I am aware that I regularly drop self-deprecating comments as to my musicianship. Anyone might end up thinking that I regard myself as a poor musician, but this is NOT the case so I feel the need for a deeper explanation.
Early in life, I actually stood out from my peers in regards to musical ability. It also didn't hurt that I was fortunate enough to grow up in a school system where they taught everyone how to read music from the FIRST GRADE!
I continued high in musical ranking & knowledge thru high school, mainly because I lived music even in my off hours and obsessed over it, wanting to learn as much as I could. But even so, it really wasn't that I worked at it. As I say, I was obsessed and it didn't really feel like work.
That said, you couldn't really say I tried hard, or I would have learned much more. I was used to being sort of musically gifted.
So attending Berklee College of Music was a real eye-opener. It began on my first day of orientation when I was auditioned for placement in the guitar program...where they basically told me that I "didn't know how to play"...and ranked me to start at the bottom.
The reason for this assessment was that being self-taught, I didn't use conventional fingerings, but my own style I had made up (including using the thumb to finger bass-notes). I played everything they asked me to play, could sight-read easily, etc.
It didn't stop there...I met and listened to many guitar players who had taken their instruments very seriously indeed for many years and realized I was way out-classed. But also I met many who couldn't yet read music, could play very basic guitar but not cleanly, but who had come to learn.
So I am being realistic from my point of view. I know where I stand. I am not a gifted guitar player. I will never have virtuosity to set me apart, because I seem to be wired with a slow nervous system-muscle interface which does not allow for the facility to play really fast runs, even when I can envision them. And I have never regarded myself as a great singer from the begining. I sing out of necessity, because I am the only one who has the enthusiasm for my work to do so. (I am a product of the singer-songwriter movement, but that's another tale).
No, my strength lies in one thing only: The songs. There have been many great songs written, and I can always spot inspired work a mile away. While I do appreciate any tune that arises from great talent, inspired work is my favorite and the basis of my own writing, for which I am happy and grateful.
Someday I will go into my thoughts on where I think these songs come from and their nature. But let's just leave it there for now....
Now just a short note on what else has happened in the recent past, as far as performing.
As a side note, another reason I feel I made a good host for open-mike night was the fact that I knew so many songs. I had stopped counting when I had learned about 300 cover versions and had picked up quite a few since then. Not that I did all of them well. But I was really put to the test to pick out and rehearse different tunes from that bunch month after month. Many of our performers only knew a handful of tunes and would have to repeat them frequently.
Anyway, also during that period, I became involved with a Variety Show put on in conjunction with a local stage company. The purpose was both to showcase talent from the area and to raise money for a scholarship fund to help out a local young artist. I was proud to be involved. I auditioned and then performed a cover of a Don McLean tune which was well-received.
We had performers of every stripe, singers, dancers, poetry, drama, bands, even a few lip-syncers.
The PA system worked OK for some acts, but was sub-par for others causing complications. The next year I volunteered mine as a supplement to help out. I was permitted to do 2 tunes, and so having completed my first album "CFlight" by then, I chose originals. I reworked the recordings for mono, remastered with no vocals, to be played on the house PA while I performed on my own.
They seemed well-received (I did "Images of Maine" & "Earthwind") but I wonder to this day how many people thought I was lip-syncing due to the pre-recorded music!
It was after this that life-changes tore me away from involvement in this fun and worthwhile event and I haven't gotten back since, sadly.
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