My friend Craig Carrick–a musician and music festival organizer–is one of those incredible people who uses music to touch lives.
For five years, Craig has been raising a little money, buying guitars, and giving them to kids at the Noreastr Festival in Mio, MI. The program is called “Carrick’s Guitars for Kids.”
Here’s an article about Craig’s goal.
It’s that simple. He raises money to buy guitars. He uses all of the money to buy guitars. He gives the guitars to kids!
So far, he’s giving away 200+ guitars to kids. Plus, all of the kids get a free guitar lesson at the Noreastr Festival workshop room.
Mio is a pretty small town, and some of these kids have come back to share how that guitar has changed their life.
This year, I’m giving $5 of every shirt sale during my spring tour to Carrick’s Guitars for Kids program. I’m already halfway to my goal of raising enough money to buy one guitar for the program!
Lois is very excited about this fundraiser.
As school budgets continue to cut funding for music programs, we are losing opportunities to give kids a creative outlet, a confidence builder, an art form. Craig’s demonstration of how one good deed can make a huge difference, right in our neighborhoods, is an opportunity to inspire all of us to take that small step, too!
Must artists be unhappy to make great art?
Most songwriters I know, myself included, were inspired to write their first songs because of two factors:
1. They enjoyed learning their favorite songs, which gave them the tools to write their own; and
2. They were grappling with a difficult experience–like a breakup–and needed a way to process the event.
Hence, heartache, and a songwriter’s first songs emerge!
There is a belief that unhappiness creates great art, and I’m not going to dispute that. Rather, I’d like to point out that all human emotions can create great art.
The danger is if songwriters only rely on negative experiences to sit down to write. “I never write songs anymore now that I’m in a stable relationship,” say some songwriters.
This idea is only true if you let it be…The reason someone isn’t writing songs is because they aren’t writing songs. Simple as that.
It’s not the relationship ruining songwriting inspiration; rather any change to our schedules can disrupt the ebb and flow of inspiration, which is why making a schedule is important.
My wife, who is an incredibly diligent writer, has a whiteboard with lists of weekly and daily tasks that she follows. I’ve learned from watching her productivity that a schedule is the only way to combat distraction and procrastination, the true enemies to writing. (And fear.)
So you love birds out there feeling stuck by writer’s block, take action! Schedule in time with your craft like you do dinner with your significant other. Your muse will love you for it.
Thanks to the DEART class for sharing their drawing with us after Nat and I gave a lecture about writerly life.
“Pretty hungover, huh?” [Tour confessions]
On Sunday, I was a panelist at the University of Michigan’s music conference to share how I make a living as a musician.
Ann Arbor Music Con 2014. Photo credits: Spencer Michaud
When I arrived, I mingled with the attendees and other panelists. One music student asked me if I had any upcoming tours. I shared how I had finished a stretch of dates last night.
“That’s why my voice is a little hoarse, I’m pretty exhausted,” I said.
“Oh, pretty hungover, huh?” the student replied.
I was surprised by this assumption, but maybe I shouldn’t be. People assume musicians party.
Here’s my confession: My tour mates Frances Luke Accord and I drank zero beers while on tour. Brian of FLA didn’t even drink coffee, and all of us limited our caffeine intake.
Why?
We were protecting our voices.
Traveling for gigs is exhausting. The lack of sleep is rough enough on the vocal chords.
Brian, Nick and I all felt vocal fatigue after our first show of the tour at the Elbo Room in Chicago, caused by talking in the loud club to the people who came to the show. I strain my voice by talking over loud music, rarely from singing.
So we immediately had to protect our voices to survive the rest of the week’s shows. Drinking water, eating well, doing vocal warm ups and cool down exercises…
I worry about younger musicians who start the bad habits of drinking excessively before and after their performances. Drinking on the job is a sure way to get fired in the “real” world. In the music, art, or food industries, it’s a sure way to ruin your chances of longevity.
After our last show, Frances Luke Accord and I enjoyed one or two beers at Grizzly Peak while hanging out with friends who attended the show.
One celebratory beer after a successful stretch of gigs. If we had decided to party the first night of tour, I doubt we would have had anything to celebrate in the end.
Brian and Nick from FLA and I enjoying lunch and spring's weather before our Ann Arbor show.
“It’s not where you are, but who you are with,” so the saying goes. And I was lucky to share a set of shows last weekend with some amazing folks, Frances Luke Accord and Chris Dupont, as well as visit some cool places.
If you haven’t heard Frances Luke Accord’s new EP, Queen for Me, stop what are doing, and download it for free on Noisetrade right now:
I have to say, traveling with others is way better than traveling alone! I did 5000 miles by myself last fall, which is how I met FLA in Chicago at an open mic. We hit it off, traded numbers, and said, “We must do some shows together next year!”
Welp, it happened, and it was a blast.
One of the best parts of the tour for me was when I carpooled with FLA from Chicago to Flint. Brian and Nick asked if we could listen to their EP in my car, that they hadn’t heard it through a car stereo yet. (They don’t own cars in Chicago!) As a super fan, I got to listen to their record with them and talk about the inspiration of the material. The theme of “Queen for Me” is a motif for Chicago, and trying to find success in the city.
My friend Chris Dupont was equally incredible, and it was great to finally share the stage with him. His new album Anxious Animal has been on repeat on my iPod all year, and Chris and FLA became quick friends. Contrary to Seinfeld’s warning, I love when my worlds collide!
Here are some candid videos and photos from the tour. Thanks to everyone who attended our sets in Chicago, Flint and Ann Arbor.
FLA playing to a fine crowd at the Elbo Room
The Elbo Room in Chicago: WWLD?
David Stanley joined us in Flint and got along with FLA immediately, sharing Notre Dame jokes and talking about songwriting.
Nick and I setting up the stage at LIVE in Ann Arbor
Brian and Nick from FLA and I enjoying lunch and spring's weather before our Ann Arbor show.
Big thanks to Betsy for running the door! Aren't Chris and Betsy the cutest musical couple?
My set at LIVE. Photo credit: Alisa Bobzien
Checkout some soundcheck videos and song clips from the tour:
