Just finished listening to the recording of my recent concert for the first time. MAN, we COOKED!!!! To the people who pitched up on the night, THANK YOU for being such a cool audience, inviting us to get that energy out there! The second CD (2nd set) is definitely much better than the first, for many reasons. What's really amazing to me is the difference between the December concert and this one. I've listened to the December recording over and over again, and I've criticised myself for having been so tentative, for most of the concert, hedging, playing it cautious, still afraid to let go. But in this one, I can hear the different energy in my voice. I know for sure I'm not the same person I was in December, and I'm so glad it shows in my music. Of course, Charles and Wayne made absolute magic, which freed me to take the tunes wherever they needed to go.
I remember saying to my cousin, Tracy, after the show, that I'd felt our energy was a bit flat, and she’d said "NO, not at all! The energy was amazing!" And now I've heard what she heard on the night. Ultra-cool!
My mom, who at age 79 still sings in public (and still sounds beautiful!) was at a show recently, and afterwards she and another singer were chatting. She remarked to him, in general, "Yes, it's good to keep at it. As long as we can criticise ourselves, put in the necessary work, and keep improving." He looked at her incredulously and said, "You mean I have to improve?!"
Well, she's MY mother, so I can only imagine what went through her mind as she flashed him her one-size-fits-all, indulgent stage smile! Heehee!
Today was a nice day. I drove to work in fairly mild traffic, and even if it was heavy, I didn’t notice, and handled it with ease. These days it takes me more than an hour to get to town, and that's a 20km ride. Crazy!
The day had a vibe of its own, and I liked it. Got through my mixture of planned, incidental and procrastinated tasks, and kept reminding myself that it's ok to have music flooding through my entire being, even at school, because that's what actually flows through my veins. Unavoidable, after a weekend like I'd had.
On Saturday afternoon, I did a 4-hour wedding reception gig with guitarist Keith Tabisher (Congrats, Gavin and Jill!!!), and it was food for the soul! The setting was the couple's house, on the outskirts of Kuils River. We sat on a verandah, facing the garden, where the guests were seated under a pretty marquees. If I averted my gaze from the music stand and the people, and looked beyond, all I saw were mountains and fields, endless, pristine, wide open space. Exactly what my soul had been starved of, craving for. And we played, and I sang, and the people enjoyed the music, and the vibe was celebratory, happy, supportive - that kind of wedding thing that can get one feeling quite emotional and vulnerable. Keith was in great spirits, played brilliantly, and I enjoyed making music with him.
The business side went well, too (i.e. we got paid!), and I drove home thanking Mother Nature and all her cronies for conspiring to make my day so beautiful. Drove the 51km (yes!!!) home, where I hopped into a shower, changed my clothing, grabbed my 11-yr-old daughter and her paraphernalia for getting through the evening at "Mom's gig", and made my way to Food Lover's Market, for my evening gig with guitarist Wayne Bosch.
And that went well too. I'd thoroughly enjoyed playing my guitar for the entire afternoon gig, and sort of missed that in the evening, because Wayne generally does all the playing and I focus on the singing. Different energies, neither bad. After working with Wayne in my weekly guitar lessons as well as at the weekly gigs, we've got a nice easy vibe, and he's just the coolest thing since fruit salad (since I'm not into sliced bread, haha!).
And that was that.
Listening to the recording today was a distinct high, which I will take a long, LONG time to come down from. Also, chatting to sound engineer and media fundi, Andre Manuel, who did the recording, about getting my songs onto the internet, was very interesting, and I'm so excited about that next step. It's a big one for me. I am SO ready!
Came home from work just after 6:30pm today, and stuck to my promise, that I would run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week. Did the usual neighbourhood trot, 3,5km, and felt a sense of achievement. Trying to be as patient with myself as I am with everyone else. If I put in the hard work, the results will eventually come, no matter what the specifics. It's the same principle in every area of our lives. I have to keep reminding myself of my 2010 motto: Time is my best friend. I've stuck to the run-walk routine since 1 January, and I know my whole life is changing because of my increased fitness. Also good to impose this kind of discipline on myself - it tends to spill over into other areas of my life.
And now, before I go and practise my scales and walking bass lines, some lyrics from one of my songs:
"Music fills my very soul, tears me open, makes me whole, and so I smile, cos it's my favourite time of day".
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