Not So Random Thoughts

or, Oh no! What Have I done??!!

These thoughts aren’t random to me, they’re notable entries of what’s been going thru my head the last few weeks regarding taking the CH gig. Hopefully they won’t be too jarring to read.

I should have found out more up front. I accepted the gig without knowing how long it was, how many songs, nor how much I’ll get paid. Considering the band is quite different stylistically than stuff I have played before, and that I don’t know many songs beyond the ones Blue Funk plays, any amount of songs was going to be a challenge. This gig is currently 22 songs with three sets and two singers each set. Heck, we just saw the Black Crowes and they did 17 songs, many of which they’ve been doing for years. On the other hand, their keyboard player just joined the band, and they change their set list every night, so who knows how many songs he had to cram. I have to keep plugging away at it. More on that later.

As far as the money, it’s not that I’m worried about it, and in a sense I’m hoping this leads me to other gigs, perhaps with CH, perhaps with other bands, but also boosts my confidence to get those gigs. But part of me thinks the payment will go like this.

“Two quarters?”
“You deserve every penny. I’ve told a lot of my girlfriends about you and they have chores too!”
“Two quarters??!!”
“Bart! You didn’t say ‘Thank you.’”
“Listen Lady, I can leave without screaming, and I can leave without saying a bad word, but there is no way that I am saying ‘Thank you.’”
“You’re welcome. All right then, off you go, to spend it on pennywhistles and moonpies.”

Probably not, though. Maybe I’ll just look down and say, “I got a rock.”

The unfamiliarity with the songs has been a bit of a bear (bite of a bear?). One day, I’ll work on some songs and it will go well. Then, I’ll work on some other songs the next practice and that might go okay, but when I return to the first group of songs, sometimes I don’t even remember how some of them go at first. Or, I will, but I can’t recall what I’ve been playing for that tune.

As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that I’ve probably just not been spending enough time with it. I probably should run through each known song every practice. The bad side of that method is confusion. There are similarities in some of the songs that can mix me up. But at this point, I think I need to try it. I have been thinking that I need to get more familiar with all the material so that it’s more part of me. That leads me to another issue.

I do love a lot of different music, but I tend to focus on what moves me the most. Lately, that has been blues, but that’s not to say I don’t listen to plenty of rock as well as jazz and other stuff. However, CH’s music is generally not music that I seek out. It’s not bad, in fact, some of the stuff is pretty good and very cool. I also totally dig how Ant, Chris, and B-Funk are so into this stuff too. For me, there’s the difference between good music and music that moves me. I saw this great quote this morning, and it applies.

“I like music that finds my resonance frequency and pounds it senseless.”

This music does that for them. At the moment at least, it doesn’t quite for me. I’m sure some of that is because I’m still caught up in learning it. I have had good moments with it. It is very cool when everything clicks. But, remember, I started on this path to do what I love. Maybe I could love this, but at the moment, I’m okay with it. Look at it this way. In a previous post, I wrote about whose jobs I was angling for. I can’t say that I’m angling for Nick Rhodes’ job, nor to play keys for some of these other bands. It would be alright, but definitely not the only thing I want to do with music.

I have been spending so much time getting ready for this gig, that I haven’t done any songwriting, nor have I been playing the blues, really. Both of these are things that I live for at this point. I think I need to be a little more selective with any future gigs to choose ones that really move me, especially if preparing for them is going to take up this much of my time. If I had more time for my own things, say if this CH show was shorter, or I would have had time to play with Blue Funk in the interim, that would be much better for me.

I feel I should make one thing clear after writing all that. There’s nothing wrong with CH’s music. In fact, a lot of it is good, really good. I also am having fun with some of these songs. It is just that I don’t love this kind of music. What’s the difference between this and music I do love? I don’t know. And again, it may be that I’m too caught up in learning it to really experience it. Maybe after the 20th, I will be loving it.

Posted 2008 12 04 at 2:39 AM

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