I seem to be accumulating musical instruments lately. In addition to my tin whistles and bodhran, I've had custodianship of the band-owned drum kit for several months now. It's a Tama kit, which is cool because I always wanted a set of Tama drums when I was kid, mostly because that was what Neil Peart played. Then he switched to Ludwig's, and eventually to DW, but the Tamas were always the childhood dream kit, and I finally get a chance to play them after all these years. I even did some recording yesterday, my first time ever being recorded playing drums. I think I acquitted myself fairly well.
Also, I bought a set of harmonicas last week. There's a harmonica intro that we do on the song "Dirty Old Town", that used to be done by our accordion player. Since he's no longer a regular member of the band, it's fallen on me to learn that part. I don't mind. It's a new challenge I look forward to. The set I bought was an economy line from Hohner, all seven keys and a carrying case for 20 bucks. Not a bad deal. Charlie Musselwhite has nothing to worry about yet, though. I'm only concentrating on getting one song down at this point.
Lately, I've been itching to learn guitar and/or mandolin and/or banjo. The website Musiciansfriend.com has a house line of stringed instruments called Rogue, and from what I've been told, they're pretty good quality beginner axes at a good price. They have all kinds of package deals that I've had my eye on, but finances being what they are, even the good prices are little out of my reach right now. Hopefully, if my girlfriend's web cam does its' magic, that will change soon.
(Um, that's a possible new job reference, not an Internet porn reference, by the way.)
So what's the driving force behind my musical renaissance? I have no idea. I think I'm just making up for lost time. I've always wanted to learn guitar so I could do more things and actually understand what the rest of the band was talking about at practices. I even borrowed one of my friend Dave's old electrics several years ago, which has seldom left its' case except to show it to people once in a great while. I don't even know how to tune it.
So all of this soul searching and self-discovery and transformation seems to have lit a fire in me, creatively. I've written more entries, by far, in the last few months than I have in years, and I've even written some lyrics. My whistle playing and drumming (kit AND bodhran) have drastically improved, I started singing in another band, and I'm looking towards taking on some new musical challenges. I've even been eyeing sketch pads in the store lately. Maybe one of these days, I'll design my own tattoo. Maybe even further down the road, I'll learn how to tattoo someone else...
In other news, the Gobshites are playing in Providence this Thursday at Whiskey Republic, Ken Casey's bar that opened on St. Patrick's Day week last March. Really looking forward to this gig, as we haven't played in Providence in a while. Also, I got my one month chip last night. Everyone's been so supportive and great. I really do appreciate all the good wishes and positive feedback, and I plan on thanking each of you personally.
Get busy livin'...
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