Finally, finally I played at the Freight Open Mic last week. I did a little reconnaissance at the open mic the week before that, and the caliber of musicians performing at the Freight is pretty high, but it felt like the right place with the right crowd for me. So I packed up Ruby and went over hoping for the best, but with a healthy dose of realism- I haven't played in front of an audience in over six years after all.
I have some experience with stage fright. I consider myself to be a fairly rational person, but I have learned that there are several areas of my life where rationality and logic do not apply, no matter how much one may desire otherwise. Stage fright has nothing to do with rationality. My conscious mind fully recognizes that the audience is a group of like-minded and tolerant acoustic musicians including several of my close friends, but my body does not acknowledge this distinction. It tells me that I am about to be eaten alive by a prehistoric tiger and prepares me for the fight-or-flight of my life, possibly the last of my life. Not helpful. Not rational.
As I am stepping onto the stage, every major muscle in my body is beginning to twitch, every joint is suddenly loose and over-lubricated. My throat constricts, I bet my pupils are dilating... the point I am trying to make is that it is very hard to play a guitar or hit the right notes under these circumstances. I did my best, but it wasn't very satisfying- I think the best thing that came out of the evening (aside from the free tickets to see Molly's Revenge) is that I know for sure it's the right place for me, and I need to suck it up and play as many Open Mics as it takes to work the stage fright out of my system. Play on!
01 December 2010
31 July 2010
Laura Marling at GAMH 07-27-10
Tuesday night T and I went to GAMH to see Laura Marling. I've been listening to her for awhile on KCRW and I still can't get over the disparity between her voice and her age/appearance- she's 20 years old, has two albums out already, has been playing high profile gigs since she was at least 15- and her music sounds like it comes from a much older person (whatever that means).
19 July 2010
Writing Music Again
I moved out of SF, to the East Bay. Two things have come out of it: my commute is shorter by a whole hour a day, and the living room of my new place has a great acoustic quality. It's fun to play music in different parts of the room facing different directions, and hear the reverberations change... the sound reflects in such a way that I can actually hear my voice coming back at me, which is very cool. Whenever the house is empty I close the windows and make some noise (our neighbors are very close).
Another thing I've been trying is to keep a sort of journal. Not a sit-down-at-the-end-of-the-day-and-write sort of journal (which has never worked for me) but more of a stream of consciousness thing. Sometimes if I'm in the right mood, I keep a word doc open on one screen (I have a dual monitor setup at work) and I write down what occurs to me... I started doing this awhile ago to try and work out the source(s) of my on-again-off-again general malaise, but what's come out of it has been some useful lyrical material here and there. I have a few half-songs in the works that are starting to shape up... feels good to be writing music again, but it's sort of annoying to have my own song stuck in my head, especially when I don't know how it ends yet.
16 July 2010
Imogen Heap
I'm awful! Ok, first- Imogen Heap eye candy.
On a particularly miserable day at the end of last month, I had a ticket to see Imogen Heap at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga (CA), and I was not in to mood to drive an hour and a half down the peninsula on a friday night. I'm so glad I did it anyway. The venue was unique and awesome, my seat was (unexpectedly) close to the stage, and Imogen Heap put on a great show, with some well-coordinated audience participation, and set list apparently chosen by ticketholders online prior to the concert. It's an open-air venue on the top of a (small) mountain, and once the sun went down it got pretty chilly up there- the two women next to me, wearing nice dresses with bare legs exposed, had to leave early because they were too cold (Californians! Sheesh). I will admit that even with my REI shell and fleece vest on, I was shivering through the last two or three songs, and a lot of other audience members had blankets and coats. That's June in the Bay Area for you.
It rocked anyway! Her harmonizer thingy is awesome... it was windy now and then, and it would harmonize the wind (kind of screwed up "Hide and Seek" a little bit). She did a version of "Wait it Out" accompanied only by the piano, (said during the performance that was how it was originally written) and I thought it had more emotional impact than the recorded version, which I like very much.
I've pretty much run out of concert tickets now... eyeing some late summer/ fall tickets for Swell Season, School of Seven Bells, Shawn Colvin, Ray LaMontagne and David Gray, and giving a little thought to Outside Lands festival and Treasure Island festival (even though I hate festivals).
