Fears Erased: the mini bucket list

 

I stumbled upon this photo a few months ago, and it's been lurking around in the back of my mind, just waiting for the right time to meet the blog.  
 

According to this site, the photo was originally taken by Gabe Kirchheimer, to document a site specific art installation at the Burning Man Festival in 2006.

 

 

  

Gabe Kirchheimer

 

There's something so powerful to me about the idea of exposing your fears by revealing them on a public wall for a day, and then - literally, in this case - wiping the slate clean. 

So...I suppose I'm going to doing something pretty similar right here.

Here's a small scale bucket list of a couple things I'd like to work on over the next few months.  

1)  Can't have anyone over syndrome:

It's a fact that I have a herd of huge canines, an old house with lots of, um, charm,  and a mighty casual attitude toward housekeeping.  As a result the house is always a little cluttered,  and in need of a vacuum and dust.  We're not talking about an episode of Hoarders or anything, but it can get a little funky.  Somehow that morphed into a worry that if it's not perfect, then no one will want to come over, or they won't enjoy themselves.  In reality, if you're already quirky enough to be my friend, or stuck being one of my family members, then you're probably not going to be too put out by a little dog hair.  I'm planning a few very low-key get togethers, with paper plates and Solo cups, dang it. 

 

Will you come over if I promise to keep the Great Danes' noses out of your food while you're sitting on the couch?

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."

Dale Carnegie

 

 

2) I stink at percussion. 

Or I thought I did...until I actually tried it a month or so ago.  

While at a music camp, during a late night jam session, I grabbed some kind of wooden percussion instrument  that was on stage, and started banging away.  First time ever.  I have no idea whether my playing was good or bad, and don't much care because It was a blast. It was a great way to be part of the groove onstage, without the worry of fumbling for notes or key signatures.  

 

 

So I just signed up for a 5 week djembe class with this group.  

A djembe is a West African hand drum, which can produce a wide variety of tones and sounds.  More info here.  My hope is that learning some more about the rhythm side of music through percussion will end of being good for my learning curve on the bass. 

 

Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not. Virgil Thomson

3) What's the biggest fear of most Americans?  Yep, public speaking.  
So I'm going to do a slightly different  take on public speaking; I'm going to get my novice self up on a stage a local blues jam and just jump on into the deep end!  
How?  I'm picking one standard blues song to conquer enough to feel comfortable with.  I've got some tentative time frames in mind; we'll see how this idea shakes out.

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

Henry David Thoreau

What would you do to challenge yourself a little bit? 
To stand down some small scale  but lingering worries or anxieties?

 
To live in the world of creation—to get into it and stay in it—to frequent it and haunt it—to think intensely and fruitfully—to woo combinations and inspirations into being by a depth and continuity of attention and meditation—this is the only thing. – Henry James, Notebook entry.
 

Voodoo and Psychos

As Halloween winds down, I thought I'd share two more rockabilly songs by a one of my favorite contemporary artists, Imelda May and Mayhem.  One of the things I love about her music is that Imelda and the gang draw from jazz and blues to color their brand of rockabilly.  

I hope you enjoy them....
For additional information, you can also visit her Facebook page here.
 

 It's Your Voodoo Working

Psycho

Until I'm Dust

 In honor of Halloween and the return of the Walking Dead, 

how about a sweet little love song...

with an edge?  

From the boisterous and lovely Kim Lenz and the Jaguars.

For more information on Kim Lenz see here, and her official Facebook page here.

I'm a zombie zombie zombie for your love.
I'm a zombie zombie zombie for your love.

I've lost all sense of reason,
I've no will of my own.
Have you I must.
You know I'm just 
a zombie for your love. 

I crave your flesh
You know I'm just 
a zombie for your love.

Until I'm dust
You know I'm just
a zombie for your love.


When I grow up (ahahaha), I want to play Rockabilly. 
There's always been something about the twangy guitars, the upbeat Texas swing tempo, and - good god - the slap bass that holds an awful lot of appeal.

