I invited some friends to perform some Tight A$$ Dance Music with me

On July 13, 2012 I invited some friends to come to Montreux, Switzerland with me and play some Tight A$$ Dance Music.

My friend, the extraordinary guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan

Back in the 70's and 80's there was a jet-setting world party going on. It was the era of mega-clubs, mega-optimism, and the soirees at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion, were actually cutting-edge and fun. Those days are long gone, the innocent days before air marshals, shoe and underwear bombers and the TSA.

I've logged millions of miles since then and know airline personnel whom I consider to be friends for life. One such person is Captain Scott Roper, of Delta Airlines. He's a music lover and a guitar player. The day we met he knew I was the dude who'd produced David Bowie's Let's Dance and the Vaughan Brother's Family Style.

I've known Scott for many years now and he called me yesterday and said, "Hey Nile, I'd like to donate my Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature model guitar to the We Are Family Foundation. It's autographed by Buddy Guy who told me, The finish is nicer than the one I bought, so let me sign on a piece of clear tape.""

I was blown away and couldn't thank him enough. I could tell Scott loves this instrument and from the pictures it looks like some serious SRV #GuitarPorn.

My autographed copy of John Taylor's bio "In The Pleasure Groove - Love, Death and Duran Duran"

There have been so many deaths of friends and acquaintances lately, which remind me just how precious the gift of life is. Some friends had passed away unexpectedly and others after long bouts with various illnesses. There's a saying that goes, "When one door closes another opens" – that's truly been my life's pattern.

I've gotten an unusually large amount of calls, emails, and visits from people I've not seen or heard from in a long time this week. Though I have high regard for them all, it's especially rewarding when I hear from someone that I've worked with. Working with artists locked away in a recording studio, sometimes for months, creates an almost military type of bond.

This evening I've spent the night catching up with one of my all time closest platoon-mates - John Taylor, from Duran Duran. We talked about everything and everyone. The first words out of his mouth were, "This is long overdue."

I hadn't seen JT for a couple of years and one of my longest recording relationships has been with Duran Duran. This week spanned the gamut of work relationship linkages - folks I've worked with on everything, from Madonna to Adam Lambert.

Summer is officially over and now we Americans go back to work

Summer is officially over and now we Americans go back to work. I've worked harder this summer than any summer of my life - so the calendar has little meaning to me other than it being a measuring tool of events. My life is a journey through endless mazes, tunnels, windows, and doors with no knowledge of what's on the other side of any of them.

This past summer I've played countless shows and guitar on a number of records, composed dozens of songs, written scores of blog posts and spoken at a number of book and corporate events, penned a few articles for newspapers, and have snapped thousands of photographs. I've always worked hard but since being attacked by aggressive cancer almost two years ago, I've more than doubled my workload. I figure I'll just be too busy to answer the door When Death Comes Knocking.

Today I'd dreamt a wild mandrill was outside my window and I didn't know whether to run for my camera or run for my life

Today I awakened from a nightmare before I realized I was dreaming. I'd dreamt a wild mandrill was outside my window and I didn't know whether to run for my camera or run for my life. When I looked again, I saw there was no wild primate waiting to pounce on me.

My moment of peace was short lived when I looked at the clock and saw I'd overslept. I quickly got dressed because I had a meeting scheduled with an assistant dean from Drexel University.

Earlier this year I'd been given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from the institution. It was really a great honor which I'll always cherish. As I was getting the degree I couldn't help but think, "Not bad for a person who set the national truancy record for the entire parochial school system of the United States of America, at seven years old."

Drexel University is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is also the home of the famed Sigma Sound Studios tape library archive. They've successfully saved this precious resource that's played such an important role in R&B, Pop, and Dance Music, which to this day continues To Save My Life.

A Le Freak book party in Belfast, Ireland with some new friends

It's been almost a year since my memoir Le Freak was released. The experience has given me more than I'd ever expected. I've come to know so many new people by sharing my story with the book's readers. And they've gotten to know what life was like in a time and a place that can never be documented enough as far as I'm concerned. The music, fashion, and idealism was wonderful in that time. I believe I have a lot of music, life, and love left in me, and I'll be idealistic until my last breath - I call it acceptance.

Yesterday, a lifelong friend and cancer survivor lost two of his close relatives. "The planet is going through some shit" he said. But, damn, I've developed such a Zen calm about things. Serene, Almost, but Not Indifference."

7x7TH STREET Animation tracks down the street and stops at my Indigo F Shack

Just a few days ago I was in Edinburgh, Scotland at the Fringe Festival. It's the biggest arts festival in the world. I was there primarily as an author but I was also there as a composer. I was part of a project called 7x7TH STREET. Seven different composers scored seven different interactive sculptures that were displayed in structures that were the colors that corresponded to the seven tones of a major scale in music. It was the brain-child of Belgian neo-pop artist, Jean Pierre Muller.

My composition is in the key of f, represented by the color indigo. The entire piece represents the many phases of my life. The overall length is around eleven minutes with seven movements. It's called the "Indigo F Suite" and today's playlist will start with the "F Jazz Blues Movement."

Mr Welsh holding back a little chuckle as I play "Aw Fuck Off," the original version of "Le Freak"

The last few days in Edinburgh have been nothing short of amazing. I was there primarily for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where I did two formal events, but I was also a part of the Edinburgh Arts Festival at Summerhall's Visual Arts Programme. I collaborated with artist Jean Pierre Muller to create 7x7, an exhibition on an entire street with him and seven musicians: Robert Wyatt, Archie Shepp, Sean O' Hagan, Mulatu Astatake, Kassin, Terry Riley and myself.

There were so many highlights that happened over the last few days, I literally could write an entire book on all of my amazing encounters. Since this is only a blog, I'll show and tell you about a mere few in no particular order of Importance or Hipness.

Heading home after an amazing weekend at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Today's flight is from Edinburgh to NYC.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival's author logistics officer Emma Hay and me

Though there was a slight drizzle of rain, it was unseasonably warm when I landed around 10 A.M. in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was met by the Edinburgh International Book Festival's author logistics officer Emma Hay. She told me my room wouldn't be ready until noon. We dropped my bags at the hotel, then we killed a couple hours eating breakfast and touring the festival grounds.

As we approached the entrance I said to myself, "I'm at the largest book festival in the world." It actually felt a little awkward when my laminated pass said "Author" instead of musician, talent, or access-all-areas, which is typical in the music business.

There's something exciting about being a new person, in a new field, in a new place. My overactive imagination fired up. I always hear music soundtracks in my head but today I was thinking about words and pictures too. I saw a statue and thought of a scene from the film Jason and the Argonauts where a statue comes to life. Near the base of the statue was a large rubberized area covered with puddles of rain and colorful squares with phrases designed to make one think. I named it Pick Your Rain Soaked Truth and heard Teddy Pendergrass singing Harold Melvin's "Wake Everybody" in my head.

I walked into the large bookstore. I was overwhelmed. So many people and so many books - could this really be my new world? Then I entered the tent where I'll give my first performance, it reminded me of the film The Greatest Show on Earth. As my eyes scanned the room I started hearing the film's score in my head. I looked on the stage and noticed the same image that was on the rubberized area outside near the statue. In the center it simply said, The World, In Words (& Music).