Blog 27
January 1, 2019
Yup. ‘Tis the Season, and all that. Sometimes you have to look back, not necessarily to see where you’ve been (although that’s important), but to see where you are going.
The last couple of weeks have been spent reflecting on the year that has just passed. It’s far too easy to focus on the failures, and bad things, or things that I never accomplished.
The old car is still old. The skinny jeans still don’t fit, although, really? Should someone my age even be considering skinny jeans? Really! So many goals appear to be just as far away today as they were this time last year.
Wait a minute. Why am I focusing on the negative? Yes, it’s my human nature, but if I spend a minute looking at some of the highlights I can see so many opportunities that have presented themselves and have been taken advantage of.
Last year a couple of musical things presented themselves, and I took advantage of them. I can say that it was a very fulfilling year, to say the least.
We were offered a weekly gig at an Irish pub nearby. Every Friday night! A house band gig! It’s not like we asked for it. We didn’t even want it. We even tried to offer it to other musicians and bands. They only wanted us.
That’s crazy! I’m not sure why they wanted us. I’m not sure what we did to make them like us that much, but it has turned into a very fun gig. Every week I expect a phone call saying that the music night has been cancelled, but here we are… a year later, and they still want us to entertain them on a weekly basis.
We’ve grown from a duo to a trio with a fiddler friend and now to a four-piece with a Cajon player banging out beats and keeping us in time.
We decided that the end of summer would be the end of the gig and held a big Summer Wrap Up party with all of our friends. We rented a Party Bus, had a table filled with food and treats, and made sure everyone had a drink when they walked into the pub. It was awesome!
Two weeks later, the pub was asking when we were coming back.
A weekly gig is perfect for keeping your voice in shape, and fingers limber on the guitar. It keeps the songs (and words) at the ready in your head and it also provides the opportunity to try out new things.
An opportunity presented itself. We accepted. No regrets.
This is the time of year that we start thinking about our annual St. Patrick’s Event at our local pub in town. Last year was the greatest show of our lives!
Since St. Paddy’s Day was on Saturday, we planned a full day of music. Six hours worth! Yup, Bruce Springsteen’s got nothing on us!
The day started with an afternoon matinee. We had a fiddler (for the first time) and he played tunes and accompanied us to the delight of the other folks in the pub. It couldn’t get any better.
Or could it? Next up we had a couple of friends join us. Another fiddler and a Ulliean Piper (which for simplicity sake, I’ll just describe as Irish Bagpipes) banged away with us for a couple of hours. Yes…. 2 fiddlers playing traditional Irish tunes! Surely, it couldn’t get any better.
Oh yeah? The last couple of hours of the evening we added Bass and Drums to the mix. We Rocked out many of our Folk songs and made the most memorable of day for everybody there.
An opportunity presented itself. We accepted. No regrets.
At some point in the year I saw an ad from a local music organization that was putting on a weekend seminar with Tom Jackson. He is a Live Music Producer and it’s fair to say that I am a fan of his.
We applied to be a Featured Performer. We were accepted. The next thing I know, we’re on a stage, performing a song with Tom Jackson guiding us through how to make it more interesting to watch. It was nothing short of a dream come true.
Another unexpected reward was seeing a local band (they were already very good and entertaining to watch), be transformed to Star Level with minor tweaks and changes. It was pure magic!
An opportunity presented itself. We accepted. No regrets.
It was hot. It was June. We were in Nashville. What a place! The worst musician was better than anybody I’ve ever seen here. Everywhere we turned, there was music. It was awesome. It was inspiring. It was an incredible experience. We even saw a show at the Grand Ole Opry! Will the Circle be Unbroken? I think not! Never!
It was an experience that I’ll never forget.
An opportunity presented itself. We accepted. No regrets.
At some point in October I found myself in a hotel for a few days. I was bored and found myself watching a lot of YouTube videos.
I accidentally discovered Vlogging and binge watched, at least, 36 hours of videos.
I can’t say that this was a life-changing event, but I can say that it started my brain thinking differently.
This is hard to explain.
This Blog was originally created to chronicle my training for a half marathon. That is it. One purpose, one direction. Basically it had one thing to say.
For the longest time, I struggled with how to change that one direction that it had. By watching various Vloggers go about their daily lives with their posts, I realized that it’s not always the destination that is interesting. It’s the journey. It’s the road that takes you there.
I believe that I can continue with this Blog and Vlog with a secret destination in mind, but the most interesting part will be the journey to get there.
So…….
What’s going to happen in 2019?
It’s going to be fun. It’s probably going to have some surprises.
What will they be?
That’s the best part. I don’t even know! This is going to be exciting.
Let’s find some opportunities. Let’s accept them. Never have any regrets.
Happy New Year!
This is me.
thewaynereport 