samurai photographer becomes samurai guitarist (recap)

Glenn,
originally uploaded by samuraiphotog.

So the performance was last night. My left arm is achey and my back hurts. I feel like the punchline to a joke - "I just played with 99 other guitarists and BOY ARE MY ARMS TIRED!" Nyuk nyuk.

Yesterday was an easy day, rehearsal-wise, as opposed to the previous two days which were pretty grueling. Or gruelling? I am too tired to look it up right now. Throughout this event, I was lucky to be sitting near people who have played in this group before, which made it feel more like a family reunion than a gig. I was sitting next to Eric Hubel, who's played with Glenn for 20 years. I don't know him well, but we kept each other entertained by swapping musician jokes.

We ran through the piece once, and then broke at around 5 or so. "It's like being on tour," remarked my pal Matthew. "Nothing to do except eat until gig time!" Of course, It didn't even occur to me to go look at the Harry Partch collection that was supposedly located in the theater building. Instead, I wandered around like a lost soul, occasionally chatting with other players but mostly trying not to think about how difficult the third movement was going to be to play.

Then I went to dinner.

Then I got on stage and tuned up.

Then John Myers came out.

Then we started.

Then it was over.

And that was it.

I like the way playing Glenn's music makes me feel. I am always sort of down about my guitar playing, and how I really should know actual notes and chords by now, having played for more than 10 years. Even though I can read the music and know what is supposed to be played, I have to cheat and mark where my fingers should go. But when you're in the middle of a sea of other guitarists, some who are a lot better than you are and some who are much more clueless than you are, none of it seems to matter. After I play one of these things, I always feel more confident about my own compositions, even though they are assembled in a much more naive way.

I always get a lot more out of these performances than I anticipate: new friends, new confidence, new energy to try other things. I wonder if other people get the same.