On a particularly miserable day at the end of last month, I had a ticket to see Imogen Heap at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga (CA), and I was not in to mood to drive an hour and a half down the peninsula on a friday night. I'm so glad I did it anyway. The venue was unique and awesome, my seat was (unexpectedly) close to the stage, and Imogen Heap put on a great show, with some well-coordinated audience participation, and set list apparently chosen by ticketholders online prior to the concert. It's an open-air venue on the top of a (small) mountain, and once the sun went down it got pretty chilly up there- the two women next to me, wearing nice dresses with bare legs exposed, had to leave early because they were too cold (Californians! Sheesh). I will admit that even with my REI shell and fleece vest on, I was shivering through the last two or three songs, and a lot of other audience members had blankets and coats. That's June in the Bay Area for you.
It rocked anyway! Her harmonizer thingy is awesome... it was windy now and then, and it would harmonize the wind (kind of screwed up "Hide and Seek" a little bit). She did a version of "Wait it Out" accompanied only by the piano, (said during the performance that was how it was originally written) and I thought it had more emotional impact than the recorded version, which I like very much.
I've pretty much run out of concert tickets now... eyeing some late summer/ fall tickets for Swell Season, School of Seven Bells, Shawn Colvin, Ray LaMontagne and David Gray, and giving a little thought to Outside Lands festival and Treasure Island festival (even though I hate festivals).
21 May 2010
Back to Reality; Broken Bells at the Regency Ballroom
I've been MIA from the blog for a month or so, thanks to studying for (hopefully!) my final licensing exam- wrapped that up this week, so back to "real life." I have not, however, been MIA from live music- since my last post I saw Miike Snow, won free tickets to see Aqualung (yeah free!) and also took the aforementioned T to see the Hold Steady at the Fillmore. I have actually been getting to about one show per week - pictures and recaps coming soon!
14 April 2010
Little Dragon at the Independent 4.13.10
Update 2015-03-17: I had a witty little paragraph here about how Little Dragon was "on fire" at the show, and the fire alarm even went off three times and the fire department showed up... but the text got corrupted in the post editor and now it's lost forever. Sadness.It was a sold out show and the Independent was packed-I managed to get head and shoulders above the crowd somehow. Little Dragon is a pretty kooky act- Yukimi Nagano has a great, nuanced voice, and she danced all over the stage and struck some really great poses (seriously). Also some very strong work with the tambourine.
It was a great show- would have been even better if someone could have taken my extra ticket... just to have some company. And now I've just had to sell my extra ticket to the (also sold out) Miike Snow show on Friday. I'm reminded again that I have no music friends out here- kinda feel like maybe I should tape a sign on my back saying "Will you be my music friend?" when I go to shows...
09 April 2010
Banjo for Beginners
I have acquired the use of an excellent banjo, borrowed from a coworker. So far with the help of Youtube I've managed to tune it, and establish that it is definitely harder than it looks to play- I think I'll be able to get the fingerpicking eventually, and it will be time well spent because it will improve my guitar fingerpicking skills too, which are nascent at best. Every time I try to learn a new sequence (or pattern, or roll, I'm not sure what it's called on the guitar) I can feel the brain cells shifting and straining, kind of like learning to speak a new language.
The banjo's got a great sound- it's kind of rowdy and the definition of twang, and it somehow sounds more aggressive (in a country kind of way) than the guitar when it really gets going. I'm short one or two picks (it seems that people generally wear a whole knuckle sandwich full of finger picks when playing the banjo.) Maybe I'll find one on the floor of the Little Dragon show next week, although I doubt Little Dragon has a banjo in their lineup...07 April 2010
The Low Anthem at GAMH 03.26.10
I stole that picture of Jocie Adams of The Low Anthem from the SF Chronicle... I was there too, but with no camera. More Chronicle pictures here.The Low Anthem put on a great show- their style is hard to describe. They played a set of slow sort of atmospheric tunes like Charlie Darwin and To Ohio, with soft ethereal harmonies... and then the guy on standup bass (Jeff) starts playing a pretty intense solo, and the rest of the band busts out with Don't Let Nobody Turn You 'Round, and the singers are howling and the drums are banging... They played about 2/3 soft and 1/3 loud overall. I really enjoyed it, but I think my friends were a bit dismayed at the dichotomy (I took pity on their jetlag and we ended up leaving after the first song of the encore). The band members switched instruments every few songs- they all sang, I think they all took a turn on the drums, the guitar, the WWI organ, and the ringing bowed xylophone bell thingy. Also involved- the standup bass, clarinets, tenor saxophones, and a saw. Yep, a saw. I really love the "all hands on deck" multi-instrumentalist approach- it's something I aspire to. I'd love to be able to play drums, guitar, bass, banjo, violin and whatever else comes to mind at a passable level- and then just jump in wherever.
