Chapter 1, part I My musical background
Hey, y'all. This is the story of how one 27 year old white boy named Isaac became Elvis' bass player. Let me start by telling you just a little about me. I started playing guitar in grade school. By eighth grade I was taking lessons and practicing daily. I was pretty good in High School, but I was a little nervous about playing for people. It's not that I have stage fright or anything, It's a little more complex than that.
See, if I'm around a group of people I don't know really well, say in a party situation, I may SAY that I play guitar, but I usually don't actually play the guitar, unless someone is asking or telling me to. It's like I have to feel like people WANT me to play for me to actually play. Half of being a musician is learning chords and scales, but the other half is learning how to sit in a room of people you don't know and play a song on the guitar wether they're listening or not. I know chords and scales.
So, although I am a pretty talented guitarist, I haven't really done much with my talent. I should have started, quit, followed or tried to destroy 20 or 30 bands by now. I have played a couple of really cool gigs. My dad was in a 50's-60's band called Gene and the Pushrods that played shows around Central Illinois. The drummer, Terry booked a show that the rest of the band couldn't play. So, my Dad on guitar, Terry on drums and me on Bass filled the bill! It was at the Fulton County Fair and I was so excited because I got $150 for doing it. My Dad and I have played some other shows, but that was the best one.
I've also had an on-again/off-again relationship with a group of guys that I've known for a long time. We had some good times and we had some not-so-good times, but all in all I think that (again going back to my shy persona) I wasn't enough of a leader. I didn't want to be pushy because we were all friends, but either way, I wasn't happy with the way things were turning out, but I didn't do anything to try to remedy the situation. I guess you can't put zero effort into something and expect it to work.
But other than that, I've mostly just played at my house. I've no audience and when I'm done playing, only the walls and me remember what I created.
See, if I'm around a group of people I don't know really well, say in a party situation, I may SAY that I play guitar, but I usually don't actually play the guitar, unless someone is asking or telling me to. It's like I have to feel like people WANT me to play for me to actually play. Half of being a musician is learning chords and scales, but the other half is learning how to sit in a room of people you don't know and play a song on the guitar wether they're listening or not. I know chords and scales.
So, although I am a pretty talented guitarist, I haven't really done much with my talent. I should have started, quit, followed or tried to destroy 20 or 30 bands by now. I have played a couple of really cool gigs. My dad was in a 50's-60's band called Gene and the Pushrods that played shows around Central Illinois. The drummer, Terry booked a show that the rest of the band couldn't play. So, my Dad on guitar, Terry on drums and me on Bass filled the bill! It was at the Fulton County Fair and I was so excited because I got $150 for doing it. My Dad and I have played some other shows, but that was the best one.
I've also had an on-again/off-again relationship with a group of guys that I've known for a long time. We had some good times and we had some not-so-good times, but all in all I think that (again going back to my shy persona) I wasn't enough of a leader. I didn't want to be pushy because we were all friends, but either way, I wasn't happy with the way things were turning out, but I didn't do anything to try to remedy the situation. I guess you can't put zero effort into something and expect it to work.
But other than that, I've mostly just played at my house. I've no audience and when I'm done playing, only the walls and me remember what I created.
posted by Zic | 11:45 PM
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