Reaching Goals: Sprinting to the Finish Line
Creative pursuits are like long distance running: it’s more about endurance than sprinting.
My track and cross-country coach, Mark Carpenter, once pointed out to me that the way I was sprinting the last 150 meters of a 3.1 meter race was a sign I was leaving too much on the course. He coached me to run more consistently, and slightly faster, during the middle of the race, during the tough miles. By the end, it was too late!
Coach Carp’s advice about running is now an adage I follow for music. I’m reminding myself about it a lot this week, now that I’m in the middle of the tour (almost past the second week, 1520 miles into 4000+).
Success isn’t a sprint to the finish line; the hard work is in the middle of the race, the time where it gets tough, the time where we need to exert about 10-15% more energy, focus or attention.
At a Chicago open mic Monday, I met a fantastic duo named Frances Luke Accord. Brian and Nick are an acoustic, folk pop duo. Picture Simon & Garfunkel meeting Nickelcreek.
Anyways, we struck up a conversation, traded CDs, and I asked them where they recorded their debut.
“Uganda” the young songwriters said.
Yep! Uganda. It knocked my socks off, too.
During their senior year in college, FLA was invited to visit the Barefoot Truth Children’s Choir of the Kkindu Village in Uganda. With the help from donations by family, friends and grants from Notre Dame, the seniors recorded a seven song CD featuring the children’s choir.
All of the profits are donated to the children’s education.
Did your heart just skip too?
These young songwriter’s aspired to follow the footsteps of Paul Simon’s Graceland with a unique work that gives back to a community miles and miles away. Brian told me they’ve raised $5000 from the CD sales already.
So I’m crossing the Mississippi River today, listening to the record, and it’s just beautiful. I’ve listened to it on repeat all day.
The next time someone tells you art or music can’t make a difference, or college students only drink beer all day, just whisper, Frances Luke Accord.
You need to hear this:
- The story about their project
- FLA’s official website
- FLA’s Bandcamp where you can hear and buy Kandote, and donate
- My favorite song from Kandote, “In the Water”
Related show
When a friend (or stranger) treats you poorly, do you feel a little jaded, and say, “I’m going to be more careful with how generous I am next time.”
However, when a friend (or stranger) is so kind, do you feel empowered, and say, “I’m going to pay it forward, I’m need to be kind!”
Kindness should always win; don’t get jaded.
How a Terrible Fire Reminded Me of Kindness
The first day of my fall tour, after being on the road for a few minutes, my phone rang.
I let it go to voicemail. I had a feeling it was bad news.
And it was. The call was from one of my venues for later in my tour. The venue called to cancel our show. Because the venue had a fire and burned to ruin.
Heartbreaking.
Here’s the soul-filling part of the story: Ben, the venue owner was so upset that he couldn’t host my show. In the voice mail, he offered t help me find a new venue, find a place to stay, etc.
I’m still touched from his offer. A person facing such a difficult situation was still offering to help me, a musician he had never met in person.
And so many people have offered to help me after my first week on the road. For every complication I’ve faced this week, two people have offered kindness.
Today at a venue a musician insisted I take his extra tuner when he heard I lost mine.
Yesterday, at the Uncommon Ground open mic, all of the musicians gave me free CDs when they heard I was traveling alone without a way to listen to an iPod in my car.
My biggest tour has faced unpredictable challenges, but the kindness of others has really floored me.
I hope that kindness spreads like wildfire for you this week, too.
* * *
Big thanks to Carrie McFerrin who not only helped me in Kalamazoo last week, but has offered to join my bill last minute in Ann Arbor, Sept 14 at World of Beer.
While enjoying Impressionist paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, a placard caught my eye:
The stress of painting a live model, a tension of fear that you will miss the perspective vs the comfort of a still life…this made me wonder about songwriting.
I pondered: What is the comparable still life of songwriting? And what is the similarity of painting a model?
The process of songwriting might be both.
