Just eight days now (or a Beatles' week)

Until 'Track 2'

I realise the wait for ‘Track 2’ has ended up feeling like a long haul (and maybe a bit like ‘waiting for Godot’), but rest assured, ‘Challenge 69’s second chapter will be posted next Saturday (the 10th), with future instalments following at a speedier ‘twice per month’.

Thank you for being patient. I’m currently working on the final edits for T2, and I’m confident it will prove worth the wait (but then I would say that wouldn’t I).

To help recruit more readers, I’ve also spent some time exploring what else is out there on Substack, looking for other pages that might appeal to a similar readership, and then suggesting to those writers that we might mutually recommend each others sites to our respective readers. Hopefully you can expect a bit more of this, in the weeks to come, but I’m really excited today to share details of my first Substack collaboration, and a transatlantic one to boot!

Kevin Alexander, based out of Wisconsin, has been running his ‘On Repeat’ newsletter for two years now, building a loyal base of 500 followers. In his own words, Kevin, “couldn’t find a place to share the music I love so I built it, and if you’ve been looking for an engaged community of people who share your love of music, you’re in the right spot.”

I’ve been following ‘On Repeat’ for a couple of weeks now. It’s an interesting read covering lots of great music (old and new), I’ve already discovered a couple of brilliant new bands from Kevin’s recommendations, and the site regularly features some really interesting playlists (so you can see the obvious crossover with ‘Challenge 69’).

Kevin has very kindly recommended my book to his readers in his latest post, earlier today, referring to it as, “a serialized mystery meets High Fidelity, it’s pretty cool,” which is a review I might well nab. A couple of hours later I’ve already got one new subscriber as a result (with hopefully more to come). So, I’m delighted to reciprocate ..

.. will all my music loving readers please give Kevin’s newsletter a try at On Repeat and consider subscribing (with free and paid options available). I think you’ll love it.

I’ll leave you now with another playlist. Appropriately, given that ‘Track 2’ deadline, this one is my top five ‘Week Songs’ (which are definitely not weak), the whole thing only weighs in at a ‘quality over quantity’ running time of just twelve minutes.

Enjoy the playlist, give ‘On Repeat’ a try, and start counting down the days to the next ‘Challenge’ on the 10th!