Professional Development? Creative Development? How about just “DEVELOPMENT”?

As in a year ago, I should be working on National Boards submissions for my School Counseling professional development goals.  However, I really don’t want to.  I really don’t.  It’s not that I don’t want to become a better school counselor, I just have a major case of the “want to have funs”.  I’m not sure this is curable.

So, similar to last year’s procrastination methods, I’ve decided to write my first blog post in months.  Many, many months.  Now, I’ve not been that musically focused in months, so it’s understandable I wouldn’t post.  What would it be about???  But, that is starting to change, thankfully.  I’d rather be musically focused in my non-work life than focused on other things (aside from spiritual growth, that is), so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

About a year and a half ago (or more), I stopped taking voice and piano/theory lessons.  Partly because my two teachers had moved out of town, and partly because I needed to focus on Boards.  Well, even though I have to resubmit for Boards, I decided that a life without growing musically is not for me.  I need it to make me feel balanced and strong and excited about life.  Listening just isn’t enough.  Guitar lessons (on hiatus right now) are not enough because although I enjoy them, they don’t drive me creatively and frankly, I’m just bad at guitar!

So, back to voice I went.  My former teacher, Kelly Ash, long ago relocated to NYC, offered to teach me via Skype and I snatched that offer up immediately.  It’s awesome working with someone I already jive with, and who has lots more to teach me due to her progress through grad school and more.  We started off with a goofy goal.  Being obsessed with The Voice, I decided I wanted to prepare a song for a mock audition.  There’s no way I’d actually audition, but I wanted to believe I had a song I prepared well enough to audition.  It’s been a good goal–watching The Voice and listening carefully to the coach feedback, etc.  We’ve worked on a few of songs with this in mind:

Isabella, by Dia Frampton (first runner up during the first season of The Voice)

Hold On, by Sarah McLachlan (really challenging, and sad, but empowering to sing, plus she’s my hero)

Time After Time, by Cyndi Lauper (are there any women who haven’t been able to relate to this at some point in their lives?)

Don’t Cry, by Ann Vriend (I just discovered this Canadian artist and am in love with this extremely difficult to sing song.  It’s given me quite the challenge!)

Kelly and I “meet” twice a month, which keeps it affordable.  And I have something to work on that excites me and requires me to analyze songs a little more than normal.  Once I feel like the Ann Vriend song has been worked through enough, we’re going back to writing.  I’m rusty and out of shape in this category, but ready for the challenge.  I wrote a song for my dad over Christmas (thanks for requiring a homemade gift, Dad!) and it felt great, despite my lack of ability to accompany myself.

Now I’m on a mission to get to Nashville and listen to a whole lot of music.  Or attend a songwriting workshop.  It’s possible I’m being influenced by the current ABC show, Nashville (it’s just so good!).  🙂  But, I’d also be happy heading to a workshop in NY.  Or LA.  Sometime next year–maybe spring.  All I know is it makes me feel good to be thinking about these things, and making non-concrete plans to improve a craft I truly enjoy but need to work hard at to get better.

Despite the best intentions to focus on professional matters, putting creative flow/practice on hiatus sort of defeats the purpose.  That matters just as much, if not more.  I must build time for it, just as I must build time for spiritual study and exercise.  In the end, everything we do to grow and progress cycles around and feeds the other areas of our lives.

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Ramblings

Here it is almost Thanksgiving, and I haven’t blogged since August.  I guess you could say I haven’t been inspired.  Or you could say I’ve been busy.  Both are true, though I’ve been inspired in other ways, just not necessarily the desire to blog way.  For a while I thought, “I’ll blog after I get that one song finished.” And then that song was finished.  And then I thought, “I’ll blog after I get that one song recorded.”  And since that’s still not done, I guess that could be my excuse.  But in reality, I just haven’t felt like it.

But here’s the thing…  I may not be the best writer in the world, but I do enjoy writing.  And I also think it’s important to flex those muscles, especially if one wants to continue writing in any form.  Whether I have to write for work (I really don’t do much of that), or for songs (I don’t have to, but sometimes I like to), or for some other unlisted reason, if I don’t practice, I don’t get better.  Or, I get worse!  And that’s just unnecessary.

