Late fall and the main part of my traditional picking season is behind me, and currently I am at a point of having no scheduled programs/concerts coming up. I may add some Christmas programs and winter shows, but do not have any right now.
It has been my 3rd year of playing solo, and I am enjoying it. This year especially I have felt myself beginning to feel my shows are gelling to what I want to be as a solo act. I still miss having David picking with me, but also am enjoying playing on my own. This year I have done shows that included my acoustic guitar, bluegrass banjo, old time banjo, harmonica, washboard, (the standards from years past) along with mandolin and electric guitar (new for me).
This time of year is when I recharge and start looking forward to next year, and also spend more time learning new songs and tunes. It is also a time for reflection and soul searching. Over the years I have found that I suffer with bouts of depression. I thought this was a bad thing, until I read that John Denver and Elvis Presley also suffered with deep bouts of depression. I always thought of them as upbeat guys, who had their act together, and functioned at a high level. So if they have depression, then I do not need to worry so much when I do, as long as I keep it in perspective.
I have only recently started admitting to having depression, as most of the time, I would just say I was tired or melancholy. Of course when you say you have depression, someone will invariably recommend you check into getting anti-depression medicine. Perhaps I would feel more inclined to that if I felt my bouts with depression were at all destructive, in that I might contemplate injury to myself or others. But it isn't. It is more a time of going inside, reflecting on what is going on, working on ideas to make things better, and recharging my batteries, by getting more sleep and rest. Many times ideas for songs and lines for those songs come to me in these times.
As I have studied about people and depression, I have learned that often creative people suffer more often from times of depression. So that is my excuse, and a chance for me to declare myself as a creative person.
So I will go through these times and when challenged, I will smile, say I am fine and go forward to play more music. I'll see you down the road.
Nelson
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Playing Solo
Since David "Buck" retired from performing as the first half of Buck and Nelson after our last show at Unicoi on Oct. 16, 2010, I have been saying that I am performing solo. It has recently been in my mind that this statement is only partly true.
It is certainly true that when I perform, I am the only one that is visible on stage. But, I find I am not truly alone. With me as I play are all those who have influenced my music and my showmanship, some who are famous and others who may not be. My earliest influences and people I tried my best to emulate in some small way are people like John Denver, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs. Later influences included Hot Rize, David Holt, Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and my greatest influence over the past 30 plus years Arthel "Doc" Watson. Over the years there have also been many people I have seen in passing, but whose artistry struck me enough to try and glean a small piece of their playing or stage presence and use in my own endeavors. There also others who have become acquaintenances and even friends. And I often find that even though he retired, I still carry David with me as I perform. After more than 30 years of performing as a duo there are many parts of my show that are carried over from those years. I am not the instrumentalist he was/is, but I am working on getting better still. And I have to thank him for all those years of music, friendship, and performances. His dedication to getting everything just right, have made me a better musician than I might have been otherwise.
There are others who have never been on a stage or even tried to play an instrument. Yet they are still there with me. Thanks to their friendship, love, and encouragement, I have continued on my quest to follow my dream of entertaining others.
Back around 1995, David and I recorded and produced a Casssette tape of our music titled "Hewed out of the Mountain". Since that time we have talked about and promised a CD to follow that up. We were working on that when David retired. By the way, I am not yet sure it is actually legal to retire from music :), but I wish him the very best and am glad to know he is getting to enjoy being a grandpa to his 2 grandchildren. At any rate, he suggested I do a CD on my own. I am working on that right now and should have it ready early this summer.
So, when you see me performing, you can know that while I am the only one you see, I am not completely alone. I am thankful for all the people who have been a part of my life, those who know they are and those who do not. All the people and experiences are what has made me who I am and has got me to where I am now. I am not finished yet and am hoping for many more years to improve and perform. Along with that I look forward to seeing old friends, listening to people who inspire me, and to meeting new people, some who will pass quickly through my life and others who may stay a while and enrich my life with their friendship.
My music has been the constant driving force in my life for so many years now and it is something I still find much joy in. It is something that will make me drop everything else and find a way to go play for a group, large or small. It is like a medicine for me and I feel good after a good show, sometimes for several days.
After almost a lifetime of playing and singing, I am becoming more and more drawn to writing songs. I have always tried to do some of that, but I find a lifetime of experiences have helped in finding words to express long held feelings, and I hope to put those in a form that others will enjoy and understand. My plan is to record these songs as I get them in a form I like, and down the road produce another CD or some type of recording of them.
Thank you for your time in listening to/reading my thoughts. I will see you on down the trail. All the best to you.
It is certainly true that when I perform, I am the only one that is visible on stage. But, I find I am not truly alone. With me as I play are all those who have influenced my music and my showmanship, some who are famous and others who may not be. My earliest influences and people I tried my best to emulate in some small way are people like John Denver, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs. Later influences included Hot Rize, David Holt, Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and my greatest influence over the past 30 plus years Arthel "Doc" Watson. Over the years there have also been many people I have seen in passing, but whose artistry struck me enough to try and glean a small piece of their playing or stage presence and use in my own endeavors. There also others who have become acquaintenances and even friends. And I often find that even though he retired, I still carry David with me as I perform. After more than 30 years of performing as a duo there are many parts of my show that are carried over from those years. I am not the instrumentalist he was/is, but I am working on getting better still. And I have to thank him for all those years of music, friendship, and performances. His dedication to getting everything just right, have made me a better musician than I might have been otherwise.
There are others who have never been on a stage or even tried to play an instrument. Yet they are still there with me. Thanks to their friendship, love, and encouragement, I have continued on my quest to follow my dream of entertaining others.
