Simple Diversions

My bassist Ted Harrison and I share a passion outside of our Carpenter Ants gig, we both are huge baseball fans. Teddy is a Detriot Tigers fan, and I of course am a  New York Yankees fan.
I'm talking about this because as we speak the Tigers are trying to rally to win the American League Championship Series, so naturally Ted is on pins and needles hoping his boys will come through.
Although I would have wished for a different outcome with my boys, I still wish Ted the best.
Sometimes having something else to focus on helps us in our quest to go in the direction that we're intending.
A mere baseball game has taken our minds off of the hard drive of band business. We aren't of course giving up on playing (don't actually know if we could...) but simple diversions help keep us grounded.
One of the things that I have found that seems to help me while I'm playing is to imagine myself in a Yankee uniform on the field doing battle with another team (mainly the Red Sox...I can't even believe I'm mentioning them in my post, yikes...), when I need to pull off a great performance that's what usually does it for me (I'll even let you in on a secret of mine, if you see me on stage wearing a Yankee shirt expect a stellar performance, especially my NY Babe Ruth shirt, it's my lucky charm).
They're just simple diversions, but they work like magic for many performers and athletes alike.
Going at your goals full throttle is very time consuming, one could get easily stressed out trying to get somewhere, it's not that you don't need to work hard at things but you also need to relax and let other factors in once in awhile, because it helps the overall goal, and gives you a chance to step back and see it take shape.
Michael Lipton, my other bandmate loves Flea Markets, and he finds the greatest stuff ever in them. When we're on the road sometimes and he spots a yard sale, SCRREEEECH !!!, we're stopping and we must check it out, hey can't pass on a possible deal could we now?Jupiter Little, our drummer is into sneakers. I always tease and tell him that he is the Imelda Marcos of the sneaker world, he just got lots of 'em. If we ever make it big, I can see it now, a house for my sneakers.
Anyway, my point here is that everyone has their thing, outside of their thing
My other thing is that I love to fly kites. You can catch on many Sundays out in the park near where I live flying away, and I could be out there for hours on end no problem. These days during that time, I also send my thoughts and prayers up to my Vickie, it's my time to connect with my memories of her.
Although music is our ultimate goal, it's things like these simple diversions that keep it fresh in our hearts and fresh in our minds.
Take a break now and again, relax and unwind, find your true passion in life work toward it but realize it also takes time. Give yourself a reward for the work you've put in like a splurge on yourself, these simple diversions.
This post is dedicated to Ted Harrison...GO TIGERS!!!
Have and awesome weekend whatever you're doing. Thanks for stopping by. Just remember...

Support Live music today tomorrow and always
Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter and follow the Carpenter Ants on Facebook.

Your Inner Voice

With the passing of Steve Jobs, I thought this little post might be of benefit to my fellow strivers of music.

It's a safe bet to know that most of us in the world are dreamers. Some dream of peace, some good health, and the list goes exponentially on. It's also safe to know that many of  us while being these dreamers don't always act upon our dreams, we merely hold them inside and they rarely see the light of day.
I know this because I was one of the latter. I held on to my dreams and my wishes like a running back trying to make it to the uprights.
The reality though is that you really don't have to hold on so tightly, it would be better if you figured out who was in your camp and who wasn't and the make your way through the mire.
So often we let everybody and their mother dictate to us what they perceive as the way for us. How can anyone possibly know what is truly best for us.
Now I'm certain that you're going now wait a minute Charlie, you're blogging about that very thing. Yes this is true, but if you read my profile statement, the very last line is my disclaimer..."this is my journey..."
What I'm actually saying is that these are the things that I have been through and things that I am going through. There is some aspects of advice, but I'm not directly saying that you should follow that advice. If you go back to when I started blogging (2005 to be exact...), what you'll see is that my story is telling you to look at your own methods of getting where you're going. Mine is working for me, you have to follow what works for you.
This is one of the reasons I don't fill you up on endless stories about being in the music business, because in my opinion it takes many facets to tell a story and in my case, all the things that I write about are the things that have made up my being a musician, and striving in the world of music.
A few years ago, I got an e-mail from a young lady who reads me regularly; she is a saxophone player and wanted to know how she could further herself in the music biz. At the time I was pretty excited to make a new fan, so I set out answering the many questions that she poured my way. Until one of those questions, had I answered, could have come back and bite me in the you know where.
I told her that I wasn't comfortable answering this particular question and said I would rather that you had your parent ask me.Well a couple of days later her father reached out to me and thanked me endlessly for not taking advantage of his child. He went on to explain that she is a good girl but that she's heard all of these stories about the producers and casting couches and really only wanted to know how to avoid them.
That's all well and good, but I felt that had I answered, no matter how truthful I would have been, it could be miscontrued, and I might have wound up in trouble.
This is where the point of this post is. Just as Steve Jobs did, you have to follow your inner voice. Call it your spirit guide, call it your muse, but whatever it may be, if it compels you, then it should propel you.
I listened to my inner voice and it lead me away from New York and everything that I knew at the time and propelled me to Charleston West Virginia. Had I listened to my family who were all telling me that "this is a completely stupid idea," "West Virginia will never be able to sustain you, their economy is worthless there," the negative list also could have grown exponentially here as well, but I stuck to my guns moved here and look at me now.Don't get me wrong, I've had more than my share of heataches and setbacks including the loss of 2 wives ( and most of you know that losing Vickie was a blow that could go on forever for me ). Still I stand before you and say that I am relatively happy, I'm trying to make sense of the rest of my life, I have my head held high and I'm plowing forward. All that because I keep listening to my insides.
Steve Jobs really did have the right idea in following his voice, if he could build the empire that he left us, there is absolutely no reason why we can't going forward.
Listening to that voice is what can take away your darkness. That is not to say that everyone is going to stand in your way, but that listening to you should help you perceive who is real from the fakes. Sometimes the people with the best of intentions could be the biggest brickwalls in our lives, but the inner voice will help you undestand the difference, it will shed light where you are darkest, and help you to know who's real and who ain't.
So my friends, it's important that we take some things from the examples of Steve and so many others who have left us, incorporate those lessons and examples into who we are, sit as quietly as we can when we can, be truthful even with ourselves and listen to your inner voice. It may take awhile, but you'll be glad you did.

Have a wonderful weekend. I love you always.
Support Live music today tomorrow and always.
Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter and follow The Carpenter Ants on Facebook