Tunes of Different Sorts

The summer of 2010 has brought many changes to my life. For starters, I forgot how to write, and thus have been inept at blogging and filling anyone in on any of the aforementioned changes. My latest theory is that if I post brief clips on a semi-regular basis I will be able get my flow back. But no promises, that's for sure. I have been rightfully called out on my major slacking, and would honestly be surprised if anyone read this very post. With that business out of the way, I can get to the matter at hand...

Performing.

I have been doing the singer/songwriter thing for a few years now, and have been about as efficient with it as I have with this blog in the past. Unlike this blog, however, recent months have been fruitful for my journey to be the next G-Love. I opened up a gig for Jamie, DJ, and Doran, and played/sung for the first time with a band behind me. Gaining confidence from that was big, and last night I found myself watching the Phillies game with a few friends at a place on West Chester Pike that just so happened to have an Open Mic Night, a chance to further stroke my originally miniscule musical ego. It took a push in the right direction and a couple lagers to really take charge and grab the mic from the guy who was running the whole shindig, especially since he had the place rocking. I got up though, and busted out my Family Matters Theme song cover to start, which turned some heads and got a few people singing. I transitioned from that to singing a brief portion of a song I wrote about the Philadelphia Eagles, which also went over pretty well considering it was primarily a sports crowd. That was followed with "What a Wonderful World", one of my regulars because it's on the short list of happier songs I know. Then came another original, which who knows if anyone really payed attention to, but heck, it's always worth busting out. Closed my time out with a Jackson 5 cover and Steal my Kisses by Ben Harper, both quicker songs to keep the upbeat vibe alive and well. The entire time though, a few dudes added bongo beats and backup vocals/guitars, making my mini set really come together. Whether or not anyone was sober enough to remember my set besides me I know now. I do know that people were definitely feeling it, and every time that happens I gain some momentum forward with the whole "playing in public" thing.

Today I took the guit into a completely different situation. A very close family friend of ours (a surrogate grandmother to me) was taken to the ER and diagnosed with a failing heart, the doctors give her little time to live. I visited with my parents and sister on Sunday, and came up with the idea to visit again and play her a few songs to give her a change of pace in those dreadful hospital confines. I was able to follow through with it and played for and talked with her for a good portion of the afternoon. She really appreciated the effort made on her behalf, and I think playing for her definitely added something to the whole visit. No fading satisfaction I gained from playing for her in her final days will remotely come close to dealing with the pain of losing Sarah Harris, but I will say that I would personally appreciate a live tune or two if I was in her position and I was honored to share the time with her.

Anyhow, figured I would fire up a post and see if Boomer has totally given up on this page on whether he stills checks it periodically. More summer updates to come. (Maybe)