Finding Inspiration from Friends

The concept of surrounding yourself with the right people, pulling inspiration from your friends, is nothing new. It's timeless. Today my friends released a handful of new tracks off their upcoming sophomore album (shameless plug here) and I can't help but see the correlations between their new path and my new endeavor.

Since knowing Chris and Keegan in high school, music has been an enormous part of their life. We'd get together, go for a run, and then I'd find myself in a La-Z-Boy listening to them jam for hours after. In other words, their success in the last few years hasn't been a complete shock to me. However, watching them mature and strive for a sound that is purely their own has been monumentally motivating and educational.

Please read the Billboard.com article and see how much work and thought has gone into this new album. And of course, to give them a listen! http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7685883/vinyl-theatre-new-album-origami-songs-interview

“We made something that sounded completely different from the rest of the songs we'd been writing… [It’s] about laying your burdens down and taking a leap of faith when the trail runs cold.” - Keegan Calmes

If I could take the last bit of that quote and paint it on the wall above my bed without feeling like a Pinterest Princess I would. It correlates so smoothly with my quarter-century crisis, and the hardships I will face as I take on a new career path in writing. A few weeks ago, when I turned down a supported avenue towards becoming a dog trainer, I saw the trail was indeed running cold. It felt like a logical next step, but not the right step. In some ways it felt like a trap. Like if I put all my time and money into it I would be stuck as a dog trainer in a state saturated with others who have already staked their claim. You could argue that case for nearly any career path, but if your head isn't in the game, is the effort going to produce results? Vinyl Theatre has their head in the game. They recognized what was missing, what wasn't working, and regrouped, putting in a huge effort to create some damn good music. That's where I'm at. Focused in on the path I'm willing to put the huge effort into. There is some rust to shake off, but I feel my skills being polished. A career in writing, like in the music business, can see success come in ebbs-and-flows, but if I consistently put in the effort and push for a higher quality of writing, success will come.