My Mixed-up Musical Muse

I'm the musical equivalent of a fat guy trying to paddle a canoe up a waterfall--I just can't seem to go with the flow. While I love playing bass with a party/club band for the fun of seeing folks really let loose to the music, I'm not a strong entertainer in my own right. I'm just not a showman. So, with these types of bands (like my current band, Ms Mac), I'm lucky in that the performer/show side of things get handled by the front folks--I just have to lock in with my drummer (the very talented Tony Hargrove with Ms Mac) and everything else is taken care of. So, why would I want to do anything else?

I guess this story goes back to the fact that I really like a lot of different styles of music. Now, you may have heard some folks say, "Oh, I love all music," but very few folks actually do. In fact, most people don't even like more than two or three genres at best--and that's if they are pretty open-minded. I won't say that I love "all" music because that just isn't the case. However, I do tend to like quite a bit of it, and the variety is a bit eclectic. And then I add a little twist above the "normal" listener--I don't just want to hear the music I like, I want to play it.

Right now, as I type this blog, I'm listening to Seth MacFarlane (yeah, "The Family Guy" guy) singing on the DVD "Swingin' in Concert". Listening to this outstanding orchestra play wonderful classics from the great American songbook has me drooling at the thought of getting the chance to play in such a situation. Later on in the day, I might be listening to jazz, blues, opera, classical, Celtic, North African, Southeast Asian, reggae, bass and drum, techno, new age . . . well, I think you get the idea; and, in each case, I am going to want to actually play the music. I just can't help myself.

Over time, this has led to problems because I would jump from idea to idea, style to style, concept to concept, and, in the process, not finish anything. I've been working on a St. Patrick's Day CD of traditional Irish and Scottish music arranged for solo bass going on five years now. It's not a bad thing in that, the ideas never do go away; I can finish them eventually; but the ADD does get a touch tiring. That is why I eventually locked on to the idea of using the "Narada Weeps" label to cover all of my crazy musical ideas. That way, I can jump from project to project, or mix them all up, and keep one "identity".

And that showman problem I mentioned, not being one, has lead me to some cross medium concepts: What if I team up with an interpretive dance group? What if I team up with a graphic artist for a multi-media approach to performing? And now these ideas can be mixed with the crazy musical ideas to create all kinds of possibilities. See what I mean about that ADD? At least I will never face a day where I have absolutely nothing to play--there is just too much music out there, and too much I want to do.

So, I guess I better get to it.