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Last Thursday night I did not strum, I did not pluck, and I did not drone. What I did do is stand behind a microphone and sing a song that I wrote, with a drummer for back-up. (Thanks Jason!) So begins the next phase of my musical adventure.

I'm going from singing for my cats, to singing in public. It's a really big step for me, because I do have problems with stage fright. But over time I hope to learn to manage it as I sing more and more. This was my first step into the waters, and it was a very safe zone for me. My brother is hosting the Original Works Open Mic night every third Thursday at the Chaska Dunn Brothers. I arrived to find a beautiful old brick building, and it was a relatively quiet night, and I did my best to open my eyes as much as I could and look at my brother and his friend there watching me sing. I arrived 35 minutes before close, so I didn't get the full experience, but the beauty of the venue won me over immediately and I want to go back and fill that lovely coffee shop with some of my original music.

Since caffeine makes me shake even more than my hereditary benign essential tremor does, I was powered by decaf for the night. Now that fall has come and night is here at 7 p.m., I'm looking to get out to more of these small venues to listen, and maybe even to sing a little. I've already made arrangements to switch shifts at work so I can get there by around 6 p.m. so I can experience the whole evening in November. This time I'll bring an instrument, or maybe two, since I don't have very many songs that I've written. Poets and spoken word is welcome too, it's all about orginal stuff.

My hope is that more time spent with other musicians, poets, songwriters, and singers will feed my musical soul, and I'll be able to write some more and expand my original songbook in the coming months. Winter always makes me turn inward, and I wrote my first full song with chords and lyrics in December of 2013. This is a thing to be grateful for, the community of other songwriters and a space to share our works together. Even tonight, I plan on practicing my instruments, working on technique and memorization of songs to perform at the next Fall Music Party.

It has been a long time between posts, my music has continued off and on.  Right now it is turned ON in neon letters daring the long nights of fall and winter to sit and listen to what people like me have to say in melody and verse.Tonight I just wanted to share some of the joy that is simmering in my heart right now, and to give any poets and songwriters a glimpse of the venue which will be hosting a gathering of creative spirits next month. This is the view that the musicians have:

I'm looking forward to some good nights over the coming months. Good think I like coffee! (even if it's decaf)

Play Date

Today my mountain dulcimer Mary Ann and I are hopping in my PT Cruiser to go play with my big brother. He plays the guitar, so we are going to have a jam practice together. My sweet Mary Ann turned one year old on April 19th, and I forgot to note it here in the blog. Actually, I forgot to note it in my life, but that's another story. I've had a very busy couple of weeks at work, and so all the home stuff was put on the back burner.

Now I'm ready to put more energy into things like my upcoming music party, hence the play date. We tried coordinating remotely, but my diatonic little lady needs face to face time with other instruments apparently. That's cool, as I love playing with others. This is the third year for my Spring Music Party, and I'm pretty excited about it. The RSVP's have been coming in, and there will be some very fine musicians and singers in attendance. Having musicians in the family is really awesome, and I'm going to take advantage of this perk more often. The family that plays together, stays together. I might just have to put that on a T-Shirt.

On My Nerves

My hand dilema has a solution! Thanks to an adjustment from Dr. Becca, the weird tingles have been greatly reduced, and we are treating the source of the problem: my stiff neck. It's been almost a week since I last practiced my dulcimer, and she gave me the go ahead to practice my dulcimer, with strict instructions to put the sheet music at eye level.

During my last practice session, I had my music sitting to my left on couch, so I could refer to it time to time as I was trying to memorize the song. Bad idea. My neck muscles tightened up and voila! Pain and tingles in my arm, wrist, and hand that persisted for several days. So I contacted Becca, the same person who inspired me to take up the autoharp in the first place, and got in for an adjustment. Now I will be doing stretches three or more times a day and visiting her for a follow up in a week.

But I got to hold my darling dulcimer and listen to her sweet voice again tonight. I will continue practicing, in moderation, and stretching my neck under the direction of Dr. Becca. Oh, and I'll be adding Yoga in to my daily routine as well. That way I will keep everything stretched and toned so I can continue to grow as a musician. I've been very blessed in having someone I can trust to go to for help. I had never been to a Chiropractor before, and there is no way I would let a stranger adjust my neck that way. Ah the life of a musician!