Word Box Wednesday or Whiny Wednesday?

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so I'm saying the heck with Word Box Wednesday this week. (Plus, I didn't really come up with anything else for the word "human". My bad.) So instead, this Wednesday is going to become Whiny Wednesday, minus the whining because I don't like to whine or complain. Instead I'm going to write about one of the rare times I got sick and it actually ended up being a deal, music wise that is.

Overall, I hate being sick. Especially the tiredness and the sore throat stuff because it impairs my ability to sing. I do a pretty good job at staying healthy but when I do get all phlegmy and sore, I get outright pissy. I can't help it. When you sing most everyday and you're not able to do it for a couple of days, or even as long as a week, it definitely sucks.

It was definitely a big deal in my Now Transmission days. As I was the lead singer it was important to keep my golden pipes in the best condition possible. I only remember canceling one show because of an illness and it had more to do with my muscle in my neck tweaking out and nothing to do with my vocal chords. I wanted to keep the streak alive when we headed to Boston for a Battle of the Bands. (Don't ask me the date or year, I'm blanking on that right now.)

It was a rare occasion that we headed to Boston for a gig but when we did it felt like the big time. Not that the shows really had that much more of a crowd than we were used to, it was just that big city feeling when you go from playing in East Nowhere, Maine to the hopping Boston metro.

This Boston gig was going to be spread over two nights. If we made it past the first round at a club called T.T. the Bears, we'd play the next night at the Middle East, a popular Cambridge club, for the finals. A couple of days before our trip I started to get a tickle in the back of my throat. This lead to plenty of coughing and eventually a good case of laryngitis, where I almost completely lost my voice. It was a similar feeling to one I had back on our very first show where I blew my voice in the middle of a set, but we don't need to talk about that.

This Battle of the Bands was a big deal for us so we decided to play the show, even though I wouldn't be singing. What we did was spontaneously switch the lineup a bit. Our bass player Jason moved to lead vocals, I went to lead guitar, and Ray, the lead guitarist went to bass. Obviously, Andy our drummer stayed behind his kit. Instead of playing our allotted two songs we rocked an unrehearsed version of our current "single" She's Not There by it's lonesome. (You can check out She's Not There on Now Transmission's Myspace.)

Jason was a great singer, I wasn't worried about this ability to rock it at the front of the stage, nor was I worried about Ray's bass skills. I was a little concerned with my skills on lead guitar. I wrote the song, so I knew how to play it, but these were the days before I strapped on a guitar to play rhythm so my on stage guitar chops were slim to none. We made it through just fine and caught a lucky break when not all the bands showed up and we got a free ride to the final round at the Middle East.

We rocked with the same configuration that night as well. We didn't win but I thought we definitely did the song justice especially considering the situation. It turned out to be a pretty fun change of pace with all of us (well, most of us) moving into another role we weren't used to but I can't even explain how frustrating it was not being able to do my true part, or even hold a conversation for that matter. I also always kind of wondered what would have happened had we been able to play two songs at full strength. I guess we'll never know.

Here's to never getting that sick again! It's the middle of the day but I think I'll down some NyQuil and hit this crap before it gets me down good so I can get some energy and get singing again. The sooner the better. Keep rockin'!

Update: I did some research to help out my terrible memory and discovered that this trip to Boston took place September 26th and 28th of 2005! Holy crap, that seems like ages ago!

Who Needs Guitar Lessons? I do.

It feels like a lot longer but I've only been playing guitar for about 8 years. I started fooling around with a guitar that my sister borrowed from a friend at the beginning of my senior year in high school. Then after messing around with basic chords and cruising the internet for tabs of easy songs that my fingers could most easily fumble through, my parents decided it was time for an upgrade, a guitar of my own. My journey with Siggy began at my high school graduation party.

It's been a good self-taught ride so far and I'm proud of where I've gotten myself so far. But my self-taughtness (Not a word is it?) is starting to shine through and my lack of skills is beginning to become frustrating.

I started writing music sometime in my first year in college, mostly with simple, first position chords and straight forward melodies. And really, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not the simplicity of the song but the quality of the song as a whole that makes it good. But, especially in recent years, as my songwriting skills have slowly developed, there are so many things that play in my head and that I want to fit into a song, but I just don't know how to translate it into actual music.

I know a lot of this has to do with my lack of technical knowledge when it comes to the guitar. I'm stuck playing the same chords, strumming the same rhythms, and altogether, not really knowing what I'm doing. I don't write music because I know it's musically correct, I write because I know what I like hear and I understand what sounds good and fits together.

