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
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.
Dry
Mar 22, 2009 muse
It’s amazing and uncomfortable how I go from oasis to drought. I’ve had a few pretty good weeks on the dream trail, met some writers/performers both live and online with lots to say. And I continue to be inspired by artist friends who are relentless and passionate about their work. As I read through perspectives and check out the day to day activities of indie artists, I sense a deep undercurrent making the waters trickier to navigate, though many [thankfully] are up to the challenge.
Friday night I caught Kim McLean and Mark Elliot at the Muse, it was quiet, but the songs and vibe were good, and I came home with a couple of new ideas. Decided yesterday to work with my main co-writer to put together a couple of sets of covers and our own material and work hard at setting up stools in coffee shops for 2-3 hours shifts just to get heard, even if the pay is what ends up in the tip jar.
I try to spend a good bit of time on Sundays taking the day as it come, nothing too structured. I may doodle on a drawing pad or take some pictures, or object write a hook idea or jam mindlessly in between sipping a cup of coffee. I’m looking forward to this afternoon, after church and lunch, hopeful for some creative precipitation to start refilling the well.
I’ve been here before… I’ll be here again.
Tags: creativity, well runs dry, write
Listen
Feb 6, 2009 muse
I sometimes need to remind myself how daily chores (including mundane tasks at my day job) go by faster, and generally more productively, when I’m “budded up” listening to music… it’s so easy to get head down at something and realize, shoot, I could have been taking in the riches of melody and meter, ingesting art, perhaps even subliminally growing my craft as a song writer.
Last Tuesday night it snowed, a quite infrequent occurrence in this neck of the woods, at least our locale, but it was cool to watch the wind whip some sky dust on to the earth. When I went to bed it was still coming down, and though inaudible, it was as if I could “hear” the snow piling up outside our bedroom. Thank God for imagery.
Just before writing this entry, I was listening to a CD from yesteryear as I reclined on an easy chair. The house was empty and I’d had a pretty long week, so it was nice to degauss and get my head ready for the weekend. As I was about to doze, the last song ended. The “quiet” sounds of the house took over, with the fish tank pump adding a little Feng Shui to the calm.
More often than not, I’ve a tough time listening to my own intuition… oh, how cheesy, but true. Not just for what steps to take in life, but when and what to write about. I tend to shy away from feelings drilling a hole in my heart (or left temple), partially because I am really trying to be more positive, but truth is, I swim daily in the dark waters of angst, at work and every time I turn on NPR or CNN. Time to start pouring this stuff out into the blender and letting the song chips fall where they may.
If it “sounds” like I’m rambling, you’re right, but hey, it’s a quick read, at least you don’t have to “listen” to me.
Tags: lips sealed, shhh, two ears
Stew
The swirl of the new year is settling, I mean we’re almost half way through January and this is my first post for 2009. I don’t make resolutions, but do plan keep my threads centered on music and writing (and art) this year. Not to say there won’t be a rant laced in here and there, but I have a goal this year to get over the feeling I don’t have the goods for the indie music mix and do much more to develop and promote my work.
This past week was interesting in a variety of ways. I’ve been reviewing and editing my “day job” scenario, hence my LinkedIn profile, which I’ve drastically changed to a more “corporate” view [without totally losing my identity], I’ve also found some really cool groups that mix technology and music/art mindsets.
I try to read through discussions at least once daily, and I was going through a rather long thread last Sunday about some conference I know nothing about and the last comment was from Paul Cullen — the name caused me to pause and jog my memory. I checked out his LinkedIn profile and sure enough it turns out Paul and I knew each other back in the early ‘80 in Ft. Myers, FL while attending Edison Community College. We are both bassists/guitarists, roughly the same age, and working at being indie artists. While my career has some pretty cool bright spots (like performing with Marian McPartland in college and a 90 minute set with Branford Marsalis at a Blues club in Ft. Myers), Paul spent a couple of years with Bad Co. in the early ’90’s. We’ve exchanged several emails and contact information. Paul travels to Charlotte a couple of times a year, so I hope to see him soon.
I’ve recently established a great co-writing relationship with a writer (Allen Szyrwiel) that’s just on fire and way talented. He’s inspiring me to step up my game, and we get along like kid brothers which makes it all that much more fun. We’ve finished one song, have a 2nd in the hopper, and hope to crank out a few more in ‘09.
NSAI Charlotte is as busy than ever! I spent a few hours this week updating/maintaining our website (Wordpress blog) with information on upcoming Q1 workshops (Hugh Prestwood and Craig Bickhardt), adjusting to the new version of WP, and some general housekeeping. It feels really good to give something back to the songwriting community, I know I’ve been blessed by past coordinators and all the great members of our chapter.
The one thing I haven’t done near enough this week is write or practice. But I’ve set my goals, already attended one SongU feedback session and selecting my self-paced course for this month, as well I’m cleaning clutter in my studio over the next 7 days to ensure my creative environment is ready for work.
The ingredients are in the pot, time to add water, stir and make “stew“.
