Today has been tough for me musically and spiritually. It’s like I just can’t play or sing. I’m not flowing. Everything feels hard. That’s not normal for me.
I wasn’t going to post anything, but some on my other platforms look forward to my Sunday post. I prayed about it, and I need to get over myself.
Because it’s not about me and my best. It’s about Him.
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Mercy Came RunningForever Reign
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“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV
You can teach someone to play an instrument or they can teach themselves and if the talent is there then they can become quite good depending on what they are willing to give to it.
But you can’t teach heart.
All you can do is tell them about it and it’s something they have to find inside themselves.
It’s a pouring out of yourself to the listener.
I’m not saying I have it but it’s what you want.
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He said, “Drifter, can you make folks cry when you play and sing? Have you paid your dues? Can you moan the blues? Can you bend them guitar strings?” He said, “Boy, can you make folks feel what you feel inside? ‘Cause if you’re big star bound, let me warn ya, it’s a long, hard ride”
I try and practice playing guitar every couple of days. Many times I’m trying to remember songs and solos I haven’t played in 20 to 30 years. I also like learning new songs every week or two.
I have a few recording apps I use and I’m still figuring them out, so a lot of times I’ll record my practice sessions so that I can go back later and tinker with all the settings on the apps and try and perfect the sound quality.
So here’s a lil behind the scenes in the bathroom. This is me practicing the Meat Puppets song “Lake of Fire.” You may remember Kurt Cobain performing it on the Nirvana MTV Unplugged album. Kurt was infatuated with the Meat Puppets. I’m a huge fan of theirs also. One of my favorite records to this day is Too High to Die.
This song led me down a rabbit trail and I ended up doing many of their songs and Nirvana too.
🎧 Two Old Cats Like Us • When Something is Good Why Does it Change
So I’ve written several times about how I started playing guitar in 1988, but officially, it started a little bit before that. It was around ’83, probably. I was like 9 years old.
My friend DJ had a drum set and an electric guitar, and that summer we thought we were rockstars. He brought the beats, and I came up with the riffs and lyrics. We wrote our own songs back then. 😄
Those days are long gone. DJ is a pilot today for Delta Airlines, and me? I’m flying high too. 🎸 🥁 🛬
Here’s a great duet with Ray Charles and Hank from around that same time and When Something Is Good, Why Does It Change?
Hope yall have a great weekend, and thanks for listening.
I believe “I Was Wrong” was the first song I ever heard from Social Distortion—probably around ’96 when it first came out. It was also the first song by them I ever learned on guitar.
I liked the song right away, but I didn’t really get into these guys until the early 2oO0s. Looking back, I wish I’d discovered them sooner.
So here you go… here’s two more for you.
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🖤 I Was Wrong 💿 White Light, White Heat, White Trash 1996
🖤 Don’t Drag Me Down 💿 White Light, White Heat, White Trash 1996
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I’ve also included a video from Joe Sib. He’s a comedian and former punk rock frontman who’s a great storyteller. In it, he tells the crazy story of one night at a Social Distortion show—a night that involved a car crash and other crazy stuff… with Mike Ness actually coming to his aid and helped his friend get into the show. It’s a great story… you should check it out.
I started playing guitar in November of 1988. I was 14. I had no intention of learning, but after the tragic death of my best friend, a guitar found its way to me one night and somehow made a way for me—a way to face things.
Music has always been the heart of me.
But a handful of years ago, I arrived at a place inside where it just didn’t matter anymore. Life was hitting me hard. I lost the fire. The desire for it. So I stopped playing completely for over three years and honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever play again.
Then recently, something started bubbling up in me. I could feel it coming back, strong.
So about three or four months ago, I picked it back up, and I honestly feel like that kid again. Maybe even more than before.
Since then, I’ve been playing most every day for a few hours, conditioning my fingers and getting my calluses back. A few people close to me have been asking me to record and share some songs with them, so that’s what I’ve been doing.
I started recording in my room but eventually moved to the bathroom because the acoustics are much better. It’s nothing fancy—just me, my guitar, and a simple app on my phone called Lexis Audio Editor.
As the recordings started piling up, I decided to make it a series. A few people here on WordPress had also been asking me to share, so here we are.
Honestly, these posts are nothing more than me sitting around doing what I normally do. They just happen to be captured this time.
Also, many of these are recorded late at night while others are sleeping. So I try to play and sing loud enough to make it decent without waking the dead. 😁
Hey yall… I was thinking. I’ve got so many recordings from the past few months, and I’m adding to them almost nightly. So for now, I think I’ll do two posts a week. If it gets to be too much, I’ll stop haha.
Heart of Loia `'.,°~ 