Musings, November 2007
Hmmm, I wonder, is the word Musing related to the word Music? There's something in common in the feeling sometimes...
Well, welcome to my brand new website. I hope it gives you a good window into my music.
This website is part of my attempt to become a real musician. You have to have a website and CDs to be a musician, right?
Why do I want to be a real musician? It isn't to make money. That seems so far down the road. First of all I know I don't sing that well. I bet I can improve but I'm unlikely to ever be Chris Isaak. Second, at least here in Austin, there are a lot of musicians who are extremely good playing for free. They travel to make money. I'm not even sure I want to do that. I've spent so much time travelling for kayaking, I'd rather just stay here at the moment.
One reason I want to be a real musician is I like my songs, and I want them to be heard. I get enjoyment out of them and I think others will too. I know that I have to record them well and get out and play them. Once I do that, other musicians may take a liking to my songs and perform them.
That has already happened once and it is a cool feeling. I've been going to a song circle sporadically for a couple years, the Second Sunday Song Circle at Al and Cea Evans' house. Cea likes my song Wind River, and she's learned it and plays it. That's no small task, it's a long song! I had a hard time learning it!
Another reason I want to be a real musician is that I want to have the comradeship and respect of other skilled musicians. Songwriting is a solitary game, and I'd like to have more interaction with others, perhaps have more collaborators, co-writers, perform in duos with good singers etc. I feel to do that, I need to establish myself a bit.
Right now I'm preparing for the gig opening for Sara Hickman. My main problem is that my throat is sore and I can't practice as much I would like. I've had this voice problem on and off for more than a year now and still haven't found exactly what's going on and what to do about it.
It's funny, but the more I should be doing other things (like practicing), the more inspired I seem to be with songwriting. I'm still fine-tuning the two newest songs I'll be performing in 2 weeks. I think I've finally got them over the hill from good to very good.
Got to get this website published so I can announce the gig! Hope to see you there!
Adrian