17 March 2010
What Does a Musician Look Like?
The question is kind of tangential to the main issue at hand- playing music- but the more I think about it, the more I feel some sort of inner musical persona really struggling to get out. When I look in my closet I feel like I might have a personality disorder- there are clothes for three different people in there. One person is a fairly conservative office worker who likes lightweight sweaters, the occasional cotton blouse and pointy-toed shoes. She's the one who keeps running up the balance on my Bananacard. The second person is a martial artist with a running hobby who wears mostly fleece, stretchy, and/or black fitness wear- she's the one the sales ladies at Lucy know by first name. The third person is harder to find- she wears very casual, unexciting clothes like dark jeans and simple black shirts, occasionally raids clothing from the other two personas, and she is the one who struggles on a friday or saturday (or sometimes even wednesday) night to find something interesting to wear to a show or a club. Can we get her some help please?
When the idea of bedazzled leather pants as "rockstar clothes" was raised on FB, I realized that in this area of my life (as in all the others), I know more about what I don't like than I know about what I do like. Persona #3 needs a role model, so I'm now on the lookout for examples. It's complicated by the labyrinthian genre-ization of music styles- "rock star" is the only household word I can think of to describe music fashion, but I think my own style is closer to acoustic indie folk chick something or other with an underlying desire to rock out without really knowing how to go about it. So as much as I'm digging Joan Jett's latest leather ensemble I don't think it's going to work for me...
When the idea of bedazzled leather pants as "rockstar clothes" was raised on FB, I realized that in this area of my life (as in all the others), I know more about what I don't like than I know about what I do like. Persona #3 needs a role model, so I'm now on the lookout for examples. It's complicated by the labyrinthian genre-ization of music styles- "rock star" is the only household word I can think of to describe music fashion, but I think my own style is closer to acoustic indie folk chick something or other with an underlying desire to rock out without really knowing how to go about it. So as much as I'm digging Joan Jett's latest leather ensemble I don't think it's going to work for me...
10 March 2010
09 March 2010
Laura Veirs and Drum Instigation
Laura Veirs is playing at Cafe du Nord tomorrow night- initially I was only a little bit excited, even though I love her latest cd July Flame, because I wasn't impressed with her live performances on youtube. I need to get over my miserly, judgemental nature- she just played a live set on KCRW this morning (8 months pregnant no less!) and it was great, so now I'm totally stoked! (Can I really say that? I guess so.) Plus it will be my first chance to check out Cafe du Nord and the Swedish-American Music Hall, which I hear is a great venue.
My friend T is slowly picking up the drums... and I am totally instigating. She got an electronic drum set ages ago, and is just now trying them out- I think last week was literally the first time she put the drumstick to the pad, and I went over to have a listen and try and "tune" them a little (I know only the barest amount of what to do with electronic drums). It's awesome because I'm at the same level with my electric guitar (more or less) and it would be so much fun to be a beginner rock band! With headsets on and not making too much noise though- her condo development in Emeryville is quieter than the Pineview Cemetery, by a comfortable margin. It's strange how densely inhabited urban spaces can be so eerily silent... and then a train comes through.
On a side note... if I get laid off before summer, I wonder if I could switch gears to music for a bit?
My friend T is slowly picking up the drums... and I am totally instigating. She got an electronic drum set ages ago, and is just now trying them out- I think last week was literally the first time she put the drumstick to the pad, and I went over to have a listen and try and "tune" them a little (I know only the barest amount of what to do with electronic drums). It's awesome because I'm at the same level with my electric guitar (more or less) and it would be so much fun to be a beginner rock band! With headsets on and not making too much noise though- her condo development in Emeryville is quieter than the Pineview Cemetery, by a comfortable margin. It's strange how densely inhabited urban spaces can be so eerily silent... and then a train comes through.
On a side note... if I get laid off before summer, I wonder if I could switch gears to music for a bit?
12 February 2010
The Bowerbirds at the Independent, 01-28-2010
A few weeks back I saw (heard) the Bowerbirds at the Independent- it was a great show and I meant to write it up then, but life got in the way...
