Music = Laughing = Release

Go time again...and here I am getting jacked up about playing music tonight and tomorrow.

Whether you play music professionally or not, it's a release. For me, it's almost like a primal scream - for example, we do "Everlasting Love" by Carl Carlton, OK? I hold a note prior to the last chorus as long as possible - for me, the song builds up to this moment. As I blast the word "love" I can feel my neck veins bulge as I do it, and I arch my back to REALLY pull the note from my diaphragm. Quite often I'm gasping through the last chorus - but God, does it FEEL GOOD. Like an ipecac or something, that note helps me rid myself of a week of toxic and poisonous bad feelings. That's a release.

However, although playing in a cover band is a biz, that doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it. Teachers laugh, as do construction workers, attorneys, janitors, bookkeepers and prison guards. There's nothing like having a good laugh in the middle of a song - either with one or more of my bandmates or alone - for releasing a gob of tension and stress. Where hitting the note I describe above is kind of like releasing poisons, a good laugh is more about releasing tension and looking at things from every angle possible. Laughing also keeps a musician young - and believe me, being boyish goes a long way towards taking the edge off a tough night of work.