What’s Going On With the Music and Stuff

In light of the last few posts, I figure I should fill you in a little on what’s going on with the music and stuff.

When we first arrived in Denver, I was little more than an empty shell, creatively speaking. Mainly, my focus was on establishing some sort of financial base for us to survive on, which is what drew me into freelance writing. Meanwhile, The Wild One began to blossom almost immediately; her creativity in photography began opening doors for her, eventually leading her into oil painting. It’s taken a little more time for The Director, but he’s now connected with some filmmakers and is actively pursuing his dream.

But for me and the music, it took a bit longer. And now, two and a half years later, it appears to be my time.

It’s kind of fun for me, actually, because I’ve spent the last two years integrating myself into a community that really had no idea that I could actually play and sing–and now that I’m stepping out into that area, it’s generating some surprised reactions from people. I’m building a rapport at the open stages where I play on occasion, and now I’m starting to build one here at the coffee shop where I hang out and do my writing.

As it turns out, there are a couple of musicians who do an informal gig here every other Sunday morning, and when they heard I could play, they invited me to bring my keyboard and sit in with them. I’ve done that twice now, and the response has been really good, to the point that the staff is talking about possibly having me take the other Sunday mornings on my own.

I don’t know how this will all play out, but I find something very poetic in the fact that these sessions are occurring on Sunday mornings. For literally decades, I played every Sunday morning in a church service; now, I’m playing outside the walls, as it were, in a coffee shop. If I end up doing some of these sessions myself, there are a lot of interesting thoughts going through my head as to how it might relate to mission and community. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Another exciting development that’s unfolding is that through a completely different set of connections (i.e., one of my writing clients), I’m going to be starting an apprenticeship at a local recording studio sometime in the next month. I’m quite comfortable with writing and arranging music, but I’ve always felt a bit illiterate on the recording/mixing side of things, and I would eventually like to be able to produce (both myself and others). This apprenticeship is going to fill in a lot of those gaps for me as I actually sit behind the console and learn how to record and mix tracks. Since the program allows for you to bring your own music into the studio, I’m hoping to come out of this apprenticeship with a decent demo. More on all that later…

So, yeah…things are happening. 🙂 I’ll keep you posted.