A Musical Mission
Well gang, here it is, ten days until the big CD release day. As my September 28 show at The Artery gets closer my purpose for the hours spent on my solo career begins to crystalize .
I have recently learned a very valuable lesson involving what it means to be a truly great performer. This lesson came about when I was only trying to have a blast with Dana with a belated birthday present. Her birthday falls in May, and at that time I bought us two tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show, a present that had to wait until their Red Rocks show on August 17. In the midst of this CD release promotion, I would like to give you all a brief recap of that concert experience.
Dana and I left Fort Collins at about 5 o’clock on a cheery late summer afternoon. We were headed to see one of the contemporary greats in country and folk music, Old Crow Medicine Show. As we cruised Dana read about how Old Crow Medicine Show had taken time to go to the hills to grow and hunt their own food and take on the true country living experience.
When we reached our seats at Red Rocks we were greeted with soothing acoustic music and enchanting three part female vocal harmony as I’m With Her, a three woman band, took the stage. It was easy to see that this wasn’t their first rodeo as they brought the house down with beautifully crafted original songs and plenty of charm.
When Old Crow took the stage my enchantment continued and amplified. Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I’ve played Wagon Wheel so many times as a request that I’m nearly as tired of it as I am of Skynyrd’s Free Bird. The same people can also attest to the fact that I’m not much of a fan of blue grass music, although I am a huge fan of the blue grass state. This being said, I was disarmed by Old Crow Medicine Show’s performance. Every song they sung was one that I wanted to join in singing by the third chorus, even Wagon Wheel! Their warm, human and non-presumptuous ways of talking to us as the audience also blew me away. Old Crow Medicine Show was able to represent all of us through stage presence and music! It was like they were able to embody the silent knowing we all shared as an audience and amplify it in all of our minds! I enjoyed Old Crow’s performance far more than performances from groups that play my all-time favorite music.
The following Monday I was talking to Dana about the show and found myself saying, “they embodied an entire movement of tradition and thought through music.” The moment I said the words I had my mission statement. “I, Brian David Collins, wish to embody an entire movement of thought and tradition through music.” Of course, my mission is to live on the tradition, sounds and musical dreams of lost piano players like Tom Waits and Leon Russell, but the mission remains the same. If you are glad of heart, willing and able, please come to see our performance at the Fort Collins Downtown Artery from 5-8 PM. I am extra excited to live my new mission as a musician, from my position it looks as easy as fishin. In fact, judging from my fishing experiences as 23a kid, it’s a lot easier than fishing, my dad has the fish hook scars on his forehead to prove it!