I'm one of the lurkers, too. I get a whole lot out of reading up on and listening to what others have to say. Most of the time I don't feel like I have much to offer other than a "me too" or "that's cool" so I lay back in the brush and enjoy, happy to let others keep things percolating.
Why's and wherefores...It's a great question. Too often it's easy to get into self-perpetuating routines that make you forget the important stuff. It's good to take time to go back to the well and remember why. My musical history is much like all of yours. I started young--cello in 2nd grade, mostly because so many other folks picked up a violin. After that, sax from 3rd-5th grade. I played in my school orchestra in NJ but after I moved to MN, the band teacher stuck a big thick book of scales in front of me instead of tunes and a month later I quit. I took up guitar after that--fingerstyle. My teacher was a short stump of a man named Truman who had a passion for Mississippi John Hurt and the like. After high school, put the guitar down for 10 years. I picked it up again to play at The Renaissance Festival in Shakopee. I was a solo act playing Irish stuff. I hooked up with a band and did the pubs for 5 years or so. When our fiddler left, I took up the mando so we had some more leads. When I saw the McCoury's play I was inspired--that's the kind of stuff I'd been waiting to do. I guess that's the "how" of it more than the why. As to the latter, I suppose it's partly due to the fact that music is something I've always had a passion for AND it's been something I could actually do well over a long period of time (as opposed to something I could do poorly or something I could do well for a while before I got bored with it <g>). I've always been fascinated with time. I liked traditional Irish music because it transported me beyond, to distant places and times. Same thing with traditional American music only the places are all around me and the time travel aspect takes on a somewhat eerier note--like walking with ghosts. When I play covers or old traditional pieces (especially neglected or obscure stuff), I kind of feel like I've gone into an antique store and found a forgotten something that, with a little polish and a drop of oil, still has life to give. I enjoy connecting then and now. Same thing occurs when I write things, only it's more like reporting or a snapshot: here's how things stand here and now and hope you're interested. I seem to have an easier time writing tunes than songs, maybe because it's easier to paint a little picture with notes than tell the truth with words. Partly it's because I have a hard time considering my experiences and views as terribly interesting to others. My parents loved me, I never got addicted to anything interesting, and I've been with one woman for 23 years <g>. It's like Tolstoy said (and I grossly paraphrase): happy stories are all the same. So I just keep plugging away. Never had a better job but I wish I could figure out how to make it pay <bfg>. mistertaterbug wrote: > > Seriously folks, what drives your passion for this common interest we > have? > Tater > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
