Get out of town...
As I write this I'm sitting in a hotel room in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My wife and two youngest are sleeping, and my 15-year-old is lying down listening to punk music on his headset..ocasionally asking me what I'm up to now.
I've just spent a week visiting my parents in West Glacier, Montana. For good measure, I got to spend a fair amount of time visiting my brother and his wonderful wife down in Columbia Falls. Have you ever been to Glacier Park, Montana? I don't know how a songwriter can visit this place and NOT write a song.
I had made arrangements to rent a guitar this week, but was almost derailed by a local music shop that was not willing to rent me a guitar as they had promised. Enter "Music One Workshop," an amazing music store in Kalispell. This place is world class, and one of the family owners of the business--George Miletich--was able to fix me up with a very acceptable instrument on short notice.
I had expected to play a songwriter showcase at Flannagan's Grand Central in Whitefish. After several calls and assurances from the club that I would be able to particpate, they elected to cancel the showcase for a few days dedicated to bluegrass music. An excellent idea, I'm sure, but it left me without a playing venue. As it turned out, I was able to do some parlour concerts anyway. It all worked out.
Back to songwriting. I find it is important for me to be involved in everyday worklife, romance, community involvement, etc. Without some normalcy, I'm not writing material that anyone can relate to. But when you change your environment for a tour, extended road trip, or a vacation, make sure that you plan for some time to write.
Between the change in scenery and all of the family time, I found my creativity peaking and lyrics pouring out. My son and I even started collecting ideas for a movie. Don't know if it will ever get made, but the intellectual exercise is great. On top of that, we might have shot a pretty good little music video.
On Tuesday I'll start back at my work-a-day life again. But the break has bourne a great deal of fruit. Stay tuned for some more serious postings on songwriting.
I've just spent a week visiting my parents in West Glacier, Montana. For good measure, I got to spend a fair amount of time visiting my brother and his wonderful wife down in Columbia Falls. Have you ever been to Glacier Park, Montana? I don't know how a songwriter can visit this place and NOT write a song.
I had made arrangements to rent a guitar this week, but was almost derailed by a local music shop that was not willing to rent me a guitar as they had promised. Enter "Music One Workshop," an amazing music store in Kalispell. This place is world class, and one of the family owners of the business--George Miletich--was able to fix me up with a very acceptable instrument on short notice.
I had expected to play a songwriter showcase at Flannagan's Grand Central in Whitefish. After several calls and assurances from the club that I would be able to particpate, they elected to cancel the showcase for a few days dedicated to bluegrass music. An excellent idea, I'm sure, but it left me without a playing venue. As it turned out, I was able to do some parlour concerts anyway. It all worked out.
Back to songwriting. I find it is important for me to be involved in everyday worklife, romance, community involvement, etc. Without some normalcy, I'm not writing material that anyone can relate to. But when you change your environment for a tour, extended road trip, or a vacation, make sure that you plan for some time to write.
Between the change in scenery and all of the family time, I found my creativity peaking and lyrics pouring out. My son and I even started collecting ideas for a movie. Don't know if it will ever get made, but the intellectual exercise is great. On top of that, we might have shot a pretty good little music video.
On Tuesday I'll start back at my work-a-day life again. But the break has bourne a great deal of fruit. Stay tuned for some more serious postings on songwriting.
posted by Ryan Michael Galloway at 1:39 AM
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