2010-11-28T20:09:00.000-06:00

What a great weekend... in the history of weekends (mine at least) there have been only a few really great ones. Interestingly enough, a few of those few have been in the last month. This past weekend falls squarely in the "really great weekend" category.

I traveled to Asheville, NC on Thanksgiving afternoon, which in itself would be a lovely thing because Asheville is one of my favorite cities in the States, if not the world. What made it infinitely more wonderful was that I was going to a David Wilcox show Friday evening. Every year David puts on a holiday/Thanksgiving concert and invites friends to share the stage with him. I had heard from other David Wilcox appreciators how special this concert tended to be and I was so happy to be there. As if all of this wasn't enough to launch this past weekend into the stratosphere of awesomeness, awesomeness orbit was actually achieved because I got to share the stage with David and perform a duet with him! We tackled what is arguably one of his more well known songs, "Language of the Heart".

David invited me out on stage and started explaining who I was and what I was doing there. I entered a contest requiring that I submit a video on the David Wilcox facebook fan page of myself covering one of David's tunes. The winner of the contest would be chosen by David to join him on stage at the show of their choosing. Turns out I won :) After I pleaded with those in the audience who were guitar players or singers to put themselves in my shoes before passing judgment, I paused for a moment while noodling on the guitar and looking over at David. Here I was standing on stage with one of my greatest and most significant musical influences. I paused for a few seconds longer to let the reality sink in...then I stepped to the mic and said, "can you say...surreal?". After we all stopped laughing, David and I plunged into the song and I struggled through nervousness to play a rather difficult guitar part. I had listened to that song so many times... and indeed played it many times on my own in various concert settings, but never, ever, ever like this. I mean, this was the guy who wrote it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not your usual fanboy type. I don't really go in for all the hype surrounding celebrity or fame. Admittedly, David Wilcox is not as well known as some, but in the singer/songwriter world, he's a veteran heavyweight for sure. We made our way through the tune, both forgetting just exactly when a solo part occurred. In true Wilcox style, we discussed it randomly on mic as I continued playing. David W: "do you wanna play the little solo thing here?.. or maybe it goes at the end??" Me: "I can't really remember at the moment, but I'll play it wherever you like!" David W: "Okay lets do it here!" Me: "Okay!" (insert everyone laughing here)

Thankfully we arrived at the end of the tune and finished to a standing ovation by the incredibly generous crowd. It was one of those moments in your life where you can feel yourself just about to burst out of your skin with happiness. The only one who could compete with me for largest smile in the room at that moment was, ironically, David himself...who seems to have found the ability to be completely comfortable with displaying an honest and childlike love of music and people. His smile, laughter, and generous spirit set the tone for such a magical evening of music, community and sharing the holy joy inspired by this time of year. I'll never forget it.

Before the show started, David and I spent some time backstage rehearsing his song. He was gracious enough to ask me if I would share some of my songs with him. He is a voracious listener and had the most encouraging things to say about my songs and my writing. After a while we both commented about how amazing it was that this gift of music has the ability to unite two people who had little to no previous knowledge of the other. Though we had only a short time together, the connection we developed during that time was noticeable and heartwarming. It was a bucket-list evening

David blogged about the show if you'd like to read about it from his perspective: http://davidwilcox.tumblr.com/
I should make mention of getting to spend a little time with singer/songwriter and humanitarian David LaMotte who, among others, also joined in on the musical fun. What a fascinating and talented guy! A kindred spirit for sure. I met a number of wonderful folks the night of the show who were so nice and encouraging. Also, if you're ever in Asheville and need a cheap and fabulous place to stay in the middle of it all, please check out Sweet Peas Hostel. I highly recommend it.

2010-11-23T20:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the other side. Welcome to where the story goes deeper. I'm not promising it'll always be barrels of fun, but I'll try to make sure it stays authentic and real. This is a place that serves two purposes. Firstly, it's a place that allows me to "write things out". I can't even remember how many times I've gained a great deal of clarity through the process of writing when I find myself in a mental funk or down in the dumps or confused about something. For me, writing is a lot like prayer or meditation. It sounds funny to say that but I swear it's true. Most of the time, after submitting myself to the process of "writing it out", my heart feels better.

The second purpose of this blog has to do with giving you the reader (vast horde that you are) an opportunity to dig a little deeper into my world. Look for stories, pictures, new songs, and *gasp* the occasional vlog! It's not that I have any misconceptions about my life being more interesting than that of anyone else. It's simply a feeling that I have...more of a suspicion really...is it possible that sharing our lives is better than not sharing our lives? Is it possible that the mere act of sharing life with each other is beneficial, regardless of who shares back or what they think?

"Red 5 standing by!"

carlust

Sharing is always hard, especially with things we really like. As a kid, I never (ever) wanted to share my X-Wing Fighter or my Limited Edition HotWheels 1965 Cobra Convertible. I'd probably have a hard time sharing those things even now. Special things almost demand by their very nature to be protected, and to a certain degree, they probably should be. No one would've taken care of my special things the way I would. How could I risk them being broken or mistreated?

Sometimes it seems like we feel that way about our lives. We keep the world at arms length in order to protect ourselves. Maybe we've been hurt or mistreated in the past and we'll be damned if that's going to happen again! We walk down crowded streets in cities where hundreds of thousands of us live piled on top of each other, and yet we never attempt to make eye contact or utter a simple "hi". In some places, this kind of behavior is so out of the ordinary that you might scare people if you tried it.

We're all protecting our stuff...our inner stuff...our precious! (didn't turn out so great for Gollum) Some of us are so given over to a protectionist lifestyle that we keep ourselves from those with whom we are most intimately involved. We internalize the belief at a very young age, and perhaps for really good reasons, that society is not a safe place. We are taught to rely on ourselves for the most important things in life... Ironically, some of the most important things in life are not things we can provide for ourselves at all...like the need to be loved, or accepted for who we are, or valued in general.

None of this mean we haven't come up with ways to try filling those needs for ourselves, without the difficult task of sharing life with people. You can look around you and see the results of that everywhere. People who are completely disconnected from objectivity... people who are over-persuaded of their own value... people who have created their own reality in which to be accepted in an attempt assuage the pain of being shut out... those who have never known what it is to be loved apart from what you do to deserve it.

So without going on and on, hopefully this will be a place where sharing is the norm. We all come undone now and then. If we are honest, most of us might say we are undone more of the time than not. That's okay. In my limited experience, when we are undone, we always have the opportunity to grow. After all, it's in the heat and fire of the forge that metal is shaped, formed and twisted into something recognizable, purposeful, and lovely. What are you becoming?

Undone