Julie Doiron opened, but I procrastinated a little leaving the house and only caught the last two songs in her set. She played guitar and kind of wandered around the stage (away from her mic, I wonder if that's part of her style?) and there was just one guy on drums (and then guitar) accompanying her. The music didn't quite grab me, but I loved her guitar and she struck me as an interesting person, kinda spunky.
So I obtained an overflowing gin and tonic from the bar and sidled my way up close to the stage while waiting for the main act. I got about five feet from the stage, and I probably could have gotten right up and leaned on it if I wanted, but I didn't. The Independent is just the right size I think, maybe half to two-thirds the size of the Fillmore, so it's intimate but roomy enough. I understand they've recently upgraded their sound system quite a bit.
Then the band came out, and I'm pretty sure they started off with "In Our Talons" and played a great set from there. It took me two or three songs to realize that the main singer, Phil, was playing a classical guitar (must have been the g&t), and it took me until last week to figure out that his voice reminds me of Andrew Bird. The only girl on stage, Beth, played the sexiest accordion I have ever seen, and I mean that in the most complimentary sense. There was also a guy on stage alternately playing a mandolin and a guitar (I think) and another fellow playing drums and some sort of electronic bass-note device that occasionally made sounds at the right frequency to cause the stage to vibrate and buzz. The band seemed to be having a good time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, only kicked my drink over once, and bought a CD at the end of the night. Good times!
Julie Doiron opened, but I procrastinated a little leaving the house and only caught the last two songs in her set. She played guitar and kind of wandered around the stage (away from her mic, I wonder if that's part of her style?) and there was just one guy on drums (and then guitar) accompanying her. The music didn't quite grab me, but I loved her guitar and she struck me as an interesting person, kinda spunky.
So I obtained an overflowing gin and tonic from the bar and sidled my way up close to the stage while waiting for the main act. I got about five feet from the stage, and I probably could have gotten right up and leaned on it if I wanted, but I didn't. The Independent is just the right size I think, maybe half to two-thirds the size of the Fillmore, so it's intimate but roomy enough. I understand they've recently upgraded their sound system quite a bit.
Then the band came out, and I'm pretty sure they started off with "In Our Talons" and played a great set from there. It took me two or three songs to realize that the main singer, Phil, was playing a classical guitar (must have been the g&t), and it took me until last week to figure out that his voice reminds me of Andrew Bird. The only girl on stage, Beth, played the sexiest accordion I have ever seen, and I mean that in the most complimentary sense. There was also a guy on stage alternately playing a mandolin and a guitar (I think) and another fellow playing drums and some sort of electronic bass-note device that occasionally made sounds at the right frequency to cause the stage to vibrate and buzz. The band seemed to be having a good time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, only kicked my drink over once, and bought a CD at the end of the night. Good times!
25 January 2010
Live Shows as Performance Education
Part of my "Plan" to get back on stage is to get out to some live shows, enjoy the music and observe the performers. I stopped going to shows a few years back, for several reasons- I have a short attention span, I hate crowds and strangers in my personal bubble, the 6'-8" guy always stands in front of me, and it irks me to pay the "convenience fee" just for the privelege of buying a ticket (whose convenience? Certainly not mine). Also, due to the aforementioned lack of musically-inclined friends, I have a hard time finding someone to go with me, and I hate spending $50 to stand in a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd behind a 6'-8" tall dude, by myself (wow, I sounded really old right there...)
Well, this is pretty ridiculous, given the fact that I live in San Francisco (and if I lived in LA, I should be fined for being so musically negligent!) Choosing the right venue makes a whole world of difference- I'd skip the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and anything with "Arena" in the name, and after Outside Lands last year in Golden Gate Park, I'll probably also skip anything that claims to be a "Festival" (I don't think I'll ever get over the trauma of the sound cutting out not once but THREE TIMES during Radiohead's set). But I've now seen two or three really good shows at the Fillmore, where I can easily get within 20 feet of the stage (but Mr. 6'-8" will still be in front of me, oh well). The best outdoor venue (IMO) is the Greek at UC Berkeley, which feels cozy even when there's 10,000 people in there. This week I'll find out if the Independent is worthwhile when I see the Bowerbirds there.
