A chill has finally come to Arizona, and current world events bring a chill to the soul. Friday night I spent composing a simple vocal quartet in a gospel/worksong style. The inspiration was to reach out for meaning and comfort in a troubled world.
Lord, get me through the winter
Lord, send me some sunshine
Lord, get me through the winter
Lord, stay by my side
Based musically on a vamp in G minor that can be built up on a loop (boss RC-30) to improvise and skat over. And so I brought it to open mic on Saturday night, leaving my guitar at home. It went over well, even getting some audience participation on the last few refrains, which was the goal: to have an experience where the community comes together. Of course it had my typical rough moments: a voice crack going up to the high G which has become a signature move since my adolescent days, and the characteristic long pause as I wait for the lyrics to arrive on my tongue - but that’s my style and I don’t need to excuse myself.
I consider the grand objective, and I see steps taken, progress made, slowly and I hope surely but time needs to tell the fruits of these labors. Round 1 of Guitar Center’s singer songwriter contest has closed and I consider my entry to be strong, stronger than my entry when I was in the contest two years ago. Comprising 5 videos which I made this fall, here is the breakdown: 2 brand new songs with hifi performance videos (tragedy sells, the turnaround), 1 new full band studio recording of one of my favorite older compositions (never told), and 2 lofi living room performances (lost for words, when it comes to love). Lost for words even has guest performer Shazer playing the oboe. 5 finalists will be announced early next year.
I entered the studio (aka garage) recording of When it comes to Love in the International Songwriting Competition. It was a recording I made about a year and a half ago and it has quite a few little nice moments, plucked violins and such. I know that song has a lot of potential, I just need to get it in the right place at the right time.
But how am I doing at spreading my influence, and building my audience? This is my biggest challenge. I lack something when it comes to networking and particularly in the ever important arena of digital social media. Well to be honest probably in grassroots traditional networking as well. Admittedly, I have a tiny fanbase and when I do have gigs or open mic performances I haven’t been vocal enough at explicitly stating who I am and how to find and follow my digital trail. I"ll turn it around with this Morrissey/Smiths lyric: “shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you from doing all the things in life you’d like to”