The Trip
Dude, that kicked way more butt than i thought it would. Sit back and relax, i have a lot to say. Okay, so i got the job of booking us a hotel in Charleston (and consequently getting us to the hotel). I booked us Embassy Suites and after a little retracing on I-60, i got us there. Nice place, indoor atrium, good pool and right across from the mall. First realization on the trip i made...the city is a lot better to write the kind of music i wanna play than the rural part of North Carolina that i live in (rural is a hard word to pronounce without sounding stupid...try it.) Well an event i didn't really see at the time as important at the time turned out to be very much so. If you've talked to me regarding music lately, ya know i've really been struggling to find my sound musically. Well it happened, i found the sound i want to play. A trip to FYE, and i got a couple new CDs...Motley Crue's last release, "New Tattoo" and a harder to find Guns N' Roses record, "GNR Lies." Now i love the Crue and all, but for a guy like me, the stuff the write about's just too unrealistic for me, but it had some cool songs on there, though i was bummed when i found out Tommy Lee wasn't on the record, and was replaced on drums by Randy Castillo (formerly with Ozzy i think.) But the GNR record is what did it, i heard the first song, "Reckless Life" and i thought "this is it, this is what i wanna do."...i really though Appetite for Destruction (which went 15 times platinum) was as good as it got, and i could never sound like that...well i was right in that i couldn't sound like that. Lies was released after Appetite for Destruction, but featured some of the bands songs from 1986 they played live, and i realized everything else they did was just slowed down and "dressed-up" more than the original stuff. So i got my sound, and i got done 4 songs in lyrics and i am pumped to start practice soon. Okay, on with the show...got to OGlebay resort in Wheeling, West Virginia the next day. Awesome place there, but i got bored kidna easy. That's where i got most of my songwriting done though. I realized i try to write with too much goin on, and don't take the time to just think. Things really started coming to me, faster than i could write em down almost. Okay, so skip to last night, i was in the pool and my dad tells me there's some guy playin guitar in the lounge. So i get out, dry off, put on my jean shorts and t-shirt and walk in there. The guy has a nice acoustic and a PA system hooked up. He was takin requests and asked me, i said no and then he asked if i wanted to sing. I told him "no, but I play guitar"...he asked me if i had it there with me, and of course i did. So i walked to my chalet (french word...still a small room that smelled like smoke) and got my guitar. He hooks me and up and we play whatever people wanna hear, and this last about 2 hours. I think i did rather well on "Sweet Home Alabama", "Knockin on Heaven's Door" and "Aimee"....i was proud of myself anyway, and i got to play while the guy took a break (haha, i had to do it, i played "Highway to Hell." So that was awesome, i got to play a pretty long set in front of 40 people or so. Good experience anyway. Well we came home today, and nothing interesting happened besides at the North Carolina welcome center i saw a couple...both had mullets...lovely. Haha, well i got a lot done, a lot of ideas, and a lot sorted out, so it was a really good trip. For all those who missed me, thanks...for all those who didn't, go suck an egg. Haha, till next time dudes and dudettes, l8a.
-J.k.
-J.k.