Hi Friends,
Ok…where the heck did September go? Holy Cow! I read back on my last blog to you folks and we have been on the go since August. IT’S no wonder I missed September!
I HAVE been writing but just not exclusively to you, so sorry. We went to Nashville and I wrote a blog about the experience and shared it with everyone because I found it a valuable thing to do. You can catch up here if you haven’t read it:
https://www.blazeandkelly.com/blog/2017/9/1/nashville-brain-blog
I also wrote about being hard of hearing here:
https://www.blazeandkelly.com/blog/2017/10/5/insights-from-a-deaf-musician
So I HAVE been writing and I WANT to start writing songs again. Hopefully I can focus on this and bring this desire into fruition. We have one final stent this month. We are heading to Oregon to surprise one of my friends for her birthday. We leave tomorrow, play in Baker City then head to Lincoln City. It’s her 40th birthday and I’m excited to surprise her!!!
She’s not the only one “turning old” this month! Ha! I am joining a new club! The 40’s…ug, errr 50’s club LOL! Is this even possible???! Beats the alternative, right? I have many thoughts about coming to this age but none that are swamping me at the present moment which is a good thing.
In this business, unfortunately age matters. However, there is MUCH success to be had that doesn’t mean “super stardom” and I think it’s more imperative to be young for that kind of “success”. I’m reading a great book about the “new music industry” and it seems most people confuse success with mega stardom aka Eric Clapton style and that is the 1%. I like the way this author defines success as basically: funding your living via your art. So, if you can self sustain and pay your bills and other things due to your art (in our case music), then this is success.
Well, that takes a little of the heat off. We still must “hustle” for that status and as I am turning older by a new decade I wonder how much “hustle” I have in me! Ha! But I do still feel that I am on the right path and truly enjoying it! Even if we do get tired and we watch other people party and eat and drink while we are starving on the side lines singing songs! Ha!!
We went to this party a couple weeks ago. It was elaborate. Mega food, beautiful surroundings, lots of people. The folks enjoyed the music, and came in like vultures. Within that first hour that we played, ALL the food was devoured! Wow! We laughed. This is typical and we’ve learned to pack snacks in our car for those 10 minutes we eject ourselves to get a little sustenance. Trouble with that is usually there is someone who is excited to talk our ears off so we have to make our disappearance gracefully and efficiently. Mo is SO MUCH better at this than I am…but I’m learning LOL!
So much has happened in the world since we last “spoke”!?!? The full Solar Eclipse was such a spectacle to see! It opened my heart chakra a mile wide! Yet I’ve been crushed by the news: Tom Petty passed from this plane. Many folks were injured and killed in Las Vegas. Hurricanes pelted the Planet. California is still on fire. And here I sit with the doggie at my feet…and I just raked up some of my autumn leaves today. This world is NOT absent of material to write about!
In a world with so much pain, music can bring us together. Good friends show up to help with loading appliances into our home. My yoga teacher makes a statement in this morning’s class, “feel your inner beauty”. I can be grateful for a clean office (just accomplished less than an hour ago). I am grateful for so much, yet I get that it can be so hard. The outside world and the people in it are really struggling; struggling with tough and real dilemmas. It’s hard to rise above circumstance, but so many are doing it; coming together in the midst of chaos…..we all have much to see and learn from what’s happening today. I do wish, hope and pray that our music eases someone in their day or at least connects them to what they need to be connected to at this time.
Winter is on its way. Another grey hair pops out of my head. I can celebrate with friends and family for just a “blip” of time. The back of my mind hopes we have enough “peanuts” squirreled away to afford that furnace we have put off buying. Ha! If success means we can buy a furnace, then there it is!!! *Big Smile* All those tips in the jar, literally bringing heat into our home!! All of your smiles and contributions too! It is no wonder many talented musicians never wade out to “sea” and try surviving on their talents. It’s quite a storm at times. Many a swift current and sharks like to take you down. It is a challenge to not predict where your next “food source” will come from. But one thing I’ve learned and re-learned is…Trust. Letting go and trusting the Universe will provide. If I do my part and keep “swimming” even treading water at times…I will not only survive but thrive!
Thank you beautiful friends! Here come the holidays around the corner. Keep all those beautiful gratitude’s close to your heart and know you are one of ours!
Much love,
Niccole & Mo
