Break the rules to keep the rules.

Picture taken by Lavonne Bosman, at Baran's, in Dec 2009. Wayne in the background.

The other day I started rehearsing for my concert with multi-instrumentalist, Hilton Schilder, a musical wizard. The last time I did any serious work with Hilton was in December 2005, when we did a 3-concert series called "Time With Trudy", at an art gallery in town. Once after that he played with me at the Kirstenbosch winter concert I did in 2006, along with guitarist Keith Tabisher. More recently, he jammed with me at Don Pedro's. One of the things that connect us is original music. Hilton has always encouraged me to perform my own music and has always been excited to be part of performing my compositions.

When we practised this week, I realised a whole lot of things: firstly, that he's a genius; secondly, that he cannot be contained (!) and thirdly, that I need to go into every rehearsal session with an open mind, prepared to learn.

I also realised that I'd become used to hearing my songs played on guitar, and that I needed to shift my thinking, to encompass other possibilities. When Hilton plays the introduction to a song, he takes it where he feels it has to go, whereas my chart would have the chords that a guitarist would typically play. Lesson - it's perfectly ok to do the intro differently, as long as it supports the feel and tone of the song.

I look forward to rehearsing with Errol, next. The songs that he'll be doing will generally be with me on guitar as well. I've done two impromptu sets with him (at Don Pedro's) and have really enjoyed the collaboration. He is coolness personified - a total angel!

The third "soloist" would be Wayne, and I'm equally excited about rehearsing with him. He's the musician most familiar wth my compositions, because we've done the most performing of my work, as a duo. He brings his unique energy, a dynamism which is easily lost on people who encounter him briefly, because he's so unassuming. He's one of the musicians who've had a huge influence on me.

Next week, I'm going into the venue with the sound engineers, to check the equipment. Every time I think about the fact that we're recording it for a CD, I get nervous, but Wayne has taught me that, if you're well-rehearsed, your performance need never be compromised by nervousness.

And so, I've consciously started living in a cocoon of my music - singing all the time: when I drive, in the bath, while I'm doing housework, etc. Every evening now, I sit down at the sound system, plug in my guitar and mic, and sing with amplification, to listen to the nuances and to work on specific things.

Some cliches and quotations that have swum into my mind, recently:
Life is filled with possibilities.

If you keep doing the same thing in the same way, how can you expect different results?

Don't just talk about change - actually change! (Suze Orman)

But this one is the perfect fit for me, right now:
"SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE RULES AROUND YOU, TO KEEP THE RULES WITHIN YOU." (Martha Beck)