And that’s a wrap.

Well, folks, five shows down and I have to say that I’ve had the time of my life. I’ve been delirious, I’ve come home a zombie, I’ve lived off chicken Parma and Noodle Box, I’ve been in 4 states in a month and sometimes forgotten where I’ve just been and most importantly, I’ve seen five very bloody impressive shows.

Here are some of the highlights:

Getting to thank Max via a sign for giving me the inspiration to get back on the kit when I am feeling more than a bit lazy.

Getting Max’s drum sticks on two separate occasions. I now have a pair.

Getting a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Bruce, who then came back to do the same to my mum.

Getting to hold hands, get hi fives and of course, dancing from the stage with the dude.

Hearing Born To Run, Born In The USA, Darkness On The Edge Of Town and The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle in their entirety.

Dream Baby Dream.

Getting guitar picks thrown at me from Tom Morello

Seeing Eddie Vedder on stage with Tom and Bruce.

The dealings we’ve had with Bruce’s security staff who helped organize the line to get into the venues. They were great, professional and friendly. I couldn’t praise them enough.

Hearing so many different songs and seeing five very different shows.

And finally, the incredible people that I’ve met along the way. I’ve made some really good friends and for a lot of us who’s last concert was last night, it will be hard to go from our little bubble back to our every day lives. On the up side though, I now have so many reasons to visit different states and I’ve promised some people I’d be back real soon, so I guess I’ll just have to find another gig worth traveling for so that I can visit my new found friends.

Where to from here? Well, back home and straight on the drum kit. I have about a year or so’a worth of inspiration to keep me going. Thanks Bruce!

All I’m thinking bout.

So, there was no recording last night. It turns out you can’t do that without a camera battery and now I’m thinking that next Tuesday will be a better day. It will give me time to test everything and feel comfortable with what’s going on. I’m happy about that.

It also means that I can relax and get some sleep, which is exactly what I did last night. Came home and slept- and slept and slept. It didn’t help that I woke up with Waiting On A Sunny Day stuck in my head. It’s okay, song, you’ll be heard.

I think that a two week gap at this stage is more realistic. It gives me time to carry on living and less chance of me getting nose bleeds about what I’m going to put out. It also means I can carry on going to the gym which is exactly where I’ll be tonight. My back and wrists are telling me that it’s well overdue.

Eventually I’ll pick up to a week, but for now, two weeks is good. It also means I can keep drumming, rather than putting everything on hold. The list of songs that I want to do keeps growing and changing. I always said I wouldn’t do one of the big three albums – till this morning when I stumbled across a song I’m itching to leave my mark on. It’s fun diving through Bruce’s collection and thinking “I’ll have that one and that one and that one, thanks”

Anyway, it’s probably time for me to head off and keep rummaging through Bruce’s collection. Have a great day.

P.s I’m trying out a new gym tonight. That’s exciting too.

Life is just a slow train crawling up a hill….

So, I did good things this morning. I woke up early, I worked out, I went and had a lay down afterwards so that I wouldn’t be sleepy (I am anyway) and now it’s work time. I couldn’t fit any drums in because I need new drum sticks *thumbs up* but hey, them’s the breaks. I’m really looking forward to this weekend, and tonight to be honest. The whole month of September is ahead of us (except the first four days) and there are some cracking gigs in Melbourne coming up.

I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Angus Burchill again. That guy’s great. If I forget why I want to be a drummer between now and when I see angus, I am sure I will remember then. I’ll get to see Jason Vorherr at least twice at the time of my life gigs. There are some good musicians involved and it will be interesting to see how they all interact with each other on one stage. It’s pretty much the awesome foursome of aus rock – Joe Camilleri, Ross Wilson, James Reyne and Daryl Braithwaite. It’s almost the perfect storm – minus the giant tornado and major injuries I hope.

As for me and Bruce and my drumming, my itch for the kit has never been stronger. I feel like I have a point to prove. A friend told me that Max can’t play the middle break in Born To Run, so I’ll be working bloody hard at that. I just can’t wait to be able to play a few songs. I’ve learnt 9 now, which sounds and feels incredible to say. It’s just a matter of polishing them up and getting them right.

Also my red book – Lincoln (I think I named him after Abe, dunno why) is coming in handy. It’s good to be able to track my progress and when I’m learning stuff. I think it’s something that a lot of musicians should do. It feels good to be organized.

Now it’s work time. Buh bye

Such big ambitions for such a little girl….

That’s right, I guess. Right now I am living, eating and sleeping to be the best musician I possibly can be. There’s no doubt about that. I have my little plan of what I’m going to do and how I’m going to do it and I’m really not going to let anything interrupt it. I need to get back to playing for at least one day on weekends, too.

As for Bruce *sighs* I’m listening to my two albums at the moment, as well as looking up instruments when I’m on a break at work in case there is anything else I might need to add to my collection (tele with a bigsby, any one?) to top off my obsession with my goal, I am picking up my guitar and bass again on a regular basis to try and learn as much as I can with it – just in case, you know, Bruce wants me to play something else instead.
Peace kiddies, enjoy your night

Born To Run

So, this morning got off to an interesting start. It’s a beautiful Melbourne morning, I had cereal for breakfast (it’s the breakfast of champions) and started thinking about how I’m going to tackle this mammoth task that I have set for myself.

