Maurice's Musical Musings
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Hartford memories and Montreal dreams
Seems like just yesterday that I was at my first SL musician meetup in Hartford, Connecticut. Honestly it was one of the best weekends of my life. In Hartford I got to hear some of my favorite artists play live and found out how much is lost on a shoutcast stream, even as good as it sounds. Shannon and TerryLynn and Max and BartAlan and all of the others... they all sounded so incredible live! And then to get to spend the weekend hanging out with all these great musicians and great people was just phenomenal. I got to have a viola lesson from Tamra Hayden and play uno with Max Kleene. I met so many people who I knew only from a distance, and made all new friends as well. I got to meet Lady Hightower. Everytime I look back at my pictures and see the ones of her a tear comes to my eye and I feel blessed that I was there that weekend, or I never would have had the opportunity to meet her. Woodstock pushed me up on the stage... I was terrified to be on stage with such great musicians and didn't feel like I belonged. I hid in the back a lot and played along with my guitar unplugged, afraid to spoil the great sounds. But the weekend ended with my first ever public "performance" as I stood next to Shannon Oherlihy and played her song, "The Test" with her. Without that moment, would I be performing now? Probably not... that moment made me consider that maybe it really was something I could do and the adrenaline rush I felt was like nothing else I'd ever felt.
In 2 more days I get to do this again... this time in Montreal, Canada. Again I will get to meet some of my favorite artists. Some people who I had hoped would make it to Hartford but for various reasons were not able to. Artists such as Montian Gilruth, Norris Shepherd, and JellyJellyJelly Benelli and great friends like Poppy McDunnough. This time I won't be so afraid to step on the stage and play along. Although I registered as a spectator I will have my guitar and I hope to get to play some songs with as many people as possible, on stage or off. And I will again get to meet some of those I met last time like Shannon and Tamra and Max... Words simply cannot express how excited I am to hang out with everybody again. The event starts off with a mixer and a pajama party... Saturday night we will be doing a Second Life RP, truly bringing Second Life into Real Life. I can't even imagine how that will go! The musical lineup is absolutely fantastic... just considering the artists I know and there are so many that I have never heard before. Hearing Montian Gilruth, Jace Branner, and Funky Freddy together in person will be worth the price of admission all by itself. I truly can't wait to turn these Montreal Dreams into memories like the ones I have of Hartford. You can expect a blog next week all about them and hopefully lots of pictures!
Check out Norris Shepherd's blog at http://www.norrisshepherd.com/ for the schedule of all the artists playing this weekend along with the stream URL's and the venues where the event will be streamed. Check back here next week for Montreal Memories.
In 2 more days I get to do this again... this time in Montreal, Canada. Again I will get to meet some of my favorite artists. Some people who I had hoped would make it to Hartford but for various reasons were not able to. Artists such as Montian Gilruth, Norris Shepherd, and JellyJellyJelly Benelli and great friends like Poppy McDunnough. This time I won't be so afraid to step on the stage and play along. Although I registered as a spectator I will have my guitar and I hope to get to play some songs with as many people as possible, on stage or off. And I will again get to meet some of those I met last time like Shannon and Tamra and Max... Words simply cannot express how excited I am to hang out with everybody again. The event starts off with a mixer and a pajama party... Saturday night we will be doing a Second Life RP, truly bringing Second Life into Real Life. I can't even imagine how that will go! The musical lineup is absolutely fantastic... just considering the artists I know and there are so many that I have never heard before. Hearing Montian Gilruth, Jace Branner, and Funky Freddy together in person will be worth the price of admission all by itself. I truly can't wait to turn these Montreal Dreams into memories like the ones I have of Hartford. You can expect a blog next week all about them and hopefully lots of pictures!
Check out Norris Shepherd's blog at http://www.norrisshepherd.com/ for the schedule of all the artists playing this weekend along with the stream URL's and the venues where the event will be streamed. Check back here next week for Montreal Memories.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The trouble with titles
As a Second Life performer, I am the new kid on the block. I've only been playing shows for a few weeks and as such I still make all the rookie mistakes. I've done an entire show with my guitar on my back. I've played through a set without asking people to tip the venue. I've forgotten to get my avatar off the stage after I was done playing and just stood there like an idiot as I carried on a conversation in public chat while the next person was waiting to play. All the things you'd expect from a newbie.
Likewise as a musician I am a newbie. Even though I've been interested in the guitar for a long time I've only really played for the last couple of years and I never thought about singing until now.
Yet, people still refer to me as a musician or as a performer. This never sits really well with me. I do love the music, and I love to play for an audience... so by the simplest definition a musician and a peformer is what I am. So why do I have a problem with it? I didn't really know what it was until I was reading Stella Silvansky's profile on twitter (@Silvansky) and I read something she wrote. She said:
Likewise as a musician I am a newbie. Even though I've been interested in the guitar for a long time I've only really played for the last couple of years and I never thought about singing until now.
Yet, people still refer to me as a musician or as a performer. This never sits really well with me. I do love the music, and I love to play for an audience... so by the simplest definition a musician and a peformer is what I am. So why do I have a problem with it? I didn't really know what it was until I was reading Stella Silvansky's profile on twitter (@Silvansky) and I read something she wrote. She said:
...sometimes I even pretend to write poetry (I say "pretend" because it feels pretentious to actually admit I do when I'm really not that great at it).
I realized after reading this that this is what my problem was with being called a musician. When I am referred to as a musician, I almost feel like it is a slap in the face to the real musicians of Second Life. Those who have spent years training their voices and working their instruments. Those who have written countless songs, played real life gigs, and worked most of their lives to become the extremely talented performers that they are. To allow myself the same title I'd give to great song writers like Carmel Daines, Shannon Oherlihy, Strum Diesel, or PM Bookmite... master performers like Montian Gilruth, Grace McDunnough, or Frogg and Jaycatt... people who have worked most of their lives to make it in music like TerryLynn Melody (who is about to release what promises to be a fantastic CD)... feels pretentious and wrong.
Last night at a PM Bookmite concert, PM gave me a shoutout and said that I had been peforming in RL for years but was just now starting in SL. This couldn't be further from the truth, but because I had been called a "musician" this was the impression he had. So how does one rectify this? The problem with a title is it doesn't tell the real story... it gives people impressions and preconceptions that I don't feel I can live up to right now. Yet, if I decline to be called a musician people see this as defeatist or as a dis on myself which is also not my intention. So how does a new musician rectify this? How do I promote myself without giving false impressions or putting myself up on the same pedestal as the "real" musicans and performers of Second Life?