Back around 1995, David and I recorded and produced a Casssette tape of our music titled "Hewed out of the Mountain". Since that time we have talked about and promised a CD to follow that up. We were working on that when David retired. By the way, I am not yet sure it is actually legal to retire from music :), but I wish him the very best and am glad to know he is getting to enjoy being a grandpa to his 2 grandchildren. At any rate, he suggested I do a CD on my own. I am working on that right now and should have it ready early this summer.
So, when you see me performing, you can know that while I am the only one you see, I am not completely alone. I am thankful for all the people who have been a part of my life, those who know they are and those who do not. All the people and experiences are what has made me who I am and has got me to where I am now. I am not finished yet and am hoping for many more years to improve and perform. Along with that I look forward to seeing old friends, listening to people who inspire me, and to meeting new people, some who will pass quickly through my life and others who may stay a while and enrich my life with their friendship.
My music has been the constant driving force in my life for so many years now and it is something I still find much joy in. It is something that will make me drop everything else and find a way to go play for a group, large or small. It is like a medicine for me and I feel good after a good show, sometimes for several days.
After almost a lifetime of playing and singing, I am becoming more and more drawn to writing songs. I have always tried to do some of that, but I find a lifetime of experiences have helped in finding words to express long held feelings, and I hope to put those in a form that others will enjoy and understand. My plan is to record these songs as I get them in a form I like, and down the road produce another CD or some type of recording of them.
Thank you for your time in listening to/reading my thoughts. I will see you on down the trail. All the best to you.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Back to the Basics
I am about to get into the picking season again and I am really looking forward to it. I have been doing a lot of picking and woodshedding this spring, along with working on recording a CD that will likely be ready by the end of June.
As mentioned in my last post, from the end of July last year, I have an upgraded mandolin and have been working on that, along with my other instruments.
Most of my life, well my picking life, which is now over 40 years and is actually most of my life, I have said that there are many people who can play better than me, but there isn't anyone who enjoys it more. In the past few years, it seems some of that joy has gone out of my music and that hurts inside. I find that I am not smiling as much when I am performing, but I am really still enjoying performing and picking. I have thought on this a lot in the past couple of years. It seems some of this loss of joy happened after my stroke on Father's Day of 2009. I was blessed that the stroke did not do more damage. It did not affect my motor skills or my memory, but may have changed my attitude some. I seem to have started concentrating more on trying to be perfect instrumentally than I have in having fun and conveying that fun to my audience. That isn't all bad. David Holt once said, "It has to be good music and good entertainment."
Which brings me to the title of this post. In order to find the fun, I have been going back to the beginning and remembering those days when we would sit up all night picking, just because of the pure joy we found in playing stringed instruments. And going back even farther, to the time when I was in college and was working on the basic chords and songs in my apt. Songs of John Denver, Bob Dylan, Waylon and Willie, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many other bands and singer/songwriters.
So I have been picking my banjo and loosening my fingers back up. Fate has a way of helping too. I have a program booked for this Sunday, where the one asking was looking for a banjo picker. So I will do the hour mostly on banjo and you cannot be sad while playing a banjo - Steve Martin.
The other thing I have done recently is to purchase a new electric guitar. After about 40 years of only playing acoustic, I was a little surprised that I was even interested in doing this, esp. as I still love the sound of an acoustic guitar. I am even more surprised that that little electric guitar and really increased my fun in playing again. I am even looking at adding it with some specially selected songs into some of my programs. So if you come see me this summer, you just might hear some songs from Jimmy Buffett, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bob Dylan, Three Dog Night or others in the course of the show.
So, I am looking forward to the summer and fall and the chance to pick and perform for audiences. Hope to see you down the road at one of my shows.
As mentioned in my last post, from the end of July last year, I have an upgraded mandolin and have been working on that, along with my other instruments.
Most of my life, well my picking life, which is now over 40 years and is actually most of my life, I have said that there are many people who can play better than me, but there isn't anyone who enjoys it more. In the past few years, it seems some of that joy has gone out of my music and that hurts inside. I find that I am not smiling as much when I am performing, but I am really still enjoying performing and picking. I have thought on this a lot in the past couple of years. It seems some of this loss of joy happened after my stroke on Father's Day of 2009. I was blessed that the stroke did not do more damage. It did not affect my motor skills or my memory, but may have changed my attitude some. I seem to have started concentrating more on trying to be perfect instrumentally than I have in having fun and conveying that fun to my audience. That isn't all bad. David Holt once said, "It has to be good music and good entertainment."
Which brings me to the title of this post. In order to find the fun, I have been going back to the beginning and remembering those days when we would sit up all night picking, just because of the pure joy we found in playing stringed instruments. And going back even farther, to the time when I was in college and was working on the basic chords and songs in my apt. Songs of John Denver, Bob Dylan, Waylon and Willie, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many other bands and singer/songwriters.
So I have been picking my banjo and loosening my fingers back up. Fate has a way of helping too. I have a program booked for this Sunday, where the one asking was looking for a banjo picker. So I will do the hour mostly on banjo and you cannot be sad while playing a banjo - Steve Martin.
The other thing I have done recently is to purchase a new electric guitar. After about 40 years of only playing acoustic, I was a little surprised that I was even interested in doing this, esp. as I still love the sound of an acoustic guitar. I am even more surprised that that little electric guitar and really increased my fun in playing again. I am even looking at adding it with some specially selected songs into some of my programs. So if you come see me this summer, you just might hear some songs from Jimmy Buffett, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bob Dylan, Three Dog Night or others in the course of the show.
So, I am looking forward to the summer and fall and the chance to pick and perform for audiences. Hope to see you down the road at one of my shows.
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