So blogging it is.  Since it’s the season of gratitude, I did consider writing another gratitude-focused blog as I did last year.  But I don’t want to repeat myself.  So, in this case, I’m going to focus on music.  It is supposedly a songwriting blog, after all.  And by songwriting I mean music in general.  One must be liberal in their translations when it comes to artistic things, right?!  🙂

First I will mention that I have a song in the works.  That is, I have a lot of partial songs in the works, but I’m not being that proactive about them.  But this one is my personal favorite right now.  It’s a song that I find really entertaining.  As in, it makes me laugh.  Those who’ve heard me play around with it a little have for the most part given me the same feedback, so that makes me excited about it, as I know not everyone shares my sense of humor!  An acquaintance of mine who’s in a local band here in Seattle, The Local Strangers, has generously offered to help me record it.  And, he helped me with the final pieces, too.  As always, it’s much easier for me when there’s someone else to work with, and I’m really grateful when someone who knows what they’re doing is willing to work with me, who doesn’t have that same knowledge!  Unfortunately, we haven’t recorded it yet as both of our schedules have been crazy busy.  But, hopefully after the New Year, and then there will definitely be a blog post!  Watch out, world!  I have a song to take you by storm!

OK, not really…

So that’s the news on the songwriting front.  In other music fronts, it occurs to me that it’s time to update the list of super-awesome music out there.  I don’t do that too often—I’m not a reviewer, after all—but I was just making some mixes for a friend who wanted new music and it occurred to me that I have a ton of music that I’ve been introduced to over the last few years.  So many new artists!  Some new to me, and some new to the scene, and yes, some of it is definitely Seattle-centric.  But either way, it’s a great reminder that creativity is ever-occurring, and inspiration is truly unending.  Hopefully some of these artists will inspire you, if you’re feeling that creative lull:

The Civil Wars

Allen Stone

The Local Strangers

Hot Bodies In Motion (I’m pretty sure that’s ironic!  But their music is great, regardless)

The Head and the Heart (yes, they’ve been mentioned on here before)

Edie Carey

The Swell Season (not that new anymore, but still worth checking out this duo from the movie “Once”)

Stacey Kent

Kevin Long

Ivan & Alyosha

Sam and Ruby

Alice Smith

Melissa McClelland (on Sarah McLachlan’s tour last year—saw the show twice and she’s excellent)

Quiet Company

Javier Colon (ok, so he was the winner of “The Voice,” and I’m not ashamed to admit is version of “Fix You” by Coldplay totally made me cry)

Duffy

A Fine Frenzy

St. Paul de Vence

Tara Kelly Kearns (OK, so that’s my sister, but she’s amazing and should she record anything beyond the song we wrote together, “Frayed,” I promise you would agree!  And if that happens, there will be an immediate blog post.)

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Reminder to Self: Life Is Not Just About the School Year

OMG, I haven’t posted anything since APRIL!  April.  Wow.  Where has the time gone???

Life gets really busy in a high school during the spring, and since I’m a school counselor, I will have to use that as my excuse.  This year was no exception, but considering the spring I’ve had, I plan to NOT make it the rule, either.  That being said, I’m pretty sure I have lots of stories that might make for new songs over the summer.  What a year.  Which will be done in a couple weeks.  Good riddance!

Yes, exactly

But, of course there’s more than just school to the year.  There is music.  There is always music.  Thank the lord.

This year, aside from the amazing music scene we are currently blessed with in Seattle (see The Head and The Heart, The Local Strangers, Virgin Islands, Ivan & Alyosha, Hot Bodies in Motion, Benjamin Doerr, and lately Justin Froese – my goodness, that’s a lot of awesome!), I also had the opportunity to sing at two weddings, and at a couple of church-oriented events.  I really love these opportunities for expression, as they force me to be humble and look beyond my own skill.  They are about blessing others, and as I’ve been trying to work with this idea anyway for the past couple of years, it’s really nice when you’re presented with opportunities to use gifts you’ve been given to do just that.  And of course, when you get to be a part of blessing others, you can’t help but be blessed as well.  Mutuality, reciprocation, or whatever you’d like to call it.  Regardless of the chosen term, it is a beautiful thing.

For the wedding of a dear friend in April, I was given some fabulous details about their relationship from both the bride and groom.  I used it to create a song that is very personalized, and gave me a lot of joy to write.  Because the bride and groom laugh a lot together, I tried to write something that would capture their humor.  It was a lot of fun to do, and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit during the wedding.  Mission accomplished, thanks to the wonderful stories they sent me (and the wonderful personalities they both have)!  I’ve pasted in a very unprofessional video link below—the lyrics won’t mean much to you without knowing the bride and groom, but hopefully the spirit of their relationship will shine through.

