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