I think the thing to remember is that I know some of these songs. There are some that are obvious, some that will without a doubt be played… Well not many, but some. I can get to Dancing In The Dark and it’s freakishly fast rhythm. I can get there, but I know the fill. Now it’s time to master it.

I kinda want to go through album by album. That appeals to me. I may start with Born To Run. I know that I was working on Born In The USA previously, and I’ll keep on going with that, too. Maybe trying to get down two albums at once is a big ask, but I have taken on a big ask and I need to be ready as soon as I can be. I want to have played little gigs before I play a big one and I can’t do that if I don’t know what I’m doing

So there it is, that’s music sorted. I’ll organize my week at some point today to see how I can optimize the amount of time I spend on the kit/with a guitar/bass.

As for the health side of things, I’m bringing (healthy) lunches to work so that I can eat better, won’t have to leave the office and I save money… Which will mean more instruments. It’s win win, really.

Trying Again

I had my drum lesson last night, which went okay. We slowed down Glory Days and Dancing In The Dark just to give me a chance to catch up to Max a little bit. Let’s face it, he’s been doing this for a lot longer than 14 weeks. I’m also still in the process of tweaking my style and streamlining my drumming, as my teacher would say. It’s just a matter of giving myself the ability to play faster. I’m also breaking up my Bruce drumming with drumming along to different tracks – the White Stripes are good for a bit of fun. They’re great to warm up to.

Cover Me and Downbound Train are going really well. I’m at the point now where I’m getting closer to playing what’s on the record, introducing the China as well as the high hat and putting another feather in my cap, which I really love. I’m also falling deeper and deeper in love with music again, which sounds odd. I’m listening to different bands every day, some of my friends went to Sabbath so I’m listening to Tommy play a bit. I’m also getting into soul music, so it will be interesting to see what kind of drumming style I end up with, cause right now I look a bit like the gorilla in the Cadbury’s add, but without any of the talent.

Song of the day is Working On The Highway, just for a bit of mid week fun.

Day off due to illness and now we’re getting somewhere.

So there was no post yesterday cause I was sick. Realistically speaking, I am still sick. I still have no voice, I still feel like shit, but the good news is that you don’t need a voice to post on the internet (hell, some people would say you don’t even need a voice to have a hit record these days, but that’s another story). You also don’t need a voice to play drums. I still went to drum lessons yesterday and we’re making progress. Slowly, but surely, we’re making progress, which is nice.

I also got the drum tabs for Cover Me and Downbound Train. Both of these were my drum teacher’s suggestions. Good work, Damo. I have lots to do when I get better. I want to master all four songs by next week and still manage to rest up because it’s important for me. He gave me some tips too, like to tap using my heal so that I’m not getting cramps in my shins all the time and keeping my elbow low so that I can pick up speed. There was a tip from another buddy too about adjusting the height of my snare drum for rim shots (thanks joe!) It looks like I’ll be playing around with the height of my kit when it finally makes it’s way into that music room.

I got my Bruce poster yesterday. I have a link to the shot that I got below. I think it captures him beautifully. It’s going in the Music Room. I am still waiting on Dancing In The Dark. C’mon Aus Post!

I also got stuck into the chocolates yesterday. Being home is like playing my very own version of “biggest Loser temptation” and it’s fair to say that the sweets cupboard won. What was I thinking? Today is a new day. I’ve lost a bit of weight which although wasn’t the main goal, is a nice surprise. I still need to build up strength in my arms and legs so I’ll be hitting the gym for a while yet.

Song of the day is Working On A Dream as that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Enjoy

I has work to do

So, yesterday was an interesting day. Peace to all my friends in the US at the moment, my thoughts are with you

Now that that’s done, I spent yesterday doing one of three things. 1) working (cause I need it to buy more drums)

2) playing drums
Having a schedule (which I trashed today thanks to the faintest sight of the sniffles) really allowed me to get more time in drumming. I was impressed that I found time to get on the kit before work. This is always good.

I also had time when I got home to drum before my lesson. My drum teacher said that it showed. I had my lesson yesterday, told him about my blog and then drummed through my current playlist. I learnt that I need to listen to Cover Me more. Ohhhh what a shame. I now have written out drum tab for Dancing In The Dark and Glory Days. I guess the album I’m learning first is Born In The USA. Don’t roll your eyes, the album chose me, I didn’t choose it.

3) Doing things to help my drumming. I was frantically shoving vegetables into my gob yesterday in a bid to not get sick again, I also got up and did a quick work out so that I have more strength for when I’m playing and given the cramps I was getting in my right leg after an Hoyt’s worth of drumming, I’m going to need to do more. Max must have the legs of an athlete hidden behind that drum kit! It’s hard work, but I’ll get there.

The playlist that I’m drumming to is
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Cover Me
London Calling
Twist and Shout

Below is my homework.