Different Game
May 31, 2009 DIY
After a very thought provoking service this [Sunday] morning, I took the afternoon totally off from anything but enjoying the outstanding tennis from Roland Garros in Paris at the 2009 French Open. Having played in years gone by, I get the passion and toil that goes into competing, and how the ebbs and flows of a match play with the mind.
Afterward, I sipped some coffee, made notes and doodled ideas for a lyric I’ve been working on seemingly forever, wondering — am taking the wrong angle, trying to be too fine, pressing… just like I used to when I was on the wrong end of the score in the 3rd set of a tough match?
Yep, the comparison is there. Tennis is grueling, yet there’s art to it, too, and I won’t give up on this lyric/song much the same as I would never give up the fight in any match I’d play. Not that I played “serious” competitive tennis, more like a few club tourneys and years of public court knock down drag out matches. So here I am a songwriter and musician, not competing at the label level, but working at it nonetheless, same passion, different game.
Why?
Why not? I love what I do and am able to get done, and while I’m by no means prolific or published or p-whatever, I keep writing, and playing and competing… till I play my last point.
I also enjoy watching my friends, peers and acquaintances compete to get heard, write for the art sing for the joy of it all. This week I got to play, hang or listen to some really good writers and musicians, next week should be just as cool. Over the last 24 hours, though, I’ve been tracking a real interesting thread that might be of interest to you, too:
A relatively new virtual acquaintance is a singer/songwriter in TN with a contagious passion she pours into life and her songs. She’s on a mission to get to Chicago and using her smarts to help this cause by posting a set of tracks for the taking, though she’s hoping folks who can will “chip in” and help fund her road trip. The project is called “Ten in Ten“, check it out.
Like I said, I don’t know Courtney, we may never meet, speak or whatever, that doesn’t matter. She’s got game and she’s bringing it. I don’t know if she plays tennis, but she’s the kind of match I used to get cranked up for, and the kinda writer I’ll do what’s possible to support.
Tags: indie music, ten in ten
Erasure
May 24, 2009 sojourn
Seems like eons since the peaceful refuge of holiday just over a week ago. Happily, I came home determined to avoid getting back into dead-end ruts that often squeeze the life out my creativity. Catching up at work after time away is always quirky and challenging, but things went pretty well, and I was also able to reset myself at home, too.
What was different?
Before heading out for vacation I built a new personal dashboard into a mind map to help me be ready to get things done (GTD) upon return, and by Friday night I was ready for a productive weekend. Cool thing is when stuff I consider important gets done, time for unplanned, yet valuable efforts sprouts from these seeds of planning.
This weekend a few new CDs crossed my path, so I’ve been listening to a lot of different styles, including Bon Iver, Jason Mraz and The Country Way (Vol. 2), the latter delivered with this month’s American Songwriter. I also had time for Austin City Limits, and catching up on reading articles I’d dog-eared in magazines or online as well as tweak a couple of songs that are now ready for home demo.
The activities of the last 48 or so hours erased last week’s smog and brought about a little clarity — I’m not looking back.
Tags: DIY, GTD, mind mapping
Level Rising
May 17, 2009 muse
I’ve just returned from a totally sweet week on HHI (Hilton Head Isle, SC), always a bit of downer coming home to “reality”, but then, reality is what it’s all about, right? As grateful as I am for the escape, for the rest and restoration I so needed, I’m also looking fwd to what comes of it all.
Long walks on the beach brought peace and stirring. Observing the joy of a child’s first encounter with the ocean and watching my youngest daughter catch a wave on a 50 ft. boogie board ride left imprints on my mind. Swimming out to get as close as possible to the 4 -5 dolphin some 100 yards off shore was scary and exhilarating. Perhaps not as scary as sneaking up on a 500+ pound gator for a picture, thankfully it slipped back into the lagoon before I could get any closer. Having enough sense to make up for picking the wrong restaurant early in the week worked out, and all was forgiven.
We beat the weather odds Friday and had the perfect final afternoon on the beach (yes, beach time was the absolute highlight of my week). Not a typical sun clad afternoon, but us in the midst of storm clouds wrapped around the island, enjoying the waves and breeze and never getting rained on for a solid 3 hours.
When we got back to the “hut” I got to thinking that in the midst of the “normal” stuff one does on vacation, I also was very fortunate to stay connected to songwriting and art in general. I skimmed more of a book called “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci”, blogged and journaled, applied to Horse & Writer, re-learned a couple of my old songs, got a first look at some prospective layouts for my web presence, discovered Robinella while browsing through a gift store, and spent a good bit of time enjoying the evening breeze while sipping a beverage and contemplating… what’s next?
I’ve got more on my plate than I can handle for the next 6 weeks, but I’m going for it. There are also 3-4 half written songs I’ll add to the mix knowing, too, that my life at work could be about to change rather drastically. Sometimes it takes a little faith to “unclog the pen” and get the flow of prose and lyrics and melody flowing again, sometimes it takes alot. Last week was a major blessing to me, and I believe to my family as well. My well was running low, it feels good to have the creativity level rising again.
Tags: faith, fill the well, HHI, robinella
Labor Bears Fruit
May 13, 2009 sojourn
Today’s been really cool. Got news that friends (congrats Alan, Jimm, Jessica, Dusti) did well in the John Lennon songwriting contest, and a co-writer of mine (way to go Allen) won a Telly Award! This is one of the reasons I love writing, it’s being part of a community, albeit more virtual every day, whose members work hard to put their art out there and be heard.
I’m grateful that even while vacationing on Hilton Head Island this week I still can write and stay plugged in to what’s going on. Though I missed our NSAI meeting last night, I’ll get the “scoop” from my good friends The Cloers. John and Cate are not only wonderful writers and musicians, they have an unparalleled passion to share what they know with other indie artists, and they do it so well.
So, I’ve made my mind up to apply to the Horse & Writer Invitational, which, if selected, would quite likely be my most unique songwriting adventure to date. While I don’t expect to make it, it’s a step in the right direction, as the application process is more involved than any other I’ve completed and really helped me level set my current state as a writer.
But today is about the success of friends, and I plan to celebrate it, even from afar!
Tags: Allen Szyrweil, Dusti Kempf, Hit Music Studios, Jessica Drake
Poetic Adjustment
May 1, 2009 muse
Over the last couple of years I’ve begun to read books for enjoyment and inspiration, a discipline over the last 15+ years limited to technical stuff for work, not generally a conduit to artistic creativity. But as I got through the first couple of phases of experience as a songwriter, and got more familiar with writers themselves, one theme emerged time and again — to write quality works, one should be an avid reader.
For me this was like being really hungry but the only thing on the menu is liver, no thanks! But I want to be a better writer, and as I more and more of my peers are avid readers, I realized it was time to get on with the process. So I joined an online book club, borrowed books, hit the library, etc, and though I’m by no means a prolific reader, I now regularly draw inspiration from reading.
Which gets me to a book I just started, “Poetry As Spiritual Practice“, by Robert McDowell. Poetry was a stumbling block in college English, I’ve tried reading it in the past, I just have trouble “getting it”. Reading excerpts by and discussions with successful writers who allude to Whitman, Dickinson, Longfellow, Frost, etc. and curiosity lead me to this book. I want/need to go where the poetry might take me, hopefully I’m ready.