Another Post

I used to be a regular blogger, what happened to me? The summer weather has me spending less time online and more time outdoors. I've also been heavy into karate again (I have about half an hour until my next lesson), and I've just been neglecting my blog. I'm torn between keeping this or only using my tumblog. These posts feed right into there, but those don't feed into here.

I'll keep this for now, but I'm not sure how much longer.

Anyway, I've been writing a lot of songs lately, which is great! I'm excited to get to work on them. I've also been transcribing a boatload of Beatles songs for my lessons, and because they're amazing. The songs are beyond perfect. My next influential post may have to be about them.

I'm going to New York on Thursday. I'm very excited to return to my semi-adopted home. I haven't been since May. I'm overdue for a visit. I swear I could write albums worth of music about New York. I may do that. Write ex-number of songs about the City. I already have one. It's over there on the right. I have a better version that I should post soon.

This has been kind of scattered. I think I'm gonna go now.

Meanwhile, Back at the Berk...

Yep. I'm back at Berklee. Not for long, though! I can't believe that spring break is only 24 days away! Where the hell did the time go!? Seriously. It feels like yesterday I was just getting here. Now I'm three weeks away from being halfway done with my second semester. Okay so I'm kind of stretching out the where-did-the-time-go thing, but still. Three weeks is not that long.

I'm still in a great mood. I have no reason not to be! Life is good! The only thing slightly annoying me is my College Writing homework, but I'm nearly done that!

Today was awesome, tomorrow will be awesome, everything will be awesome. I wish I could bottle up my mood and give it to some of my friends. A few could use it right now.

Back to the grind! There is homework to be done and songs to be written/recorded. I'm gonna try and record a song a week and post it here and/or on Twitter. So be on the look out!

This basically describes my mood/face as of late:

Home

I'm writing this from my own bedroom. The one that has Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and many others plastered on the walls.

It's oddly comforting to be home. It's almost like time has stopped. I'm only here until Monday, but I have a feeling that when I get back to Boston my four-day weekend will feel like it went by in the blink of an eye.

I feel like being home will give me some clarity. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do instead of actually doing it. Last semester I was all talk. This semester, I'm all business. I'm all about getting stuff done. Being home gives me time to plan a little bit (more). It gives me time to write. All of what I consider to be my best songs were written right where I'm sitting right now. Even my most recent songs were written here over break. If I could write a few more while I'm here, it would make my life that much better...

...I'm gonna get to work on improving my life.

Priorities

Everyone has priorities, and we're always sorting them out. At least I am. I am constantly organizing my life. Here is my current list of priorities (excluding my social life. That's probably number one):

1. My College Writing homework. I have a buttload of homework for that class right now. I have an essay and two observations due Monday, and I'm going to be an over-achiever and get my stuff that's due Wednesday and Friday done before the weekend is over. It is possible. I am sacrificing my social life, but one weekend isn't gonna kill me.

2. Ear Training. I have a quiz this week. I've been good with getting my work done, so that won't be a problem. I have tonight and tomorrow to prepare for the dictation part of the quiz on Monday, and I have until Wednesday to prepare for the singing part of the quiz. That shouldn't be a problem.

3. Playing guitar and writing songs. I have to write a song with my B string tuned down to A for my lab. That's easier said than done. I was like, 'Oh, no problem...Oh wait, that sounds AWFUL.' So yeah, there's that. I also have to work on stuff for my private lesson. Not to mention, I try to write as many songs as I can. I'm always thinking of lyrics, and when I have my guitar, I'm constantly looking for riffs and hooks and chord progressions that resonate with me.

4. Jamming. I love to jam, everyone here does. I would love to live in an ensemble room and just jam for like..a week straight. No class, no worries, just music.

5. Staying healthy. It's hard to do in college. The food selections here aren't exactly the most nutritious. Knock on wood, I haven't been sick once all year. Basically everyone of my friends has been sick at least once. I try to get at least six hours of sleep a night (easier said than done), and workout fairly regularly. I renewed my gym membership, and I have winter running gear. So I've been trying to keep up with that.


I'm sure there are many more things I could list, but those are my five for now. What are yours?

Back to the Grind

It's funny how I'm about to write about getting back to work, and that's exactly what I'm not doing by writing this. Anyway.

Back to the grind.

