Fifteen Minutes
How the Unexpected Changes Everything
Epilogue: Safe to say not much has changed in terms of success and such. I'm still doing the same things I've been doing before the gig; but the difference now is I know where I stand in terms of what I have to do in order to become a better artist and how to connect to an audience.
I recently saw the movie "Tick, Tick... Boom!" and in one scene Jonathan Larson's agent tells him that you have to keep creating and throwing stuff against a wall in the hope that something sticks. Life is very unpredictable; you never know what will happen in terms of your life clock. So, the way I see it I'll keep creating until something sticks and I have a feeling something will stick soon.
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Shadow Lite
Just a guy who writes stories and tales of a unique sort.
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Fifteen Minutes
I’ve always been considered an outsider – or “oddball”, “misfit”, “weirdo” – any of those nouns cover the idea. I was the quintessential quiet kid who didn’t play sports, didn’t consider myself “book-smart”, and throw in a fusion of stuttering-social awkwardness you can see why the “outsider” label stuck. It’s no surprise I would always get lost in my head, daydreaming about anything that would come to mind. That would include music wither it be from the radio, a TV show or a movie, a melody or chorus would always creep its way across my brain. And somehow in the weird and often serendipity journey of life I found myself saying the words: “Maybe I can be a musician.” Thus began my life as an artist and over a decade later it’s gone the obvious route you’d expect; lot of failure and losses with sprinkles of personal success here and there. Many EPs in which only three to five people listened to and projects that never came to fruition, but like the influences before me just licked the wounds and kept moving forward. After sometime though some of those hits get to you and combine with phrases of doubt like “Do you think this is worth it?” and “Do you really expect to make money off this one?”; it leads to that low-point feeling where you question if everything was worth it. But of course, I keep going, out of what I don’t know. Maybe it was a gnawing feeling saying “don’t you dare stop!” or maybe it’s just because I’m stubborn (guess you add that to the “outsider” title as well). In any case I continue my work which includes sending emails to promotors in the hope to land live shows and in September of 2021 (at this point live music venues have returned to running shows with updated operations), I received an offer to perform as an opening act on a three-act bill. I accepted the offer and of course took the preparation seriously in the hopes of having a good show; that included planning on a thirty-minute set and trying to get myself into the right headspace. In the time that I’ve been playing I’ve only barely managed to land official paying gigs so when I do get these opportunities, I attempt to give it 100% my all and block out all doubt the best I can. The day of the show (October 2nd, 2021) finally comes and on one hand I feel like I’m ready but on the other hand, I feel like this will be another run of the mill failure. I try to keep my focus though for as far as I’m concerned, I’m performing first and setting the tone for the evening. That quickly changes though as I’m soon informed by the promotor that one of the bands has to leave early and due to the reshuffling, I’ve been thrust into the headlining slot; my thirty-minutes has been extended to a forty-five-minutes. Safe to say this throws me for a loop and of course the initial reaction is panic, but I stop myself to take a breather and think.
By Shadow Lite2 years ago in Beat
Muses & Musings
Welcome to my new series, a weekly blog on what’s inspiring me. I spent much of last week in bed with a stomach bug. I’ll spare you the details of that—but in addition to the grotesque physical symptoms, I had some fever dreams I won’t soon forget. Imagine my surprise to see Vocal’s newest challenge: Write a fiction story about a recurring dream or nightmare.
By Davina Zinn McKee7 days ago in Journal
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