SCHOOL OF ED PREFACE Keep it real! - July 22, 2005
Making it real...all the time!
Kaola asks: ”Eddie, I dont know if I am officially bummed out enough to play the blues... I know I am opening up an age old can of white boy worms here, but is possible to play effective "blues" music when you are not depressed, or are presently taking seratonin re-uptake inhibitors to manage a chemical imbalance?”
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The way I see it...
Yes, Absolutely! You don’t have to be depressed to sing and play the blues, but you have to empathize with the feelings expressed in the lyrics to the song you are playing. Having first or second hand experiences similar to those portrayed in blues music gives you a subconscious emotional bouquet from which to draw the appropriate empathy towards the song being played. Have you ever had an event occur in your life, sad or happy….and, no matter how much time passes, when you relate the event to someone, you often find that you inject the emotions you felt at the time that the event first occurred. It is the same with singing any song in any genre. That is how folks like BB and Muddy were able to get over with songs about poverty and misery. They have a storehouse of emotions to draw on, even if they are not poor or miserable any longer.
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Koala asks: ”Most blues musicians have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Am I drinking enough? Do I need a Stratocaster? Yours, confused” Koala
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By the way this comment was written, I would say that you are drinking enough. As for the strat…everyone needs at least one strat in his or her collection!
Kaola asks: ”Eddie, I dont know if I am officially bummed out enough to play the blues... I know I am opening up an age old can of white boy worms here, but is possible to play effective "blues" music when you are not depressed, or are presently taking seratonin re-uptake inhibitors to manage a chemical imbalance?”
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** **
The way I see it...
Yes, Absolutely! You don’t have to be depressed to sing and play the blues, but you have to empathize with the feelings expressed in the lyrics to the song you are playing. Having first or second hand experiences similar to those portrayed in blues music gives you a subconscious emotional bouquet from which to draw the appropriate empathy towards the song being played. Have you ever had an event occur in your life, sad or happy….and, no matter how much time passes, when you relate the event to someone, you often find that you inject the emotions you felt at the time that the event first occurred. It is the same with singing any song in any genre. That is how folks like BB and Muddy were able to get over with songs about poverty and misery. They have a storehouse of emotions to draw on, even if they are not poor or miserable any longer.
_________________________
Koala asks: ”Most blues musicians have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Am I drinking enough? Do I need a Stratocaster? Yours, confused” Koala
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** **
By the way this comment was written, I would say that you are drinking enough. As for the strat…everyone needs at least one strat in his or her collection!