colleen

I am back to long form writing with this series of reflections inspired by the first leg of my tour for my 8th album Le jour et la nuit du réel. After that, I do plan to fully refocus on music-making both in the studio and live, so I hope you enjoy these :-)

REFLECTIONS ON GOING BACK TO TOURING. – PART I: A MINOR MIRACLE
It has meant the world to me to be able to go back to touring this year, on so many levels. Up until the last minute I doubted I could safely do it. I have been making music for way longer now than the short time period of my life when I did *not* make music, and although I was extremely shy as a teenager, the first time I played live (at my high school), I immediately felt at home. Next year I will play my 250th show as Colleen, a fact I wouldn’t believe myself if it wasn’t for the list I’ve kept since my first show in 2002 (you can find it in the Live shows – Past shows section of my website), but in spring 2021, things looked very different, as I had made a very serious decision to stop playing live.

On 20th September, the day before I left for New York (the first show was on 22nd at Public Records, also the day of release of Le jour et la nuit du réel), as I was packing all of my gear in my suitcase, I was so utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, that I wondered how on earth I would pull through this, all on my own once more. I also wondered in what shape I’d be for the next 8 shows in Europe, and if I wasn’t about to betray the “contract” I have signed with myself to protect my health and well-being.
So it feels like a minor miracle to not only have done it, but to have done it and have it turn out to be my favorite time playing live *ever* – and make no mistake, a lot of stress was involved, both touring-related and life-related.
So I really feel like sharing with you some of the thoughts that have been in my head over these past 3 months, as I’ve tried to analyze what has changed within me for this to happen. Writing this down also helps to clarify it for me. I would like to think of this series of posts as the sunny-side-up, 12-years-later companion to the long piece I had published back in 2011 on my website, which had found an echo in many of you, entitled “A long account of why I’ve been silent” (part I and part II).

LEAVING FACEBOOK

I have officially abandoned the platform, you can read more here.

Wishing you all a peaceful end of year, thank you as always for your kind support, and looking forward to reuniting in 2024 :-)

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