Arguably, the most commonly known modern rockabilly group of the last 30 years is the Stray Cats, but actually there's a huge rockabilly subculture, and host of current bands pursuing the tradition. 

There's a rockabilly hall of fame.
There are rockabilly blogs: here and here.
There are online rockabilly guitar lessons.  (Yummy Gretsch guitar as a bonus!)
And here's a UK take on the ethos and culture.
This is just a tiny sampling of all the rockabilly culture. Go out and find - or better yet - create more in your own corner of the world.

Spooked

With Halloween right around the corner, I've been thinking about scary stuff.  Or, more specifically, about the things that scare us.  

Some fears are completely rational, and paying attention to them can make a difference in our very ability to survive: primal, and oftentimes hardwired fears like fear of dark places, and fear of threats to our physical body. 



Because let's face it, there are plenty of real life things to be afraid of. 

Then there are the other kind of fears.
The irrational, or at least less-than-rational ones.
Sometimes they are conditioned or learned behavior - from others or from our own past experiences. Sometimes they are coping mechanisms that are born out of our  inability to control situations that arise.  (There's a great overview of rational and irrational fears, and their physical manifestations here.)

Some of these thoughts about fears came to mind today, after texting back and forth with one of my new buddies from Bass and Nature Camp.  When I decided to go to camp last spring, I was a newbie with only about  6 months of bass experience under my belt.  I'd been intrigued by the general idea of combining music instruction with nature study, and I thought I knew a reasonable amount about Victor Wooten, although I couldn't claim to be a long-time fan.  The best thing I did beforehand was to read his book, The Music Lesson. (You can read here about the fantastic time I had at camp.)

Thank heavens for naivete!  
Once I got home from camp, I dug a little deeper and learned more about Victor and the many instructors and special guests at camp. Once I realized the wealth of literally world class talent and the depth of  experience of the people there, it amazed and freaked me out all over again. 

But.
What if my fears - of being a beginner, which essentially means being unskilled and, to a degree, unaware - what if that overrode my desire to go?  

What if I'd missed out on the whole, life-changing experience because I didn't want to look silly or feel embarrassed? Fear of failure can be enormously powerful.  What it that had held me back?

Honestly, at only six months of experience, I did make mistakes. 
Quite a bunch.  
There was a lot that I didn't know - and still don't.  

All the same, the rewards from the experience far outweigh the embarrassment of the goof ups - in the classes, or, yikes, on stage. (Yep, this beginner bass player got rattled and, among other things, lost 'The One' in my final performance. That's something that bass players are definitely not supposed to do. Just ask Bootsy Colllins about it.) 

You could say that I failed, but I feel like I succeeded.

So with the spookfest of Halloween looming ahead, I've decided to give myself a small fear challenge. For the next few months, I'm going to chip away at a couple of things that scare me a little, or make me feel anxious or awkward, and...see what happens.

Tune back in this week to see what makes the fear challenge bucket list.

Verity

"You are the music while the music lasts. "
T. S. Eliot

I'm having fun shifting the emphasis in this statement:

You are the music while the music lasts.
You are the music while the music lasts.
You are the music while the music lasts.

If you and music are interchangeable, then what is your song?

And what will you do to make sure that your song lasts?

Now, Wait, WHO'S the Boss?

More of the joys of being a student....

Despite the fact that the typical electric bass 'only' has four strings, it poses several challenges to my coordination.  Just like many other string instruments, it requires that your right and left hands do very different but related tasks.  On bass, the most common technique has the right hand plucking the strings, and the proper form is to alternate between index and middle fingers when you pluck.. 


You might be amused to discover just how difficult that can be when you're still a novice.  It's a very common struggle for novice bass players to master; most of the time you're so wrapped up in whether the left hand fingers are landing in the correct positions on the strings that you don't give much conscious thought to the right hand.

So a few months back, during a particularly rocky and uncoordinated  lesson with my bass teacher, Jim felt the need to straighten me out about something.  