Yesterday's feelings of uneasiness have gone away. Not only am I ready to work, but I'm excited to work. I have a lot to do. A lot. I think once I get back into the swing of things it won't be so overwhelming, but I'm ready for it. I'm ready for all of it.

I don't just mean school stuff, either. I'm talking about songwriting and practicing and performing. As odd as it sounds, I get a little intimidated by my own ambitions from time to time. The ambitious, determined, happy, and confident Amy is seen much more often than the one that's not. That's the one you'll see probably 330 out of 365 days a year, maybe more. The other one is a little bit more...I don't want to say apprehensive...The other one, the rare side of me, generally says, 'What are you doing?!?! I'm tired! Stop!' I can't stop now. I've worked too hard to pack it up and quit before I really even get going. I'm still planning a few things, but I'll be ready sooner rather than later. Ready for what? Many, many, many things.

This is gonna be a good year. I can feel it.

Now, back to the grind.

A Rougher than Rough Recording

Here's the first of the daily songs. it's called "Doubt" and it has absolutely nothing to do with the movie/play. It--like all songs generally are--is about a feeling I've been having lately.

The recording is very rough because my guitar is unplugged and I'm singing with my retainer in. Click on the title. Enjoy!

Doubt

Eighteen Days

Where the hell did the time go? One year ago today I had my audition for Berklee, and now I'm eighteen days away from the end of my first semester. How the hell did that happen?? A year ago I had plans to come here, get a band together in a matter of days, start gigging around Boston, and see where it could bring me. I still fully intend on doing that, just not yet. There's not enough time right now to do that. Everybody has a shit ton of work to do, and with finals two weeks away, there's little to no time at all to start rehearsing.

I'm not complaining at all. I had to ease into my first semester. It was my transition period. Now next semester's a whole different ball game. I will get a band together, and we will play out, and maybe (hopefully) record a demo. I can't wait. My entire break is going to be devoted to writing songs and playing guitar. At the moment, I have very little time to focus purely on the songs. I have way too much other stuff going on to write songs at the level I want to. In eighteen days I will, though. And I will take full advantage of it.

I'm really looking forward to the future. Big time. A lot of stuff is going to happen. Just wait. Just you wait. I know it's hard, but trust me, it's worth it. I'll make sure of that.

Sometimes I'm Bad at Subjects

I've got some time to kill before my guitar lesson. I know I could (should) be playing right now, but I'm not.

I must say that Music Tech. is the worst class I have ever taken in my entire life. It makes chemistry sound like fun right now. Ask anyone in my class, they'll tell you the same thing. It's just that bad. Tuesday mornings are the worst. It's almost painful. If it weren't for wireless access, I would go out of my mind.

So I finally wrote a song the other night. About time, too (no, it's not about time). I had a bit of a drought, and I'm so glad I finally snapped out of it. It's always a scary feeling for me when I don't write a song (or create something) on basically a daily basis. I've finally found that groove again. I can't wait to see what follows. Pretty soon I'll have full recordings up. Drums, bass, guitars, piano, horns, etc... Just wait. It's on the way. It's on the way.

The only thing that still puzzles me is my inability to sleep through the night. I wake up at least once every night. Julia says it's because I don't hear the train anymore, and it could be. I thought it was because I was anxious for Bob to come home, but it issn't because he's home now and I still wake up. It could be just me not being used to a twin bed, but I don't think that's the case because I remain fairly motionless when I sleep. I have no clue, but I hope I can figure it out soon.

I could say a lot more right now, but I'll stop myself. I've got stuff to do.

Last Night

Last night was the best concert I've been to. Ever. Ever ever ever. Words don't do it justice, but I'll start from the beginning.

I was too excited to be hungry. So I had a slice of pizza instead of an actual meal like the rest of my family did. Not that pizza isn't a meal, but most people would take a salad and a main dish over just a slice of pizza. I wanted to be there as early as I could be. Why? See the next paragraph.

