leeleemusic

Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

    I used to say that people who liked watching performers, also liked watching bull fights.   Your’re watching someone risk life and death for their art. There are possibilities of death. . . in public!  That is the hardest part about performing, you make your mistakes in public! The “nature of the beast” is that you need an audience and that audience may see you fail.  Getting up again and again is what makes a pro.  

     My Dad used to say that what makes a real “pro” is not the…

THE BLOG YOU NEVER WANTED TO READ:

and the Blog I Never Wanted to Write

      As the great 21^st century philosopher, George Campbell, said, “I'm one cow short of a full herd. And no, I'm not talking about Farmville.” I like making sure an author of a quote gets credit – but I’m thinking that maybe in the past, the reason there was so much “anonymous” going on is that we didn’t have “cut and paste.”  What do you think?

      By the way, talking about “deep stuff,” they are now driving the cattle in…

     There have been times in my past where I have been averse to painful experiences thinking they are “bad,” or “harmful.”  I tried to avoid them at all cost. However, I have found that sometimes allowing some discomfort for the ultimate goal of health or sanity  has been effective in both my physical and emotional health.

     “Prescribed Burn” is a forest maintenance term that means you start a fire in an area that has collected too much debris on the forest floor. What happens in the natural world is…

The Art of Air Guitar

    My girlfriend who lived next door became an expert at “Air Guitar” at age ten imitating Paul McCartney’s style.  She perfected his restrained British style: long legs and knees together with a chirpy bending from the left hip and an occasional bob of the head; although, technically, Paul played the bass guitar.

    The beauty of “air guitar” is that without laying out a penny on equipment, and without five minutes of practice, you can instantly feel the glory of accomplishment…

I was listening to a speaker yesterday who said, "I wish, just for once, I could read a newsletter that said, 'I don't have anything profound to say today - nothing has come to me...I don't have any insights, no Spirit-led words of wisdom, no dreams or visions to share with you. I believe I have in the past, and I will again in the future...but I don't have anything profound to say today.'" I liked his idea, too, and decided to steal it.

I once heard it is every artist's responsibility to "keep it fun."  This is more challenging than it sounds - it's "simple, but not easy." Along those lines, perhaps it is every individual's responsibility to keep LIFE fun in this great adventure. In the same way, it may sound simple, but it's not easy!

Day-to-day there are so many necessary functions to perform that may seem boring. For me, some days the "maintenance" includes scales, practice, changing strings, tuning, and instrument repair. If your a…

Last month I had the opportunity to experience an extraordinary singer/songwriter, David Walburn, who performs at the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park, MT.  Walburn performs a music program based on the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition: The "Corps of Discovery." This expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the West in hopes of finding a "Northwest Passage" trade route from St. Louis, MO to the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition took place from 1804 to 1809. Although…