His words of wisdom:  
"Ultimately, you're the boss of  your hands.  Your fingers have to do what you tell them to!"

Lucky for me, I took that statement the way it was intended - humorous and...true.
I can't say that my fingers are listening to me (yet), but every now and then, when I remember to check my form while playing, those words come back to me and completely crack me up!
The humor helps take the edge off the frustration sometimes.

Serenades, revisited

I've been reminded lately that it's not always easy and certainly not always comfortable to be a student.
And there's nothing quite like pursuing a new skill to keep you humble.  

A week or so ago I posted about King Curtis' song 'Soul Serenade', and my attempts to tackle the sheet music for it.  Well....

I brought the music to my teacher last week, and I found out a couple new things:

Carol Kaye

 - As it turns out, that particular treasure map was for a very specific version of the song, one with a lot of fills and flourishes, and not the version I had in mind.  My teacher transcribed the 'my' version.
- It's in a different key.
- I get to learn some new neighborhoods on the fretboard, as in, there's a bunch of new-to-me notes.
- It's a  pretty simple bass line that will give me the chance to practice slower pacing between some notes.    Slower, consistent rhythm is a challenge for me.
- As someone with child-sized hands, there's a couple stretches on fretboard that will give my pinky a workout.  
- Sometimes, when I get frustrated, I wonder why in the world I'm doing all this....

In the plus column, I'm learning how to play one of my current favorite songs, which is just plain fun.

I wish I was progressing faster, but you know what?  
Every little step forward that I make feels great, and it sure feels like I've earned it.

And as it turns out, adults who decide to take up music have some advantages, according to this 2008 NPR article, 'Never Too Late to Learn an Instrument'.
"They can see and hear things in the music that completely escape children." 
One adult student "... spends hours analyzing the music before he sits down to play it. He wants to understand the chords and rhythm and structure of the piece, to figure out what the composer is trying to say." 
  
Kim Gordon


Here's another encouraging article about picking up an instrument later in life, from Kennedy Violins Blog. 

Now, please excuse me while I go practice some more.... 
I've got some inspiring women bass players to live up to.

Miles sez

“You have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” 

Inspirational words by Miles Davis

Come Alive

"What the world needs are people who have come alive."

Inspirational words from a presentation by Victor, Regi, and Roy 'Futureman' Wooten, 
Wooten Woods,
Spirit of Music Camp

Finding Your Own Path

"Go into your own head to figure out your own way to your own music."

Inspirational words from presentation by Regi and Roy 'Futureman' Wooten, 
at Wooten Woods,
Spirit of Music Camp.

Wilderness

"The real wilderness is in your mind."


Inspirational words heard at Wooten Woods, 
Spirit of Music Camp.

Carpe Diem

"Waking up in the morning - you're lucky if you do.
Not everyone gets to wake up in the morning."

I choose to interpret that as a 'seize the day' type of statement! ;-)




Inspirational (or somewhat alarming) words heard at Wooten Woods, Spirit of Music Camp.

Build a Bridge

"Music is your bridge to the invisible world."

Inspiring words by Roy 'Futureman' Wooten








Natural bass clef, Wooten Woods

The Good Sister

Inspiration.

Who has left their imprint on you?

What  do you pass on to others?




As I was trolling through Youtube, looking for the Wood Brothers video of 'Up Above My Head', I stumbled onto a video that flat out made me fall in love: 
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, singing the same song, but a good 50 years or more earlier than the version I'm familiar with.  (More info on Sister Rosetta Tharpe here and here.)    


Sister Rosetta managed to stay true to her gospel roots, while mostly playing in night clubs, and enjoying a secular presentation and attitude.  And check out her finger-picking style, and awesome Gibson SG guitar too!

As she's singing about music, one of the lines toward the end of the song is:

All in my soul,

Makes me feel whole

To which I say, Amen Sister.
 
