Presenting new songs to the world

To be honest after writing the post yesterday about my drinking dream I felt a bit better.  Later in the day I had the chance to call two of my good good friends in AA and talked about it.  Funny one of them I know had shared at a meeting a couple of weeks back he'd had a disturbing drinking dream - it knocked him off his balance too and he is over 20 years sober.  It never leaves us, it is an insidious thing gnawing in our heads and hearts - the compulsion to drink may be lifted whilst I work the programme of recovery, I may have the desire to stop drinking but in my head and my heart it stills weedles away trying to find a way to catch me out.  Non addicts and alcoholics can never probably fully appreciate that or the feelings associated with it.  It was a sharp reminder to me to stay on the right path. "Cunning, baffling, powerful" - Bill W could not have found any other 3 words to better sum it up.

Feeling less "unbalanced" and having had a "family" discussion about it, I wanted them to know where I was mentally and emotionally we then headed out and had a great evening at the regular Nag's Head (Rochester) Songwriters Night.  I debuted a new song written only last Sunday when in one of my "noodling sessions" I hit on a nice little chord pattern and a vocal line and lyric hit me almost simultaneously - the planets must have been in some conjunction.  It was a "work in progress" right up until we left for the pub with me rewriting the last verses lyrics minutes before departure!  I described it as a bit of a "new born babe" of a song, normally these things have much longer gestation periods in my head, hands and private rehearsal before they are introduced to the ugly world out there.  It is in C as well - I have been wracking my brains but in 40 years of song writing of those I remember - I do still play for my own pleasure stuff I wrote when I was 15 or 16 you know!  Songs about King Arthur in Em and 5/4 anyone?  I thought not.  Anyways,  I cannot think of any another song I've ever written in C - clearly I'm too sharp for that or feel a need to flatten the mood...    *Pause* ... *Watch tumbleweed roll down street*...  Right even old musos among you probably didn't get that awful gag. Moving on...

Last night was a great night - an incredible eclectic mix of stuff.. Me playing my brand of Acoustic Rock (that reminds me I have a competition for you all I need to set up), then a jazz trio (old school, two guitars, straight comping rhythm and an improv lead and a female singer), my great mate Porlie Eidolon (who defies description but is simply an undiscovered genius), a guy who was a fantastic solo harmonica player and human beatbox (I kid not! D-of-F was highly impressed with him) and a rapper playing solo acoustic guitar accompaniment with brilliantly pithy topical and locally relevant lyrics - sorry his name was in my head... but now gone :-(.   Sadly mid-week, early starts for work, GCSE revision needs etc. meant we had to leave before the end but a great night out.  So - stop watching the fake poseurs on The Apprentice, look up where you  can find a local open mic night and get out there and be amazed at the depth of talent out there.