Inspiration

I love the Grammy's. Yeah they are outdated, yeah they have favorites, but it is the closest thing we have right now to a musical summit, a gathering of the minds. I love watching all of the acts. U2 was boring, Kenny Chesney was forgettable (as in I forgot he played until I was about to write this), Radiohead will not get the credit they deserve for, as ?uestlove put it, murdering (in a good way) their performance of 15 Step, but I love seeing creative people doing what they do. I would watch Stevie Wonder sway back and forth, smiling and singing, all day if I didn't have to eat or go to class. He in particular is one of the musicians that when I watch them fills my heart with joy.
I recently decided that I would no longer be a musical elitist (a term I once took pride in). I want to be an open, endless vacuum sucking up all of the music I can. In this short span of time since I decided this, I find myself growing closer to music. When you can find good music in anything, you learn to appreciate the true genius of great music.

As a budding, newly planted songwriter, I do have my obligatory list of "Things Not To Do" that is growing larger, but I am shifting my perspective in a more positive outlook. Maybe I should have a things to do list. I should really have a "People To Be Like" list full of people who I admire on stage and off. Stevie Wonder, Jason Mraz, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dave Barnes. Many times, when you make a living off of things that you literally spit out on boring days, you can start to think that your stuff don't stink, and it might not, but when you ACT like that people look with more scrutiny to find each and every fault as if to say "Hey! Get off your high horse because this metaphor was stretched too far and you rhymed 'rain' with 'again'."(Ok in poetry, faux pas in songwriting).
Any who, inspiration and creativity. The most recent TED talk had Elizabeth Gilbert speaking on dealing with inspiration and its inconsistencies. I highly recommend it. It has really gotten me in a forward thinking mode. That along with this last Sunday's sermon from my pastor (who I usually don't like or agree with) talking about the resistance to following a dream. I didn't catch the exact tie in with WWJD but that was mainly because I was tying everything he said to a build up process of a band/artist. I can't remember the points exactly but the gist was be prepared to wait, be prepared to jump at any opportunity, be prepared for opposition, and be prepared for jelly beans or something, can't remember the last point.

All of this together, Sunday's sermon, Lizzy-baby's TED talk, and the Grammy's has me excited for the first time in a long time to write and and play. Now I need to work on my voice and learn to write happy songs without them being cheesy.

Required Listening: Jason Mraz, Selections for Friends.
Required Watching:
Take notes on working the crowd while not losing the integrity of the song.