Monday, November 26, 2012

Music in my head

My life has a soundtrack in my head. Sometimes other people can hear it when I play guitar and sing in public, but most of the time it's just for me (unless telepaths are picking it up too). Sometimes there are lead guitar riffs, sometimes rhythm guitar picking or strumming, sometimes both. I don't usually hear bass and drum parts clearly but it's like they are implied. I suppose if I were The Bicycling Bassist or The Bicycling Drummer I would be hearing those parts clearly and it would be the guitar parts that were ghostlike. I have jammed with other musicians and been in a couple of bands. When I share original songs I've written, I don't usually tell the bass player or drummer what parts to play. I count on them to have their own muse direct them. I just play my guitar parts and sing my words, if any.

Because I have my own music in my head, usually other people's music only conflicts with it and gives me a headache. Sometimes though I play lead guitar riffs in my head to whatever other music is out there in the world of other people. Sometimes that is the only way to stay sane, especially if it is country music or rap that I am being forced to listen to. I've rocked out some elevator music too!

Usually the music in my head is instrumental (I am not The Bicycling Singer, as I tell anyone who criticizes my singing), but sometimes there are words. Sometimes words just happen, and music too, as in the following clip from a recent live performance of mine. As indicated in the description to this video, it shows me creating music out of nothing with no plans or ideas of what would come next. It just flowed out like diarrhea, or maybe something nicer than that I hope!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Still playing after an accident

I now have a USB microphone along with my USB guitar cable. Hopefully I will soon have new recordings available of my original songs. I am currently singing and playing guitar better live than ever before, much better than anything yet recorded or posted anywhere. Wish me luck on my recording myself using my notebook computer's sound card. Maybe someday I'll be recorded by professionals using professional equipment!

I had a bit of a spill on June 1 riding home from playing at a local bar. The accident was caused by catastrophic equipment failure. What I think happened is the old brittle plastic of the clamp to my bicycle lock had a hidden crack that was split by the tightening screw acting like a wedge. The clamp split, the lock tangled with my pedal, and my face hit the pavement a second later. My glasses were smashed, my face was torn and required stitches, my guitar took a hit but still plays (although I worry it seems to not stay in tune as well or as long as before the accident), and my bicycle required two hundred dollars of repair costs in parts and labor.

I didn't ride at all in June and didn't play as much publicly either, but I practiced more at home while waiting for bicycle parts and new glasses. In July I played many places, especially the Till It Shines coffee shop and the Kodiak bar. My practice seems to have paid off because I am getting more compliments than ever on my playing from total strangers walking up and telling me I sound good. Yay.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Bicycling Guitarist on BrickLink

Now you can get your very own models of The Bicycling Guitarist! All parts are genuine Lego except for the double-cutaway electric guitar made by BrickForge. Visit The Bicycling Guitarist store at Bricklink.com!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

It's been more than five months since my last blog post!

That's longer than I had thought. I still perform my music some Tuesdays at a local "open mike" night (the Jersey Lilly), but no longer every Tuesday there as I did for most of last summer, fall and the first half of winter. I still play other places too such as the Mystic Earth metaphysical bookstore and Till It Shines coffee shop.

For the first time in thirty years of bicycle guitaring, beginning in February this year I have a place to ride and play indoors when it is too cold and wet to play outside. To watch me doing this, check my most recent YouTube video. A local middle school let me use their gymnasium for one hour a night, two nights a week. Then they cut me back to one night a week, but allowed an hour and a half. This may end soon, but the weather is becoming nice enough for me to start riding and playing outdoors again. Hopefully next winter I will be able to ride and play indoors again.

Last Saturday (April 7) I played my guitar along to the selections of other customers on the jukebox at a local bar (the Kodiak, formerly known as The Beaver Den). After a while I went up to select a few songs myself to play with, and to my delight saw that The Beatles finally have their songs available for digital jukeboxes! For the first time ever I played along to Help! and Blackbird from a jukebox and the crowd loved it. Later I found out a lot of The Beatles' music was released to 50,000 jukeboxes starting April 1.