For lots more info on Sister Rosetta Tharpe, here's a BBC documentary on her. It's quite long, but if nothing else, watch the first couple of minutes to see her performance in a Manchester train station, in the rain, in the 1960's.

Is it any wonder that artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Allison Kraus and Robert Plant, as well as The Wood Brothers have all been inspired by her singing and her style?

Up Above My Head

Inspiration.

Where does it come from?






  






Contemplating this post, in which I talked about a catchy song and tracing the chain of inspiration and influence between a series of musicians, I began to wonder...
about inspiration. 
And the source(s) of it.

I  started out with a specific song - 'Up Above My Head' - in mind.  I was thinking of the live version by the Wood Brothers.  

In the context of the song, I love the idea that music and joy are all around us, right there for the taking.  As long as we pay attention, and stay open to the experience, it's all right there.

Up above my head, up above my head
I hear music in the air
Up above my head I hear music in the air
Up above my head I hear music in the air
I really do believe, I really do believe
There's a joy somewhere

 Up above my head, up above my head
I hear singing everywhere
Up above my head, up above my head
I hear singing everywhere
Up above my head I hear singing everywhere
I really do believe, I really do believe
There's a joy somewhere

Na na, na nana na, na nuh na nuh na na....

Do you know the slang term 'ear worm'?
It usually refers to a catchy-but-loathsome song that gets stuck in your head. 

In my case, I've recently had a much more positive case of ear worm.  
I've been in a couple musical settings over the last several months where I've  heard different variations on the same song.  And it was driving me crazy that I  couldn't identify it.

It's one that I was not familiar with: all instrumental, kinda jazz, kinda brawny funk.


The very first time I heard it, at one of Victor Wooten's Bass and Nature camps, all I could think was that it reminded me of one kid on a playground taunting another.  The vibe was kinda an old school version of a Bronx cheer with an a 'na na' thrown in just to be obnoxious.  I think Victor Wooten played the mystery song at least once during  the week of Bass and Nature camp, and some of the campers performed it at our end of the week jam. 

 Months went by, and then...I heard it again.

The second time was at the end of a Marcus Miller concert a couple weeks ago, while waiting in line to have Marcus autograph a CD.  A gentleman in line in front of me was humming and scatting it while we waited.  The song got totally stuck in my head, and the next morning I had an 'a ha' moment.  I scrolled through Marcus' impressive discography on iTunes, and sure enough, it's a tune that he has recorded and performed over the years: 'Jean Pierre'.





Now, I've mentioned before, I'm clearly no jazz afficionado; those of you who are, are probably shaking your heads in pity, or possibly horror,  at this point.  

Yep, with a little more digging, I learned that Miles Davis originally created the song.  
Miles freaking Davis, people.  
And I didn't know that until last week.
The song is on his 1981 album 'We Want Miles', which was a collection of recordings from his post-retirement concerts.

And guess what else I learned?
Marcus Miller played in Miles' band in the 80's.

There's something about that linkage that I find exciting too.  

Miles to Marcus.

Victor Wooten was surely inspired by both Miles (what jazz musician isn't?), and by Marcus.


Then I was fortunate enough to experience it, and be inspired by it at Victor's camp.

Because I heard so much about Marcus Miller from all my bass buddies at camp, I went to his  recent concert when he passed through my town.  (I was blown away;  the man is an incredible, energetic musician.)

I'm not trying to claim that there's anything particularly profound about that, but I do find it fascinating that that spark of inspiration can be passed along by a 30+ year old song.
And dammit, it IS a catchy little ear worm.

 'Jean Pierre' has been added to the growing list of songs that I'd like to learn to play, too.

Please enjoy the Miles Davis version, as well as the Marcus Miller version:

And just for kicks, here I am, in a starstruck moment....

The Soul Serenades

Sometimes my inner geek shines through, and there's not much I can do about it.
Case in point: sometimes when I really like a song, and I know that different musicians have covered it, I'll essentially collect a zillion versions of it.  

