Me and my tired fingers have been home for a couple days, but I'm still in recovery after last weekend's whirlwind run through Columbus, OH and Houston, TX. I’ve been experiencing exhaustion and adrenaline in equal amounts, but I’m incredibly happy about the weekend; beautiful Shabbat services and a smoking show on Sunday.
I’ve been thinking a lot about an interesting thing that happened during the Houston show…
Halfway through the second song, I break a string on the PRS. I play around it, and get through the song without a D. So, I look down to grab a spare… and suddenly realize that I've left my extra strings in the green room. Instantly, I’m stuck, and know I’m playing the whole show on an acoustic guitar.
I pick up the Martin and, without a second to try to figure out how I’m going to pull this off, launch into Ayzehu. (Note: I run an A/B box in front of my pedal board that flips my setup between the acoustic and electric guitars). I lift my foot to kick in some delay under the first verse… and suddenly realize I’m patched into the electric rig while playing an acoustic guitar. Oy. I mentally play out four scenarios in the space of a quarter note, and having not a bit of choice in the matter, drop my foot…
and it’s awesome.
So different, and totally unexpected. Unexpected like when you reach for a glass of water, and accidentally pick up a glass of soda. The first sip is crazy, but then your brain kicks in and says… “Dude... it’s Dr. Brown’s.”
I played a wildly different show on guitar, even taking some electric-esque solos with the acoustic running through an entirely unintended chain of effects. These were sounds I NEVER would have intentionally created, but they were what I had available… and so I spent ninety minutes painting sound with an unfamiliar and refreshingly new palette of colors.
It was freeing, and liberating, and just damn inspiring. And, it felt really, really good.
Today’s footnote: Don’t fear being pushed out of your comfort zone. Good times may, indeed, ensue.
