Reclaiming a Portion of Innocence (Music is Fun Again!)

With a weary body and mind I write today's blog. I didn't sleep well last night. I guess I was so jazzed after a really good rehearsal with Excuse Me. And it could have been the 16oz. Mountain Dew I drank during rehearsal. I went to bed around 1AM. Woke up around 3AM. Woke up again at 5:15AM. Then I was jolted back into consciousness by the hellions' game of soccer at 6:30AM. I can't wait to get out of that place!

Today's post relates to this week's Aries horoscope from Free Will Astrology by Rob Bresnzy. Again, he makes some good points. And for once, it was really easy to see how it applies to my life.

For the week of June 16, 2005:

Aries (March 21-April 19)"You always learn your mystery at the price of your innocence," wrote Robertson Davies in Fifth Business. In the coming week, Aries, your assignment is to disprove this assertion. I think it will happen quite naturally; you won't have to exert yourself heroically. In fact, I predict you will demonstrate the exact opposite of Davies' assertion: As you dive deeper into the secrets of your greatest mystery, you will reclaim a lost portion of your innocence.


The immediate thing that came to mind was playing with Excuse Me last night during our 3 hour practice. The thing with this band is that it is FUN. I can't tell you the last time I had this much FUN with music. So many times with whatever passion we my have, we can get bogged down with the mundane work involved to do it. Or we may get overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to get a project of the ground. We forget why we started doing it in the first place.

And that was because it was FUN. We enjoyed doing what we do.

My last band, Arden Reign, had gotten to the point where is was so unenjoyable to participate. Excuse Me, on the other hand, is all about FUN. How can it not be when No Doubt's music is FUN!! And I think that is the portion of my innocence that I am reclaiming.

Remember when making music was fun? Remember when acting, doing theatre was fun and not a job? Remember when you woke up excited to go work because you were helping people and not because you were just another cop doing your shift? Remember when you saw your work as a calling and not just another way of paying the bills?

Learning the music of No Doubt, particularly the guitar playing of Tom Dumont, had it's particular little difficulties. For one, I am not entirely proficient at playing reggae and ska rhythms. But after getting the songs down, it was all about jumping around, smiling and, come the gig on Friday, getting the crowd to have a good time. I have not had that in so long.

My calves had been hurting all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I couldn't figure out why. Then I get to rehearsal Wednesday night and we are jumping up and down for the song "Different People." Ahh, that's why!! You know, they never taught me how to play guitar while jumping like a pogo stick when I took lessons. I guess that is something you discover on the way while learning your mystery. And eventually your muscles learn to deal with the changes.

So I am excited for tomorrow's gig. I have an almost kid-like anticipation. Funny. If you told me I'd have this much fun playing in a cover band a few years ago, I would have said you were nuts. I only did original music, with just a handful of artful covers through in. Now I don't care so much. Sure I have my own music and the desire to create new pieces. But I think my priorities have shifted.

I Want To Feel Good!

I Want To Have Fun!

See you at the gig!