Wednesday, January 18, 2012

How to Fit Myself Into A Box

I hate the Bio/Resume that I have right now ... I feel like it doesn't represent me/the me I want to be... but I also don't know how to write Me ... I'm messy and confusing... and I don't really fit into the traditional or non-traditional box...

I/I'm:
Classically Trained (but much less than classical people)
Play in Community Orchestras (but not a lot)
Have done a crapton of musical theatre
Improvise & write music like a songwriter
Play in the Subways
Play in as many as 4 or 5 rock bands that are somewhat successful that most people have never heard of & are not a part of any mainstream music genres
Have little to no interest in being more "in the box" or going to grad school or taking lessons, because I want to make my own path creating music that I really love that is deeply meaningful to me.
Play a live set that involves half covers & half original music
Do everything from playing weddings to pits to religious services to rock bands to (very occasional) classical gigs to recording sessions
I started cello at age 16 (but does that matter?)
I write cool music in GarageBand on keyboard & sort of just have no clue what to do with it...

I guess really what I'm torn between is I want to represent myself as the Cellist/Songwriter, but most of my work is in the teaching & freelance musician world & I feel like it's talking to two different sets of people with completely different interests ... It's another stupid tug of war inside...

This post has given me some ideas...

Edit: I've now got a different bio up .. I don't think it's done yet ... I realized part of the problem is that I'm trying to serve 2 different masters with this bio ... I need a Me bio & a teaching bio & a resume ... 1 down, 2 to go...

Monday, January 9, 2012

Tales From The Road #1 - Playing at the Bean Runner Cafe

Last night I played for the 12th Artist Appreciation Show at Bean Runner Cafe. It was a really cool experience!!

I live in Brooklyn/NYC & absolutely love it! Because of that, one of my favorite things is getting out of NYC. No matter where I've gone, every time I get out of NYC, people seem a bit happier & more wholesome, less stressed and jaded. It's really encouraging.

Peekskill was no exception. What a charming little town (at least the part I got to explore was). Everyone's friendly & there's lots of book stores & cafes & antique stores & all in a small area. My favorite part of it was exploring Bruised Apple Books - a very awesome used books store! I picked up a copy of The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne & of "Gig" - a book with firsthand accounts of jobs across the entire spectrum of America.




Anyway, on to Bean Runner ... Bean Runner is a nice cafe ... a little fancy, but not in an off-putting way (just in an everything looks pleasing sort of way) with nice staff. I had the pleasure of performing to a full Cafe of people who were there for & actively paying attention to the music. I also had the pleasure of playing with other artists who were original & whose art was very awesome in their own way.

In NYC this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot ... music almost always feels like a secondary focus, even when people come to shows ... there is little sense of community, or artists supporting each other, of people sticking around for other bands' sets because they actively are pleased to do so. I think it's a result of oversaturation & stressful, busy lives.

Whatever it is, it's always beautiful to get away from that.

For me the most beautiful moment was unexpectedly joining motivational spoken word artist Christ Is during his set. Playing the melody from Tool's Parabol, along with my own "beats" behind his spoken art that dealt with some of the grittier, harder aspects of life while still being uplifting was really truly inspirational & powerful.

It's amazing what happens when you put two things together that you wouldn't normally expect to go together. Words & Music compliment each other in a really deep way.