Category Archives: Musings

A damp day watching the leaves turn again

Musings

Ego, too much or too little can be equally damaging.  Something I posted as a Facebook comment in response to a comment that was made by  a musician claiming that his work was being taken away by non-professionals. In truth it dosent work like that and it never has.

I have been playing since I was 15 (keyboards , violin, guitar and stuff). My first paid gig though was at the age of about 48 having played for years but having had day jobs many and various. For about 15 years I supported myself with income from gigs averaging about 130 a year. Many were pubs with a few notable exceptions so HMRC think I was a professional musician, though i think they have paid me more in tax refunds than I have ever paid them in the last few years.

My last paid gig was in February this year and due to a combination of Covid-19s effects and the loss of a my long term musical partner who I had been working with since 2004 I am now by circumstance back to being a part-timer or almost no timer.

I still occasionally make some money from music from time to time from PPL and PRS and have even had some paid recording session project work.

I hope to get back out there post Covid but its unlikely to be some thing I personally can make a living from again.

The reason that I got into music was to be creative and to have fun and it has also provided me with a social life I might not otherwise have had. At present though I am mostly stuck at home recording, writing , practicing to keep my technique together.

So perhaps now I am again a hobbyist? That’s OK. Its just another label really.

if I was offered a gig tomorrow I dont think it would be taking anyone else’s work.

 

More October 2020

Delta Ladies, Diana Stones Songs, Musings

Its turning into a long month.  Covids on the rise according to the latest stats.  Its  a Saturday and I am watching “The Big Bang Theory” on the box. I do enjoy the show but Its really not my ideal Saturday night to be honest. I hope at least a few of you have better things to do with your time. I think the weekends are more difficult in some respects for me personally as there is no differentiation between those and any other days of the week. So I am typing this as a sort of therapy I guess. Also as a break from various musical doings that are filling most of my time now as I feel as if I am stuck in a perpetual groundhog day loop now.  I know a few people are lucky enough to be out getting the odd gig or two, and that’s great.  However Covid or no Covid my attempt to keep the “Delta ladies” going wasn’t really working and in a sense recent events have made it obvious that its really not going to.  So that’s a chapter thats over now. But I gave it my best shot under the circumstances. It was though 14 years of my life and around 130 gigs a year on average. And that ended pretty much with Vicky Martins passing in April 2019. I  played a few gigs afterwards but then Covid-19 finished things for good pretty much. Anything I do in future has to be different, but its like starting from scratch and I dont think I have it in me as you need a particular sort of personality to front a show, and it seems that is not really me right now at least. Of course it may be there isn’t actually much of a future any and that’s that?

I will try to keep making music of course as there is not much else I could do really.

In other news.
I woke up last night with a pain like something had snapped, I had to lie on my side. Fortunately it went away. I think the culprit maybe the new upper back exercises I am doing. So more caution is advised.
All my exercises are basically to make sure I stay as mobile as possible. The upper back is lightly to cause some discomfort as specific muscles will be stretching out of there usually postions. Its hitting the point where there is resistance but not strain that is the difficult bit. It seems to benefit my ability to sit and type more easily and also sit in a much bette posture with out leaning forward. that could be a big deal if I can keep it up as it would allow me to do more useful computer based stuff and might even allow me to get a bit of an extra income from IT again. If I can just sit down for 2 hours a day in front of a compute there is work that I could potentially do that would benefit me. Also the upper back and violin playing are inextricably linked and the better the shoulders and upper back are in terms of freedom of movement the easier it is and the better it sounds.

 

its along road…..

 
 

 

 

 

Lockdown the Movie

Musings

Wow this is really weird.I am totally losing it now to be honest. Each day is blurring into the next now. I am sure it’s exactly the same for many others now of course. I have been working on various projects and find now that staying focused has become increasingly difficult for me.  I have had anxiety attacks which I though were a thing of the past but I seem to have come back with  a vengeance. I also feel really useless in almost every respect at present. I read the news and everything looks pretty grim again. Staying positive might work for  the Trumpster, but it’s very difficult for the rest of us who are not on a “mission from god” or whatever. 
Soon we will be looking winter in the face again.

Here’s  a song. Surprise, surprise.

Anyway there’s nearly always more. But should there be? That’s is the question.
Nobler to keep bashing your head against the wall perhaps?. OK maybe I got that bit wrong. Staying sane, is that working for you. For me not so much I would have to say.
After a frustrating day what better thing to do than meet friends for a swift half or two. Not now, not ever it feels like? 

Dont even think about it?