called Dolores Dagenais. She asked me to produce her next album. Because I love her work, I accepted. Now, Dol, did not ask me to produce her because I’m a great musician or a fabulous producer or because I’m devilishly handsome (although this must have played some part… a small part, tiny even. OK, none.) She asked because she likes the recordings I’ve produced for Postcard Comets.