The other key for me has been, somewhat obviously, choosing the right performer, and for this I'd like to thank KCRW and Youtube. Just because I like a few tracks by Kasabian doesn't mean I want to stand there for an hour just to see them... or maybe I do. So now, when I find out about an upcoming show, I check out some of their "live" stuff on Youtube- if my mouth drops open, it's good sign. Here's a few that made that happen: Bon Iver, Phoenix, Jose Gonzalez. If it's so-so, I'll save my $50 for the mini.
Well, this is pretty ridiculous, given the fact that I live in San Francisco (and if I lived in LA, I should be fined for being so musically negligent!) Choosing the right venue makes a whole world of difference- I'd skip the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and anything with "Arena" in the name, and after Outside Lands last year in Golden Gate Park, I'll probably also skip anything that claims to be a "Festival" (I don't think I'll ever get over the trauma of the sound cutting out not once but THREE TIMES during Radiohead's set). But I've now seen two or three really good shows at the Fillmore, where I can easily get within 20 feet of the stage (but Mr. 6'-8" will still be in front of me, oh well). The best outdoor venue (IMO) is the Greek at UC Berkeley, which feels cozy even when there's 10,000 people in there. This week I'll find out if the Independent is worthwhile when I see the Bowerbirds there.
The other key for me has been, somewhat obviously, choosing the right performer, and for this I'd like to thank KCRW and Youtube. Just because I like a few tracks by Kasabian doesn't mean I want to stand there for an hour just to see them... or maybe I do. So now, when I find out about an upcoming show, I check out some of their "live" stuff on Youtube- if my mouth drops open, it's good sign. Here's a few that made that happen: Bon Iver, Phoenix, Jose Gonzalez. If it's so-so, I'll save my $50 for the mini.
23 January 2010
The Start of the Plan, the Freight and Stage Fright
Some time last year I had a minor epiphany. Just like how a person who runs a mile or two every other week is not going to wake up one day and be able to run a marathon, I am not going to wake up tomorrow and be ready to go from noodling around on the guitar in my room on the weekends, to playing a 45 minute set in front of an audience of 100 people (is that really what I want? I should probably figure that part out). So, I figure my first step is to play an open mic somewhere in the SF area, which I've never done. I googled around and came up with Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, also known as the Freight, as the most likely venue. It's an acoustic music hall/coffee house with a well-known open mic most Tuesdays, and they don't serve alcohol, so I figure it's right up my alley.
I'm still too chicken to just show up with my guitar and sign in. I get awful stage fright these days. Sheesh... I played those two songs for the OWA in September (see previous post) because I thought, "this is the nicest, friendliest, most supportive group of people I've ever met, even if I miss every note, forget all the words and completely stop after half a song, they'll still clap." And it's true. Even knowing this, when I stood up on the second day of the retreat to play my songs, my hands were shaking like crazy. I had planned to do at least four songs, with a couple extras rehearsed in case I wanted to swap something out, and after I finished the first song I knew I was only going to do two. I felt like I barely had control of my fingers, it was like I was wearing gardening gloves. By the end of the second song I was wrung out- I had slightly better control of my fingers but my knees were actually a little shaky (that's a new one on me). They all clapped, it was great, but man do I need practice.
So about the Freight... I feel like I need to get in on the ground level, sub-basement level even. I have to go watch/listen to an open mic to see what it's like there, what the performance level is. I was scoping out the January calendar to find the next open mic when I saw that they offer classes and workshops, and one class was called Songwriting. The very next day, New Year's Eve in fact, I walked in and signed up for the class- I was so excited. Unfortunately I guess I was the only one... nobody else signed up so it was cancelled, boo. As a backup activity I went and signed up for Italian language classes, also on Tuesday nights, so I guess i won't be sitting in on any open mics until March. Plenty of time to practice, right?
I'm still too chicken to just show up with my guitar and sign in. I get awful stage fright these days. Sheesh... I played those two songs for the OWA in September (see previous post) because I thought, "this is the nicest, friendliest, most supportive group of people I've ever met, even if I miss every note, forget all the words and completely stop after half a song, they'll still clap." And it's true. Even knowing this, when I stood up on the second day of the retreat to play my songs, my hands were shaking like crazy. I had planned to do at least four songs, with a couple extras rehearsed in case I wanted to swap something out, and after I finished the first song I knew I was only going to do two. I felt like I barely had control of my fingers, it was like I was wearing gardening gloves. By the end of the second song I was wrung out- I had slightly better control of my fingers but my knees were actually a little shaky (that's a new one on me). They all clapped, it was great, but man do I need practice.
