Blogging by iPhone is awkward, and perhaps I need an app for this, but until then...
Round about July 2007, I decided to move to Austin, Texas as an alternative to being 6 feet under, which I would have been the way things were going. A new start, in a town filled with amazing music and a community which welcomed me with open arms asking, "What took you so long?" I had no plan, no job, no house, and only one friend from home. But on my journey here, when I first set foot on Texas soil, I asked the Universe, "Will Texas be good to me?" and I was answered with the most cliche of signs: a rainbow stretching from Abilene to Austin. I just knew this had to be right.
When I arrived, I met some really inspiring musicians, the most influential of which would have to be Warren Hood. This 24 year old kid played the violin with such mastery and soul, it made me ache in the deepest parts of my soul. If I can credit my inspiration for returning to violin to anyone, it is most assuredly Warren.
I had been writing silly songs on the guitar, mandolin, and banjo, and playing them at open mic at Ego's for a few months when I first arrived. I had no idea what I was doing with songwriting, but as Bono put it, all you need are 3 chords and the truth. So I wrote mostly what one can call "therapy songs". Most of it crap about my ex husband, ex boyfriends, dead friends, you get the picture. I did discover I have a talent for rewriting classic tunes with clever lyrics, and am still proud of my version of In The Pines. My version of Jingle Bells is my most "Weird Al" of them all (a holiday classic about sex, drugs, and killing deer).
Not long after the demise of Ego's, I picked up the violin. And this has been my #1 instrument, though I wish I had more time to devote to practice. It ain't so easy to make up for 30 lost years, especially on an instrument as unforgiving as the violin. It's not unlike trying to get back into world class figure skating shape after an extended hiatus. Virtual impossibility, but I'm not going to let that stop me. I took lessons for about a year to relearn my Suzuki method training, but had to stop because 1) I can't afford lessons, and 2) I suffered a stroke (or MS attack, or something), and needed to regain my physical health (and stop my right side from going paralyzed).
So I've struggled with some health issues over the last several years, and just now beginning to feel like I'm beating whatever it is that the Universe has been sending to kick my ass. Take that Universe, I'm kicking back.
So nowadays I have a home in which I am finally comfortable enough to practice the violin (let's hope I can keep it, because life has a way of shitting on my parade). I really love jamming to Bob Dylan, and I've been jamming with some friends every week at the Train Stage. My right hand has regained most of it's feeling and mobility (the violin seems to help) and my left hand pretty much knows what to do as long as I know what notes I'm supposed to be playing. I've almost got my vibrato back, and my "feel" is becoming more natural. Mostly I just need confidence and encouragement. I'm trying to stop being overly analytical about what notes to play in what key, and learning to LISTEN. Which is why I've titled this blog Playing By Ear.
So my not so brief background aside, I will hopefully continue on this blog to track my progress, post lyrics and poetry, and other creative endeavors along the way.
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