Tags: Nashville, NSAI, Paul Cullen, songwriting
Every Note Counts
Oct 24, 2008 muse
We’re all crawling through a tempest these days, or so it seems. Personally, I must admit I didn’t see the uncertainties many folks face today coming, at least not to the depths upon us. But… this is certainly not the first time, and unless Louis Armstrong is called upon to sound the alarm before the advent of our next generations, this piece of history, sadly, will repeat itself.
Through it all, I’m grateful for many things, not the least of which being creative outlets, and in the last couple of weeks I’m trying to make more music by taking less for granted and pushing myself a little harder. Heck, there is no shortage of emotions, so why not try to channel them and get them laid down for posterity. Sure, every song or piece can’t be a gem, but each note counts, and I need to realize that I need to take advantage of every hour I get to play music.
Since taking a creative writing class almost two years ago, I’ve been cruising blogs and sites about writing, novels and such. No, I’m not thinking about writing a novel, but I’m studying that mindset. One payoff has been that I’m allowing myself to take more time and be more satisfied with what I create, and only trying to create until I feel the fountain waning and in need of replenishment. This means more chunks of time (chapters) are needed to get a project done, but that’s OK — as long as I don’t short change the music or song, then every note counts.
There are so many opportunities to create and share, and at some point I really believe I’ll get the goods into some market, somewhere. Whether or not tangible success is achieved, I need to practice, write, and play for the sake of the art and song. I’m way blessed to have the tools and resources, and some level of gifting, it’s the discipline that can be a struggle. Yep, sometimes I just don’t feel like picking up a guitar, or firing up a mic or DAW, but once I do that all changes, and even if all I do is tweak a mix, rewrite a line, or learn another writer/artist’s song, I’m making music and doing what I was created to do.
In the morning I’ll write for the first time with a writer I admire lots. Tomorrow evening I’ll have the opportunity to hang with some pretty darn good musicians and writers and hopefully help someone else enjoy the escape — as long as every note counts, I know I will.
Tags: persitence, small things count, trials, trying
Socks, Rocks, and Dust
Yesterday I lost a sock, tore my closet up looking for it. Went downstairs checked in the dryer, washer, laundry basket, yep, everywhere I could think of, nothing. I’ll be on the lookout for this cool black and gray sock (cool sock?), maybe I’ll find it, maybe I won’t.
At 2-3 different times I spent about an hour looking for a meaningless article of clothing. As I thought about how ridiculous I looked and how my attitude got so caught up in asking myself and my family (though I really think they were ignoring me) where this sock could be, I contemplated how messed up I get when I’m looking for other answers to questions about life. How much time I waste on meaningless endeavors and how little I spend on growing my soul and creativity, as well as just plain enjoying life itself.
This morning I’m sitting out on the deck with a cup of coffee, and notice a neat little pile of rocks one of our kids is storing in a corner of the yard. All our children have this affinity for rocks. Our two oldest boys spent lots of time in the woods behind the last house we lived in, and my wife would often end up with rocks in the washer because the boys were forever bringing stones home in their pockets but never taking them out.
Rocks, they are everywhere. Some grains of sand, some boulders we carve monuments into. Some we hold, some we climb. Foundational and at times a nuisance, especially when planting a garden, people even buy “pet rocks”, at least they used to. Rocks have Biblical implications, too. God, the Rock of Ages, Moses and the cleft of the rock in Exodus, a stone slayed Goliath, a rolled away stone revealed Christ’s empty tomb.
But much like our human flesh, time and elements turn rocks to dust. So I’m taking this moment to reflect on what I want to do better, and how I might live more passionately for what matters most… whether it’s what I deeply believe, sharing my resources to others, or my own well being. That the ardent search for lost socks just leads to lost time, and rocks are fascinating inanimate objects that can spawn creative thoughts. And that I’m capable of turning these thoughts into art that speaks to the heart of others. Soon enough I’ll be dust, for now I pray for words and actions to make meaningful use of the time I’ve left on this earth.
Tags: faith, what matters
A-Musing
Jul 29, 2008 muse
Last week I was cleaning my studio/office, specifically my desk, glancing at notes I’ve been taking for months, and came across one piece of paper with some scratch about a song evaluation, so I saved it and went on clearing off my desk. See, I’d been reading about how clutter can inhibit creativity, and thought, hey the well has been pretty dry of late, the room’s in some disarray, why not?
Things came along nicely, got some new shelving put together, some dusting, tossed a bunch of stuff, yeah, this is looking pretty good! So, second pass through the pile of “maybe” stuff to keep or notes to transfer into a notebook, and I’m back to this piece of paper with the song notes, and I spot a chord progression I’d jotted down, along with a hook idea that read “I Don’t Like Secrets”.
As I messed around a bit with the chords, a melody popped out pretty quick. So, in an attempt to show a bit of discipline, I grabbed my pencil and notebook and headed away from guitar and studio and started writing. A few lines make the sheet, nothing that seemed all that promising, yet, these first few lines turned into the first verse, almost verbatim.
