Perfection, or a fraction thereof

I've been somewhat obsessed with perfection lately.  Perfection can wreak havoc on honesty.  And honesty is essential to great art.  (Or average art...or even below average art...okay honesty is just essential.)

There is a lot of talk these days about the direction of country music.  A LOT of talk.  There's been name calling.  There's been tight pants.  There's been lip synching.  It has all the elements of a middle school talent show.  What the country music genre doesn't have, though, is honesty.  I don't really care who's fault it is.  Blame the record label executives, blame the songwriters, blame the fans.  You choose.  I have no problem with those people.  I have a problem with myself.  As a professional in this industry, I have found myself more and more OBSESSED with perfection.  Every note has to be perfect, every song has to be perfect, and everything has to be PERFECT.

And here's the problem with perfection...as soon as I say something is "perfect" or "imperfect," I'm judging it based on how I think it will be received.

So let's start making art again.  Just write the song.  Just play the notes.  Just do what you love.  That's what I'm gonna do.  Who cares how our art is received.  I've always wondered why music from the 1500s is still regarded as the best of all time.  We've had over 500 years to improve ourselves...are we not improving because we are not as honest?

The Bottom Line

Finances.  Art.  Entrepreneurship.  They do not go hand in hand.  Even if they did, that would be three hand-holds going on and it would still be weird. 

After my first year as a self-employed musician, I have learned a little about a lot.  Here is my greatest lesson so far:  I will never be able to control my top line.  (For those of you who aren't business savy, "top line" refers to income, cash, dough, benjamins, etc...)  While I can certainly take steps to market myself and my skills, there will never be any sort of guaranteed income.  No steady paycheck.  No amount I can count on from year to year.  There will be good years.  There will be bad years.

My advice to you, then, is to be born into a rich family.  If that isn't possible, here's the next best thing:  Control your BOTTOM LINE.  If you are a musician or of another trade and are considering the step into self employment, there is no greater advice than to control your expenses.  Being able to live a year on less than what most people make in half of that time has proven to give me a jump start in the early phase of my music "career".  It's allowed me the freedom to go on gig runs with short notice, try new things with music, and produce low budget projects.  If I had run out of money, I'd be working at Starbucks and none of these things would have happened.  I would be getting free espresso, though, so I'd probably be able to play that Eddie Van Halen solo that's been taunting me....

I know you need that new Tele.  I know you need that new Matchless Amp.  But trust me.  You need to eat for the next year.  Let's not be starving artists anymore. 

I hope you have learned.        

Georgia Southern

Hey y'all...did I pronounce that right?  I just got back from doing a show in Georgia.  To be more specific...South Georgia.  There is a creatively named college there....Georgia Southern.  I bet you didn't see that coming.  Here is a picture

The show was part of their "Day 1" event which is sort of a pep rally/welcome for incoming students.  As part of their welcome we rocked their faces off.  I think both the students and their faces appreciated the fact that we didn't play our full 90 minute set...

Here is something I think is cool.  Their mascot is named Freedom and he looks like this...

Freedom is the one on the top. 

It's a freakin' bald eagle!  I don't care who you are...that's cool.  Here's Freedom with the band and crew.

To summarize...your Monday probably wasn't as cool as my Monday because you didn't get to hang out with a bald eagle.

Little Portugal

We arrived in Toronto on Thursday afternoon for a string of shows through Tuesday night...

Toronto has to be about the coolest city I've been to.  It's clean, fun, active, and they have a freakin' space needle.  Speaking of cool, check out the view from our hotel bar....

 That's right.  Left field of the Rogers Centre where the Blue Jays play.  Not a bad choice as far as lodging is concerned.

We played a small club in a Portuguese area of town; it's what we call a "fill in gig".  Sometimes bands play small shows between the big shows to keep the schedule full.  It was a ton of fun.  Small bars in cultural areas are some of my favorite places to play.  It's a much more personal performance and the band really gets to interact with the folks.  And in this case, those folks are Canadian.  So that means they're extra nice.  Here's a picture of the Dakota Tavern in Little Portugal...

String lights AND an upright piano?  I don't think you could ask for much more....

Start Your Engines

Nascar?  Awesome.  Pocono Raceway?  Also awesome.  Playing the pre race concert at Victory Lane before the Go Bowling 400 at which my friend and frontman Eric Beddingfield sang the national anthem?  More towards the upper end of the awesome scale as compared to the previous two subjects.     

Is there anything that stands atop the awesome scale, a full spot above playing in front of the grandstands at a 100,000 seat raceway?  Yes.  Here is a picture.

That is, in fact, the real Chuck Jones in the background.  What is that we're sitting upon?  Oh yes, you guessed right.  It's the pit box of the Burger King car.  That's how we roll.  Pun intended.  I shall leave you with one last picture....my view from the stage during sound check, if you care to take a gander...

On The Road Again

Hello reader.  I decided to start writing on this again because my life is getting interesting to the outside world.  While I find grilling every night and teaching every day to be quite interesting, it probably isn't to you.  So here goes....

I've spent the past few months away from stages and roads.  Most of my time has been spent teaching guitar lessons or producing songwriters' demos.  I absolutely LOVE both of the aforementioned activities.  The next few months, though, will be quite different.  August 1st will bring with it a very big change of scenery: a 5 week tour.  Here is a picture of what you can expect that to look like:

Pretty crazy, I know.  Try to contain your jealousy.  The road will take us up through the Northeast for some NASCAR races, into Canada for some festivals, back down south for more NASCAR, and back up to Canada for more festivals. 

I hope to keep you updated as this tour unfolds.  Until next time....here's another picture from a previous ELB gig.

Worship With Some Music

If you are a Christian musician, I want you to try something.  I want you to sit down with your instrument and worship with it.  Forget about art.  Forget about vocation.  Remember that you have been blessed with a talent.  So "play skillfully on your instrument and sing with joy", for the Lord delights in you and your praise.  If at all possible, get some other people to join you.  There should be no lights, PA systems, or teleprompters.  Only instruments and voices in unison.

We were created to worship.  Don't let it be misguided.