"I'll make ya famous.."

So says Billy the kid (Emilio Estevez) before gunning down his latest victim in one of my favourite movies as a teenager, 'Young guns'. Kick ass soundtrack by Jon Bon Jovi too!

Anyway, as I slooooooowwwly make my way towards achieving everything I want in music (which are pretty lofty goals by the way, I actually want to win a Grammy. If the Conchords can do it..) it does bring up the issue of fame & putting yourself in the public eye. Obviously there's no way I can achieve the things I want without gaining some sort of notoriety along the way.
It's always been in the back of my mind & to be perfectly honest it terrifies me. Whether this has contributed to the length of time it's taking me to achieve anything at all is debatable but I have been pontificating on the nature of fame & why I want these things in the first place.

The way I see it as long as I'm pursuing these goals for the right reasons & with the right intentions, I should be able to avoid the various pitfalls & roadblocks that seem to derail so many talented artists. So why do I want this? What are my intentions with wanting to become a succesful musician? I've thought about this & I can only answer it's the realisation of my potential as a human being. I feel like God gave me a big chunk of talent & left me do with it what I will. You often hear the term "everyone is great at something" well, this is the thing that I'm great at. Achieving my goals is like the realisation of the purpose I was born. I don't feel I will ever be able to rest until I put all those little pieces inside me together that complete the puzzle that is my talent.

Secondly, & this is probably even more important than the first point, is the example that I am able to present for other people to see & replicate. By fully realising my own potential I'm able to show through my actions what is possible for other people to achieve by pursuing their own goals & dreams. It's not serving anyone for me to sit at a desk for 8 hours then go home to watch TV & have dinner, but if I can write an album that's still being listened to in 50, 100 years, then that's making a contribution.
I think this quote says it best:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Mojo - 13 Aug 2010

Was it something I said?

These falling leaves

Kia tatari mou

I told you brother

The old man and the sea

City streets

Oh my

Not my best show. Some good high points still, 'City Streets' went well, funnily enough it was the song I was most worried about beforehand as it has such a high verse & I can usually hide behind the band. However the song's strong enough to cope with no backing & once I got in the swing of things the uniqueness of the song makes it part of it's appeal. The other song that went over well was 'I told you brother', I was completely relaxed by the time I played it so smoked the slide parts. It was gratifying to play it the way I know it can be played. Otherwise there were a couple of cringe moments, 'these falling leaves', a new track about environmental disaster that I haven't put lyrics to yet & therefore played as an instrumental & 'oh my' both lost me listeners. I knew as soon as I started playing them that I'd made the wrong song choice but it was too late so I soldiered through & finished them both. Overall I'd give the gig a 5/10. I've been replaying it in my head ever since & keep coming back to what a wasted opportunity a gig is if you're not winning new fans. I was talking to Ange about it & if you're not impressing people you're losing them & that's definately how I feel about this show. Some things I learnt:

• If I need to stop a gig to get equipment, just do it. After opening with 'Was it something I said?', I felt 'Portrait' would be a good second song, with the harmonica part, but I'd forgotten to get it out of my bag before I started so would've needed to stop everything to get it. In hindsight I should've because as I suspected 'these falling leaves' just didn't keep peoples interest.
• I need more world class songs. I've decided to forget about Pisces for now & completely focus on my solo performance. I believe I can still put on memorable & engaging performances as a solo act but I need about 5 more great songs. World class songs that are able to silence a loud crowd. It can be done, here's two basic acoustic tracks which show what can be done with just an acoustic guitar & a great song. This is my challenge for the rest of the year, to write 5 great songs. Simplicity, that's what I'm going for.

My goals from here to the end of the year are: Finish the Pisces album & develop my solo show's to a very high level, which means great songs.

Battle of the bands!!