Thinking about starting a personalized wedding song business on the side.  Thoughts?  😉

OK, not really, but it is a fun adventure when given the chance.  Now that most of my friends are married, I don’t think there will be too many more, but keeping my mind open!

With that, wishing you all a summer of goodness.  You deserve it.

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Thank You, Kelly

There are about 8 billion subjects rolling around in my head that I’d like to expound on in tonight’s post.  But I fear I won’t have any readers if I don’t limit it to just a couple.  So in an attempt to keep it short (OK, not exactly short, but not as long as it could be), I’m going to tackle the following thoughts (I will hopefully actually keep it limited here, but I am known to ramble, so apologize in advance):

1. Losing my voice teacher
2. My recent performance

Starting with #1:  Kelly Ash (look her up—she’s truly talented!), my voice teacher, has just moved to NYC to pursue her masters in vocal performance at…drum roll, please…NYU!  This is really an amazing accomplishment, if you haven’t already guessed.  NYU’s program is quite competitive, and not surprisingly to me at all, Kelly got in.  Go Kelly!  She deserves every bit of goodness coming to her, and I’m thrilled for her new opportunities.

Of course, this means I have lost my voice teacher.  I think if you’ve worked with someone over a long period of time, you might understand what this loss means.  Even if you haven’t, you can probably guess at what it means.  That said, I never thought I’d miss her as much as I do.  After all, I’m 35, and she’s only 23 (just turned 23, at that).  I might be a “young” 35 (hopefully not too young!), but she is definitely a “wise” 23.  I think partially based on my limited view of this age difference, when I first started with Kelly a year and 8 months ago, I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d be able to build the rapport I desire in a teacher.  I’d had a great rapport with my former voice teacher back in Boston (way back, like 2002!), and just didn’t think I’d find anyone that could live up to my expectations.  And I was wrong.  I was most definitely wrong.

Now, Kelly and I have never hung out.  We’ve never done things socially, or met each other’s friends, etc.  But even so, she knows where my songs come from.  She knows the personal nature of all of them.  Really, ALL of them, because I didn’t start writing until I started working with her.  And I know pieces of her personal life, as well.  She’s played me songs that weren’t quite finished, and still raw.  These things make an impact.  So when I was driving my little goodbye gift over to her apartment the day before she left, I found myself getting rather emotional.  It didn’t help that I was listening to The Head and The Heart, and was right in the middle of songs about saying goodbye, losing friends, etc.  Totally unintentional, I swear!  (Though I bought  her a copy, because I’m pretty sure she’ll love it, too.)  But I just considered how for a year and a half, I’d spent one hour a week with this person, and it was a very safe place for me.  A safe place that also happened to nurture my creativity.  Other than with my previous voice teacher, this is the only other time I’ve experienced that kind of combination.  And since I was writing, this student-teacher relationship actually made a deeper impact on me creatively.

This leads me to thought #2.  My recent performance.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Kelly has pushed me to do some performances, or recitals, if you will, in the time I’ve been working with her.  She also taught a vocal workshop, with Mikaela Romero, to a handful of students (including my sister and me), and had us all perform in a showcase in June.  That’s when I lost my voice, and it didn’t go well AT ALL.  However, they were presenting another showcase in late July, and Kelly asked me to do a full set at the end of it.  The idea being that I could present many of the songs I’ve written over the year, which might not happen again for a while since she’s leaving.  And I’d get to work with a band.  A BAND!  Do you have any idea how much fun it is to work with a band?  Oh my, it’s so great!  I’ll save more on that for another post, however…

In the end, I did 11 songs, most with full band back-up, and a couple with partial band or a single instrument.  It was a ton of fun, and though I was all sorts of pitchy (left over lost voice remnants), I’m so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with professional musicians in a jazz club-type venue (Lucid Jazz Lounge, as I’ve also mentioned in previous posts).  I didn’t do all of my songs, and I tried to choose ones with differing styles and subject matters.  I have a lot to work on with timing, stage presence, and more, but I’m still pretty thrilled that I have enough of a body of work that I could offer 11 original songs to an audience.  And I’m also really thrilled that though the audience wasn’t all there to see me, they actually stuck around for the whole thing.  What an uplifting and supportive atmosphere!

