Another fear faced…

This past Saturday, January 10, I faced a hidden fear and everyone said they enjoyed it.

My freshman year of High School, I was in my first band:  The Seventh Seal.  This band was epic.  Trust me.  (Imagine me in the Ninety’s equivalent of a hair band…)  The Seventh Seal broke up after 4 years because we sucked our drummer moved away.

For six months after High School, I co-lead a group called Twenty Two Twenty that formed for one show, and broke for “creative differences.”

Later, my freshman year of college, I started playing with two friends – T.j. Bayer and Jason “The Man” Todd  - calling ourselves, HBT or Hartke, Bayer and Todd.  After adding Eric Bausell, we created the name More Than Me (because HBBT was getting weird).  More Than Me went through many changes, watching friends come and go, over the next 6 years, and having accomplished some really fun events, finally broke up.

A couple of us from More Than Me, started a side project called Feeling Nedly that had a few shows, and lasted for about 6 months.  That was the last

I’ve never been through a nasty band break up, but every time an endeavor fails, it’s frustrating.  The last 12 years and 5+ bands left me deflated and trigger shy, but I still had an unquenchable desire to write and perform music.  Every band I tried seemed to fail, and I had a self-conscience fear of being on stage without the security blanket of a band behind me.

This past Saturday, though, I performed my first venture into “solo-dom.”  I got to play at a St. Louis favorite, Blueberry Hill, and a few friends helped make the music sound a little prettier.  Here are some selections for you to see.

The Status of the Musician

This past weekend was a wedding weekend.  For a musician that means working out songs with the Bride & Groom-to-be, attending the rehearsal ready to perform (and be flexible), dressing the next morning in khaki and a black shirt (or suit), and playing music in nice clothes with the ever-present fear that one wrong note WILL ruin the Bride’s most beautiful day ever.

This wedding was a little different because none of the songs were set until the Thursday before the Saturday wedding and 3 of the songs were added late Friday night (songs I didn’t know how to play yet).  That’s a little stressful, but it reminded me of a thought I’ve had before.  It’s a thought I used to have with disdain, but now with acceptance and even a fair amount of pride.

Ever since our illustrious Father Jubal, we musicians have held the same position: that of the King’s Minstrel.  You can probably see why I wouldn’t be flattered by that title at first.  Every musician on the planet aspires to be The King, but in our hearts, we know that we will forever be merely The Entertainers.  We are called upon at a moments notice to lighten spirits and add beauty – which, I might add, isn’t always as easy as some musicians make it seem (nor as hard as others… ).

So here’s to the Court Musicians, the Minstrels, the Entertainers:  may your humble  position ever be the pride of your heart, and may you continue to create music out of nothing but an idea.