On my first day off since mid August, I'm able to catch my breath before pushing on. Working my way backwards, I played at Milagro's last night with the reconstituted Tripping Upstairs, and also played with Eric Shiveley. Prior to that gig, Tracy and I did a tour up through the Arkansas River Valley of the Rocky Mountains playing some interesting gigs and doing a bit of recruiting. Packing for a tour such as this means selecting repertoire that fits into a Subaru. Needless to say, no marimba.
This semester, I started teaching the jazz ensembles, have over 30 in my steel drum program, and have a gig coming up next Friday! Once that jazz concert is over, it'll feel relatively less stressful in rehearsals... getting the first performance out of the way is a really big deal.
I've managed to squeeze a set in with the San Juan Symphony, have been to Ft. Worth and back, played a bit here and there, performed with Tracy on her recital, have been turning our drumline into a more polished group, and during the first week, played a really fun gig with Eric Shiveley. He brought some old band mates down from Denver and we did some of Eric's tunes, some Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams, and then some standard covers (Johnny Cash, etc).
I just got a copy of the final product from Matt Schildt's latest album. Great stuff. Once it's online, I'll put up a post. You know, when you drum on an album, listen to each mix, and really get into the details, it's sometimes hard to listen objectively. Not the case here. Just a really good, diverse album.
Things should mellow out by the end of next week and the final push through the semester will be underway. As it starts to turn cold here in the mountains, I start looking for sweaters to wear, the UGG house shoes come out, and Gabriel's hair starts to look crazy.
Bring on winter vacation!!