I’ve chosen two songs to embed here (taken on iphone video, so sound and picture aren’t great).  The first I call “What It Was,” and it’s a little bit jazzy.  I’m not really a jazz musician, but I wrote the first two verses in the car after going to one of Kelly’s shows (who is a jazz musician).  A happy example of being inspired by others’ art!  The second song is really taken from my experience as a high school counselor.  A job that I dearly love, and am so grateful to have.  It’s an issue that has not only cropped up frequently at my school, but is cropping up frequently around the country right now.  I don’t have all the answers on how to fix it, but it breaks my heart every time I hear about someone in this situation.  These students persevere, no matter what.  Strength in Spirit, I think, is what I would call that.  This song, however, isn’t so much about strength, but about the confusion and fear of the what’s next.  It’s called “The Unknown.”

I dedicate this post to Kelly Ash.  A songstress who has helped me find my own song, and who brings good wherever she goes.  Thank you.  I am so grateful.  🙂

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What Came First? The lyrics or the melody?

It seems that every songwriter at some point in their career is asked how they come up with their songs.  Sometimes the question is more specific, such as whether the music or the lyrics come first.  Sometimes it’s more general.  Although I certainly don’t have a career in songwriting, I’ve also been asked that question.  And as I’ve read from many “actual” songwriters, there is no real method to this.  However, I have noticed one thing over the last year and a half of experimenting with songwriting:  I rarely, if ever, come up with lyrics first.

Sometimes I come up with a melody—something that might be humming along in my head, or something inspired by another song or show I’ve recently been to.  And at other times I’ll get a melody and lyric all at once.  But never have I just come up with lyrics sans melody.  I find this interesting, as lyrics are what I gravitate towards in other songs.  I’ve always connected with lyrics, even before the music or melody itself.  That doesn’t mean I don’t like instrumental songs.  I do.  But I prefer lyrical ones.  I love hearing a story, or thought process, or even just raw emotion.  I love it when a songwriter lets a listener in, even if it’s not the songwriter’s own story.  So I was surprised to find out that writing lyrics on their own does not come naturally to me.

My voice teacher (aka: songwriting coach), Kelly Ash, gave me an exercise/challenge recently, in which she suggested I follow the form of another song of my choosing—using an artist I connect with.  Basically, create a new song (with new lyrics) by copying the form of another.  In a very surprising move (haha), I chose Sarah McLachlan’s new song, “Forgiveness,” from her new Laws of Illusion album.  Before I started this exercise, I had spent a LOT of time listening to that album while on my recent road trip to and from San Francisco.  By the time I sat down to try and come up with something original based on her chords and form, I couldn’t get her melody out of my head.  So as far as coming up with something original, I didn’t exactly succeed.  However, I did manage to come up with new lyrics.  I kept my favorite line in the song to honor her songwriting, and changed everything else.  This was a great exercise, and while I’ll never be able to do much with this song because it’s so similar to hers, I really feel like they are some of my best lyrics to date.

It has been fun to pay more attention to the details of songs, both lyrically and musically (and how they complement each other), as I strive to create stronger and more interesting songs.  I have a long way to go as far as creating pieces that are “listenable” or “radio-ready,” if in fact I even want to go there.  Regardless, I do want to get better at this craft.  Other than learning more about instrumentation, giving more thought to how others use chords, lyrics, space, harmonies, vocal techniques, and so forth, is proving to be helpful.  I’m finding a lot of inspiration just by making sure I am more alert when music that sparks my interest is playing.

On that note, Seattle has a new band, The Head and the Heart, who are making beautiful music and garnering some great reviews.  This is not the kind of music I will likely ever be creating, but I really love it.  It sits in my head for hours, and has me humming all day.  They go back and forth between complex and simple melodies, and have harmonies that simultaneously bring me smiles and tears.  It’s interesting to try and dissect their songs even just a bit to see how they are creating these emotions.  I hope you love it as much as I do (the CD is much better than the video that’s been captured!).  This is “Cats and Dogs”:

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Fueled by Sarah(s)

I just got back from a whirlwind trip through Portland, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and then Portland again.  Unintentionally, it’s my summer of Portland!

Portland's "Waffle Window" in the Hawthorn neighborhood. I've never known of one of these in another city!

One of many amazing views from The Presidio in San Francisco

The trip was all by car, and keeping me company through much of that trip were some fine, fine musicians.  In the form of recordings, of course, but even so those musicians can really keep you going.

I bought the new albums by Sarah McLachlan and Sarah Harmer just before heading to SF.  I have this funny thing about not downloading albums by artists that I really want to support.  I know I’m supporting them through their downloads, too, but for some reason having that physical album makes me feel like I am contributing more to their support network.  They put some effort into creating not just a sound, but also a look for their album, and I want to honor that endeavor.

Sarah Harmer’s new album, “Oh Little Fire” is great.  It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s true to form to her previous albums.  Particularly to her earlier albums (which offer such songs as “Basement Apartment” and “Almost”).  I’m really enjoying it so far, and am looking forward to listening to it more and more, hopefully gaining some musical inspiration along the way.  “Late Bloomer” on this new album is a particular favorite!  She’s inspired me in the past, and I really enjoy singing her songs.  I love how she writes—rarely an obvious statement in a verse or line, and yet the feeling definitely comes through.  I aspire to be that interesting lyrically!

Sarah McLachlan…well…really, what is more fantastic than a Sarah album?!  Seriously, I’m hard-pressed to think of any music that inspires me more than Sarah’s.  I also can’t think of another artist I’d rather sit down and have a conversation with.  That woman is truly amazing on so many levels.  (Shameless admiration on my end, obviously!)  If for some reason you don’t already know her (how is this possible?!), check out this video:From the minute I was introduced to her music back in college, I have never stopped feeling inspired and moved by it.  Of course, with artists like Sarah, it goes beyond the music.  She uses her music to give back, to reach the general public and others who need it, and she helps us all celebrate each other and acknowledge the important offerings of women by founding things such as Lilith Fair.

I’ll go into Lilith Fair on another post, because I had the privilege of attending it this year and have way too much to say on that subject.  In the meantime, however, let me expound on Sarah McLachlan just a little bit more.  Despite the change in her personal circumstances, her album, “Laws of Illusion“, remains honest and hopeful, moving and deep, insightful and uplifting.  She is the essence of feminine in her demeanor and her music—strength, honesty, and beauty all coming through in her lyrics, songwriting, and interactions with her audience.  Yes, I worship this woman.  😉  While I cannot BE Sarah McLachlan, she certainly emanates qualities I am striving for.  Obviously I express these qualities in different ways, but it is very nice to have an individual to admire from afar who also seems relatable.

From “Awakenings” by Sarah McLachlan:

Oh I wanna learn, I wanna know
Will our history crush us or can we let it go?
I’m not the girl I was but what have I become?
I’m not so willing anymore to bend
Still pleasing and conceding but I’m not gonna lose myself again

In a previous blog post I mentioned the need to surround yourself with people that inspire you.  An amendment to this would be that this inspiration doesn’t necessarily have to come IN PERSON.  Professional artists can be just as uplifting, even if you don’t know them.

I am so thankful for the individuals that continue to bless us with their creative gifts!

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Creating for the Community

On Monday night of this week, I had the privilege of attending the Inside Out Jazz Awards at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.  The awards show was created by David Pierre-Louis, owner of Lucid and founder of Strength Through Unity, a foundation dedicated to healing Haiti.

creating a water filtration system in Haiti

This was an incredibly inspiring evening.  But it went beyond that.  It was also entertaining, emotional, fun, hopeful, educational, and full of a great sense of community.  The fact that they were able to use Benaroya Hall also offered a nice level of sophistication.  Seattle isn’t known for its dress-up opportunities, and it was nice to see so many people dressed up and enjoying the evening.  (Don’t get me wrong—there were plenty of jeans-clad folk, too!)

Jazz has never been my favorite style of music.  I can appreciate it, and do, but always prefer the vocal stylings over instrumental pieces.  But having a few people in my life who are very connected to the jazz community has altered that feeling a bit.  I find myself listening to it on occasion in the car, and sometimes after a show that moves me, I’m inspired to write something with a jazzy feel.  Watching the Inside Out Awards allowed us to enjoy various styles of jazz, and then honor the people creating them.

Adrian Sims

Leif Totusek

Kelly Ash

Clarence Acox

Mt. Zion Liturgical Dancers

It also ventured into other territories:  spoken word, R&B, dance, gospel, etc.  Much of it was simply focused on music and creative arts.  But a nice portion of the show was also about education.  Education around the situation in Haiti, and what is being done to help by the Strength Through Unity foundation.  Education about what is happening in Seattle on a grassroots level to bring music to the community, and what the Seattle jazz community has done to help out David and his foundation, ultimately benefiting Haiti.

