Not good with lyrics or distance

The reason I listen to most of the music I do is because of the music. No, not circular reasoning. It's the notes that get me, nine out of 10 times over the lyrics. Many times, I couldn't tell you what a song is about, much less be able to recount its lyrics.

So why am I singing a song at my next gig?

Add onto that the fact that I'm not really much of a singer. Granted, I think I've been getting better, thanks to my solo gigs. The only time I can really be heard singing outside of weekly rehearsals with my bandmates and those occasional gigs is in the shower. I've long held that my voice isn't anything spectacular. And I don't quite carry the vocal range of a Rod Stewart.

So why am I singing "Gimme Some Lovin'" by the Spencer Davis Group, which featured a very young and high-pitched Stevie Winwood on vocals, at the next Usual Suspects show?

Particularly when I haven't yet bothered to memorize the lyrics. I looked at the lyrics for the first time last Sunday and was surprised to find out how unfamiliar I was with the words.

It's messed up. The last thing I want to do is have a lyrics sheet in front of me. So am I gonna be able to remember the lyrics? And am I gonna be able to hit those notes?

Yeah, I think I'll be fine. In any event, it won't be till our second set. We'll all have had 20 drinks each by then, so nobody will care.

That's the Usual Suspects gig coming up on Saturday the 12th. It'll be the band's third time playing at the Fish Head Cantina in five months but only the second time with me on board. I really like that place. And we're told that if we draw a nice crowd, we will get in the regular rotation and have opportunities for some gigs over the summer. That's music to my ears!

So I just hope people can make it out. It's a little far for most folks I know, but some folks know (better than I) how distance doesn't necessarily have to separate people.

In other news -- and I can't believe I'm saying this -- my other band also has a gig coming up. Just confirmed: We'll be playing on Friday the 18th at Brinkley's Restaurant & Lounge in Falls Church. This will be good for us. We're really getting tight on the originals and our covers. Things are progressing rather quickly there, which is pleasant.

And Karlin and I are trying to get in the habit of making time for jamming and songwriting on a regular basis. That is, writing music. No lyrics so far. Although I wouldn't put it past him to come up with some lyrics on his own and add it to the music we've been messing around with.

It kind of works that he and I would be writing some stuff together. Back to that distance thing. We live only four blocks apart. So it's really convenient to drag all my stuff over to his place, or he used to come over here now and then. When he and I were in World Peace Party, we had an open invitation to go over to the guitarist's place in Northern Virginia to jam in hopes of collaborating on some new material. That never materialized. I'm guessing it was the distance that kept us away. It's a haul for us two city dwellers to gather up all our stuff and head way out beyond the limits Metrorail system to set up and embark on a mission of the unknown. Whereas the journey of a few city blocks can be done rather easily, pain-free.

Distance... errgh. Is it lame of me to think of distance as such a deal-breaker? I mean, I'm the type of guy who can admit I can't sing and can't memorize lyrics, and yet I'll go onstage and sing my heart out without the aid of a lyrics sheet. So why can't I have such a similarly cavalier attitude toward distance?

Great, now the World Peace Party guitarist is gonna read this and think I'm talking about him. I'm not, Ron. I was having a conversation last weekend with a woman who's a few states away from me but who's been down to see me a few times (even to an Alowishious Farhatt show of mine in December and a Usual Suspects show in February). And we never finished that conversation, but it revolved around my aversion to having a long-distance relationship. Now the ball's been in my court for a week to respond. I think it's about time I did.

And now I really ought to, as I think this woman in question is really the only person who reads any of this crap, other than my boss to make sure I'm not wasting time at work on this stuff.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld