Greetings from an undisclosed location in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am attending my first ever, in-person, songwriter’s retreat. What’s unique about this retreat is that I am the sole participant. Yep, that’s right. I checked into a cute and cozy tiny cabin yesterday with my guitar, some paper, and a pen–oh and some pasties I picked up after crossing the bridge.

I’m heading out for a long walk soon and then I’ll settle in and get started.

Hello and a belated Happy New Year!

2025 sure was a year that was. I’m not sure what it was but it was a year; although, it seemed like a decade at times.

Musically, it was a great year. While I was not very productive as a writer, I did manage to record and release a new song called “Gentle” late in the year. I am extremely proud of how it turned out. It was recorded with David Roof at his Rooftop Recording studio. If I could spend every day recording there with Dave I would. He’s brilliant at what he does and is a dream to work with.

I also enjoyed a great year of musical partnership with an awesome singer/songwriter named Steve Pichan. We met a little over a year ago at a benefit concert we both played. He suggested we partner up to present each other’s songs as a duo. It was a great idea! We enjoyed a dozen or shows together during the year. We’ve found a great way to blend our voices and instruments to create a duo we call Pen & Pic. Look for us to be out and about this year.

The Bobby Pennock Trio enjoy a couple of amazing shows this year. One was rather impromptu at an event in Mancelona, Michigan. After that, we enjoyed two sold out shows at the fabulous North Star Lounge in Ann Arbor. We hope to book a couple of shows this year. The trio consists of David Roof on lead guitar and vocals and John Sperendi on bass and vocals. I pinch myself that I get to play with musicians of this caliber. They are both phenomenal. Plus, they are great people I enjoy hanging out with.

Finally, as of today, other than a show in Apalachicola, Florida in March, I have purposefully left my calendar open. I want 2026 to be the year that I get back to writing…which is my love. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to perform, but I consider myself a songwriter. But I can’t if I only write a song or two a year. So I want to focus on that. To that end, I may take some prolonged absences from social media. I get sucked into that (sometimes) infuriating/time consuming world too easily. Poor self-control on my behalf.

Anyhoo, I may vanish for awhile soon. I plan to do some recording in March (stay tuned for details–not an album but an EP).

I wish you all the best and am thankful for your love, friendship, and support.

xlo Bobby

Today, my latest recording, “Gentle,” is available for download via my Bandcamp site: https://bobbypennock.bandcamp.com/track/gentle. I recorded the song this week at Rooftop Recording in Grand Blanc, Michigan with the amazingly talented David Roof. We both learned new things! Anyway, give it a listen and let me know what you think! Thank you to those who have already purchased a copy!

Belated Happy New Year! Yee haw. Woo hoo. Plop plop, fizz fizz…and all that. Well, I hope it was a happy transition to the new calendar year. Here’s to a great 2024.

When I last updated this site, I wrote about two singles I planned to record and release in 2023. Didn’t happen. It actually should have been three singles because Dan Hazlett and I recorded a song we wrote together. That recording will see the light of day before the other two. Soon in fact. I’ve actually sketched out three more recording projects, fool that I am. Who has seeds to the money tree?

The future: (Backstory first–I know, I’m weird) Since the pandemic, and once things got to be kind of normal again, I cut back on my live performances. Part of that is because I realized that I had over-extended myself musically over the last few years…and it was taking its toll. The gigs were great, I recorded and released a new album (my best IMO), but my writing has suffered. As in, I’m not writing much. And, for me, my songwriting is everything. Well, maybe not everything, but close to everything. I need time and space to write. Last year was supposed to be the time and space year. Oh, bother. I’m still on the backstory for those keeping score.

So here, finally, is the future part. I don’t plan to accept or book as many gigs this year. If they fall in my lap and are attractive, yep, I’ll scoop them up. But I want/need 2024 to be the year I find myself as a writer again. I’ve been in the crosshairs as a folky kind of guy in the area, but this week I saw someone who called me her favorite Power Pop songwriter/musician in SE Michigan. That’s closer to the real me. I need to sit in a room with a guitar for, I don’t know, 3 months. Things will get better after June 2025. More on that future later. See, I did get to the future. Kinda sorta.