In the fall of 2020 I got a call I never expected.

Mia Dyson had just had a heart attack and, after being successfully resuscitated, was recovering in the hospital. An earthquake had struck Los Angeles and given her system a jolt that an undiagnosed heart condition was unable to bear - going from a deep sleep to very wide awake.

In April of 2022 I sat down with a guitar and wrote what would become "Light in the Dark" - the kind of song that I would want to resonate through me and out into the world, a synthesizer-and-Zac-Clark fueled celebration of digging deep. (📷 by Brendan Willing James)

Over the last few days I got to go on something of a media tour to celebrate the release.

Brendan Willing James’ ‘In the Colors’ is out now on our label Echo Magic.

This is an album of firsts.

Looking back through photos from that time I’m reminded that my wife and I were still parents of our first and only child. That's the big first.

It was also the first session I got to do with Mikael Jorgensen from Wilco on keys.

I spent most of 2020 taking a year off from the music business. It became clear as we locked down and closed up that I would be fighting an upstream battle to try to force the music business to come to me and after 20 years at it, a break was well-earned.

Much as it was for me growing up inside the music business, they too are seeing the possibility of a life in and around art -- sometimes asking me questions that make us laugh - like if I know Bob (Marley) or John (Lennon) - but filling me with pride that they see knowing those two legends of music as much a plausible possibility as anything else.Much as it was for me growing up inside the music business, my kids too are seeing the possibility of a life in and around art -- sometimes asking me questions that make us laugh - like if I know Bob (Marley) or John (Lennon) - but filling me with pride that they see knowing those two legends of music as much a plausible possibility as anything else.

Fellow home-bound humans,

I hope this finds you well. I have never meant that more than now - and I mean it in all ways.

Today, I bring you music for your home. This collection is called “Wild House” and it’s from Daniel Wright.

Dan is our partner at Echo Magic, my bandmate and father of our goddaughter. So, you could say we know each other pretty well.

This album marks the beginning of a new chapter for me in a couple ways.

First, this is a recording of the very first night Dan, Scott Hirsch and I worked together and the groundwork for what would become Echo Magic began to be laid down.

Now I’m one of the partners at Echo Magic and this is the first official release on our label arm. We’re of course always interested in what’s called “up-streaming” our work to the record labels and institutions we know and love — but sometimes it makes sense to have a little imprint of your own. So now we do.

Mia Dyson’s new album “If I Said Only So Far I Take It Back” is out now on Single Lock Records. We made it in Muscle Shoals last year and put our whole selves into it.

People ask me about the title. It means something different to each of us, but in a nutshell for me, it’s that sentiment where you turn to your friends and say, “If I ever said to you that I was only going to only go so far, I take it back, I’m going all the way.”

Pushing through. Forging ahead. But with a sense of possibility and really appreciating what you’re capable of.

Hibernation is over. Our west coast dream of donning winter jackets in sub-60º weather has finally come to an end. Another insufficient rainy season has once again passed, water restrictions are still in effect and yet our desert climate is temporarily green.

It’s also the beginning of another season of doing the fortunate work of bringing people together and making music. Work that would truly be impossible without your engagement with it.

About 6 years ago, Dylan, Greg and I dropped off our drummer Sam in Buffalo so he could begin touring and working with [Ben Folds](http://benfolds.com). We pulled up in our minivan right behind Ben's tour bus and watched our friend graduate to the big leagues. Sam was one of the first friends and collaborators I had closely worked with that had worked his way to the next level. It's something that happens more and more the longer you're in the business, and learning how graciously balance those feelings of near-parental pride, petty jealousy, true awe, and total happiness probably makes up the core of a creative life.

Sam's never asked for a day off, but one his closest pals is getting married and he's asked me to step in for him and play with Ben on September 27 in [Charlotte, NC at the Belk Theater with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra](http://tix.concertmaps.com/benfolds/). I just spent the weekend at the Hollywood Bowl shadowing Sam while he did the gig to see what I'm in for. I have to believe Sam asked me to do it for a reason, and if that reason is to make Ben appreciate how good Sam is, then so be it.