Within five days I have a complete song, run it through a feedback session on SongU, get a few good ideas for taking it to the next level with very minor tweaks to either lyric or music. This isn’t the norm, so as I think back over the last week and the amount of time I put into not only cleaning my room, but restructuring my approach to disciplining myself as a writer, listening and reading more, and not trying to write under formulaic constraints, and out comes a song that I not only really enjoyed writing, but enjoy playing and singing.
Needless to say, I’m taking this as a sign that more good songs are right around the corner, but it’s going to take even more persistence and drive to establish consistency in my writing and output — perhaps most importantly, I need to enjoy the process as much as I have over the last week.
Click here if you’d like to take a listen to “Secrets”… enjoy!
Tags: indie, muse, serendipity
Bless Beyond
I finally got around to checking out Mosaic Church (Charlotte/Mallard Creek) this morning. I certainly can’t (and won’t) make any kind of assessment as to whether this would be the place to move our family, but I will say it was a refreshing approach, young congregation, in what appeared to be a non-pretentious environment. At minimum, I go to visit a church with my ears open, in hopes of picking up a seed I can chew on for a while to nourish my soul.
The pastor who spoke today was pretty young, and shared a message around the statement “A faith tested by fire is a faith that can be trusted.” He used Daniel 3 and the story of Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego to encourage us to see how trials can strengthen our faith; that is, when we don’t try to compromise or rationalize around God’s truth and remain obedient to his commands instead living to meet worldly expectations.
I think of all the riches in my life, and how I shouldn’t have cares or worries, complaints or regrets, but, of course, I do. Somewhere in closing the service, the phrase “blessed beyond” caught my ear. I wrote it down and have been contemplating it ever since. All the goodness, grace, material possessions, beauty of the earth, on and on, are just what I can see and comprehend — but what God does is bless beyond all these riches by providing a hope that can’t be qualified or measured, far exceeding our imagination or comprehension. Sure, for people going through deep struggles and pain, these words and concepts get shattered by despair and anger, I’ve been there, Lord knows chances are I’ll be there again.
I’m pretty sure I’ll go back for another visit, who knows maybe this is where God would have us for the next season of our lives. If not, I am blessed by the Word today, and pray God’s continued blessings on this congregation, its pastors and leaders, and all who give of themselves to serve the body of Christ.
Quiet Craze
It’s been over a week now since Karen and the kids made it to FL, first Winter Springs, then N. Ft. Myers, our old stomping grounds. Things have been pretty quiet, lots of time to think. I’m enjoying the opportunity to work from home more than normal, which I can’t do during summer while the kids are out of school. I’ve had time to explore photography and blogs and think about creativity, and though I’ve worked minimally on songwriting, I think the blow has been good.
Interestingly enough, Brian Hartzog and I got to catch up over lunch yesterday. He’s one of the most well rounded indie guys I know, from writing to business to craft. Per usual, I sequestered the first part of the conversation, once Brian opened the door with… “so, how’s everything going?” I ranted about work, home life, etc., the usual stuff, and the fact that it just seems like I’m in a slump again, but don’t really know why. So when I turned the talking stick over to him, I almost lost the tofu I was gnawing on when he started telling me about his new plan for writing and producing his music. Not so much the plan, but the reason he came to this decision point. Seems he was accomplishing getting things scheduled and going through the motions, but at times on tasks that really didn’t have a good ROI for time invested, or in his strategy for accomplishing his musical goals, though initially these things all seemed like great ideas. Hmm, I can relate, and double-hmm I’m giving Brian’s format a whirl, though likely in modified form.
It goes something like this… instead of mixing and matching writing, recording, business and marketing tasks done whenever something specific needs to be done, designate one day per week for a focused discipline. Maybe Monday for lyric writing, Tuesday for tracking, Wednesday for business and marketing, Thursday for mixing and producing, etc. If a specific item doesn’t get done the day it’s in scope to be done, it has to carry to the next week unless all tasks for another focal point get done and there’s time to spare — BRILLIANT!
This makes a world of sense to me, so last night I began laying out my week. I’ll likely limit my schedule to three days, at least to start, just so I can setup realistic goals in the grand scheme. Of course now it’s the weekend, gig tomorrow night at the Pewter Rose with Rick and the 4-Oh, need to hit the music store ahead of time to re-stock bass and guitar strings. We plan to meet at the Rose around 6:00 for dinner and setup, so it’ll be a pretty quick day.
So, my goal for Saturday morning is to clean my studio/office and setup for creativity. Then, I’ll work on my goals for the week, including further planning of my fresh approach to being more focused at writing and playing music. All this while doing some laundry, and hopefully catching up on some reading, and maybe even setup a couple of shots around the house (that’s pictures with a camera, this will be way before happy hour).
I was headed out to catch some music tonight, I think I’ll pass and hang with a couple of neighbors, keep it within walking distance and call it an early night home… back to the quiet craze.
Tags: be still, creativity, SMART