Dear Friends,
Hello! It's almost Spring. Lots of changes ahead!
Outside our music world, old structures crumble, and we all seem to be looking around and wondering, "What the heck is happening?" But inside our music world here at home, we are still in the process of looking at old tunes with new eyes and discovering some gems. We also had a temporary setback.
Meanwhile, our rehearsals were definitely improving as each of us understood our parts more deeply. I am thrilled that John and Lou are pleased with my harmonica playing and singing because even though I studied music for years, I still feel like a beginner. Lou was getting more comfortable too, even as he is single-handedly renovating his newly bought house.
Crammed into my apartment living room with amps, speakers, drums, guitar, and two singers, the three of us were lucky to be able to rehearse there at all. One of my neighbors can't speak English at all, the other one is a deaf-mute, and the third one gets along pretty well with me. But on the other side of my living room were two angry residents I didn't know about. A few days ago I had to talk to our apartment manager about what I needed for renewal papers for the rent. He is a very nice, soft-spoken man. Gently he informed me that people were complaining about the loud noise. I unplugged the speakers with the loud bass and am selling it. I bought a pair that have more balance and are easier on the ears of our neighbors. I always hated that speaker anyways.
But there still was a question mark of where to rehearse. John and I can practice songs without the loudspeakers and amps cranked. Lou's house is far from ready so that's on hold for now. With a softer speaker system for the computer, in case John has to edit the audio on videos, it will be much better for everyone. We have a batch of new songs and finished videos we have not released yet. John thinks we can work on what we have and I can do more work marketing while we wait for Lou's house to be ready. If that doesn't materialize for some reason, I plan on finding a bass player with a house who lives nearby!
The transition from studio musician with John playing all the instruments, vocals, and mixing to John playing guitar and singing, to needing more singers, more harmonica, drums, and bass player, for playing live is quite different and demanding. But I have a feeling it will all work out.
No matter what happens we dedicate every day to perfecting our skills, visions, goals, expanding our reach, and pursuing this music and art adventure. We hope you are enjoying this as much as we are!
John and Judy