A Year Goes By So Quickly!
Hi Folks,
I apologize, once again, for being a little quiet. It’s actually been a very busy time for me in several ways, albeit not musically. Things change. Change is good.
The biggest change is that I’ve moved, finally, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve been planning this move, off and on, since 2000, but one thing or another has kept me from making the move until now.
I just about wrote “one thing or another has held me back,” but the things I experienced during that time – living in Portland, OR, returning to college & getting my teaching credential, working in a busy bookstore while living in Washington, DC – were all extremely worthwhile. Everything has its time and place.
But now I’m in Harrisonburg (formerly known as “Rocktown”, which I think is great), ready to settle down after this tumultuous decade that was the naughts. “Settle Down?” you ask. Yep. I went back to school to be an elementary school teacher; it’s time to teach. As I rapidly approach middle age, things like a decent salary, health insurance, retirement savings, and a steady schedule are very appealing to me.
Ironically, perhaps, I think that settling down will help my music, my art. I think back to the nineties, when I was most productive, and I realize that it was a time when I had a decent job and stability. I lived in the same flat for ten years and worked the same job for thirteen. I was in a position where the basics were taken care of. When I wasn’t at my day job, I was free to be creative. Apparently, life-stress invigorates some artists. It freezes me. Stops me cold. I don’t invite my muse over for an evening ‘cos I’m too busy worrying about paying the bills.
Interestingly, to me at least, these thoughts echo advice in the recently released book, “Ignore Everyone.” It’s by the man behind the blog gapingvoid.com, Hugh MacLeod. I was turned on to his book after writing the majority of this entry. Hugh argues that it sucks to be poor, that when you have to start depending on your art to put food on the table your art is compromised, and that more than likely not very many people will care about your art anyway, so do it for yourself and don’t worry about pleasing people. It’s an argument I wish I would’ve heard years ago, but I’m not sure I would’ve listened.
It’s still going to be awhile before I’m settled and ready to get down to making and playing music. I need that teaching job. I need to get my finances under control. I need to feel a bit more secure. (Wanna help? Head over to iTunes or CDBaby & pay me the ultimate compliment by buying some of my music! ‘Course I’ll still love you if you don’t. Times are tight and it’s not like I’ve given you anything new for a while.)
That said, I do have at least six songs written and ready to record. One, “All That Shines,” was played in rough take 1 form on The Homemade Hit Show podcast last year. It goes to show that even though I haven’t invited my muse over, she still finds it in her heart to stop by now and then. I have started recording, too, a little bit. I don’t know when the album will be done – late 2010, I’d imagine – but I suspect, and hope, that the upcoming decade will find me more productive and prolific than this one.
Goodbye for now,
Rob
I apologize, once again, for being a little quiet. It’s actually been a very busy time for me in several ways, albeit not musically. Things change. Change is good.
The biggest change is that I’ve moved, finally, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve been planning this move, off and on, since 2000, but one thing or another has kept me from making the move until now.
I just about wrote “one thing or another has held me back,” but the things I experienced during that time – living in Portland, OR, returning to college & getting my teaching credential, working in a busy bookstore while living in Washington, DC – were all extremely worthwhile. Everything has its time and place.
But now I’m in Harrisonburg (formerly known as “Rocktown”, which I think is great), ready to settle down after this tumultuous decade that was the naughts. “Settle Down?” you ask. Yep. I went back to school to be an elementary school teacher; it’s time to teach. As I rapidly approach middle age, things like a decent salary, health insurance, retirement savings, and a steady schedule are very appealing to me.
Ironically, perhaps, I think that settling down will help my music, my art. I think back to the nineties, when I was most productive, and I realize that it was a time when I had a decent job and stability. I lived in the same flat for ten years and worked the same job for thirteen. I was in a position where the basics were taken care of. When I wasn’t at my day job, I was free to be creative. Apparently, life-stress invigorates some artists. It freezes me. Stops me cold. I don’t invite my muse over for an evening ‘cos I’m too busy worrying about paying the bills.
Interestingly, to me at least, these thoughts echo advice in the recently released book, “Ignore Everyone.” It’s by the man behind the blog gapingvoid.com, Hugh MacLeod. I was turned on to his book after writing the majority of this entry. Hugh argues that it sucks to be poor, that when you have to start depending on your art to put food on the table your art is compromised, and that more than likely not very many people will care about your art anyway, so do it for yourself and don’t worry about pleasing people. It’s an argument I wish I would’ve heard years ago, but I’m not sure I would’ve listened.
It’s still going to be awhile before I’m settled and ready to get down to making and playing music. I need that teaching job. I need to get my finances under control. I need to feel a bit more secure. (Wanna help? Head over to iTunes or CDBaby & pay me the ultimate compliment by buying some of my music! ‘Course I’ll still love you if you don’t. Times are tight and it’s not like I’ve given you anything new for a while.)
That said, I do have at least six songs written and ready to record. One, “All That Shines,” was played in rough take 1 form on The Homemade Hit Show podcast last year. It goes to show that even though I haven’t invited my muse over, she still finds it in her heart to stop by now and then. I have started recording, too, a little bit. I don’t know when the album will be done – late 2010, I’d imagine – but I suspect, and hope, that the upcoming decade will find me more productive and prolific than this one.
Goodbye for now,
Rob
posted by Rob Christensen | 2:15 PM
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