After my fooling around with an 8-track digital recording studio (see this post for the results of a recorded song), I realise that I have to set myself a goal of playing music in public again. That's the only motivation that encourages improvement in technique. I shocked myself when I realised that the last time I played in public was in 1999 - some eight years ago. Probably the last time I properly played a song on the guitar or the piano privately was five years ago. I could devolve personal responsibility by blaming the fact that I don't hang out with students anymore; or the I.T. industry drains my creative spirit; or the last two women I dated were not just discouraging, but frankly confidence-shattering, to put it politely. However, the buck stops with me. Since I've started recording again, I'm utterly despondent at my sloppy playing - it certainly ain't like riding a bike.
To this end, rather than just recording stuff, I've set myself a goal of playing in public again. Now, I imagine the majority of blog browsers reading this will shrug, "Heck. I don't care". Admittedly, this post is only aimed at a small club of people and, more specifically, one particular person who has poked the occasional finger of encouragement in my direction. That club is 'Out of the Bedroom' and that person is the utterly charming James 'Big Jim' Whyte. I promise, Mr Jim, that I'll be along for the next OOTB session and I will try and rake up the courage to get better and better in my music, so that I can do a performance within the next six months.
To the rest of you blog browsers, if you're feeling the need for a pint on a Thursday , why not enjoy it to the sounds of some unknown/unsigned musicians? "Cos they'll be rubbish", I hear you cry. "Um, no they're not - I've been to a couple of OOTB nights and they've both been good!" I cry back. More to the point, if you're an aspiring musician yourself and looking for a place to wap out your musical credentials, then mosy on down there too. Down where?
Okay, here's the plug:
Out of the Bedroom is an open mic session for songwriters every Thursday evening donwstairs at the Canon's Gait bar in Edinburgh's Royal Mile. All songwriters - and anyone who wants to enjoy good original music - are welcome!
For the sake of a quiet life, I suppose I'd better plug another night at the Canons Gait - namely John and Kenny's Pub Quiz, hosted by the irrepressible John 'Big John' Griffiths and Kenny 'Big Kenny' Watt (and how come everyone I know has a nickname where the prefix is 'Big', plus their forename?). Again, if you fancy a pint on a Monday night and feel like showing off your general knowledge, then go along to the same venue mentioned above. Again, it's a cracking night out.
I'll add the above links to one of me sidebars, fellas.
Two nights in the same pub during a week - plus, it's a lovely venue, seriously in danger of becoming my version of The Winchester from the movie 'Shaun of the Dead'.