Post 1425, Day 132 of 2015
- 1,593 days since I started this blog -
- 1,593 days since I started this blog -
When I started, the purpose was to identify songs to play in a typical four-song open mic set. Of course, from the beginning, there were more than four. I wanted to have options when I selected a set.
I still haven't learned to sing and play all the original seven or eight songs on the list. But my selections have gone over very well when I've performed them. Very gratifying.
My performance is very low key. Since I can't feature guitar work (my playing is rudimentary, to be kind), I focus on sparse accompaniment for my vocal that emphasizes the song. 'Selling' the song is an old-fashioned concept from the days before musicians wrote their own material. You would take someone else's song and perform it with the goal of listeners buying the sheet music to play. People used to make their own music, and were looking for good material the way A&R men did when the music business became the recording business.
I may or may not ever actually sing all the songs on the list - some of them have a lot of words, and I don't memorize stuff easily any more.
But the list is made up of songs I'd like to sing. Well-written songs; those whose song-craft I appreciate. It is, of course, a personal thing. Something about the song (and there are no new songs - the timeline of my songs ends sometime in the 1970s) moved me. Every song is one I wouldn't mind playing on bass, of course.
But, in some cases, the song moved me, has associative meaning for me, and those are the songs I choose. In some cases, the vocal or instrumental line is too difficult, and that song gets jettisoned from the list. In most cases, there is a clever or moving lyric. My ability to sing the song is kind of irrelevant. As on bass, my emphasis is on feeling, not technical craftsmanship. And this isn't meant to be a commercial endeavor, it is another bit of self-gratification.
But maybe I can bring it to clubs. Maybe I can put together a little fake book of forty or fifty songs and their chords, that I can use to jog my failing memory, and play my songs on stage, do some one-man shows, fill in some open nights. I might even make a little extra money.
Although, every endeavor I've ever pursued with the goal of making money has ended painfully (at least, until I got my job with the VA. We'll have to wait (no more than nine months, though) to see how that ends).
So, I can't think about the money angle. It's irrelevant, anyway. Not why I'm doing it. A perk, if it ever happens.
The most surprising thing (at least to me, as I consider the list), i show few of the songs are not from the rock-pop world. Only a couple of soul tunes among what I would otherwise consider 'deep cut' AOR (album-oriented rock). Very few bona fide hits, too.
Something to think about.
Food and Diet Section
Today's Weight: 212.2 lbs
Today's Weight: 212.2 lbs
Previous Weight (5/11): 213.2 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain: - 1.0 lbs
Diet Comment
I was pretty sure no matter how badly I ate yesterday, it would be better than any day on the weekend, and, although I ate a lot of food, I was right. Diet Comment
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.
Lunch
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| Scrambled eggs with peppers and onions and chicken-feta-spinach sausage. |
Pepperoni and cole slaw and a Quest bar.
Snack
Liquid Intake
Coffee: 28 oz. Water: 96+ oz.
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- LIGHT - LOVE - COMPASSION -
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