I love music stories. Back in my gap year between high school and uni I was offered a job as a gofer on Chris de Burgh’s (lady in Red) tour of Germany - that after I showed I could fix things and I was flunef in German as well as English.
I said no because I had a plane ticket in my pocket to go to Australia a few days later.
It takes a lot of courage to admit that what you thought was a dream was actually a nightmare. When it gets to a point where your body starts screaming, there’s only one call to make, and this was the right one. As a huge fan of Kevin’s writing, while I’m sorry for the suffering this saga may have caused, I am so glad writing was his true passion, because it’s a win-win for all!
I think we have all been there. I was a horrible singer. I remember being on stage in high school during our Concert Chorale final practice when the director called me out. I still feel my skin became hot and I started sweating profusely. I must have been beat red. Now I only sing when there’s nobody else around.
It was great seeing your photo. Now I know who resides behind the pen of On Record. I always get so more out of your column than I add. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I adore this story Kevin, thank you for the vulnerability. I own two guitars and can't play either of them. Since they live in the office where I write, we have silent arguments every day on whether or not I should sell them so they can be appreciated by someone who knows what they're doing instead of acting as expensive decoration for a music writer who can't play music.
I LOVED ALL OF THIS SO MUCH!!!! I know you are being brutally honest in your assessment of your skill, but percussion IS HARD. There's a reason why it's called the heartbeat of the group, and fucking that up is lethal. You put yourself under so much pressure BUT...if you hadn't stuck it out and kept going, you would have spent your life wondering. Quest Love writes in his book, Creative Quest, that sometimes finding where you belong and what you're about (creatively) is actually recognizing what you're NOT about. I think I broke out in sympathy performance hives....I'm glad you landed on the page stage :)
Thank you, Kevin! I've moved so many times and know all about those extra charges from the moving company, hauling around the supplies of who I was, until I finally figure out who I am, and can let them go. I'm learning—like you—that this is not loss, but gain.
Great mini-memoir here, Kevin! I really enjoyed being in bands, although the interpersonal stuff could be a drag sometimes. And I may yet play bass again. But at a certain point I realized my gifts were more as a listener, which I melded with my lifelong love of writing to do what I do today.
Ah, I know that dilemma; been wrestling with it my whole adult life -- making music vs. writing about music. I finally decided to do both. Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Rock on!
Appreciate this so much, on so many levels. I actually had a "semi-career" in music: Put in tens of thousands of miles in shitty vans, went to Europe and Japan a couple of times. But ultimately I had to let it all go. I was so bound to that identity that I began to resent music itself, believing it owed me something, when really it was the other way around. Thank you for this.
I love this! Thanks for sharing your story, Kevin. I can't play a lick, but I can write. So I relate.
I love music stories. Back in my gap year between high school and uni I was offered a job as a gofer on Chris de Burgh’s (lady in Red) tour of Germany - that after I showed I could fix things and I was flunef in German as well as English.
I said no because I had a plane ticket in my pocket to go to Australia a few days later.
Life could have been very different.
It takes a lot of courage to admit that what you thought was a dream was actually a nightmare. When it gets to a point where your body starts screaming, there’s only one call to make, and this was the right one. As a huge fan of Kevin’s writing, while I’m sorry for the suffering this saga may have caused, I am so glad writing was his true passion, because it’s a win-win for all!
Great story! Thank you for sharing. 🥁📝
Combine the best of both and take a shot at writing song lyrics Kevin. Or maybe you already do????
I think we have all been there. I was a horrible singer. I remember being on stage in high school during our Concert Chorale final practice when the director called me out. I still feel my skin became hot and I started sweating profusely. I must have been beat red. Now I only sing when there’s nobody else around.
It was great seeing your photo. Now I know who resides behind the pen of On Record. I always get so more out of your column than I add. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I adore this story Kevin, thank you for the vulnerability. I own two guitars and can't play either of them. Since they live in the office where I write, we have silent arguments every day on whether or not I should sell them so they can be appreciated by someone who knows what they're doing instead of acting as expensive decoration for a music writer who can't play music.
Great post! Stage fright is real and it ends the careers of many an aspiring musician.
Kevin's a great writer and I love his newsletter.
I LOVED ALL OF THIS SO MUCH!!!! I know you are being brutally honest in your assessment of your skill, but percussion IS HARD. There's a reason why it's called the heartbeat of the group, and fucking that up is lethal. You put yourself under so much pressure BUT...if you hadn't stuck it out and kept going, you would have spent your life wondering. Quest Love writes in his book, Creative Quest, that sometimes finding where you belong and what you're about (creatively) is actually recognizing what you're NOT about. I think I broke out in sympathy performance hives....I'm glad you landed on the page stage :)
Thank you, Kevin! I've moved so many times and know all about those extra charges from the moving company, hauling around the supplies of who I was, until I finally figure out who I am, and can let them go. I'm learning—like you—that this is not loss, but gain.
Great mini-memoir here, Kevin! I really enjoyed being in bands, although the interpersonal stuff could be a drag sometimes. And I may yet play bass again. But at a certain point I realized my gifts were more as a listener, which I melded with my lifelong love of writing to do what I do today.
Ah, I know that dilemma; been wrestling with it my whole adult life -- making music vs. writing about music. I finally decided to do both. Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Rock on!
Appreciate this so much, on so many levels. I actually had a "semi-career" in music: Put in tens of thousands of miles in shitty vans, went to Europe and Japan a couple of times. But ultimately I had to let it all go. I was so bound to that identity that I began to resent music itself, believing it owed me something, when really it was the other way around. Thank you for this.
Wow, great, GREAT post!