Rockin' the Open A

What if you had a moving, powerful experience....

And then had it mirrored back at you, from a little bit different perspective, just a few weeks later?

About a year and a half ago, I participated in the Atlanta branch of Ladies Rock Camp, which benefits Girls Rock Camp.  The idea is that a group of girls (or ladies in this case) form a band, learn the rudiments of playing an instrument, write an original song, and then perform it in a showcase that's open to family and friends.  The concept is the same for both camps, although the time frame for the ladies is condensed down to about 48 hours, instead of the 5 days that the girls have. 

That's right, roughly 48 hours to form a band from a group of strangers, learn at least a couple basic chords or drum beats,  be a creative enough and cohesive enough group to put together a your own song, practice your ass off, and then do it - with trepidation and with pride - on a stage, in a club full of people who love and support you.  It's a bumpy, nerve-wracking weekend, but what a rush when it all comes together.  Along the way, you secretly think that there's no way in hell your band will pull it off, no way.  

And then you do.  

And it feels GREAT.  

The year I participated, I played guitar.  

In fact, I'd only been taking lessons for about 6 months.  (Sound familiar?) During the final performance, I made some mistakes. In fact, several of us in my band had some slip ups.

And then I  got to wail on the strings with a steel slide at the end of the song.  

Not much in the way of technique, but oh. my. god.

Our semi-blues song went punk for a second, and my whole band just made wall of noise as our grand finale.  

Awesome.

After exhilaration like that, my mistakes didn't particularly matter.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that  a group of us ladies bonded during Rock Camp, and that a revolving group gets together from time to time.  There are a couple of ladies who are Keepers of the Flame; they organize and host a monthly jam, coyly called Monthly Cycle,  at  local community art center, Wonder Root . Sometimes we have more informal meetups inbetween.

At one of those informal jams, MJ came, with her bass in hand.  She's pretty new to bass, and is still learning notes. When the time came for us to work through a song together, she wasn't sure if she could follow the changes, so she decided to stay in her comfort zone; she thumped the open A string.

You know what?  

Nobody minded that she played an open string. 

She showed up, and she was an active part of the group.  

She tried, and I think she learned a few new things.
 She looked like she was having a great time.

What a treat, and a gift to see and experience that from the flip side.

You ROCK that open A, girl.