Versus

I've been thinking a bit lately about what I'm working on vs. what I want to be doing. Some of this comes out of what happened over the weekend with Scottie McDonald and Irie Time. In a way, I was relieved that gig didn't come through because right now, I'm still learning to balance playing with other bands against working on my own things. Most other bands are looking for someone to be a full time member, and I'm just not going to do that. I already am in one band, and since it's "my" band and I'm the "leader," I have enough work to do there. Also, most bands want to rehearse a bit. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm struggling with rehearsals between Blue Funk and Collective Hallucination. Throw in having gigs and it's tricky to get your head around all the scheduling. I hear it gets easier…

Therefore, I've decided a bit of focus is necessary. I want to get better as a player, so I can do more things. I have to be careful, though, because I've never met a musician that was happy with their playing ability and skill level. But there is so much that I feel that I'm on the cusp of being able to do, and that I need to be able to do in order to get some of my shorter term goals accomplished, that it seems that I should focus more on those skills right now.

Also, things have been happening with Blue Funk, and that has been taking my time as well. We have a gig this month, and potentially one in March and another in April. None of them are huge, but we should make something out of each of them. This requires us to both be ready to perform, as well as to market ourselves a bit. If we let people go away empty-handed, they're much more likely to forget about us. Before the rehearsal we had on Sunday, we had photos taken of us, and we need to use them as part of our promo material and whatever else we distribute. We need to work more on our originals, because that's where our focus is as a band. We have a decent number, but we have let a few fall by the wayside that we need to bring up to the level of the others so that they're available to include in sets.

I don't plan on disappearing. Getting involved in the Houston music scene has been one of the coolest things that I've done, and I hope to do it more. But I think if someone comes to me looking for a keyboard player, for now I need to be more choosy about with whom I consider playing. Yes, I can learn a lot "on the job," but I can give them much more if I'm a better player when I start playing with them. Also, hopefully it will then take me less time to get up to speed on their style and material, giving me more time to continue to do my own things.

Tue, 2009 02 03 at 9:12 AM |Permalink for this entry

It’s Not Irie Time for Me

Because it's a journal so not everything works out

After the CH rehearsal yesterday, I stopped in to see Scottie McDonald of Irie Time. They are looking for a permanent keyboard player. I did tell him that I'm not looking to join another band, and that I don't do other sounds besides the basics of piano, organ, and electric pianos (in other words, what's provided by the awesome Nord Electro). Still, he was very interested in hearing me play and seeing if I can do what they are looking for.

Even though he didn't say it outright, I don't think I quite made the cut. He's looking for a keyboard player that can solo in a very jazzy style, along with their "Tropical jazz / Reggae soca-calypso / Caribbean party music." While I felt that some of the stuff I played was pretty decent, I guess he was looking for more. Once he explained what it was, I kind of knew it was currently out of my league. I'd love to be able to play very jazzy solos, but I'm still working my way towards that. Still, he seemed interested in me and seemed to hope I could get there and work with them in the future.

Sun, 2009 02 01 at 3:31 AM |Permalink for this entry