Fun news. John Shanks just recorded all the guitars on The River, which may be the first single on the new album. Sort of like having Zoro dice cucs for your salad. Or taking the space shuttle to go to 7-Eleven. It was an amazing day. First, John's talking to my producer Alex Gibson- "hey, I'll play on Stuart's record". Really? What day this month could work? "Right now would be good. Let's do it right now." So, on a moment's notice, we run the song over to John's studio, which is next door, and he spends the night recording guitars on it. Out of love and generosity. For me, it was a magic moment. I was bouyant. This album feels charmed. I keep getting chills when I sing the River, like a premonition it's going to be the first break out song. I've been doing vocals to it today again, re-singing it now that I have John Shank's beautiful guitar parts, Sean Hurley's killer bass lines, and Craig Macintyre's perfect drums to sing to. Makes it much easier to dial in the Spirit of it. Feels effortless singing it now.

It's a simple song about Love. Big Love, the always, already Awakened Presence. The other experience I'm having with this song is the Grace and Grit connection. I just finished re-reading that book, and I have a feeling of Ken and Treya as I'm tracking, especially this song for some reason. In my heart I have such a feeling of gratitude to each of them, for living and dying so fearlessly, and offering the story of recognizing Self in each other. It seems corny to say, but I've been tracking a lot of vocals while staring at Treya's face on the cover of the book. I would love to honor her and ken with this album going out into the World everywhere. I feel their presence in the daily life of our family. Obviously Marci and I met through Ken (they were a couple when we all met). He was best man at our wedding, is Godfather to our kid. Even though I never met Treya, I do feel her presence in all of us, including my daughters. I think she would have been happy to know of the way our stories have intertwined unfolded.