Monday's post was a bummer. Yup. It was written in about 20 minutes, during a time when everything was hitting me all at once. And actually, I added the first paragraph after I'd written everything else, because even I recognized the pity party I was throwing. Depression is a tricky bastard. Therapy and medication definitely mitigate a lot of the complications and symptoms, but even then, depression can find a cat door in your mind and sneak in to ruin your day. Obviously, if there are legitimate stresses in your life, nothing short of a controlled substance or an amber-colored liquid is going to make you forget about it, no matter how much more "together" you seem to be to your loved ones. And those options really aren't open to me any more. There are days when all I want to do is punch depression in the face. A lot. Of course on those days, it takes all the energy I can muster to get out of bed, so it's kind of a Catch-22.
Ah well. Yes, I'm stressed about some stuff, and yes, there's no permanent solution yet in place, however I am working on it. But guess what? Me and Jess are gonna learn the banjo. And I'm sorry, but you just cannot be depressed when you're playing (or listening to) the banjo. It's physically impossible. I've tried. Banjos just go hand in hand with a good time, no matter what The Deerhunter has conditioned us to believe (And by the way, the bad guys in that film weren't the ones playing the banjos. Just Sayin'.).
Irish music got me into traditional instruments, but I've been getting into a lot of Bluegrass lately, too. Definitely loving stuff like Old Crow Medicine Show, Alisson Krauss, and the Wailin' Jennys, but also some folks you might be surprised by. Right now, I'm a little obsessed with Steve Martin's The Crow CD. Sure, we all saw him in the 70's, with the white suit and the rubber chicken and the banjo with the arrow through his head, and we thought he was all wacky. But have you ever just sat down and listened to him play the thing? You really should, because that dude can shred. Even on some of his comedy albums, he'd throw in an all-banjo track, and while I never really paid attention at the time, I go back and listen to those tunes and I really appreciate the incredible musicianship it takes to play like that.
One person you've probably never heard of (unless you go to the Catskills a lot, or have ever seen Derek Warfield's Young Wolfetones), is Damaris Woods. She plays the tenor banjo, and she may be quiet and reserved offstage, but when they let her go, she can deliver. Her solos have stopped me in my tracks at the Blackthorne, where I'll be seeing her again this Labor Day weekend, along with Black 47, and the Gobshites (I'll be the one drinking water and iced tea on stage. It'll be kind of hard to miss me.).
The Gobshites have had some great banjo players over the years. Pret Woodburn, Dave Robichaud, and most recently Paddy Putnam, have all been a ton of fun to watch on stage (and sometimes off). Paddy is generously giving his time so that Jess and I can learn at least a little of his genius. I'm still having a ton of fun with the mandolin, but I'm trying to cram in as much as I can of everything these days. I guess it's a musical addiction. Could be worse, right?
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