This is one is a two-fer, as some say in my Tennessee homeland...or a BOGO for those shoppers among you...2 for 1!!!
I think the reason I started this blog in the first place was just to let myself do some thinking out loud in a readable form for my own personal review later to clarify where I was and how I have grown or what I have learned since. Sort of a 'Dear Diary' situation. Sometimes it's very hard for me to control all of the madness in my head like I wrote about in my song ,Beloved North, about needing someone to help me "quiet the hectic mess that rolls around in my mind."
A friend mentioned to me after reading my last blog that I should really write more about what I am feeling in this format as a way for me to "get it all out." Whether or not this friend was really insinuating that I need a therapeutic intervention remains to be unseen/unheard. ;-D
Anyone who has had face-to-face interaction with me realizes that I am a person who pretty much does well with expressing my thoughts and feelings in a person-to-person format, but I admit that it is makes me feel much more insecure and vulnerable to put it into print.
Now I know why professional authors, writers, etc. get writer's block. It's not easy "getting it all out" while worrying about punctuation, grammar, and saying precisely what you mean. Context and sarcasm are difficult to translate into written words without my in-person go to tools: smiles, winks, hand gestures (the appropriate ones, of course!), etc.
It's also very different from my other chosen form of written expression that many of you are aware of, songwriting.
A wonderful friend of mine Ed Campbell (who some of you know from the church we both attend Grace on the Island in Venice) has taken me on as one of his two business partners and as the performing artist to represent his new business venture, song publishing. My official title for this business is Vice President of Creative Affairs...it sounds so grown-up. And that is weird since it seems like yesterday I was singing songs with the radio in my room as a kid and recording my versions of my favorite songs on a cassette tape. We are currently working on a catalog of songs that he and I are writing together (you know, the ones I drive you guys crazy with on Facebook) with the purpose of eventually getting me some live performing gigs, selling some digital songs, and all the while promoting the new business, West Gate Songs. Right now, we are developing the website for West Gate Songs but you can already buy some of our songs there!
But I digress. The purpose of this title, On the Verge. I feel like I am a part of something that could be the best thing that has ever happened to me in my performing and professional life. I can't describe what an amazing feeling it is to put pen to paper, write some lyrics, combine it with Ed's music, record the vocals, mix the track, play it for someone, and get feedback (positive or constructive, I might add). Of course, the good feedback makes me want to explode because I really enjoy that someone likes what we are doing. I actually do listen to constructive feedback and cherish it. I want to know how to improve!
We have entered one of our songs 'Blue Resolution' for consideration in a local compilation CD that also includes a really big live show in Sarasota in November called Noise Ordinance. My fingers are crossed so tightly I think I may have broken a few fingers...
I am loving that my life is becoming more music involved every day. It feeds the baser needs I have to be creative and incorporates the one thing in my life that I can do every single day and never tire of...singing.
I am on the verge, dear friends, of something that could be truly amazing and special...
***Become a fan or like me on my musician pages on Facebook, Reverbnation, and follow me on Twitter to get all of the latest updates on my music and happenings with West Gate Songs.***
Blogging takes nerve
So, it has come to my attention lately that I really need to blog more often. Not because I feel that I have anything particularly valid or important to say that others simply must read (although, that would be a lovely side effect!) but for myself.I think the reason I started this blog in the first place was just to let myself do some thinking out loud in a readable form for my own personal review later to clarify where I was and how I have grown or what I have learned since. Sort of a 'Dear Diary' situation. Sometimes it's very hard for me to control all of the madness in my head like I wrote about in my song ,Beloved North, about needing someone to help me "quiet the hectic mess that rolls around in my mind."
A friend mentioned to me after reading my last blog that I should really write more about what I am feeling in this format as a way for me to "get it all out." Whether or not this friend was really insinuating that I need a therapeutic intervention remains to be unseen/unheard. ;-D
Anyone who has had face-to-face interaction with me realizes that I am a person who pretty much does well with expressing my thoughts and feelings in a person-to-person format, but I admit that it is makes me feel much more insecure and vulnerable to put it into print.
Now I know why professional authors, writers, etc. get writer's block. It's not easy "getting it all out" while worrying about punctuation, grammar, and saying precisely what you mean. Context and sarcasm are difficult to translate into written words without my in-person go to tools: smiles, winks, hand gestures (the appropriate ones, of course!), etc.
It's also very different from my other chosen form of written expression that many of you are aware of, songwriting.
On the Verge
I plan to repost this to my musician blog as well, but some of you aren't followers on that site and thought you might like to know what is happening with me on the artistic front as well as personally.A wonderful friend of mine Ed Campbell (who some of you know from the church we both attend Grace on the Island in Venice) has taken me on as one of his two business partners and as the performing artist to represent his new business venture, song publishing. My official title for this business is Vice President of Creative Affairs...it sounds so grown-up. And that is weird since it seems like yesterday I was singing songs with the radio in my room as a kid and recording my versions of my favorite songs on a cassette tape. We are currently working on a catalog of songs that he and I are writing together (you know, the ones I drive you guys crazy with on Facebook) with the purpose of eventually getting me some live performing gigs, selling some digital songs, and all the while promoting the new business, West Gate Songs. Right now, we are developing the website for West Gate Songs but you can already buy some of our songs there!
But I digress. The purpose of this title, On the Verge. I feel like I am a part of something that could be the best thing that has ever happened to me in my performing and professional life. I can't describe what an amazing feeling it is to put pen to paper, write some lyrics, combine it with Ed's music, record the vocals, mix the track, play it for someone, and get feedback (positive or constructive, I might add). Of course, the good feedback makes me want to explode because I really enjoy that someone likes what we are doing. I actually do listen to constructive feedback and cherish it. I want to know how to improve!
We have entered one of our songs 'Blue Resolution' for consideration in a local compilation CD that also includes a really big live show in Sarasota in November called Noise Ordinance. My fingers are crossed so tightly I think I may have broken a few fingers...
I am loving that my life is becoming more music involved every day. It feeds the baser needs I have to be creative and incorporates the one thing in my life that I can do every single day and never tire of...singing.
I am on the verge, dear friends, of something that could be truly amazing and special...
***Become a fan or like me on my musician pages on Facebook, Reverbnation, and follow me on Twitter to get all of the latest updates on my music and happenings with West Gate Songs.***
No comments:
Post a Comment