General Music Chat

So I played Dddonnie's b'day party last night. Lotsa really good music there. I held off as long as I could, but then I joined up with a local guy & the guitar player from my old band FMF to do some cool tunes. Ppl really got into the stuff we were doing.

At one point Dddonnie got up & demanded that I play some solo for him. I about froze up, cuzza my worries about my hand & the fact that I've not played much 6-string in a while b/c of it. I hadn't even taken my own axe. I borrowed his, & started up. 1st song I kinda fumbled around. Then I started to get into it. Suddenly, it was like a hush fell over everything, & like magic, I performed like I used to when my hand was good. I got into this zone, & didn't even seem to notice the audience or the lights, I was just into the music & my voice felt a bit strange, but perhaps it was the monitors that made it feel so different. By the 3rd or 4th song, no one was talking. No one was applauding. It was like I was all by myself in the world. I couldn't see anyone cuzza the foot lights (which I usually really hate). When I stopped, silence - no one said anything for awhile, then Dddonnie started yelling out songs for me to play, & others joined in. When I finally finished my set, no one would talk to me at 1st, then ppl started to come up to me like they were in awe or something. A most humbling experience, in a strange sorta way, cuz it was like it wasn't really me up there. It was someone else's voice. It was someone else's guitar work. It was someone else. (It wasn't drugs cuz I was too keyed up to need or want to do any - plus I had my grandson to watch over when I wasn't playing.) I haven't had much confidance in myself since the op, & I dunno if this is gonna change that in any way, but it sure was good to feel like a god up there all by myself in that weird vacuum-like effect with the songs just pouring through me.

After that, the guitar player from FMF & I did some stuff together that I haven't played in over 6 years. Again, it was magic. It was like I'd been playing with him all along. Didn't miss a phrase or a lick. My chops were perfection personified. Both of us were kinda surprized it went so well. It really was something to see & hear, I guess. It was almost like ppl were afraid to talk to me afterward, for awhile, like I was an alien or something. Then they kept touching me & saying how wowed they were. Boy that felt weird! (One lady said it was like my voice was "so commanding, so all encompassing, that no one could talk or look away.")

All in all, I think I played for around 5 hours, 2 of which I did solo without a break. Something just clicked for me/us that is way beyond my capacity to convey with mere words. Closest I can come is to say it was like a religious epiphany for myself, & evidently for some of the other ppl there, too.

Wish it had been recorded, but from what ppl were saying, it won't be soon that they forget the music of last night. Just glad I was a part of it.

That, I think, is what every musician would like to have happen to them! OMG That is so in the zone. When you feel the music so strongly that you actually become the music. WOW To find that zone where it is just you and the soul and emotion and forget about all that is around you. I LOVE that feeling. I shake afterward though, oh well it is worth it.

Mushin no mushin.
Mind of no mind.

Enlightenment!


The fact it lasted two hours is amazing!

Hey Philby,
GREAT STORY MAN!!.Enjoyable reading for sure..Yeah , the only thing ya might be able to chalk it up to is, you havent play the 6 in a while so you had a direct bee line back to a time when you did play more fequently. You had nothing preconcieved getting in the way.Having the old band mate there prolly helped.YOU were DUE...When that groove is there, it is a higher plain of contiousness and the flow just ...Happens???..Thats the only way to put it. ..If you knew it was being recorded well???.. Dare I say...?.. ..Well, sounds like ya got a new rep to live up to.

Now , for GODS SAKE , dont try to analyze it....

John

Great story.

Congrats. That night was probably long overdue. Hope it is the beginning of many more.

Thanks...it sure took a lot out of me...'bout all I could do yesterday was sleep & eat & sleep some more. Of course, getting home at 3AM that night probably didn't help. I did go back & get my gear yesterday, but it's still in the car cuz I was too tired to take it out.

Dddonnie kept talking about it when I was there. He pointed out that no one played after us for over three hours, yet everyone stayed & kept the party going. When someone else finally did get up to play, it was over, & ppl started leaving.

Ya know, I could sit here & try to analyze it all until there's no magic in it anymore - it was raining, & the "hush" was created by the rain on the tarps; I was just "on"; most of the ppl present were high & it just happened to hit them right - but I don't really believe any of that. It was other-worldly & that's all there is to say about it.

There really is something special about that place. It's green as Erin with the little creek just yards away, & huge sycamores spaced just so nearly blanket the sky. There's a certain feeling of "rightness" you get from simply being there. I've had similar nights there & elsewhere in the past, but never with this intensity & never for as long.

I'm glad no one got on me here for bragging or whatever. I was just so struck by it all & had to try to share it, but words just don't work for me on this one.

Going to sound corny coming from me but that posative energy can emulate from a place, just like negative energy can emulate from a place.
When I camp in the big wood far away from people, I seek out my campsite by how it feels, not by how it looks.
Heres wishing you many returns of that feeling.

I'm glad no one got on me here for bragging or whatever.

You weren't being arrogant.

It's a great story, cause you shared it with such sincerity and full of details, about what was going on, how you felt about it. Spiritual even.

Absolutely, the environment, physically and spiritually, makes a difference. But it seems like you have been going through alot of crap lately, and have probably been in the dumps, or just angry at the circumstances. This brought you back to one of the loves of your life, and I suspect, it was a huge release for you. I think you needed it, and the release of all that frustration, focusing just on the music, being centered and in the zone... It felt really "right" and really "good" and you just let it flow through you naturally and purely, without ovethinking, or too many doubts. You let it have a life of it's own.

Music is NEVER better than that.

Philby, I understand where you are coming from.

For me, When I get in the zone everything goes into slow motion. It seems like Im way ahead of the music and can do no wrong.

Thats a great feeling, It doesnt happen all the time, but I think all of us on here who play live can relate to that feeling.

I guess you should constantly strive to get to that place. When I used to run, and the endorphines kicked in it was kinda the same thing. They call that the runners high.

I guess good ole rock n roll can give you a high too.