On the road again......shite guitars and lessons

Well, I moved forward this weekend which was nice.
Things I got accomplished:

>Guitar set up.
I'd started YEARS ago when I was singing most nights and really felt some forward momentum. I went down to Apple Music in Portland with the intention of picking up some piece of poo just to learn on and then I'd step up. Well, as things are wont to happen with me, I spent way too much but my reasoning was that I could learn on it and it would stick with me for years. It has......
After starting lessons and only having 5, I hurt my fret hand and had to wait quite a while for it to heal up. I didn't have a very motivating teacher, though in his own way he tried. He was a very good classical guitar player and though I said often that I was wanting to learn good basics that would serve for rock or country or blues; "Americana" he pushed and pushed for classical and all I did for several months was finger walk up and down the fret board...which was neat and helped immensely with my dexterity but.....no closer to playing music.
So I set it aside and it languished in the closet until recently when I took it in to be 'set up' and restrung.

Turns out Apple Music sold me a clunker, one where the fret board itself is set too low against the body and the bridge can't be filed enough to lower the strings enough to be playable. I literally had bloody fingers trying to get the higher notes to play.

So, now I'm stuck with a $1200 Washburn custom that is essentially useless for anything other than slide and while I find slide pretty interesting, it's something to be added to a good basic repertoire, not a sole offering. So this week I'm looking into luthiers that can safe this lovely looking instrument. sigh....it's never simple.
In the mean time I'll need to pick up something serviceable. And cheap.

>Guitar lessons
I did however manage to lock down my first four lessons, this time with a younger kat that's all about rock and music that I'm interested in playing. I'm doing them on Saturdays at 11:30 am...we'll see if either of us is actually functional.

I'm feeling reservedly excited.

WooHoo.....Back to it!

It's been way too long since I stood on a stage. I played out a minimum of 5 nights a week for more than 5 years running and one day just stopped. The plan was to take a little time to recenter myself musically, I was bored with performing 'Radio Country', though the crowd was always receptive I just wasn't feeling it anymore. I sat in with a few bands in other musical genres and had a lot of fun but in the end what was supposed to be a few months off turned into, well.....way too friggin' long!

I still know loads of musicians and have some interested players so in the next few weeks on top of completely rebuilding my everyday life into something I can be proud of I'm gonna work toward dipping my toe in the water again jumping in with both feet and wallowing about in music and laughter and good times. Come along for the ride?

Things I need to work on myself in near future:
Vocal lessons
I still have a pretty strong voice and have maintained most of my previous range but I've noticed that I get tired easily. Where I used to carry an entire 4-5 hour gig just fine, I'm back to being tired and feeling the 'work' of it after a short while. Plus, I've never had a lesson in my life so I'm sure I'm a technical nightmare and any trained vocalist probably cringes.

Guitar setup
I have that lovely guitar just sitting around and it needs some professional setup for me to be able to use it and learn on it efficiently. I'm sure I could 'figure it out' and get it dialed in good enough....but I think good enough isn't in this case. There are professional guitar techs out there for a reason folks...right guy for the job and all.

Guitar lessons
I should be able to accompany myself...at least a little. I don't need to be Carlos Santana...we already have one, he's rad! But....if I can do a credible job and provide a little more depth to my personal offering them why shouldn't I?
Plus guitar player look cool and can make that cool 'shred face'.....unless you're Joe Cocker, if you try that whilst singing you just look like an epileptic.

Practice space
I'm lucky in this, I have a relatively large workspace at my disposal and the 'installation bay' is perfect with loads of floor space, good power, lots of light, there's a restroom and other such important things. Plus...I don't have to pay anything extra to use it.

A Calling Card
I think I want to do a short EP that I can handout to potential players and venues.
4 to maybe 6 good songs that can show what it is I can do. Choosing just the right songs though will be quite a task in and of itself. If left to my own devices I tend toward ballads and that's fine but ballads don't generally get a crowd up and dancing. If the crowd isn't dancing it's not thirsty, if the crowd isn't thirsty the bar isn't selling hooch. A bar that isn't selling hooch is an unhappy venue....I want them happy too. So....care will need to be taken in choosing so as to give the impression I want. More on this to come....

So there you have it, the first of what will hopefully be a long and exciting trip.....