So a good friend of mine, Nancy Dutremble, told me a story about what happened when she went to see Billy Joel a couple years ago. She went with her husband (Al), daughter (Jen), and her daughter's friend (Jenna). Jen and Jenna decided to go get an ice cream, and while they were doing so, a man went up to Jen and said, 'Billy Joel wants you to have these tickets. They're for the front row.' Jen gives him a look, and doesn't believe him. He said, 'You don't believe me? Follow me.' The man led Jen and Jenna to the front row, took their tickets, and told them to have a great time. And I know they did just that. So what does this have to do with me? Well, I knew about the ticket men. They're Billy's roadies. Billy holds the good seats until the day of the show, distributes the tickets amongst his roadies, and has them give them out to random fans (mainly women--most of them young). Unfortunately, I was there alone at the time. So I called my sister and told her to get here so I could get tickets. She comes, and not even five minutes later, a roadie (his name was Kevin, and he's the bass tech) came up and gave us two tickets to the "pod section" (two sections of 4 rows on either side of the stage. We were in the fourth row, but not for long. Continue reading). I was so excited, I gave Kevin a hug. I think he appreciated giving the tickets to such a fanatic like me. It means more. I wasn't the prettiest girl there, but I was probably the biggest 17-year-old Billy Joel fan he's ever seen.

I darted through the crowd to get to the escalator. As the usher brought me to my seat he said, 'Once he plays 'Movin' Out' you can go up to the stage.' So that made my fourth-row even better. Once I got there I felt a bit sad. See, my mother is a much bigger Billy Joel fan than my sister is. I wouldn't even say that my sister is a fan. She enjoys his music, but probably couldn't have named ten of his songs before last night. However, my mom could've named 20 out of 23 songs (I could name them all. I knew every word. But that's besides the point). So I felt bad that my mom wasn't down there with me (well, not right away anyway). I offered up my ticket, but she said no, and told me to have a great time down there. And I did. I still haven't hit the high point..points (there were so many).

The second the lights went down, I stood up. And as soon as 'Prelude/Angry Young Man' came on, I started bawling. When I don't know how to react, I cry. It's probably the greatest defense mechanism I have. I was so overjoyed/excited to be where I was, I didn't know what to do. So I cried. I didn't sit down at all. I didn't care about the people behind me. I was gonna stand up and sing my ass off all night long. On a side note: We were on the side of the guitarist (Dave Brown..amazing), so that was really cool. No one else around me (including my sister) stood up. Well, one lady two rows in front of me did, but she was sitting from time to time. During 'Allentown', my sister said she had to go to the bathroom or something, so I gave her my ticket and said, 'Here, go get Mom. She has to be down here.' As soon as the song ended ('Don't Ask Me Why' was next), my mom and sister returned and the night just got better. My mom is the best person to have at a concert. She loves them just as much as I do. So we dance and sing like fools, but no one cares..or notices.

The very next song he played was 'Movin' Out', so I grabbed my sign (my famous sign. Always says the same thing. I'll reveal it later), and ran over to the front. I was no more than eight feet from the man himself. Right up on the stage. It was amazing. I was so glad my mom got down there. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as it was.

Back to the sign. I don't remember when I opened it up, but I did, and Dave saw it and laughed. Billy saw it after the next song (which I can't remember what it was..Root Beer rag maybe). He looked at me, shrugged, and pointed towards Dave who didn't notice. It was still wicked cool. Billy became more friendly towards me as the night went on. I'll explain more further down the line.

Did I say I knew every word to every song? Well, I did. He didn't throw me any curve balls. Well, he didn't, but his roadie did. I had seen in past set-lists that Billy had been playing 'Highway to Hell', and that kind of took me by surprise. Well, Billy doesn't sing it, his roadie of 30 years does. His name is Chainsaw, and watching him sing was one of the funniest things I had seen in my entire life. Also, Dave soloed right in front of me which was wicked cool. We became buddies in a way haha. It's hard to describe. If he saw me again, he would recognize me. He played a lot in my direction (thanks to the sign). We saw him (Chainsaw, not Billy..God, had I met Billy Joel..)after the show and he gave us a bunch of guitar picks. He gave us more guitar picks than I had bought in the past year. Anyway. Chainsaw did his thing, and then Billy jumped right into his next song--which I want to say was 'It's Still Rock n Roll To Me,' and even if it wasn't (It may have been 'We Didn't Start The Fire), I need to talk about it.

The piano goes under the stage during 'Rock n Roll'. Billy tries to get all fancy with the microphone. It takes him a while, but he does get it going. So getting back to being friendly with me, the very last line of the song is 'It's still rock n roll to me!' And you can hear it on the record, the band screams it. So instead of the band screaming it, he comes right up to where I was standing and puts the microphone out in front of me (and the people next to me), and we scream into it, "IT'S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME!" It was amazing. He shakes a few hands, including mine, and gets back to work..if you want to call it that.