Once I net myself a job I think one of my top priorities is to find someone locally that I can build some knowledge from. I know if I want to take my music to the next level and if I want to get out of the rut that I've been in, I need to learn more than I have the patience to teach myself.

Reading books, getting tips and learning other people's songs is all well and good, but sitting down with someone that has much more guitar knowledge than me is really going to make all the difference. Back in college I had similar thoughts about my singing skills and how I could improve for the band I was in. I took lessons for a month or so and though a bit uncomfortable, I feel it really made a difference.

So first comes job, then comes money, then comes guitar mastery. Good plan.

Rockin' at the Phog

We just got back from the WNIT basketball championship at Allen Fieldhouse. It matched the University of Kansas versus South Florida. The Jayhawks dropped it 75-71.

We decided to head to downtown Lawrence this morning before breakfast and get us some KU t-shirts so our New England butts would fit in a little. Our closests are full of Maine blue but no crimson and blue.

It was pretty intense to be part of the largest crowd to watch a women's basketball game at the Phog (16,311). These Jayhawk fans take their basketball seriously out here. It's too bad they couldn't pull it out but it was a good experience none the less. Hopefully we can hit up a men's game next year as well and see what it's all about.

Bela Fleck and the Africa Project in KCMO

I was worried that today's story about the show in KCMO (Kansas City, Missouri for those unaware) would end up "running out of gas" like yesterday's story about the KU women's basketball game. Boy, was I wrong. In fact, I'm not sure how I thought that this trip would let down, especially with the outcome.

Last night I went to the famous Uptown Theater in KCMO with a couple of friends to see Bela Fleck and the African Project. If you aren't familiar with Bela Fleck, he is a 11-time Grammy winning artist that is considered one of the premier banjo players in the world. He has gained extensive notiriety with his group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and has performed all around the world showcasing a style of banjo playing that makes you see the instrument in a brand new light. (belafleck.com)

Minus his Flecktones, this show showcased collaborations with a group of mostly African performers whose instrumental talents ranged from acoustic guitar and kalimba to a harp called a kora and a tin can full of broken glass attached to a stick. The modest sized crowd was even treated to a taste of incredible bluegrass fiddle playing which blended almost seamlessly with the African vibe despite some technical difficulties with the mics. The speed, accuracy and passion that these performers displayed left my mind blown at the talent that these musicians hold.

Each performer brought their own cultural and personal touches to the mix as they performed individually or in duets while also collaborating with Bela on his banjo. The end of the night culminated in a 2 song, stage crowding finale that brought the whole night together into a rhythmic chorus of strings, percussion and vocals that filled the room, kept your foot tapping and forced a smile upon your face.

Though this music isn't usually what's adorning my music playlists, the night was a true cultural awakening and a major eye opener to the musical possibilities that surround us. A show like this gives you a great appreciation for music as an art form that goes way beyond radio singles, charts, and popularity contests. I highly recommend dropping your pop music expectations and checking out Bela Fleck in any of his collaborative incarnations. Our tickets were free from a friend, but I would have paid good money to gain this great experience.

And though the music truly showcased the night, the story does nothing but get better. The doors opened at 7:00pm and since we were about 40 minutes early, we decided to hit up a bar that was across the street. The minute we walked into the bar, a sports bar no less, we had a weird vibe, but not being familiar with the area we brushed it off. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes to realize something was up as one of us noticed a pair of golden testicles hanging from the ceiling. This is where we pieced things together.

With the fear of being stereotypical here, things started to become obvious. The bar was full of men, not odd for a sports bar, but these men were pretty friendly with each other, namely the pair behind the bar serving drinks. Along with the cherry in my friend's drinks and the poster of a shirtless David Beckham behind the pool table, it was rather obvious that we had stumbled into a gay bar.

A quick cell phone internet search proved our theories. After the drinks were finished we leisurely walked out of the place with what seemed like a hundred pairs of eyes on us, although that was probably in my head. But the story doesn't end there.

We turned the corner and walked toward the theater only to be accosted by what I assumed to be a homeless man who spun us a story about how he had just been released from prison after a 25 year jail sentence and he needed any contributions we could muster so that he could buy a pair of boots for $7.50 at the Salvation Army for a construction job he had lined up for the next day. My friends handed over some leftover change from our gay bar experience to help the man out. Can't say I believed the whole story but the guy had a firm handshake going for him.

Overall, it was a very exciting night. Sorry for the novel, just had to get this out, I couldn't make this stuff up!

