Making a Move

Albuquerque as seen from Sandia Peak.

It's time for a change – a big one. So much has happened in fourteen years of living in Atlanta. In Atlanta, I grew from a beginning guitarist to a professional level player. In Atlanta, I got divorced. In Atlanta, I experienced a few years of poverty and clawed my way out. In Atlanta, I rediscovered my love of teaching as I began offering private lessons, first in guitar, then ukulele and piano. In Atlanta, I served as Director of Music at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation for six years, where I learned so much more about life than just music. In Atlanta, I reluctantly resigned the Director of Music position as my roster of private music students began to flourish.

Despite all the positive things going for me in Atlanta, I've decided to move to Albuquerque. I've grown both personally and professionally in the past fourteen years, but I've never quite felt at home in Atlanta, which is ironic, considering that I've lived longer in Atlanta than in any other place. Part of the reason I don't feel at home in Atlanta is that I grew up in a small town, and I'm a small town boy at heart. I miss being able to see the countryside. I'm also feeling itchy. I don't feel right unless I have a challenge in front of me, and I feel like I've met all my challenges in Atlanta.  And please don't get me started on Atlanta's traffic. Making this move is risky, but every minute of sitting in yet another traffic jam reinforces my decision.

So why Albuquerque? Mountains and desert. Hiking trails. Lighter traffic. Bicycle friendly infrastructure. With a lower cost of living, I should be able to teach 20-25 students and live at least as comfortably as I do teaching 30+ students in Atlanta. Albuquerque is smaller than Atlanta, but it's still large enough to support a freelance musician/teacher, and Santa Fe is only an hour away, presenting another area to scare up gigs.

You don't have to live in a big city to be a successful musician, at least not the way I describe success. To some, being a successful musician means fame and fortune. I don't care about any of that. All I care about is making music and helping others learn to do the same.  I am confident that I can do this in Albuquerque.

So I'm moving. My plan is to move in June of 2018. In the coming months, I'll reach out to Albuquerque musicians, and I hope to get a few students signed up before I've even moved. I've been saving my pennies, and by the time I move, I should have enough to last 5-6 months in case the gigs and students come more slowly than anticipated. In short, I have a plan, and I'm looking forward to new adventures making music and hiking in the Southwest.