For starters, today was an incredibly busy but rewarding day. First of all, we had our first Artist Track class "Intro to Songwriting" with Rick Elias. In case you didn't read my first post on here, let me tell you about Rick Elias. Rick wrote all of the music for the movies "That Thing You Do" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as well as performed in Rich Mullins's band in the 90s. So we had our first class today and it's going to be great. I'm not a very expressive person and even when I am, I really don't have a rhythm or a flow to it, which is why I'm pursuing this track to learn how to do that and to be able to write songs to add another dimension to my abilities. I do believe that this class will be able to help me get some of that energy out into words, which will be very nice. After class I had to eat quickly and head back to the building for Hammer Time. Hammer Time is a time where the artists that are playing CMC Live will play for Warren and Tom to get criticism on how to make their song better for that week and things like that. I had to play for 3 of the artists and I was worried about remembering all of the songs; we didn't even make it through both songs for either of the 3 artists. Actually, Maxine was the only one that we actually made it to the second song. Anyways, Maxine led off and we started playing her songs and I received one of the greatest pieces of instruction I've ever had. After asking me a few things about where I've played drums and stuff like that, Warren said, "Just pound it! Play louder! It's okay!" I didn't think I would ever hear anyone to tell me to play louder! I've always been the loudest drummer and people have always told me to play quiter but never louder...interesting. I was also told that everyone is supposed to follow me. I somehow knew that but I hate being the one to lead people. Yes I keep the beat of the song and yes I am the backbone of the band but I don't want to run off and leave everyone. I definitely don't want to be the center of attention, which is not what he was saying at all. But at the same time, he is just making sure that I provide a nice, solid foundation for the groove of the song. Other than all of that, Maxine's stuff is great. She has this Kelly Clarkson sound about her that I really like. Her stuff is very catchy and can get stuck in your head, which makes it a lot of fun to play. One of the songs today, we were trying to give it a style and the guitar player said, "An Americana feel, sorta like Tom Petty," and I said, "Yeah, Tom Petty meets Taylor Swift!" It wasn't meant anything bad at all towards Maxine; she's a great artist and can only get better. So after Maxine, I played with Karissa in the third spot. Again, I was told to play louder. Warren showed me some nice was to be able to attack the snare to get a better sound (which I can already hear) and as I have always been told, playing harder on the bass drum; give it some more attack!! Oh well, that still needs work. Overall though, I love playing Karissa's music. Warren asked if she was going for the Evanescence feel, which is about right. Her vocals are incredible and her piano playing is so enticing and just so easy to play for. Plus the musicians in that band are just rocking and everything we are doing is fitting together so nicely. Lastly, in the last spot on Hammer Time, I played for Zach. We did a rockin' Foo Fighters style song that I think Warren really liked, he just had to make some minor tweaks with again, how I was attacking the drums and the guitar tones. Zach is so much fun to work with because he has so much energy about him and expresses that not only in his playing but his singing. He's just awesome to work with.
After Hammer Time, we continued rehearsals to improve on what Tom and Warren told us. I rehearsed with Maxine and Karissa and then we had our first Community Dinner followed by a Community Meeting. Our Community Meetings are our veg-out time, just allows us to express what we're feeling both inside of the CMC and out. After all, it's like John said tonight, there is life outside of the CMC and that is our time to talk about it and confide in people if we need it. So we did that for about an hour and it was a lot of fun because we talked about what we are nervous about this semester and what we expect and things like that. Then we had some announcements which included our "PJs, Pancakes and That Thing You Do" Party on Saturday night which will be a lot of fun. Also, we are taking a trip as a group to the Smokies in Gatlinburg and staying in a cabin on Sunday February 27 and Monday February 28th. Yes, all 32 of us, plus John and his wife Jenny, and Jill and Kate, who performed the first night, are also coming with us. The cabin has 2 hot tubs, a pool table, 2 classic arcades, an air hockey table, a movie room and other sorts of gagets. It's going to be a blast to be able to take a break from all of the hussle and bussle of CMC and relax with our CMC family and just have fun!!
So anyways, that was my day and it was incredible. Playing for all of these people and getting to sit down with everyone and just talk has made me realize for sure that God knew what He was doing when He made me change my major so that I could end up here. These people are going to be lifelong friends and I'm super excited. Not only that, but today has helped me realize that I love what I am doing so much and don't know that I could ever be fully satisfied doing anything else. I get so much pleasure and excitement out of playing drums that it's ridiculous. I know it sounds cliche and corny but it is so true; playing drums is my passion and I just can't see myself doing anything else. And that is that!!
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