I’ve recently found myself kinda embedded in the world of Paul Simon. Now, I’ve been a fan of Simon and Garfunkel and Paul Simon’s as a solo artist, since I bought Wednesday Morning 3AM as one of my very first albums probably in around 1967 when I was 14.

However, I confess that I had rather lost touch with his work over the last decade. Even in spite of going to the stunning concert in Hyde Park in 2019 where we were treated to a stunning performance of his whole catalogue culminating in a breathtaking solo of Sound of Silence which left the huge audience in spellbound awe.

And then last week, I went to our local theatre and saw The Simon and Garfunkel Story. I was so blown away by the obvious! Apart from the totally excellent performance and production. It brought back to me the outstanding and unique quality and range of Paul’s songwriting. If you haven’t been to this show – find out where it is and go. You really won’t regret it!

And then this morning as I was waiting to board a 6 hour flight, Spotify advised me that I can listen to Miracle and Wonder – Malcolm Gladwell’s audio book on conversations with Paul Simon. I’m writing this halfway through the flight and I’m absolutely spellbound. Listening to Paul and other contemporaries discussing his work and process is so inspiring and just fun!!!

Apart from the nostalgia of hearing him talk about the process of creating the soundtrack of my teenage years, I feel so encouraged as a pure amateur to just go and try stuff out. He is a true experimenter and his example proves that, while having a plan and a definite direction works for many, it’s OK to simply play with what you find. Sure a lot will end up on the heap but the more you do it, the more stuff ends up in the “OK” box and some will end up in the “Wow” box.

So as a natural experimenter/procrastinator/noodler I feel very encouraged to just play around with stuff.

Let’s see what comes up……