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Posted: |
Feb 16, 2017 - 10:22 PM
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By: |
Jett Hitt
(Member)
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Yavar has kindly pointed this thread out to me, and I will give a brief synopsis of the state of things. There is indeed a piano concerto as well as a cello concerto in the works, though it is the piano concerto that is taking priority and not the cello concerto.
A year and a half ago ago, my wife and I completely closed the doors of our business at the end of the summer season, and to give you an idea of how serious we were, we transported the entire inventory of our business 1,400 miles across the country in seven semi truck loads to our farm in Missouri. I was looking forward to a quiet life of composing and raising cattle. Then, however, a series of things began to unfold that ultimately led to us reopening the doors of the business.
The first was that our permit with the National Park Service was renewed. Every ten years, we have to reapply for the permit to operate in Yellowstone. Because our treatment in recent years by the NPS had been so unethical and underhanded, we suspected that our permit would not be renewed. Unexpectedly, not only was our permit renewed, but we were offered additional permits. That, however, was only one of many things that transpired. The second thing that occurred was that my wife’s future employment fell through, so not only did we lose an important source of income, but we also lost our means to secure adequate health insurance. The third thing that happened was that I realized the bottom was about to fall out of the cattle market, which it did, despite the projected futures of the beef industry. The final thing that happened was that we received an unanticipated offer to buy our business. Of course for the business to have value, we had to keep the doors open. Fortunately, I had wisely kept my prospective clients at bay, and when I decided that I was going to reopen for the summer of 2016, I booked to 80% capacity in 24 hours.
Needless to say, I transported all of that inventory back to Montana and ran pack trips for another season, and as fate would have it, our prospective buyer backed out. It was tempting to just shut the business down again after the season, but the cattle market is still abysmal, and my wife still has no prospective employment. Furthermore, with Brexit and the election of Trump, the world seems to be becoming unhinged. It doesn’t strike me as a particularly good time to be unemployed. So I am returning to Yellowstone for the pack trip season of 2017.
Rest assured, I am writing when time permits, and I will eventually go to London and make another recording. However, as much as I would like to, I can’t bring myself to totally abandon my business just to write some music that not very many people want to hear. The times are too uncertain. On a positive note, Brexit has made it about 20% cheaper to record in London. The GBP has taken a beating.
And that’s the news from the Yellowstone backcountry.
Cheers,
Jett
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Posted: |
Feb 17, 2017 - 3:13 AM
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By: |
pp312
(Member)
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Thanks for that info, Jett. Phew! Life certainly is complicated when you're an oufitter, guide, cattle baron and composer in one! I hadn't realized how utterly simple and serene mine was by comparison.
I realize practicalities take precedence, but I hope you don't really mean that 'music no-one much wants to hear' crack. It hadn't quite struck me before I listened to the concerto the other night, but there truly is a woeful dearth of that sort of music--easy to get into, great to enjoy in any mood, tuneful, and above all uplifting. I keep sampling different composers on different sites but very little really strikes my ear; too often cold formality takes precedence over direct emotional communication. Not so with your music.
I think I've said before that as an amateur scribbler I'm well aware of the difficulties of getting past the gatekeepers and getting your work out there, and it's certainly easy to get discouraged. All a listener can do is reassure you that your music is being heard and appreciated, and that more people than you probably realize are waiting for more. So...get out those staves and start jotting... 
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