I also wanted to say that I completely understand what you mean about constantly comparing yourself to other people because I do it all the time. It's so hard not to, especially in the environment I'm in as a musician. I often catch myself wondering why someone else is in a better position than me when I practise five hours every fucking day and all that sort of shit. I know it's a terrible mindset to have of course but sometimes i can't help it. Anyway, I guess it makes me feel a bit better knowing I'm not the only one who goes through that.
Oh, George. The religious numbers mostly leave me cold, and there's a nasty passive-aggressive edge to a lot of his other stuff – but then he pulls out something like What Is Love or Handle With Care! Astonishing. Or imagine if Abbey Road was the only Beatles album you ever heard – who would you rate highest, the I Want You guy, the Maxwell's Silver Hammer guy or the one who wrote Something and Here Comes The Sun?
"You’re on your path and other people are on theirs, everybody has a unique voice and nobody else has yours."
Words to live by. I'm not a good enough musician to reliably play the same thing twice – let alone to deliberately play anything different – so this is all second-hand, but I'll pass it on anyway. My mate Clive, who does the odd spot on harmonica with Richard Hawley (and who you've probably met, now I look at it), had a story about his approach to taking a solo. There was this one song where he'd get the nod three times; the first time he'd play a line that he had prepared, the second time he'd play about with it a bit, and the third time he'd just play whatever came into his head. Clive told this story a lot, and it developed into a meta-story about this one time he'd told it in the earshot of some other member of Richard Hawley's tour band. This guy was a time-served session musician and was not pleased – "bloody hell, we don't even get to do that!". Which just made me wonder – had Clive got Richard H.'s agreement to go a bit mad on the third solo? Probably not. Sometimes what you need isn't the confidence that you're good enough, it's the confidence to jump off a cliff.
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and listen to some... er, Madonna and Shirley Bassey, apparently. It's an education, this Web site.
I also wanted to say that I completely understand what you mean about constantly comparing yourself to other people because I do it all the time. It's so hard not to, especially in the environment I'm in as a musician. I often catch myself wondering why someone else is in a better position than me when I practise five hours every fucking day and all that sort of shit. I know it's a terrible mindset to have of course but sometimes i can't help it. Anyway, I guess it makes me feel a bit better knowing I'm not the only one who goes through that.
Aaah happy Independence day, Chris! I'm so glad you were part of all that madness. It wouldn't have been the same without you! :)
Saw Jenny Lewis with Rilo Kiley a few weeks ago, she’s an absolute gem.
Oh, George. The religious numbers mostly leave me cold, and there's a nasty passive-aggressive edge to a lot of his other stuff – but then he pulls out something like What Is Love or Handle With Care! Astonishing. Or imagine if Abbey Road was the only Beatles album you ever heard – who would you rate highest, the I Want You guy, the Maxwell's Silver Hammer guy or the one who wrote Something and Here Comes The Sun?
"You’re on your path and other people are on theirs, everybody has a unique voice and nobody else has yours."
Words to live by. I'm not a good enough musician to reliably play the same thing twice – let alone to deliberately play anything different – so this is all second-hand, but I'll pass it on anyway. My mate Clive, who does the odd spot on harmonica with Richard Hawley (and who you've probably met, now I look at it), had a story about his approach to taking a solo. There was this one song where he'd get the nod three times; the first time he'd play a line that he had prepared, the second time he'd play about with it a bit, and the third time he'd just play whatever came into his head. Clive told this story a lot, and it developed into a meta-story about this one time he'd told it in the earshot of some other member of Richard Hawley's tour band. This guy was a time-served session musician and was not pleased – "bloody hell, we don't even get to do that!". Which just made me wonder – had Clive got Richard H.'s agreement to go a bit mad on the third solo? Probably not. Sometimes what you need isn't the confidence that you're good enough, it's the confidence to jump off a cliff.
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and listen to some... er, Madonna and Shirley Bassey, apparently. It's an education, this Web site.
What is Life obvs