"Bridging The Gap"

May 3rd, 2022: "Bridging The Gap"

There are many reasons why people pursue music beyond a mere hobby. Some like to collect instruments, some like to be able to carry a note when they sing "Happy Birthday," some play in the church band giving them a sense of satisfaction and service to their community. Then there are some… Where deep within their souls there is a passion, a drive, a need to create and perform from a gut level so intense they feel incomplete when that thirst is not quenched. That second one… That is ME. It is there in that deep, dark space that very few can see on a day to day basis that the ball of creation spins and spins relentlessly. Generating ideas, one after the other, sometimes so fast, I can't write them down quick enough.

I say all this because I have recently made a life changing decision to quit my regular 40 hour a week job and spend more time feeding this place within me. Many have made suggestions as to what I need to do in order to "make it" in the tidal wave of the music industry, but I can't sit here and say that I have any particular result in mind.

Have you ever taken a walk or went hiking or maybe even taken a drive without any presumed destination in mind? Excited to the openness of the journey, anticipating the many outcomes each path could lead to? In my experience, more often than not, I end up somewhere that absolutely takes my breath away, a place I could have never planned. Well, that is where I am in this journey right now, I don't know where it will lead, I am just open to the journey, wherever it goes.

Why do so many people assume that my goal is to become rich and famous? That is quite a disturbing thought to me. I have treaded that path before and it did not end well, for me anyway. I lost myself in the pursuit to become the best, and those were the darkest times in my life thus far. I have no desire to walk that path again.

CREATION. That is it. Simple. Which is how I enjoy creating music, simple. It was within this idea that my latest album, “Just Me”, was born. Just me and my guitar… No bells…. No whistles, SIMPLE, just me. I am human, just like you. I possess the same abilities to bring light and dark into this world. I laugh, I cry, I enjoy a good steak, and I love chocolate. Dogs and children are my weakness along with a freshly shined old school muscle car on a Sunday afternoon.

There sometimes appears to be this 100,000 mile gap between an artist and their audience. They are "up there" and we lowly people are "down here". Maybe thinking they don't have the same “problems". The set backs, the financial worries, the kids that are slowly driving us insane, or even the insecurities that paralyze us when we put that one pair of pants on. I can't speak for every artist, but I can tell you, I have the same "problems," the same "issues," the same worries, fears, and insecurities. I am you. I put this blog on the table with hope that it is a forum to communicate the issues we all struggle with for the sole purpose of bridging the gap between artist and audience, singer and listener, creator and ....... creation.

We are all both ends of the spectrum, we are all equal, we are all one. Only in our minds exists separation, complicated by race, gender, religion, sexuality, economic status, and god forbid, social media. But, since the beginning of time, music has always been a wonderful conduit for humanity to come together on a united front in one way or another. That is what I love about music, that is what brings out the passion I have for it. That is why I create it. There are many reasons why people pursue music beyond a mere hobby, this is mine.