Thanks to A Little Help From My Friends, I've talked a bit about the 1964 King Curtis song, 'Soul Serenade'.  

Here's the original, and a few versions by a couple other performers, including an Aretha Franklin cover with lyrics.  Which one do you like best, instrumental or with lyrics? 
*I'll tell you my favorite at the end of the post.

King Curtis and the Kingpins, live version 

Aretha Franklin, 1968 

Allman Brothers, 2009, with some of the original members of the Kingpins

Derek Trucks Band, 2010

(This is a long one - forward to the 3 minute mark to hear the opening of Soul Serenade.)

Or, the Funky Butt Brass Band's instrumental.

  

*I love all of these, but the Queen of Soul is always going to win out for me!

A Little Help from My Friends

According to the Oxford Dictionary, one of the definitions of community is
"2 [mass noun] the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common"

I've been mulling over the concept of community lately, and what it means to be part of a one - in the context of being part of a group with interests in common.    And then, thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I got to experience it in action!  

If music is a language, then I'm in the early stages of learning my ABC's when it comes to learning to read sheet music.  One of my current favorite songs is 'Soul Serenade' by King Curtis in 1968.  The free tablature that I've found online for that song isn't very good, however, a Facebook friend recently posted a link to a site that has a free transcription of it.  Since I don't have the ear - yet - to play what I hear, I think of sheet music as being like a treasure map.  It's all there, if I can just decipher what I'm looking at.

Looking at the transcription, I'd been able to suss out the notes, but I was having a hard time figuring out the key signature of the song.  I knew I was on the right track - either Db major, or Bb minor.  I put up a quick question on Facebook, and in a a matter of minutes I received a bunch of helpful info from some  experienced musicians. (The answer is Db major.)  

A big thank you to my friends/fellow campers from Wooten Woods - thanks for helping out a beginner.

For those who are curious, there's a ton of great songs at Freebasspart.

If you're a beginner like me, and you're just starting to learn about key signatures, here's a quick overview of the less common Db Major scale.

There's lots of great information in general at Study Bass, and they have a good section on learning to read music as well.

Support Local Musicmakers

 
When I signed up for the 31 Day Blogging Challenge a week ago it seemed like a great idea. Now that we're 8 days into the month and I'm 5 posts behind, I'm beginning to wonder why I did this!

So, here gang, here's your 'pretty' post for the day.


I've been thinking lately about the theme of community: what it means, and what it's like to be part of one.
And  I'm fortunate to live in a city with a large community of people who make music, and beautiful musical instruments.  This is just the start of what Atlanta has to offer; I'd like to do regular features on local music-makers of one stripe or another as we go along.

 
 Delaney Big City II Bass

So here's a quick look at a few of the custom bass guitars made in my area by Mike Delaney of Delaney Guitars.  All the guitars and basses are hand made in the shop.  Each one is unique, and can be  can be customized to each client's specifications. Please, please check out Mike's site for many more beautiful instruments - just wait 'til you see the guitars!

Delaney Big City Bass

 

Delaney Bisbee Bass

The Todd Smallie signature bass

 

And just to demonstrate  that  they sound as good as they look, here's a video from a performance last spring by Charlie Wooton, of the Charlie Wooton Project and, more recently,  of the national group, the Royal Southern Brotherhood. 

 

 Charlie lived in Atlanta for quite a while before moving back to his home state of Louisiana. I believe the rest of the band shown in the Charlie Wooton Project video above, including Yonrico Scott, and Count M'butu still live in Atlanta. Pretty amazing to call these guys 'local' talent!

Down in the Flood; or How I Spent My Summer Vacation

 Check out the ever-smiling Todd Smallie on bass guitar!

Well, that high tide's risin', Mama, don't you let me down  
Pack up your suitcase, Mama, don't you make a sound
 
Now it's king for king, And queen for queen  
Gonna be the meanest flood,That anybody's ever seen
 
Oh mama, ain't you gonna, Miss your best friend now?  
You're just gonna have to find yourself, Another best friend, somehow.

