Hello and welcome to the new nateborofsky.com. As I’m embarking on the scary and exciting journey of making another solo CD, I decided to give the old website an overhaul. Well, to be honest, the old website hadn’t been updated in about about eight or nine years, so I suppose it’s overdue.
And maybe that’s true for the solo album, too. I’ve spent the better part of 11 years as part of a trio (then quartet) called Girlyman. We toured all over the US, Canada, and the UK. For me, it was a dream come true. I was making music, and I was making a living (albeit a modest one). In the late 1990’s when I was last making music on my own, I was struggling to just break even. Some people came out to shows or bought a CD, but it was on a much, much smaller scale.
When Girlyman came into being, everything seemed to take off. Suddenly, there were a lot more people at the shows, a lot more CDs being sold, and I was even occasionally recognized on the street (boosting my ego). More importantly, I was making music with people that I loved. It wasn’t always awesome – living off of PBJ sandwiches and constantly using gas station restrooms come to mind – but I was still living my dream.
Yet in the last year, I’ve come to see the ways in which playing in a group, as amazing as it’s been, always had a quiet undercurrent of I’m not good enough to make music on my own. And whenever that voice came up, I said to myself, “It doesn’t matter – I’m in a group, so who cares? I’m living my dream.” And as I slowly began to burn out from the constant touring, I’d say, “But I’m living my dream.”
I was living my dream. And I wasn’t. It’s not that my dream changed – it expanded. I also want to spend more time at home. I also want to sustain relationships outside of this very small group of people, regardless of how much I love them. I want to write and record more songs of my own. I want to collaborate with others.
So this hiatus Girlyman is taking seems to be a blessing in disguise for me. I now have time to work on all of the above. Maybe new creative ideas I haven’t even thought of yet. Do you have any ideas? Is there anything you want to hear from me? I feel such deep appreciation for all the support I’ve gotten for my Kickstarter campaign, and I want to share more music (or whatever) with y’all.
And this website seems like a start.
Come on. I’d love to write songs like you do and sing like you do.
Please do this. You are very good at it.
R.
Thanks, Roger. My plan is definitely to keep at it.
Welcome back to you, Nate. I think you’ll like who you meet.
Thanks, Karen. 🙂
Trust your poetics. While I LOVE Girlyman, some of my favorite songs–songs I still listen to often–feature you as lead vocalist. Your writing ability is where you will find your full purpose.
Thank you, Sarah. I really appreciate that. Writing is certainly what feels the most exciting these days.
Very nice, Nate! Thank you for the song & I’m looking forward to hearing more. We caught you with Girlyman a couple of times when you hit Philly & spent a delightful evening listening to you guys. Much good luck with this venture! ♪
Thank you so much, Ginger! And thank you for your creepy salad fingers avatar. [laugh] [shudder]
Nate- I think EVERY website should update every 8 to 9 years, don’t you? Good job! And thanks for the snippit of the song . . . am eagerly awaiting the album. I’m glad you used the Girlyman address list to contact us. Also, this latest update was good– because somehow I missed any other & didn’t know about the Kickstarter effort!
GO NATE, GO NATE, GO NATE!!!
Thanks, Cathleen! And thanks for supporting my Kickstarter!