Is It My Imagination...

First off, I can't imagine anyone would ever read this. Normally I tend to think of blogging as pretty blowhardy, especially when the blogger is someone like myself who is totally unknown. But the whole point of this is to change that. My intent is to keep this blog for one year, to track my progress as I try to make the impossible leap from obscurity to professional musician.

So I'm 28 years old and I've been playing the drums for 10 years. Well actually, that's how long I've owned a kit . I've been banging on stuff my whole life. The last 2 years have been especially busy. I had the great fortune of drumming for Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags (www.scotlandbarr.com). From July of 2006 until August 2008 I toured all over the western US, got to go to Austin, TX for the 2008 SXSW music festival, and record an album which was recently named one of the best of 2008 by No Depression (http://www.nodepression.com/articles.aspx?id=5016). This was quite a ride for me. When I joined the band, all I wanted to do was play great music. The first show I played with them had an audience of about 4 people. We came a long way since then.

Unfortunately, what led to my departure from the band was my reluctance to commit to a full-time musician's lifestyle. I'll go into greater detail in a later post, but lets just say I tended to get a little homesick after living out of a van for six weeks at a time. The funny thing is, now that it's been almost a year since my last full tour and 4 months since my last gig, I've really started to realize that's where I belong.

Until about a month ago, I planned on working for my family construction business forever. I don't know why I planned on doing this- I don't particularly enjoy it, nor am I a natural at physical labor. I really wish I would've figured this out 10 years ago, but I'm still in my 20s (barely) so I guess it's not too late. The fact is, I play the drums better than I do anything else- by far. And I really enjoy it. Actually, I need it.

So I've decided to go for it all the way. I'm 28, no wife / kids / house payment, and nothing holding me back. Scotland Barr gave me a taste, and also showed me that it is possible to take this thing as far as I'm willing to take it. I intend to chronicle my progress here, which will hopefully turn into a how-to manual for becoming a professional musician.

How's that for a New Year's resolution?!