Friday, September 16, 2011

A Grab Bag of Awesome

It's been forever since I've written anything on this blog. I've been focusing the majority of my free time on my latest musical project, Bluffing the Ghosts (http://www.facebook.com/bluffingtheghosts) and the rest of my time has been dedicated to trying not to lose my mind raising my, newly independent and free spirited, 16 moth old.

This entry (that 3 to people TOPS with read) is going to be a grab bag of random this and thats. I hope that you enjoy.

1.) Michigan Music (of course): I've been trying to go to more local shows in the last few months. It's something I did as a kid in high school that was a big part of who I was and music is still a big part of me but getting to shows that don't have friends of mine playing them has sort of fallen to the wayside with adulthood. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, growing up is growing up, but I like seeing live local music and indie touring bands. I like supporting music in that way and it's fun and cathartic for me to be in that environment. I figure that despite being married and having a daughter, I'm still in my early 20's and I can still get out and have fun.

Consequently I've been to about a dozen different shows in the last couple of months and seen probably around 30 to 40 different bands of all different kinds. It feels good to be soaking up Michigan music in this way again, I have to say, and it's a BIG part of why I decided to kick a new project into gear and maybe get on some of these shows. I've made some friends with bands and other regulars around the shows and I almost never have a bad time.

There's nothing like drinking a couple of cheap beers and talking to the bands, shaking their hands, buying a CD from them and telling them you really loved their stuff and what they do. That's the beautiful thing about small scale music. There isn't a line between the artist and the fan. I know that it's been written about before but it's the truth. Being able to talk to the people you've watched play and tell them you liked what they do feels good and I've noticed that they usually feel good about it too. It always feels good to know someone likes and cares about what you're doing.

2.) Writing Songs and Recording: With the development of my new project I've been doing a lot of playing, singing, recording, and writing lately and a funny thing has been happening. I've been liking what I'm doing. I've always played because I love music and I love to write but I've never felt like I had any talent or anything to offer anyone but myself. The songs I'm recording now and the newer stuff I'm writing is turning out so well that I feel like there may actually be some people who like what I'm doing.

As a result when I record I'm taking my time, teaching myself slowly and tediously to take multiple takes, not settle for anything less that what I'm sure is my best vocal and guitar take, teaching myself to add additional instrumentation like electric guitar, percussion, and keyboard... I feel like I'm actually doing something that isn't (pardon the crass expression) completely "artistic masturbation".

I got into a studio with one of my personal musical idols, Nick Diener of my single favorite band of all time, The Swellers, and we recorded 4 different songs that I'm going to use for an EP. He's producing the songs as well as doing session work on them and adding additional instrumentation. I feel like this EP might turn out to be one of the finer things I've done artistically and I'm REALLY looking forward to releasing it to see how people react.

3.) Dieting: This is more of a personal triumph that no one will probably find of much interest but since this blog is meant to be sort of a catch all for my random thoughts, ideas, and articles, I thought that I would mention it briefly. I'm nearing the end of my 8th week of dieting and and at last check (I weigh in once per week so that check was at the end of week 7) I had lost almost 20 pounds (19.6 pound to be exact). I need to get healthy. I don't care about being skinny, I just don't want to die... and being able to fit into clothes widely available at stores would be really awesome too.

-Travis-

1 comment:

Travis said...

Hey Travis, I know this is super random but would you be willing to sell the domain for travisvalentine.com?