Today in poetry class we were assigned to write a poem about a relationship with someone close to us. I chose to write about my grandfather Glen, and explore our mutual appreciation of early blues music. My English side of the family has very little interest in music other than my gramps, so it is very nice that he makes the effort to relate to me and expose me to music that he enjoyed when he was a teenager. Here is the poem that I wrote about inspired by this:
Dusty and Sincere
Dusting off old records that were once filed
alphabetically when my grandfather was in better health
Blues music from a faded golden era brings
nostalgic memories to him
New discoveries
A song that once was once banned
He is proud in his ability to stream the latest blues over Internet radio
As I am leaving he slips a neatly written paper with the
link for future recall
But what he doesn’t know, is that I look forward to browsing
his vinyl collection in his company
Or maybe he does
I listen to his recollections and musical questions
I bring my guitar from time to time
He sits and listens with a warm smile
Old blues tunes being re-incarnated by young hands
I always make time to learn his favorite songs
As I nostalgically visit my early roots in music, I invite you to do the same. It's always great practice to learn a couple songs from a different era, genre, country and time signature: this will help you grow versatile and complex as a musician and/or producer. Versatility can get you alot of work as a session player and increase your impact at open jam events, but also you can adopt your own new style by borrowing and elaborating elements from the past, like a couple notes from a particular scale. Dont forget your roots and use elements from your early passions into your new compositions. Constantly re-invent.
Cheers
