SeeHess, righting grants , and passions denied

*...Remembering the days when CHS would play Coasters and Lizards and we'd have a line up during our first set, the dance floor was beyond packed and by the end of the night it was insane. I'd sweat buckets on stage and got to play some big solos. I miss playing to a packed house like that where it was just electric in the air and everyone was there to party and rock it. And our shirts were cool on all the beautiful girls... 
 Now I'm in this really cool band called Soul Migration and we play a lot of cool tunes and quite a few where I get to rip some big solos yet we barely have any gigs. It's weird. The scene here has changed so much and I can remember even farther back playing house gigs where you'd play 5 nights a week, that's where you get a groove and your chops get kicked in the ass. The one great thing about the overseas gigs I did was playing every night, plus all the hours I'd play during the day practicing and writing etc. Hoping things swing back around and people wanna go see live rock n roll.
 Also, since I'm rambling, saw two interesting things online this week. The first was someone saying on a site how they write silly songs and write grants to continue making music. It's everything wrong with the music scene. If you're music and the creation of it is dependent on a grant then you're not coming from the same place as most musicians. The people I wanna see are the broken people, the dreamers, who HAVE to play music all day, every day, regardless of fame or money. Those are the people I wanna be around and the ones who inspire me. It's weird how nowadays someone leans a few chords and a few songs and then they have a show and are getting album grants, yet they barely have enough songs to do a show and have never played in front of a crowd. It's not a bad thing, just sometimes it's good to learn the language of music, to learn how Bob Dylan spoke, or Joni Mitchell, or Zeppelin, or the Foo Fighters, or Slayer, or Miles Davis, or whatever floats your boat. This new way of doing things where someone starts their first band and a month later they are releasing an album and have played almost no shows, is cool for the pioneering spirit, but just seems odd. You can definitely tell a seasoned performer who's paid their dues, they have the groove, the banter with the crowd, a bit of a laid back cool. Also that person who plays music regardless of what it brings in is gonna be the person who's still up at 3am trying to figure out a chord or that lyric they need to finish a song.
 The other thing I read was someone saying don't follow your passion. He had a point, to a degree. The summary was that sometimes being very passionate about something and living for it is not enough. At the end of the day you either have what it takes to succeed or it's not for you; if you're struggling and keep paying your dues maybe it's time to find something that delivers the goods ya know? So, I read that and I got it. But then I started thinking about that person who HAS to play music every day. I'm using music as an example cause it's what I know best.
 I know sometimes I see the state of the music industry and live music etc and it can be pretty depressing, but it's not a hopeless case. I have friends who are climbing the ladder and going places. And when some kid comes for a lesson or is in the front row at a show and has that look in their eye, as much as part of me wants to say get a day job or whatever, I can't because I get it. There's something that trumps even passions and that is a calling and finding your place. I found music, or it found me. I'm not rich or famous (yet) so I could look at the don't follow your passion statement and go maybe I just don't have what it takes but then the instant I pick up a bass or a guitar that all goes out the window and down a deep hole, and it will be the same for anyone else who knows their purpose.
 So I will always do music, regardless of grants or whether I am rich or poor. My hope is that once again I'll be able to play every night and to bigger and bigger crowds and just kill it every night. It's the best feeling in the world to be on a stage holding your instrument, covered in sweat, making connections with your crowd, making memories, making people happy, and more than anything just losing yourself in something you love and knowing that in that moment you are exactly where you are meant to be and doing exactly what you were meant to be doing...
 Speaking of what I was meant to do, I was meant to sleep. Be good to each other :)
~Roxx~

Another day at the office ;) KISS would have been proud of our branding!

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