ho ho ho… how? how? how? did it wind up so quickly to the week before christmas?
well, so be it. i am ready for whatever the holidays may throw at me. BRING IT ON, I SAY.
as far as is possible, i have crossed my ‘t’s and dotted my ‘i’s on the list of things to do in one year of living.
the album is well underway and, all things willing, i should be in the studio committing it to ones and zeros (that’s digital, as opposed to analog) by february. i have over twenty-five songs written, but i would like three more ‘special’ tunes to ice that cake. i will find them in the annals of my creative mind and have an album all wrapped up with a ribbon in a bow, ready to open for my birthday.
i’m pretty happy with the schedule i have kept. i started early and am pretty much coming in on the date that i had hoped. not without much yo-yoing on the emotional front, mind you. the closer i get to finishing, the closer the ups and downs seems to play in my mind. i am absolutely loving and absolutely hating whatever i do, with equal ferocity within the space of a day or two from the last absolute feeling i had about it all… and that spreads wider than just the songs. ever had violent feelings towards your choice in sandwich? or felt abnormally proud of the way you parked your car? the pendulum of life swings wide at times, and at others, it is a virtual wind-machine in a tornado. this being the case, i will use it as fuel.
i look forward to thinking about more mundane things like pairing up my pile of socks, or deleting all the messages in my spam folder.
on the fun side (not that i am not having fun on the upswings of said yo-yo), i am compiling a list of covers to record as b-sides to go with the songs for the album. i am going hog-wild with ideas for songs, but i am open to requests. if anything takes your fancy, feel free to write to me and put in an order. no song is too whimsical or ridiculous for suggestion. go ahead and entertain me with your most obscure (most obvious, is also welcome).
other future fun on the horizon, are a few upcoming frente shows! keep your eyes peeled for announcements. we will be playing a limited amount of shows early next year.
oh, also. there is a recording from the rockwiz christmas special that includes my cover of joni mitchell’s ‘river’. it’s a seven song e.p. that’s called, rockwiz christmas. all proceeds go to the mirabel foundation:
‘The Mirabel Foundation was established in 1998 to assist children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental illicit drug use and are now in the care of extended family (kinship care). Mirabel believes that every child deserves a childhood and its mission is to break the destructive cycle of addiction.’
http://www.mirabelfoundation.com/
you can find it at:
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/Product/400063/ROCKWIZ-CHRISTMAS
my latest attempt at the rockwiz panel will finally be airing in mid-january. i’ll post the date when i get an offical one.
new year’s resolutions? the usual, which i won’t name, but you can probably guess. most people have a red hot go at the obligatory detox in an attempt to feel more righteous. i will be following suit.
further afield from my own foibles and flaws, i will try harder to aid this ailing planet and by being more consciencious about switching off unused power points, starting a compost, and buying more local products. i’m pretty water-wise, but that is only because i don’t shower and my garden is on it’s own, when it comes to irrigation.
speaking of buying locally, i bought a new guitar! a beautiful maton acoustic. it doesn’t make my playing any better, but it has a very forgiving sound, that encourages me to pick it up and play anyway.
that is about it, i would say.
but before i go, i would like to share a lovely story from a show that i did last night with darren hanlon.
after performing for a room filled with what can only be described as a warm and loving audience, i was approached by a young man (does that make me sound old?) in his early twenties (i am old). he told me he had never cried before at a concert, but that he had been moved to tears during my performance. he seemed quite ‘aussie male’ in his demeanour, so i tried to buffer his confession to emotion with a cute reply. ‘oh, you shed a little tear?’ i offered. ‘no!’ he exclaimed, and pointed to the lowest part of his chin, they were down to here! tears running down my face’. his solemn ‘aussie male’ buddy confrimed this with a serious nod. ‘that’s beautiful’, i told him. ‘i don’t know if it was beautiful.’ he replied,’ i don’t know what it was’.
beautiful is what it was to me.
once again, a confirmation as to why one makes art.
sigh.
i hope you are moved to beautiful tears this christmas, and that your art reaches someone to the same honest reaction. tears of laughter at a cheeky joke, or tears of recognition as you share something of yourself with someone who needs to hear it. it won’t help the economy, but who cares.
lots of love and peaceful thoughts to you all,
ang x
this is a pic that my friend arata took from the corner christmas show. sorry, it’s a little stretched, but i didn’t have the tools to resize it, so i am very long and lean today.
