The Status of the Music
What am I doing with myself? I have no idea. It's funny how out of the blue a focus comes to you and then it disappears just as quickly leaving you with less direction than you had before.
Seven or so months ago, I was attempting to learn some new cover songs for my solo gigs. I was planning on putting the original stuff on the backburner while I worked out some familiar covers to get some paying gigs. It wasn't exactly the greatest plan. I wasn't in love with the idea, but I felt the need to use my musical talents to gain some easy cash. Money has been tight and I don't want to get an extra job. How can I make money without getting a second job? Play music. It made sense.
Suddenly, I found myself playing in a band. I hooked up with a couple musicians and we began reworking some of my original songs into band songs.
I welcomed the detour from the previous plan because I really wasn't that excited about playing cover gigs anyway. A band was something that I had wanted to do for a long time, too.
Playing in a band is difficult. It requires a certain level of dedication. Instead of not-learning that song because you're just not getting it quick enough, and you can just find an easier song to play, you have to push yourself to learn it because your band mates may really want to do the song and they have spent time nailing their parts down.
It also requires a commitment. You can't just show up to practice without at least having the basics of some songs to rehearse. Otherwise, you waste everyone else's time.
You have to keep in close contact with your band mates. You have to let them know what songs you have down and ready to rehearse and which ones you are struggling with so your band mates can change their practice focus to the ones that everyone can get in order to make scheduled rehearsals productive.
Things come up in a band that don't come up in your solo life. Your band mates may have more hectic lives than your own or may engage in activities outside of the band that impede on the scheduling of rehearsals. You may be willing to give 100% of your time to the band, but your band mates may have relationships that require a percentage of that time.
When there are three of you, instead of just one, you have to cancel three times as often for stupid things like being sick or having a family emergency or car troubles or whatever.
Overall, it's not easy.
But, the results are wonderful! If you play with people who you generally like and everyone is good at doing what they do and if the songs are awesome. In my band, we all decided that we liked eachother. I was loving the songs that we were doing. And we were all having a good time.
Then, out of the blue, it was over. One of the members of the band couldn't commit any longer and the other member didn't want to start over from scratch.
The irony in the whole dis-banding (see what I did there?) is that I had just bought a new telecaster to play in the band. I had been saving money for years, hoping to raise enough through CD sales, busking, and gigs, to get into a recording studio. I decided that the band and playing live was the main focus and so I used the money I had saved to buy the new guitar. And now I don't have a band to play it in.
After having a clear focus disappear before my eyes, I'm clueless as to what to do now. One thought is to pick up where I left off seven or so months ago before the band and keep working on cover tunes to get some paying bar gigs. However, my heart really isn't into that plan. My heart was into the band, and not having the band anymore is making it harder to accept doing something that my heart isn't into.
Tonight, I'm going to hang out with some friends. We are possibly going bowling. It's really the furthest thing from music that I can think of... right? The oposite of playing music is going bowling... o.O
Right now, the status of the music is a big up-in-the-air. I'll be attending open mic on the regular, as usual, of course; but, my next focus is going to be something that I worry about another time. Perhaps, something will come to me out of the blue.
Seven or so months ago, I was attempting to learn some new cover songs for my solo gigs. I was planning on putting the original stuff on the backburner while I worked out some familiar covers to get some paying gigs. It wasn't exactly the greatest plan. I wasn't in love with the idea, but I felt the need to use my musical talents to gain some easy cash. Money has been tight and I don't want to get an extra job. How can I make money without getting a second job? Play music. It made sense.
Suddenly, I found myself playing in a band. I hooked up with a couple musicians and we began reworking some of my original songs into band songs.
I welcomed the detour from the previous plan because I really wasn't that excited about playing cover gigs anyway. A band was something that I had wanted to do for a long time, too.
Playing in a band is difficult. It requires a certain level of dedication. Instead of not-learning that song because you're just not getting it quick enough, and you can just find an easier song to play, you have to push yourself to learn it because your band mates may really want to do the song and they have spent time nailing their parts down.
It also requires a commitment. You can't just show up to practice without at least having the basics of some songs to rehearse. Otherwise, you waste everyone else's time.
You have to keep in close contact with your band mates. You have to let them know what songs you have down and ready to rehearse and which ones you are struggling with so your band mates can change their practice focus to the ones that everyone can get in order to make scheduled rehearsals productive.
Things come up in a band that don't come up in your solo life. Your band mates may have more hectic lives than your own or may engage in activities outside of the band that impede on the scheduling of rehearsals. You may be willing to give 100% of your time to the band, but your band mates may have relationships that require a percentage of that time.
When there are three of you, instead of just one, you have to cancel three times as often for stupid things like being sick or having a family emergency or car troubles or whatever.
Overall, it's not easy.
But, the results are wonderful! If you play with people who you generally like and everyone is good at doing what they do and if the songs are awesome. In my band, we all decided that we liked eachother. I was loving the songs that we were doing. And we were all having a good time.
Then, out of the blue, it was over. One of the members of the band couldn't commit any longer and the other member didn't want to start over from scratch.
The irony in the whole dis-banding (see what I did there?) is that I had just bought a new telecaster to play in the band. I had been saving money for years, hoping to raise enough through CD sales, busking, and gigs, to get into a recording studio. I decided that the band and playing live was the main focus and so I used the money I had saved to buy the new guitar. And now I don't have a band to play it in.
After having a clear focus disappear before my eyes, I'm clueless as to what to do now. One thought is to pick up where I left off seven or so months ago before the band and keep working on cover tunes to get some paying bar gigs. However, my heart really isn't into that plan. My heart was into the band, and not having the band anymore is making it harder to accept doing something that my heart isn't into.
Tonight, I'm going to hang out with some friends. We are possibly going bowling. It's really the furthest thing from music that I can think of... right? The oposite of playing music is going bowling... o.O
Right now, the status of the music is a big up-in-the-air. I'll be attending open mic on the regular, as usual, of course; but, my next focus is going to be something that I worry about another time. Perhaps, something will come to me out of the blue.