A couple weeks ago, I found myself standing around a bonfire one chilly night in rural Tennessee, warming my hands while chatting with some new friends.  As sparks leapt into the starry sky, and tales were passed around the fire, one of the gentlemen casually mentioned that the area where we were standing had been under water two years ago.  We were roughly 45 miles west of Nashville, but the river valley we were standing in had not been exempt from the severe flooding that took place in the spring of 2010.  He pointed to a wonderfully rustic cabin about 50 feet away, and said that the flood waters had all but destroyed it.  To the casual observer, there weren't any obvious signs of damage, although I was assured that much work had gone in to rebuilding it.  The rising water and mud had done a number on the inside. With the help of friends though, the owner had gutted and rebuilt the interior, and propped the cabin up on higher, more solid foundation piers. 

The story finally clicked for me this morning, more than 2 weeks later: damn if I didn't feel like that cabin!  I've been down in my own metaphorical flood this summer, and the following months have included a good deal of rebuilding and shoring up my own foundations.

I'd been patching myself together earlier in the year after a big breakup with a boyfriend.  It was the kind of breakup that truly blindsides you, and leaves you second-guessing life in general, and your own judgement in particular, for a long while afterwards.  I was on the mend, though, finding a new source of passion in music, strengthening old friendships, and learning how to make new ones, stretching myself, and trying new things.  I'd even dabbled a bit in some online dating. 

And then came the Week from Hell - blindsided again.

 My online dating misadventures that can be summed up as:

- lackluster brunch date on Saturday (dude #1)

- cyber-stalked Sunday to Monday (dude #2)

- essentially called fat via email on Monday (dude #3)(Yes, really.  Not exaggerating.)

- rejection via email on Monday from a guy I'd gone out with weeks earlier, and who had subsequently dropped off the face of the earth. (Yep, dude #4)

None too impressed with the male population of Atlanta, I canceled the dating subscription, and hugged my dogs.

And ya know...all that seemed aggravating, and a little hurtful.
Until Tuesday rolled around.

On Tuesday, during a beer-y and boozy meeting with my ex-husband, a tangled and incoherent story came out that he had recently been diagnosed with a variety of complicated health issues, including cancer. We've known each other for more than 20 years, and have remained on decent terms in the two years since our split, so this was devastating news.  After additional questioning, I also  learned that some of his actions during our time together could have potentially affected my health as well. Fortunately, I'm fine.

It also became clear that the ex was an emotional trainwreck, and wasn't dealing with the situation.  By the following week, I was the one who had to call his siblings to convey the news.  Lucky for him, friends and family mobilized quickly to help the ex-hubby.  Over the summer, his health got worse before it got better, but I'm happy to say that the health crises have leveled off and he's doing really well now.

So for the  couple months I've  had to deal with the usual myriad unkindnesses that can come with cyber dating, the kind that chip away at your confidence. I had to sort through the grief  and anger that come when you realize that someone you trusted was dishonest with you.  And an old relationship was suddenly, startlingly redefined. I had to tell former inlaws that their loved one was ill and suffering. And I watched and supported as an old friend came close to defeat in his battle with disease.

When the sudden heavy rains hit Tennessee in 2010, and the rivers rose, the folks who were staying on the property stayed calm.  They stowed away their most treasured belongings (musical instruments in this case) on the highest protected ground they could find.  With the help of a nearby friend with a john boat, they evacuated  to safety in small groups. After the crisis passed, they came back, evaluated the structures on site, and figured out how to rebuild a little stronger, a little tougher.




So yeah, me and the Tennessee cabin:

Nearly submerged by outside forces, but still standing.

The signs of damage are still there if you know where to look.  
The rebuilding can take some time, and a lot of effort.
But with the help of friends and loved ones, we're standing a little taller.  

Our foundations are a little more rugged than they had been before.

We're still standing.
We're still here. Sometimes that's enough.