A modern-day Harold Hill, but with legitimate credentials

This year's Summer Camp was so beneficial for me. Not only were the anticipated amounts of delectable food and amazing fun exceeded, but this week away was also accompanied by plenty of opportunities for self-reflection.

One conclusion I have reached is that my original plan of packing everything up for a one-way trip to Nashville to stay and afford a living with the expectation of landing spectacular gigs was probably not quite on track. It takes more than just the one skill of playing mean keyboard solos to accomplish what I was thinking, and only after I develop the full package can I pursue it. That's not happening in October 2008. I'd rather take that chance at a later date, if following that dream is even applicable or necessary to me in the future. The new line of work I'm now planning may help me to hone those skills while I'm instilling them in others.

At Summer Camp, I inadvertently developed a template for a conference bandleader. In advance, the first task was to identify the members of the ragtag band we were forming. Playing at the conference one year inspires new performers to wipe the 30 years of dust off the guitars they've kept stored in their garages and cellars.

Next, those musicians and I participated in nominating an arsenal of songs for the musicians to rehearse individually. I offered some of my own suggestions but did not hijack the list to bear an undue amount of my personal influence. It was primarily the product of group consensus.

On site, I coordinated rehearsals (including a full day of rehearsal before other attendees arrived in town), picking and arranging set lists, splitting up parts, and directing the musicians on the fly. There's no doubt I made myself the bandleader while we were there. First of all, somebody had to. Absent of the expert intuitive skills musicians develop only through the live music experience, the band had to have a crash course in improvising onstage in a cohesive unit. Essentially, the lesson can be boiled down to say only that a good band member is always cognizant of cues that spell out the progression of the song.

I'm satisfied and impressed with the performance of this band not only in tackling an array of typical bar-band cover material but also two pieces of unlikely choices: the two rock albums I recreate in their entirety when I'm playing by myself. These two pieces, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and the Beatles' Abbey Road, are complicated overtures for any skill level. Their inclusion was not something I dictated to the group. On the contrary, the band members who'd witnessed me playing those two 45-minute sets in their entirety by myself were the ones to challenge themselves and strive for perfection.

This year, I even questioned the band members as to whether Abbey Road could really be performed from start to finish or if they wanted only to play the medley on the album's flip side. Their inclination was to stick to their guns and play everything. It turned out to be a wise decision. Those guys really put in a lot of work. They were just that determined to put on a great show for an audience of their peers, and it really showed in their performance. And I was there to direct and inspire.



Taking full advantage of the testimonies and recorded footage that exist of our performances this year, I will begin proposing the Summer Camp band template to the organizers of other conferences, based on the statistical assumption that every large crowd must have enough willing and able musicians to form a pickup band for the purposes of entertaining their peers.

The meeting planners would ping their members for the closet musicians. They would contact me directly, and I would assess their skill level, their strengths and weaknesses, and their current and desired music catalog. Remaining in contact with those musicians and continuing to monitor success in individual rehearsals throughout the advance time is crucial to the project's success.

As a band member myself, I would fill in whatever gaps exist on bass, drums or my longtime specialty, keyboard. (Finding guitarists and singers is never much of an expedition.) Finally, I would conduct rehearsals and direct performances just like I did at Summer Camp this week. In return, I would be paid a talent fee and reimbursed for my expenses. The number of conferences I can book determines the viability of this template to make a sufficient living for me.

Between conferences, I would of course promote my services using the Internet, including with YouTube clips as well as through feedback from participants and, yes, fans. In addition, I would have stretches of time for other projects such as side gigs either at home or on the road, professional freelance writing and proofreading, composing books, online newsletters, etc. -- all the other things I am confident and comfortable doing.

This is my new plan, and I like it.