Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Troubadour Flies Again





In regards to my previous blog, when I'm practicing and focusing on music, my room is a sanctuary.   Since my trip to Holland, I've begun writing a lot.  I've also been more interested in simple chords and forms.  I've observed  that the more basic the song the more you can do with it.  Also, I've been experimenting with singing songs with voice impersonations. For example,  I try singing a song with a country drawl and let the voice dictate the outcome.   Once the song emerges, then I sing it in my own voice, tweaking things as needed. 

I've been thinking a lot about troubadours these days. I just started grabbing things flying in and around my head. 
I came up with "The Troubadour Flies Again". 
You can listen to it here:  > The Troubadour Flies Again

I wrote this particular song imagining Bob Dylan singing it, so I'd sing it in his voice. (Hey, everybody does a Dylan impersonation) 
 The original solo acoustic version had a busy ho-down bluegrass feel.  Once I started to record it in my own voice, it morphed into a RnB thing.  Funny how that happens.   :)      I'll try to sing like Willie Nelson  next...

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Room


When I look over my life, there's one thing that has become clear to me.  I've never had one.  Being drawn to music gave me something to focus on, something to do in a room by myself. A means to avoid living and adjusting to most things normal. Outside of that room were bullies in school, girls I didn't know how to communicate with, a lack of academic knowledge that would allow me never to be more than a burger flipper and a vulnerability to people who found me interesting. Oh, and of course a lack of will to do anything about it.

It was fortunate that I ended up on the road playing music. This suited me. I got to play music and when the music was done, I got to go back in a room.   It was always the room.  Even after 30 years, a wife, two daughters, it's still the room.  

Things began to change for me when I realized that I was losing interest in music. That is to say, not interested enough to continue a life of relentless disappointments, mixed messages, and the realization that this will never pay off.  Which of course left me with an emptiness I can't explain.

So what do I do now?  Do I feel sorry for myself? No, I feel nothing. 

 "Miche" has learned to cope, he's good at it. He's self create and strong. He has an intellectual understanding of life. But things do change. "Miche" is ready to move on, which of course leaves "Mick". 
  
"Mick" is an apparition.  That he's been for a long time.
"Mick" doesn't know how to cope.