Sweet simplicity

Today I'm reflecting on the most simple and often most important joy in my life: Music.

After wearing through a youtube and spotify playlist of some favorites from the Ten out of Tenn tour, here is a list of songs that I absolutely cannot live without lately:

"Rain or Shine" - Matthew Perryman Jones

"Where The Road Meets The Sun" - Katie Herzig / Matthew Perryman Jones

"This Could Kill Me" -Amy Stroup

"Simple Us" - Trent Dabbs / Amy Stroup

"Cinnamon and Chocolate" - Butterfly Boucher

And not TOT-related, and really quite different:

"Some Nights" (Not yet released) - fun.

"Kiss Quick" - Matt Nathanson

Those first five are stunningly beautiful but also amazingly simple. My jaw basically dropped to the floor when it took only 5-10 minutes to figure out chord progressions for a few of those songs. How on earth could something so beautiful and seemingly complex be so easy to learn? I am nowhere near their level of talent or ingenuity, but there was a small comfort in knowing that I don't have to be virtuosic to make music that is meaningful. 

At the same time, fun.'s music is the most catchy, heartfelt, complicated, and wonderful music that I've heard in awhile. They add another element to my goal as a future (hopefully..) songwriter. To write lyrics that just fit, sometimes specific, often not, and make the choruses ring so that you feel guilty overlooking the equally amazing verses which begin and follow them. I want to write songs like that. And I'm not sure how to get there. 

There are a few things lately that are stumbling blocks to achieving my goal of writing one, (just one..) song. 

First: Real life. I feel as though the time that I should be constantly spending on other things is sometimes wasted sitting with my guitar and staring at a notebook, and also that the life I'm living now may not be one to exactly write home (or a song) about. My first answer for how I am doing is "busy", and writing songs about all of the meetings I've been to lately doesn't seem too compelling. There are plenty of abstractions to be made from this stage of my life: transition, stress, loneliness.. But sometimes I feel as though I have to reach back to freshman year for inspiration, and often those feelings are just too far away. 

Second: Theory. Confession time: I'm not very good at the guitar. Or writing melodies (aka I can't.) I have an ear for harmonies, but my dad taught me to play bass first and then I learned some chords from him and eschewed all formal training thereafter. I basically learn to play what I want to, and know some basic picking patterns and chords. Sometimes I feel as though learning to play piano or learning more from the beginning of music theory would benefit my ability to write music. 

Third: Walls. The thought of letting people hear what I really think about things is absolutely terrifying. If I can tap into feelings that I think really matter, I'm not sure I want anyone really hearing that. 

Honestly, the process will probably involve writing a little at a time, learning some new techniques, and trying it out regardless of how awful I think it will be. Fear is not something I want to keep me from creating.

Here goes nothing.