I played a battle of the bands last night with 8 other acts at Molly Malones, unfortunately I didn't make the top three & go through to the final but it was a fun night & I'm not too disappointed. I didn't really feel like I belonged there so I don't mind not to get through. One of the young solo guys did make it through & just seeing the shock on his face when his name was called out was worth missing out for.
I played Kia tatari mou, Trouble & Hear the train a comin'. With only 20 minutes and three songs each I figured I should try to make my songs as distinctive & memorable as possible & each of those songs has a unique factor. Kia tatari mou becomes more enjoyable to play as I'm getting used to the phrasing in te reo. I'm starting to understand the dynamics of the song and so am able to turn it up or dial it back as the song dictates whereas before I was just trying to get the words out & the actual song suffered. I also switched to english for the final verse & chorus which worked a treat. Trouble was good, I tried to slow it down a bit & not rush so much as I've done in the past. I found the rhythm of the song at moments but it never really took off like I know it can, but that'll come. Hear the train a comin' I wasn't happy with, the guitar sounded tinny to me & I couldn't find the individual strings to accentuate each note. When you're playing slide quickly the challenge is to not just smash two or three strings and turn the whole thing into a mashed up mess. To be able to pick the single string you're after is the skill in playing an upbeat song & last night I just couldn't find the songs mojo. It's there & the more I play the song the better it'll sound but last night to my ears it just sounded like a mashed up mess. What's worse is I forgot the structure of the song so got lost & had to improvise an ending. Lack of practice!
Still, everytime you play you learn & there were plenty of postives:

1. I made a couple of contacts, one of the boys there (who did a really nice loop effect a la KT Tunstill) asked if I'd be keen to do a gig with him & Leigh bought a friend who's keen to try-out as a drummer for us.
2. I had some good feedback, particularly for Trouble. The uniqeness of an acapella song seems to really intrigue people.
3. I can't really afford not to practice before a show, even if it is only three songs long.
4. I was happy with my voice even though it's been a couple of months since I sang. It feels like my voice is just itching to be used more & once I'm gigging regularly it's really going to develop & come on.

So that was that, a good fun night & definately worth the effort.

Next up, finish my parts on the record & have a jam with the new drummer.

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy - Session 7

Secret Garden
Fallen

Did the guitar parts for the above tracks this past Sunday. It went surprisingly well & quickly. As I'm still getting to grips with my guitar & amp it's kind of hit & miss what sound is cominng out at the moment. I managed to find a nice crunchy tone for Secret Garden, which is how I always invisaged it, however on playback it sounded too crunchy. It's something we're going to have to try to fix during mixing as I didn't want to spend all day trying to get the right sound. I did three guitar parts, the crunch for the beginning & end of the track, a smoother quieter tone for the middle section & finally a guitar line for where the guitar drops out during the first verse. Not sure how it's going to sound until it comes time to mix but I think it's all there.

'Fallen' was done similarly only with the smooth guitar for the majority & the crunch for the middle section, again it came together easily so fingers crossed it comes across that way during mixing. I don't want to go back & re-do any parts so I'm hoping it all sounds ok.

That's all the guitar work done now but I'm going to re-do 'Only a fool', it's the only song I haven't been happy with so I'm going to re-do the whole thing, I want that song to song good cause it's a potential song to give radio after 'Jimmy Jones'.

I also helped Allan move a piano into the music room, I'm going to ask him if we can use it for 'In the meantime', I really want some rockin piano on that track. Next up after the guitar will be my vocals then any remaining percussion/piano, then lastly the bv's. I feel like we're nearing the finish line.

Acoustic Pillage 2.0 - Burgendy Room, Bodega

Played the second Acoustic Pillage show this past Friday with:

Bill Hickman

Jak Stone

The Louis Baker trio

Was a really good night, I opened followed by the acts above. Everyone played well I thought, it was my first time hearing each of the other performers & I was impressed with the variety & level of playing on show. Particularly the Louis Baker trio who look like they're heading for big things. When I showed up for soundcheck earlier in the evening they were there setting up, they immediately introduced themselves & shook our hands. Good first impression, not at all the toff nosed jazz trio I was expecting. Once they soundchecked & I was immediately impressed & felt quite privileged to be sitting front & centre in the empty bar listening to them play.

