Posts

A Musical Journey of Love: Embracing Creative Freedom in a Duo Setting

Music has always been a significant part of my life, but it wasn't until recently that I discovered the true magic of collaboration. Most of my musical journey has led me to this greatest chapter yet: a duo with the love of my life. The excitement I feel about writing songs with her in a duo setting, where all my creative input can be fully utilized, is unparalleled. No longer held back by the constraints of working with others, I am ready to dive into a world of limitless possibilities. Unleashing Creative Potential In the past, I have had the pleasure of working with various individuals, each bringing their unique talents to the table. However, there were times when my creative ideas were overshadowed or compromised. Now, in this duo setting, I have the freedom to explore my musical instincts fully. Every lyric, every melody, and every musical idea can be expressed without inhibition. A Perfect Symbiosis What makes this duo truly special is the synergy between us. While I focus o

May 2021 updates

 Lots of work has been done since I last posted. Everything feels different, and gigs have been scheduled. It's time to get ready to play live again. Maiden Voyage We're playing a primarily hispanic audience show in a few weeks. New bass player is continuing to learn the songs, new guitar player keeps impressing me with his resolve, and as a band we feel ready for a couple hours of Maiden music. We're also playing a benefit for our lost blood brother in July, where we'll be playing the set list we did at our final show with him. Somehow, Live After Death seems fitting for that show, so that's what we're performing. We also have a special "something" planned for the first song which should hit everyone right in the feels. Pop Band We're currently using the name Hard Candy for this one. We're going to be playing a couple of benefit shows to get things started on stage. One is for our former drummer Dan and also the one with Maiden Voyage in Bill&

Where do I begin...

 It's been a while since I've posted anything here, so where do I begin with all the updates? Maiden Voyage We lost Bill last year. We lost John as well. Bill was our Adrian and he passed away after a couple of years of health battles. John, who played the Steve role, was transferred for work to Colorado. The result is we had to find new guitar and bass players and get them up to speed. I think we're ready for gigs again. I'm still playing the Dave parts and trying to hold it all together as the other guys learn the songs we had down previously. Praise Band Not a whole lot new there. Singers come and go, but that's just the nature of being in a volunteer worship leadership position. I think we've made some great gains when it comes to singing recently, though. Still playing 4 strings and having fun with it. Pop Band The pop band I was in is currently on pause. Our drummer, Dan, was lost in an auto accident recently, and rehearsal space was expensive, so we'r

Been getting busy

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought it was time for an update. Maiden Voyage is starting to get busy. This summer saw quite a few shows and several benefits with us performing. We had our first show with us providing sound, which meant I had to buy a trailer. That was going to become necessary anyway just to continue moving our light show around, so it just worked out well. We played in Lincoln for the first time. Nothing earth shattering about playing another town about 60 miles from where we're based, but after that one show we immediately booked 2 more in Lincoln with minimal effort. Guess that first show is the most important one like they say... only one chance for that first impression. Speaking of 2 more shows with minimal effort, that's how most of our shows are happening now. We're not even looking for shows all that hard and are starting to have booking agencies and show promoters contacting us about being a headliner for some bands they'r

Three shows, three states in July

July is panning out to be a busy month playing. We're playing Omaha on 7/7, Maiden plays Lincoln on 7/9, we're playing Des Moines on 7/15, and we just added Kansas City on 7/29. That's three shows across three states in one month, and then we're supposed to head to Rapid City during bike week. That brings us to the next one, though... the venue may have fallen through. The host of the show is now scrambling to find a new location to set up his stage and food trucks for that show. I should know soon if it's actually happening or not, but we're really hoping to have 4 states in under a month. Either way, it was very nice to be asked. What other states can we add yet this summer? I'm sure there are a few. We got asked to play in Colorado, but we're still waiting on details for that. Kansas wouldn't be too bad of a drive. Anyone have suggestions for us?

First big show announcement

Image
Well, here it is. Our first BIG show announcement. We've been asked, less than 6 months after our first show, to play Monsters of Madness Tribute Fest in Rapid City during the Sturgis bike rally. While it's not in "Sturgis proper", this might actually be to our benefit as we'll be right next to Rapid City Harley Davidson, which gets a huge number of visitors every day and we'll be on an outdoor stage, so people can hear us without entering an establishment. We'll be playing Aug 4 at 4:30, 6th at 10:00 and the 7th at 6:30. There are some big names that we'll be sharing the stage with, but more on that later. For now, we're playing and need to start figuring out logistics.

I missed a month...

Image
I didn't get anything posted last month. Consider this an apology to everyone who reads this regularly. But, I think there was good reason. Things are really picking up for the Maiden tribute band. I've taken over booking duties, and so far it's going well. We have a show coming up later this month, I'm working on closing the deal on a 2 night Maiden Weekend party leading up to their show on July 9th, we're playing a B.A.C.A. benefit in Des Moines the following weekend, and we've been asked to play something else that I'm working on a contract for. I can't spill the beans on that one yet, but let's just say Trump would be proud, because it'll be "YUUUGE!" Also of note is that we have done a video shoot for a promo. Between the audio and video, it was almost 10 hours in studios. Once it's released (should be early next month), I'll be sure to post it here. Until then, here's a peek at our video set. So, on that note