Last night I went out and caught some local music. This used to be a very commonplace experience, but these days I don’t get out to the clubs much to see national acts much, let alone much in the way of small-time local acts. What took me out of my house on a Sunday night? An old friend.
Brian used to not only be my roommate 15-17 or so years ago, but he was the bass player in the band I was in. After the band broke up and we stopped being roommate Brian and I lost contact with each other. A few months ago I looked for him through some online means. After reconnecting with Brian online, I was hoping to be able to meet u with him, have a couple of beers, and catch up. Our schedules never worked out, unfortunately.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, Brian posted that he would be performing. This may not seem like tat big of a deal, since Seattle is a very musical town with local music every night in any number of clubs. What made this special was that Brian hadn’t performed in something like 14 years.
He was naturally a bit on the nervous side, but I wanted to take the opportunity to see him, as well as see him perform. I was curious as to which songs he would perform, but certainly didn’t expect him to perform anything from our old band. Brian has always been one of my favorite songwriters, and I say this not because he wrote songs specifically for my “voice” but because he’ good. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I stand by my statement.
Since Brian’s last band broke up 14 years ago he’s gone on to other work, currently working for an acclaimed movie studio. Apparently a few years ago he began getting “the itch” to work in music again, and started noodling around at home. That in turn led to a couple of friends allowing him to sit in before a gig for a couple songs. After he announced his return to the stage, I took the opportunity to see him finally, as well as support him in his return to the stage.
Arriving at the venue I immediately saw Brian, and headed over to say “hello” to him. It was great to finally see him again after all these years, as well as get to hear him perform. He did three songs, none of which I recognized, but that doesn’t matter. I was glad to see him take the stage again.
Did it feel weird seeing a former bandmate up on stage? Not at all. I smiled through his whole set, glad to see him perform. I have no desire to chase that musical dream anymore, though I would like to finish recording a few songs that I had written. As for getting back up on stage myself, I just can’t see that happening at all. Brian, however, has always had the talent, and it was good to have it back out on the music scene. Here’s hoping he keeps getting out there.