Stuck

October 7th, 2011

So I’m stuck.

The gigs are (mostly) not coming, the album is not coming, someone I was interested in working with hasn’t bothered to answer my email (that’s a no-no, if I’m offering you money), the songwriting is not coming. Nothing is coming.

This leaves me in a somewhat morose mood.

Now, there are things I can do, and should be doing: I should be getting my songs onto Pandora. I should be getting my videos onto YouTube. And yes, I should be doing those things. But there are always obstacles: it turned out that my Mac didn’t have any video editing software, and once I got it, I discovered that there was a song possibly missing from one of my video performances, and when I went to check my song database on my Web site, it turned out that my Web site was dead. So let’s just say that progress, what little there has been, has not been frictionless.

So my wife, She Who Must Be Taunted, took pity on piteous ol’ me, and sat me down for a talk. “Shake things up”, she said. “You’re stuck. Do something different. Listen to more music. Something.” And, by golly, she’s right, that wife of mine. One of the things that gets the songwriting juices flowing for me is listening to other musicians. I’ll mishear a lyric or something, and I’ll be off. But I don’t listen to enough music nowadays – I frankly don’t leave the home enough nowadays.

And there are oh, so many bands out there, of all sorts – you can’t swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a musician. And many of them are very, very good – and almost all of them I haven’t heard. I was talking to a co-worker the other day, and he was raving about a band he heard at someone’s birthday party, Hallejulah the Hills. Never heard of ’em. I’ve gone and listened to some of their stuff on their Web site, and, meh, but maybe I need to see them live – this co-worker of mine has pretty good taste. So I’m going to.

But I could do that every week, right? What if – just what if – I swore to see a show a week, for the next year, each time a performer I’ve never seen before? No big-shot acts – nothing in a room bigger than Passim, in fact. Who should I see? You folks must know, right? So send me some ideas – seriously. Write me back.

Of course, there are some ground rules.

First, no classical music. I’m a classically trained pianist, and I’ve had plenty of experience snoring through classical music. No snoring, please.

Second, no country music. My dog is fine, my wife is fine, and I don’t own a pickup.

Third, no Bob Dylan tribute bands. Those of you who know me well understand that I don’t believe that Bob Dylan deserves anything besides a muzzle, and perhaps the number of a good speech therapist.

Beyond that, I’m game. I’ve been to the Rat in Kenmore Square and lived to tell about it, and I own an authentically aged (not by me) biker jacket, so no venue is too skeezy for me. Loud, mopey, experimental, dirge-like; folk, pop, ska, rock, roots; whatever you think I need to listen to. Good music is good music (mostly; like I said, no Dylan).

I’m serious about this. Send me ideas. SWMBT ain’t gonna let me sit on my ass and mope for the rest of my life – well, actually, she would, but I can’t bear to make her watch it.

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