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MisterBassriff
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Name: Zach
Country: United States
State: Illinois
Metro: Chicago
Birthday: 6/4/1984
Gender: Male
Interests: Music: listening, producing, engineering, singing, playing guitar, bass guitar, drums/percussion, and a bit of piano.
Weightlifting and a little jogging - although not much since marriage - I'm 30 pounds more unhappy! PBS and NPR (public broadcasting rocks!). And, of course, my Andrea Dawn.
Expertise: Despite partial deafness, still able to pick out virtually all orchestration while listening to music (especially phat bass lines).
Occupation: Musician
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
4/13/2005
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| ...does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?" - from the musical, 1776
My home computer crashed months ago, and since then, I fell off the Xanga train. My new co-workers are really into the blogosphere, so I figured I would give it another shot.
So, who still reads this thing? Let me know...
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| You know, I could ramble on about how much my life has sucked recently, but in lieu of Turkey Day, I'm not going to. Instead, here are some of the things I'm thankful for... My car - It's 31 years old, it needs a new carburetor, it only has an AM radio, it goes 0-60...sometimes, and I smell like gas every time I get out of it, but it's still kickin' and it's all mine. Our townhouse - We feel a little out of place sometimes (what with all the Escalades and Range Rovers in the parking lot) and we're kind of far from the city, but we're more than blessed to have a roof over our heads, amenities at our disposal, and cable TV (I wouldn't call myself a junkie, but I definately like me some History Channel). My (3) jobs - What can say? They pay the bills for now, and even though I don't want to do them forever, I think that God might be using them to prepare me for something big. Our friends and family - For someone who tries not to get too close to other poeple, I'm amazed more and more every day at how much I am loved. Andrea and I have the best friends and family in the world. My Wife, Andrea - She makes every bad moment in my life bearable, and she is responsible for every good one. I can't begin to describe her...I love her. Happy Thanksgiving. | | |
| Yeah, not many people are saying much on Xanga anymore. Maybe it's because the "blog" is becoming more and more topic-oriented (blogs specifically about politics, the church, sports, etc.) and everyone wants to custom their site. Maybe it has something to do with the popularity of Myspace and Facebook (which even I have to admit have their perks). Maybe we've all just run out of things to say. Or maybe we are just tired of trying to say things that will get other people to like us. For me, I think it's just hard to have a diary. I could never keep up one with one as a kid, and I still can't keep up with one now. On top of that, every time I sit down to write, I feel like I'm either supposed to write a novel or at least make a polarizing statement about something. In reality, I don't always have prolific thoughts, and I know I'm taking the whole thing too seriously, like everything else in my life (at least that what Andrea says  ) Anyway, life has been strange. I know I can get pretty defensive about being a working musician, but the lifestyle isn't exactly glamorous. With the onslaught of new bills, student loans, car repairs, and unanticipated expenses, I've recently been yearning for a regular 9-5, 40K a year job. Unfortunately, it looks like the only type of full-time gig I can get with my skill sets is...you guessed it...a worship leader at a large church. And the kicker is, after almost 10 years of leading worship, I don't think it's what I want to do. Besides, even if I could get an office job or something, I know I would hate it. So, I'm kind of stuck right now. All I really want to do is make music and go on the road, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that and still make ends meet. I guess in the words of the narrator from Dr. Seuss' The Butter Battle Book, "We Shall See" On a more positive note, Andrea's new job at Christianity Today is going great, and she is still finding time to write. We have more shows coming up soon, including a Halloween Bash as Silvie's Lounge in the city, so keep an eye out for more information. And on the music listening front, here are some more artists I've been digging recently, some old some new Paolo Nutini
Ingrid Michaelson
Hem
Emiliana Torrini
Stars
Slaid Cleaves
Kagoshima Bay
Deas Vail
Elliott Smith
Ben Folds Five
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| It's after 6:00 am, and I still feel wide awake. Andrea and I played at another bar in Chicago tonight (Gallery Cabaret) and didn't back until 2:30 am. This is usually how it goes: we get into the city early to find the location, set up, etc., we don't start playing until 9:00 or 10:00 pm, play for 1 or 2 hours, hang around to get paid or get food, then come back. When coupled with both of our work schedules (Andrea picks her hours, I teach in the evenings) this "musician's life" basically means staying up late and sleeping until noon. But I'm not complaining really. Andrea and I are finding ways to utilize the weird hours, like working out late at night. And in terms of Andrea and Jeremy's music, I'm still amazed at how well everything is going. Since the second week of August, we've played at 6 separate, paying venues: The Key Wester (Naperville), The Birds Nest (Chicago), The Chicago School of Psychology, (Chicago), Silvie's (Chicago), Svago Cafe (Dyer, IN), and Gallery Cabaret (Chicago), not including some solo shows Andrea and Jeremy have played in the area. Now that I think of it, I've played more gigs in Chicago during the past few months than with any of my other bands combined. It's an awesome experience. On a separate note, as is alluded to in my blog's header, I've recently found it difficult to write CD reviews because I don't know if I buy the whole music critic thing anymore. The more I play with two amazing songwriters, the more I realize that music is art, and a lot of how people judge music is just based on personal preference. So, here is a list of some albums I've been listening to recently, in order of how much I like ithem. I consider most of the stuff near the top of the list to be pretty awesome, so check it out if you want. Mae - Singularity
Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black
Fiona Apple - Tidal
Colin Hay - Going Somewhere
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
Paula Cole - Courage
Amos Lee - Amos Lee
Rachael Yamagata - EP
Sara Bareilles - Little Voice
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| I've tried to update this thing like 10 times during the past few weeks, always wanting to write a novel but never finding the time. So, here's the short version of what's been going on. About a month ago, I was hired to teach music lessons at the School For The Arts. The SFTA is a non-profit fine arts conservatory based out of Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL. Unlike my experience teaching private lessons, the SFTA handles all the scheduling, money handling, and PR. Also, because they are an established organization, more students are willing to sign up for lessons and stick with them. The SFTA pays $25 an hour ($12.50 per 1/2 hour lesson) and I have 15 students, with more signing up every week. When I was interviewed, I said I was able to teach bass guitar, guitar, drums/percussion, and voice (with bass guitar being my prime instrument and first choice). I figured I would have a slew of guitar students, but instead I ended up with 11 drum students, 2 guitar students, 1 bass student, and 1 voice student. It was a little intimidating at first, having to juggle all the different instruments and having so many drum students. But during the past 3 weeks I've realized that I am completely capable in this role. Even though I only graduated with a 2.9 GPA, I spent the past 5 years actually being a musician: learning new instruments, going on tours, practicing, recording, gigging, running sound, producing, etc. I know that it is my experience that landed this job and prepared me to teach it, and I'm proud of that. Needless to say, I quit Starbucks shortly after I was hired. There were no hard feelings, and I finished out the last two weeks I was scheduled to work. It's been great not having to make all the drinks every day and do the whole retail thing, but I'm completely hooked on coffee now - which might be bad for my health as well as my wallet. In general, things are still up in the air as far as our future is concered. Andrea and I are waiting anxiously to hear news about something big, while at the same time yearning to quit everything, jump on the road, and make music. Hopefully, both will happen soon. Peace. | | |
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