One Life to Live

One life to live how many artists have I met disguised as bankers how many directors droning in front of a monitor how many drinks have I had with middle aged persons imagining a future that never happens the brave die once cowards every morning if you opened your heart and no one cared it would still be there if you sang a song and people talked would you still be there you take measures your mental congress cuts your budgets you die of a billion paper cuts paying dearly for everything you wanted to say yourself with a wallet full of excuses and a generous retirement plan

The Secret to Practicing

If you have a strong aversion to practicing, it might be because your instrument is not sexy enough. You must feel the pull of its shape. You must want to hold it in your hands and play with its strings. Many times, I've pussied out at the last moment, not buying the object of my desire, but some lesser thing. I jab of guilt mixed with shame (that I'm wasting all my money on some fantasy) does me in when I reach for my wallet. So I bring the ugly thing home and resentment sets in. I become a super procrastinator and will go to a store and buy cookies, check email, watch youtube, do everything but what I set the time aside for. Only now at 47 do I realize the error of my ways. Never again. Debt or glory.

So then the question becomes

It's not your voice  

It's not the chords  

It's not your blouse 

Or the choice of moods 

 It's the quality of your thinking 

That sets you apart  

The strength of purpose 

Coming from the heart 

 I can be polite to everyone  

I can force myself to care 

But with you it's effortless 

It takes me somewhere 

 It's not enough to be kind 

I get that from my dog 

It what's on your mind 

That turns me on

Everybody Must Get Paid

The guy behind the counter The seller of marijuana The sound mixer The bartender The cocktail waitress The maker of your dress The rehearsal space owner The six seven bouncer The website designer The social media promoter The software seller The ticket taker The opening band The studio musicians The famous masterer The bagel caterer The music critic's paper The opinion maker The van rental agent Your mother

Things I Tell Myself

Let's pretend it's groovy Let's pretend it's alright Nothing comes from worrying Let's enjoy tonight Tomorrow comes the struggle Tomorrow brings fire Against trouble without blinking We fight for our lives Let's take another drink Sing another song Search for the humanity Amongst this twisted bunch Tomorrow comes the reckoning Tomorrow we meet god Dressed in our Sunday best Hearts warm with blood

Thank You, Mr. Briley

Just finished a workshop with the very talented Martin Briley. He spoke of the importance of "melodic shapes", referring to vocal melodies. The penny dropped. In recent years I've been writing this sequence:

Lyric idea -> Chords -> Vocal Melody

Whereas he's suggesting this :

Vocal Melody -> Lyric -> Chords

Duh. That's why he has gold records and why my mom still helps me out.

A Slow Fascination

to be ridiculous 

fun to play with

to work

without reason

Ice cream together

Listening to our

favorite music 

It's very important

Its where I get off 

It's a trick 

i know how it's done 

It still holds

I still do that

I'm still there

a slow fascination 

measured in years