He talks a lot. He has a lot of banter, which I love. He thanks the audience for showing up, talks about his "special effects" (his piano rotates from time to time so one side of the audience doesn't always get head--"which in theory is a good thing," says Billy). He gave some background to his songs, had great energy with his band (and his audience). He loves what he does. How can he not? He said it himself, 'If you can get this job, take it.' I couldn't agree with him more.

Alright, so at some point towards the end of the show, Billy walks over to where I am and slams his foot down in front of me. I look up, and he's pointing at his left shoe. He had me tie his shoe!!!! I tied Billy Joel's shoe! After I did it, he looked at me again and gave me a smile and I think a handshake. Either way, direct eye-contact with your hero is pretty fucking awesome. And I don't swear that much.

His set-list was nearly perfect. There were a few songs I would have loved to have heard ('Big Shot', 'I Go To Extremes', 'Goodnight Saigon', and 'A Matter Of Trust' would've made the night even that much better). It was still a phenomenal show. But wait! There's more! So towards the end of the show, the band shakes hands, and Billy does again as well. So Dave's shaking hands. You know, just the usual brief touch. He comes up to me and gives me a big man-shake as I call it. I also got one of his guitar picks, and it was actually one he used! That was really cool. When Billy Joel comes by, he stomps all over my sign which I had lying face up. He smiled at me and laughed. That was even cooler. What did the sign say? It said (as do all my signs..in all caps): Hey Billy Can I Play Guitar With You? I didn't get to play guitar with him, but I did shake his hand three times, get three of his guitar picks, tie his shoe, and make tons of eye-contact with him. He also sweat on me a little bit. All in all, it was an absolutely amazing night. The only better night was when I met Bruce Springsteen. And part of that is only because I wasn't anticipating meeting Bruce. I had a feeling I would get down front. I was too excited for the crew not to see me. I even wore makeup!

So yeah, that's my Billy Joel experience. It was the best concert I've ever been to. As much as I love John Mayer, he ain't Billy Joel. Bruce and Billy are equal in different ways in book. His (Billy's) songwriting is so incredible. I consider every song I write to be a bad Billy Joel song hahah! I try to mimic him, but I'm not that good...Yet.

Tonight (And Other Things)

I have been waiting for tonight for a very, very long time. Why? I'm going to see my biggest songwriting influence ever, Mr. Billy Joel. Yep. That's right. Billy Joel has more influence on my writing than anyone. After I point it out, it's really quite obvious. He's so loquacious, and his melodies are incredible. I'm not anywhere near his ability (yet). He's also been doing this for about 40 years now..Which is about 36 years longer than I've been working at this stuff. That's a long time. Tonight is also the Block Party, which is essentially the "kick-off" of La Kermesse (big Franco-American festival), and I'm missing it. It's very similar to the class trip/Alicia Keys thing, only this time it's, "But, Amy, it's the Block Party!" And I reply, "Yeah, but it's BILLY JOEL! BILLY JOEL!!!" Haha!

Speaking of songwriting, I have been writing a lot lately. I have so many lyrics, and the melodies/the music is slowly forming. As soon as I get my (mom's) Macbook, I'll be able to record and edit and POST my songs. How does that sound to you? It sounds pretty damn good to me. Then once I'm at Berklee..with Logic Express 8..Oh boy..Be ready. That's all I have to say about that. Be ready. Be ready.

Ah, Berklee. I'm getting really sick of waiting for you. Thank God I have an absolutely amazing summer (Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, John Mayer, TWO Red Sox/Yankees games, Bruce Springsteen, and Europe), otherwise I may go insane. I'm so ready to get out of this town. I have been for some time. I can't wait to be around musicians and music 24/7. While my friends are struggling with Calculus, I'll be arranging. It'll be funny talking to them about what I'm doing because they'll have no idea/probably be a little jealous because I'm doing what I love, and they're waiting to get to that point. Unlike many, I know what I want to do. I don't have to lay on my bed, stare at the ceiling, and ask myself what I want to do with my life. I've been doing it for about five years now. Berklee is the next necessary step I have to take. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm more than willing to give up my social life from time to time to transcribe Billy Joel songs, write a few of my own, and blues out. So what if I don't go out every weekend? I have more important things to do sometimes.

That being said, I have to go get ready, and then transcribe Billy Joel songs. I'll see you later. How much later? That's a good question.