On Simpler Times...

Good People of the Internet, I have good news: I'm not dead. I've not been taken by martians (although sometimes it feels like it). I have not been stricken by awful, debilitating disease hampering my ability to communicate. No, my fate is none of these yet some might say it is just as bad: I've been uninspired. My life of late is a pseudo tragedy. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly thankful for all of the work and molding God is doing in my life but there's been more than a little shift.

On my way home from work today, I tuned into good old standby, WRTI 90.1FM. My windows were down, allowing a nice breeze to flow through the car. The sweet sounds of ride cymbal/walking bass, muted trumpet and understating piano comping floated through air on the back roads of Delaware County. It felt so familiar yet so different.

For years and years, That was the routine. I would climb in my truck after a hard day of school or work, tune in, and let the music surround me in a lush atmosphere of a different more artistic, more inspired time. Back then for a hard day at the office would a few classes, working on a paper, meeting with friends for a bite to eat and a discussion about music or current events. There would be time to get together with my fellow musician friends to play through some tunes or just get in to some grooves. Then later, My roommate and I would recount the days events and dive into homework or if we were lucky, an Xbox tournament of some kind.

These days, the college campus has been replaced by a warehouse filled with sound equipment, the papers and academic works by soldering, painting and wrapping cables. The bites to eat are still there but lively discussion is now handled by radio talk show hosts on the shop radio. Playing music with others has all but disappeared from my scope. My roommates are all gone but i do have a lovely fiance with whom i spend the majority of my off time. I have a Nintendo Wii, but plain ol' TV is so much easier.

Anymore it seems like i just don't have time to be creative and artistic. What's worse, I sometimes don't feel the need to be. My whole life I've been around music, living and breathing, rhythms, chord changes, genres, great records etc. Now it kinda feels like I've outgrown it. I still have a few outlets but nothing as grand as the aforementioned days. And I'm still mixing. People would constantly say to me "that's cool that you have something to fall back on." Now i find myself in danger of needing some music to fall back on.

This blog is sounding like a pity party and I don't want it to. The thing is more and more, I'm realizing that the musician in me is starving, a status I never thought I'd never reach. I'm not really sure how to proceed in feeding him. I need to work to continue on my path to financial security and marital bliss. The music while feeding my soul and spirit will not always appease Toyota Financial Services (my pimp). I'll keep working on keeping my musicianship serviceable but there's nothing like getting together with some cats to make something bigger than all of individuals.

A last word on this and then I'll leave you to your on devices. This past weekend I was mixing Gerald Veasley's band in Cleveland. For the encore, the drummer sang leaving the drum chair empty. The old Lucien who wanted nothing more than a chance to play on that level, would have rushed to the stage to fill in. That's the same guy that successfully filled that chair for a whole show with guest artist Kirk Whalum in an emergency personnel change. The new Lucien stood there, lashed to the mixing console like it was an oxygen mask underwater. I don't know who this guy is, but I don't like him that much...

Thanks for reading. I promise there is more to come.


-The Truth, Headed for the good ol' days.