weekend retreat

So this past weekend (11/7/08) I went with a few guys from the band at church to a high school retreat our church was having. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had. There was no myspace or email or facebook or anything to waste my time. There was no tv to veg out to. I'd wake up early and sit on the dock with my bass or I'd read. When we weren't enjoying nature we would be playing music or just hanging out and having fun. It was exhilarating to feel the energy from some of these kids and just to watch them grow closer to the Lord.

Now I know in situations like this we sometimes feel a "God high" where we are filled with good thoughts and want to change the world, but a couple of days go by and that feeling fades. We got back on Sunday night and I have been very depressed since that time. It was so great being in that setting but then coming back to your regular life, nothing seems right. My head is full of questions and thoughts and nothing I do seems to quiet any of that.

I know now that there are things in my life that I can't ignore and I need to focus on getting control of. I also know that it will take time but with the help of good friends, old and new, I know I can pull through.

drummers

Someone posted this on a bulletin about favorite drummers. I only included the main part of his stupid statement, but please read it

"...because obviously if they are that talented then their band should either be big and recognized or the drummer shouldnt still be in that band because their talents exceed their bands..."

What is this guy talking about? This statement really bothers me because it makes less than no sense. Just because you have talent does not mean that your band is gonna be big. I'm sure everyone can think of a ton of bands that aren't big but are full of great musicians. In this post people kept on mentioning Slipknot. Granted they are getting more popular, but a while ago they weren't that big. What if they never got noticed? Would they be less talented? There is no denying the utter genius and incredible musicianship of a band that has 9 members and can sound that tight, escpecially playing metal. Furthermore, I can bet there are thousands of musicians out there that can play circles around me and everyone else I know that can play an instrument. Most of these people and/or their bands will never be big because they don't want to. They play music for the love of music and don't want to get caught up in all the BS and politics that comes along with trying to make it big. Sadly, this is something that maybe all of us need to think about from time to time. In closing I would just like to mention that being "big" has far less to do with musicianship than you think. If you can write a decent 3 chord pop song, you can make it, even if you can hardly play your instrument. I've personally heard stories of major label bands that were on the radio, where the producer had to step in and play certain parts of a song because the "musician" just couldn't do it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go cry in the corner for people who think like this and future musicians who are gonna believe people like that, and think that it is the truth.