One of the most amazing pieces of the evening was what I would call a symphonic jazz piece, “Acknowledgement of a Celebration”, composed by Evan Flory-Barnes.

Evan Flory-Barnes conducting "Acknowledgement of a Celebration"

Evan is part of my friend Jason’s band, the Jason Parker Quartet, and that’s pretty much the only way I’ve seen him perform.  I learned on Monday that Evan has a whole lot more going on!  He received a grant called “Meet the Composer” that allowed him to compose a piece and have it performed.  He composed a piece for an entire orchestra!  Imagine how complicated that must be!  Just after the intermission Evan came out to conduct this orchestra in an amazing multi-part piece.  It was so beautiful!  The icing on top was the dancing that was also choreographed for the piece.  It was modern with hip-hop and somewhat improvised, created with dancers from a variety of companies in the Seattle area.  Watching a piece comprised of classical musicians, a jazz composition (with classical and hip-hop touches), and dance brought home for me what the arts can do to bring the community together.

Dancers in Acknowledgement of a Celebration

And in the end, isn’t that what creating is all about, anyway?

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Letting Others Inspire You

Surrounding yourself with encouraging people is really helpful when you are trying to accomplish something. If you are trying to accomplish something creative, it’s also helpful to surround yourself with at least a couple creative individuals, or at least this is what I’ve found.

My friends Darrah and Jason Parker got married last fall. Both of them are very creative individuals, and have careers in an artistic field. Darrah is a professional photographer–it’s a new business, launched within the last year. She’s taken a lot of brave steps to make this happen, including quitting her full time job. Her photos are beautiful, and the way she views life is very prevalent in them. She seems to actually find the humanity in an inanimate object–now that is a gift! You can follow Darrah at her website–her gallery, Etsy store, and blog can all be found there.

Her husband, Jason, is a professional jazz musician. Trumpet player, to be exact. He’s been living as a professional musician for a number of years, and has his hands in a number of projects to make it work. Jason has been patient in creating this path for himself, and that has paid off. His music is tight, he has developed a very good reputation in Seattle and beyond, and he moves in and out of a number of music/jazz circles in the area. He keeps a blog documenting his path, which includes some of his music, as well as many ideas on how to keep the energy flowing.

(Jason playing “Bashert” at their wedding reception, which he wrote after meeting Darrah)

What I’ve noticed is that I love checking out both Darrah’s and Jason’s blogs weekly. I love reading their updates, noticing their progress, and seeing what new ideas they’ve come up with to inspire themselves and others. It reminds me that like all things, creativity is a process, and it’s ok if it doesn’t come all at once. In fact, sometimes it can take quite a while to feel inspired enough to even want to create something. No need to feel awful about that. But no need to let that stall you, either. Sometimes we need to build a habit of creating, or exercising the creative side of the brain. Other times, we simply need a break. We need to dive into something that has nothing to do with obligation, or creating, or a deadline. For me, that usually means watching a movie, or following some TV show (like Lost, or Glee, or Parenthood–other people’s creations!). Sometimes it means reading a book. Sometimes it means doing my spiritual work. And sometimes it means taking a walk or going on a run. If I don’t do that last one for obligatory reasons, I often find myself gaining inspiration as I go. Plus I get to look at pretty things on the way. It’s a win-win! A win-win as long as I can get motivated enough to go, that is. 🙂

Last night, after attending my school’s play, I went to Lucid Jazz Lounge in Seattle. The Jason Parker Quartet was doing their final show of a 2 week west coast tour. They sounded tight! Night after night of performing together seriously paid off, and the energy in the room was fantastic. Even though it was late for me, I found myself in a great mood as soon as I walked in. I have to finish a song by Tuesday for a class I’m in right now, and their show inspired me enough to get it basically done today. It was a reminder that it’s important to keep the music playing, and soak in the vibes of those who are doing it and loving it. That’s the kind of contagion I want to nurture!

By the way, since I want to be held accountable, I practiced the guitar 3 times last week. That’s 2 more times a week than I had been for the past month, but about 2 less times than I’d planned on. Here’s hoping for more inspiration this week!

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