My set went well, I played the exact set as the previous weeks acoustic lounge except transposing 'Portrait' & 'Like a dog';

I told you brother

Potrait

Like a dog with a bone

Trouble

Intro

Kia tatari mou

I hear the train a comin'

Poison tree

It's a good set but I need to start writing new material for solo shows as these songs are gonna get boring soon. Otherwise I enjoyed it, I love playing my slide & having an accapella song up my sleeve is fun. It's slightly nerve racking whenever I stand up to perform 'trouble' cause I'm not sure how people are gonna react to an accapella song but generally speaking I'm getting positive reactions. Friday night everyone started clapping along, which is the first time that's happened, it was a pretty cool, spontaneous occurance & it seemed to work. The rest of the set went well too, I'm getting more & more comfortable with the harmonica part in portrait so it's coming out cleaner & cleaner.

Overall a good show & happy with the way things turned out. Really getting a taste for these solo shows. : )

Acoustic Lounge - San Fran Bathhouse Thursday 17 June 2010

Played the bathhouse last Thursday night. It was an important gig to me seeing as my last show didn't go so well, I felt like I owed Pete a decent set. A guy approached me before I started playing & asked if he could record the show, apparantly he's training to be a cinematogropher so he set up two video camera's & one mic & recorded everything. It had a real providence feel to it, that he happened to be there to record that night. I guess only time will tell, I gave him my contact details & he said he'd forward on the raw data to me. I haven't heard from him yet so I hope he follows through.
The set:

I told you brother

Portrait

Like a dog with a bone

Trouble

Intro

Kia tatari mou

Hear the train a 'comin

Poison tree

It was the first time I sung 'I'll wait for you' in Te Reo, which was interesting. It came together ok, but will get better as I get more familiar with it. The set started well with a nice version of 'I told you brother'. 'Trouble' was another highlight for me, I was a bit trepidatious as I stood to sing it, acapella songs could go either way but that night it felt good & seemed to flow exactly as I want it to. The other high point was 'Poison tree' which is a really nice song to sing & play, although I always forget the first line of the second verse so I invarioubly end up singing the second line twice. Anyway, the whole set felt good & I'm pleased I could put on a better showing than last time. Unfortunately Pete left early in the set so he missed it anyway. Que sera, the life of the performer..

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy - Session 6

Went to Allan's last Monday & did guitar parts for 'In the meantime' & 'Only a fool'. These are two of the last four songs left so I'm stoked that things are coming along. I'll be pretty happy once all the recordings done & I have something to show for all the years I've been playing & writing. The plan at the moment is to get them pressed to vinyl and sent away to a few record companies & of course some select friends. I think it's gonna be a pretty good record from how it's coming together so far & has the potential to be even more than that if the universe is smiling on us & all the pieces fall into the right place. I can hear how good it can be & what I want it to represent so I'm just allowing the whole thing to come together how it's meant to & trying not to get too anal about the whole process. The professionalism's not important for this record, the idea is to capture the essence of the song & make it sound like a great record done on the cheap. I have a feeling that no matter what I or the band does in the future, this record will be a lot of people's favourite work of ours, because of the amatueurism. Anyway, the session went ok. I'm loving 'In the meantime', I forgot that Graeme actually started the song, it gives it some real anticipation, particularly when Mike brings the drums in then counts me in afer four bars, it's a pretty awesome beginning to the song. I'm going to try to convince Allan to ask his piano player to put some backing on it, I think it'll sound pretty sweet. 'Only a fool' didn't go so hot, in fact I may do the whole thing again. For the life of me I couldn't remember the right sequence for a major chord progression in the song. It's amazing how something so basic, that I've been playing for so long, can go completely haywire when you have to stop & think about how it's played. & I couldn't get the timing right for the opening chords. Mike counts me in & I play the first eight bars alone before they come in. I just couldn't stay in time with him, I was either too fast or too slow. So annoying!! & my stupid Vox pedal wasn't working so I couldn't use it, I have to get it sorted because it's crucial for 'Fallen' & 'Secret Garden', the final two tracks. That's Angie there taking selfies cause she got bored. : )