So about the Freight... I feel like I need to get in on the ground level, sub-basement level even. I have to go watch/listen to an open mic to see what it's like there, what the performance level is. I was scoping out the January calendar to find the next open mic when I saw that they offer classes and workshops, and one class was called Songwriting. The very next day, New Year's Eve in fact, I walked in and signed up for the class- I was so excited. Unfortunately I guess I was the only one... nobody else signed up so it was cancelled, boo. As a backup activity I went and signed up for Italian language classes, also on Tuesday nights, so I guess i won't be sitting in on any open mics until March. Plenty of time to practice, right?
22 January 2010
Music Life Rebirth
Or, A Quiet Acoustic Hermit Tries to Bring Her Music Back Out of the Shadows
I have always thought of myself as a musician, but for the last six years or so, I don't think I would have felt comfortable saying so out loud. Up until September 2009, when I played two songs in front of forty or so of the lovely and forgiving ladies of the OWA (Organization of Women Architects) at our yearly retreat, I hadn't "performed" (in any capacity) since... I don't know when. As a solo performer I have played very rarely- in the seven years I've lived in California, the OWA stint is my only performance in front of an audience of more than, say, three people. Way back sometime in 2004, I did play a few songs on the UC Berkeley college radio station's latenite local program, with my friend the Flake. I count that as a performance but it's so long ago, and I feel like I was such a different person then, that I sometimes forget that I played it.
SO. Now it's 2010, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I am drifting (drift defined). I never stopped caring about music, and Music, but somewhere along the line it took a definite backseat to the demands of my career and other more passive hobbies, and in deference to my nearly-incapacitating stage fright, I let it become a private hobby that I never talk about and never put forward. I play my guitar in my room, usually when my roommates aren't home, never after 10pm at night (wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors) and even then not too loudly. I don't know any other musicians in California (unless they are "shadow artists" like me, not talking about it) and my friends here, who are nonetheless creative, intelligent, and artists in their own right, are not musically inclined. Day-to-day life is so absurdly busy, and simultaneously mind-numbingly boring, it's so easy to lose track of how long it's been since I played my guitar at all... until one day I pick it up and discover that I no longer have calluses on my left hand at all. Now that's depressing.
But there is hope! Last year a friend of mine, the Doctor, taught me how to do a little finger-picking on the guitar, and with a bit of effort (quite a bit actually) I picked it up. Suddenly at the advanced age of 28, I realized that I am not, as I always assumed, limited by my 18-year-old guitar skill set. I can learn, I can improve! There's hope for me yet.
I have always thought of myself as a musician, but for the last six years or so, I don't think I would have felt comfortable saying so out loud. Up until September 2009, when I played two songs in front of forty or so of the lovely and forgiving ladies of the OWA (Organization of Women Architects) at our yearly retreat, I hadn't "performed" (in any capacity) since... I don't know when. As a solo performer I have played very rarely- in the seven years I've lived in California, the OWA stint is my only performance in front of an audience of more than, say, three people. Way back sometime in 2004, I did play a few songs on the UC Berkeley college radio station's latenite local program, with my friend the Flake. I count that as a performance but it's so long ago, and I feel like I was such a different person then, that I sometimes forget that I played it.
SO. Now it's 2010, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I am drifting (drift defined). I never stopped caring about music, and Music, but somewhere along the line it took a definite backseat to the demands of my career and other more passive hobbies, and in deference to my nearly-incapacitating stage fright, I let it become a private hobby that I never talk about and never put forward. I play my guitar in my room, usually when my roommates aren't home, never after 10pm at night (wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors) and even then not too loudly. I don't know any other musicians in California (unless they are "shadow artists" like me, not talking about it) and my friends here, who are nonetheless creative, intelligent, and artists in their own right, are not musically inclined. Day-to-day life is so absurdly busy, and simultaneously mind-numbingly boring, it's so easy to lose track of how long it's been since I played my guitar at all... until one day I pick it up and discover that I no longer have calluses on my left hand at all. Now that's depressing.
But there is hope! Last year a friend of mine, the Doctor, taught me how to do a little finger-picking on the guitar, and with a bit of effort (quite a bit actually) I picked it up. Suddenly at the advanced age of 28, I realized that I am not, as I always assumed, limited by my 18-year-old guitar skill set. I can learn, I can improve! There's hope for me yet.
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