Pump Up The Jock Jams

You tend to forget the intensity and the sheer magnitude of a live sporting event when you haven't been to one in a while. You see the ruckus on tv, you see the insane fans and the action on the field or court, but you really don't get the whole vibe. It's about being among thousands of people, most of whom are cheering for the same outcome. It's about having to scream to the person next to you just to be heard over the cheering, the band, or the loudspeaker that's blasting AC/DC during a timeout.

I haven't been to many games recently, especially compared to when I was in college where I attended most every home men's and women's basketball as well as men's ice hockey game. Since I've moved to Kansas I've only caught one game which was a KU football game in the rain. That is, until my roomies gave us some tix for KJ, I and a couple of friends to hit up the KU women's basketball game in the Final Four of the WNIT last night. (That's the Women's National Invitation Tournament for those unaware. It's basically a tourney for those that don't make the NCAA tournament.)

Of course, the game was at the historic Allen Fieldhouse. It was filled to about half capacity (about 8,300 people) for this game against Illinois State and it was pretty intense. I can't imagine being in the place for a big men's basketball game, they did win the national championship last year. The sounds and the overall vibe transported me back to my college days while I was working at Alfond Arena for men's ice hockey games. (Hockey is to UMaine as basketball is to the University of Kansas.)

It took a few minutes to get used to the blasting pep bands, just like the old days, but once the game started, the action was the highlight and it was great to see the KU women make it to the championship with a close fought win. I look forward to hitting up the championship game on Saturday right there at "The Phog".

To cap off a fun night, the four of us got shown on the scoreboard screen, the first time I'd ever been on there. I played it cool and just kept clapping. I didn't feel like being one of those people that goes nuts waving or hides their face in embarrassment. Oh, and we did get caught in the parking garage while my "low gas" light glared me in the face. I was a little nervous but we made it out alright. I can say that would have been a lot more embarrassing than getting my 10 seconds on the arena scoreboard.

I don't know where I was going with this post. It was meant to be about how music (I do like to stay on topic) and the excitement of being at a game in person really pales in comparison to watching at home on the tube. I feel like it just ended being a boring pictorial story that captures the simplicity and "excitement" of my life.

I'm going to a show in Kansas City tonight, hopefully tomorrow's story won't run out of gas like this one. Keep rockin'!

Word Box Wednesday #4 - Human

It's WBW once again. Things are rolling along pretty well and each Wednesday I'm definitely getting some good ideas in the attempt to get my head out of this brain freeze that it's been in lately. Hopefully I've been giving you some good insight on what the songwriting process is all about.

Last Wednesday's word was "human". I tooled around with the word a little bit, mostly last Friday while I was laying in bed. This is a ballpark figure but I'd say around 65% of my quality song ideas come after I've curled up in bed ready to doze off. I guess that's where my mind is finally relaxed. Often I'll hear full songs play in my head as if I just heard them on the radio. It's the epitome of frustration because I really don't want to have to get up but I'll take the inspiration whenever or wherever it comes.

I was lucky that this bit of inspiration concerning the word "human" came before lights out. I can't count how many times I've fumbled in the dark to find my cell phone to light my notebook just enough to get down a line or two. (No lamp on my side of the bed. No nightstand either. I like to think of myself as a minimalist at times.)

The somewhat sloppy lyric that flowed out of me that night has the working title "Tin Man". And yes, it's the very Tin Man you're thinking of from the Wizard of Oz. I got KJ the Sci-Fi miniseries for Christmas and the title found it's way into my title list. It seemed to fit my state of mind at the time as my thoughts wandered around the concept of what makes us human. The Tin Man from Oz sort of straddles the line of what you think to be human and what is not. I mean, he's made of metal, but he used to be a person, chopping wood like anyone else.

So are we human because we have skin, organs, bodies, or minds that can think rationally and fingers that can type blog posts? Scientifically, that's probably true. But are there times when you feel a little less than human, maybe because you're timid, scared, or don't feel you make a significant contribution to society? Or maybe because you feel alone and don't have someone to love? (Going to the Wizard to get a heart, see where this is going?)

Since the word "human" has got my synapses firing a little more than usual I'm going to extend the word for another week. We'll see what happens. Hopefully by then I'll have something to share or at least or more solid concept. (It's a big mess all over the page right now, but that's how I like it, it means my mind is working the way it should.)

Feel free to contribute in the comments below and let me know what "human" means to you. Keep rockin', you know I will.