Ahhhh Vacation Time!

I am officially back from a week in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. We had a great time, and the weather was incredible but was ready to be back home with the Spotted Rocket. Back to the ole grind tommorrow...and back to regular eating habits. Yes you can eat too many crab legs in Baltimore no matter how good they are.

The next gig will be with Brian in duoATL at the Legacy Fine Arts Festival in Cartersville, GA. We're are going to play more of our crowd pleasers which includes Villa-Lobos and Piazzola. If you around Cartersville on October 21 at 11am come check us out. I am always a little concerned about playing outside though. Pray for good weather.

Thanks to everyone that made it out to Capitol City Opera Company's performance of Andre Previn's "Streetcar Named Desire". It went very well and was a long one, and as a musician it keeps you on your toes the whole time...even when you are resting. The best performance by the orchestra by far. The singers, as always, were awesome. I hope I get the chance to continue performing as principal flutist with the company.

Crashing Gigs

I generally do not crash gigs...but this group was a bit different. I had just finished rehearsal for the opera and met some friends to hear a band they really loved called Swami. Since they are a band with Jam tendencies they seemed to be warm to the idea of having me play. Good times playing, nice change up from the rigidness of the music I've been currently playing.

I also played with Organized Time at the Five Spot this week. Love their style, but I played like a turkey. I think I tried to do to much that day work, duoATL rehearsal, and then meeting them to jam...I was already wiped out from opera rehearsal all week...oh well. I had fun though, and that's what matters.

Mini Recharge

What wonders a visit home can do! This Labor Day weekend I packed up the dog and my flute and headed to Savannah to visit my parents and sister. I have to admit I've been feeling a little down trodden about things. I really hadn't felt like I made any progress this year. Family and old friends always has a way of showing you the big picture.

After coming home on Saturday I was able to help Mom with a Powerpoint presentation. I hate Powerpoint, never been a fan, and perhaps it is because I don't use it much. Once we got that out of the way we went to a concert by Cuarteto Latinamericano at the fabulously renovated >Lucas Theatre. It really was uplifting to hear them play music by living composers, and composers that I feel write in a similar style as me. Needless to say it got me motivated. To get back into writing again. Its been way to long, I need to jump back on that horse.

Sunday morning I played at St. Ann's in Richmond Hill, a historic church with ties to Henry Ford. It has the best acoustics, very live, but just the way I like it.

That afternoon I visited a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in about 11 years. Its crazy how people with similar lives can take such different paths. I've been just trying to make life more pleasant and he's been trying to preserve it in one form or another. But he did offer some words of wisdom...You can see the glass as half full or half empty, the important thing is to drink it. And that's something I need to remember. I doesn't matter what I've accomplished or not accomplished, the important thing is to live life. Stop worrying and make it happen for myself. Whatever I feel "it" is.

Yesterday was a sliding back into normalcy. After getting toes done with mom and sister, I headed back to Atlanta. And made it just in time for opera rehearsal. I feel better. I think I know what I need to do, and I just need to stop complaining and whining about it and get it done already. I just need to remember to lighten up sometimes and have fun. Which I hope to accomplish on my east coast road trip in a couple weeks. That should give me the ultimate recharge!