Don't Gimme No Bar and Grill

Last night marked the first gig we've done with Nick since he moved here last month. We played at this gritty original music bar in Springfield appropriately called Shantytown. Throughout the year Daniel and I have been writing new music. We've done some open mics. We've played a few Art Walks at London Bridge Pub. All of which have been great, but there's just something about a full band that I really like. Don't get me wrong. I love acoustic music. Our new CD is all acoustic. But a live band can be much more entertaining and it has the ability to add more elements and excitement to the songs. Not to mention I'm more confident on bass than I am guitar and Nick and I have established a very solid pocket.

It was amazing playing for a crowd that actually wanted to listen to original music as opposed to cover tunes. I don't want to sound arrogant, but we were very well received. We managed to get rid of more CDs and the audience was very responsive. There's a few key moments that continue to stick out in my mind.

One in particular is the moment between the transition of the 2nd chorus and bridge of a tune called "Ghost". After the second chorus all of the instrumentation except for acoustic guitar and vocal drop out. There's an eighth rest right before we explode into the bridge and go to the m6 instead of the 7th. The entire timbre of the song then changes. The vocal line is different. The feel of the song is different and it comes out of nowhere. I like surprises, especially in music. Automatically I see smiles on the faces of other musicians in the crowd. They know what that feels like. It's a great feeling, but oddly enough my favorite part of that section isn't the transition or the bridge. It's that eighth rest. That damn eighth rest really makes me fill up with anticipation. Aaaahhh. So nice. "I'm not afraid to live in the bed I've made." It's a very powerful bridge in my opinion.

Some people may think it's easy to like your own music, but honestly it's one of the toughest things to do. So when you finally do write or play something you like, you know it has to be at least somewhat good.

I hope they have us back. I have to get more of that. Props to my bandmates and brothers in music, Daniel and Nick. We've been playing together since we were 14 and we're all finally back together in the same place. What we have is more than a band. It's a brotherhood. I look forward to the next time we get to share our musical ideas with other musicians and true lovers of music.