Hey. Yes, this site is still a thing. Kinda.

Three years you say? Yeah. It's been that long. There are reasons. And there are reasons I'm back. Some fun, some practical.  I'll admit that a huge portion of why I'm immediately back today, right now,  is because the time it takes me to post this will save me enormous amounts of time answering people who write to Steven and me about sheet music.

SHEET MUSIC CAN NOW BE PURCHASED at WWW.RYANNFERGUSON.COM

I don't know if I'm going to keep this space here or roll it over into a new website I'm very ambivalent about making. TBD on that.

I don't live in Scotland anymore and my work keeps me in LA more than I'd like. But I have done some fun stuff I haven't written about on here, but have written about, or would like to write about more. So maybe I'll do that.

But I did get married. (A lot fo people got married. I'll post about that too.)
I married a Scot, so... I know what you're thinking... it's what I'm thinking too. That door is open again.
And the longer Donald Trump remains the president, the more I think about it.
But then Brexit.
So... ???

Like anyone's 3 years, a lot happened in my last three years. Really tent pole stuff that fully swung the pendulum from the very worst (Trump, rapists on the Supreme Court, deaths) to the very very best. 

I wrote a lot more TV shows
I pitched them with Autumn to crazy cool places like HBO and NBC and here there and everywhere
We got an agent we were really excited about!
It turns out he sucked and actively undermined us for jobs. 
(He was also quite patronizing and told us we wouldn't get a job because we were white and no one was allowed to get on the ladder in Hollywood anymore if you were white, even if we were women.)
I wrote (or finally finished, really) a new musical with Steven. 
I finished my novel and got a cool new agent for that. 
My husband and I went through an expensive and invasive visa process. I'll write more about this. Hey immigration hound Repubs out there: if you think it's "too easy" to immigrate to the US, YOU'RE WRONG. Legally, illegally, it's all very difficult. 
The implication from my Repub family members is, "Well Jon's okay because he's my husband, or because he's Scottish..." aka he's white and not from one of those "shithole" countries their president always talks about. Newsflash: THAT'S RACIST.
My favorite artist/musician in the world killed himself. He did exactly what he described doing in one of his songs. It was heartbreaking and I'm still more upset about it than it feels prudent to be, but there you have it. 

Most of the time, I really don't feel like talking to people. Anyone. But then, something about all this does make me want to talk about it. At least here. In this way. How I used to. 

For now,  Hello again.
Am I here? Of course I am, yes.
All I need is your hand to pull me out again.

Los Angeles, Be Kind

Scott Hutchison lives in LA now. Did you know that? Why does this feel so important? Maybe because I actually think he's the wittiest person alive. Or because, like me, he feels in a kind of limbo between isolated, overcast coastlines and sunny hills. Somewhere between Hollywood and Hollyrood. 

His new project, Owl John-- which he says he hopes will appeal to people "who hate Frightened Rabbit"-- is my favorite album of the year. Of course, I don't hate FR. I would love any project of Scott's.

The last month or so has been testing the seams of the life I've sewn together here. They were always loose stitches and I wasn't sure the center would hold a few of those days. I have asked Los Angeles to be kind. And the world in general. I've felt sad about a lot, in a way I haven't done in a while. As you may have noticed, I haven't been writing much.

Luckily for me (and for you) Scott has been writing for me. 

Get Owl John. It's out now.

PS- Scott, now that you're here, let's be friends. For realz.

Such a villainous grace
Oh I don't know what you've done to your face
Some nights I can't figure out quite where your heart is

Oh Los Angeles, be kind
No more trouble or red lights
I can learn to love you in good time
Oh Los Angeles, be kind

Frightened Rabbit's alter ego, Owl John

CONCEIVED IN TWO DISPARATE WORLDS: THE ISLAND OF MULL ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND AND IN LOS ANGELES ON THE WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. MAYBE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THESE PLACES HAVE MET. MAYBE NOT. OWL JOHN IS ABOUT WHAT CAN BE FOUND IN BOTH OF THESE STRANGE WORLDS. IT'S ABOUT FINDING A BIT OF FREEDOM IN AN ANXIOUS, ROTTING BRAIN. IT IS ABOUT BEING AN ALIEN MAN. IT IS ABOUT LOSING YOUR WITS COMPLETELY THEN TRYING DESPERATELY TO FIND THEM AGAIN.

The conjunction where Scotland meets Los Angeles is not a new intersection for me. It's every day. But I'm glad there's a mind as articulate as Scott Hutchison out there to explore it and express it. I'm happy and always seeking to find "a bit of freedom in an anxious mind." 

Scott apparently has so much going on in that head of his, he had to have a while additional band and persona for it. Enter Owl John. And apparently:

John is a homeless. 
John is a priest.
John is a witness.
John is a beast. 
John is a weirdo. 
John is a thief. 
John is a wino. 

I look forward to the entirety of this album and hope it's released soon. Until then, I'll listen to "Hate Music" and wait.