tempis fugit
Boy, this year is moving fast. Despite what the view from your window tells you, it's almost springtime. I've already started discussing summer gigs with some people. It just doesn't seem possible.

I once heard an explaination of why time seems to move faster the older we get. It has something to do with Einsteins Theory of Relativity, believe it or not. Part of his theory is that there are very few absolutes. Just about everything has to do with your frame of reference. To a five year old kid, one year is 20% of his whole life time. To an eighty year old man, one year is only 1.25% of his whole life, so it seems to move faster when measured against his lifetime of experience.

The lesson? Enjoy your moments. They're moving by faster and faster every day.

Out of touch?
So yesterday my friend Pete and I are discussing music. I mentioned that a lot of the 20 something musicians that I know are all going nuts over some new guy that's out there. I took a listen, and my reaction was, "so what." I just didn't get what the big deal about this guy was.

Pete pointed out that most of the music I perform is 40-70 years old. I said that's true, but that doesn't mean I don't listen to and appreciate new music. So Pete asks who is the most current artist that I really like. I sat there for a moment in silence. I just couldn't come up with anyone on the spot. As I thought about it, I realized that even when I buy new music, it tends to be from older artists who have been around for a while.

I looked at a list of the MTV top ten songs. I haven't even heard any of the songs on there. I recognize the name Teddy Geiger only because he's from Rochester and the local paper writes an article about him every other day. So am I out of touch, getting old, or does music just suck now days? I suspect it's probably more of the first two choices, but I'm not ruling out the third.

new gigs..
I've got some interesting gigs coming up in the next few weeks that I'm excited about. This Friday I'm going to be playing at Chocolate Bar in Lakeville with Nate Coffey. It will be the first time I've done a gig with Nate, and I'm really looking forward to it. He's a fantastic guitar player. Lunahsea in Geneseo just started having live music, and they've asked me to host an open mic for them. It will be the only open mic in Geneseo in a non-alcohol environment, so it will be family friendly. I recently discovered The Brown Hound Bistro in South Bristol, thanks to my friend Bill. It's a small, but extrordinary restaurant that is getting a great reputation.

I've got a number of other gigs that I've been doing on a regular basis. I'm grateful for those too. Almost any place will take a chance on you once. The places that ask you to come back are really what make it possible to keep pursuing the dream.

Almost like a job...
Wow, what a January. I have truly been fortunate. I managed to pick up a half dozen or so new students. I also had a lot of gigs. 15 to be exact. A few years ago when I decided to try to make a living as a musician, that was unthought of. Looking back at my records, I had 22 gigs in all of 2003.

I owe a lot of the success I've been having lately to my friends who are also out there trying to make a go of it. The music community in the Rochester area is very supportive. Most of the gigs I've had this year have been because someone else recommended me. "It takes two hands to wash a face," my friend Bill Brown says. I've tried to return the favors where I can by stearing gigs toward those who have helped me out, as well as stearing a few gigs toward those who don't yet have the ability to return the favor. It seems to be how the musicians in the area work, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Never Too Old
You may or may not know that in addition to performing, I give guitar lessons. Most of my students are kids, but I've got four students who are retired. They're from different backgrounds and experience levels, but they have one thing in common. They love music. More than one of them has expressed frustration in how difficult it is to learn guitar. My younger students just seem to pick it up faster. Still, their desire to enjoy playing in their golden years keeps them going. It's inspiring.

Nice People
Over the last three or four years, I've met a lot of musicians. I'm grateful for how helpful the music community seems to be to its own. I've recently had a bunch of gigs sent my way because other musicians have recommended me. What's more, in the last year when disaster has struck, people have lined up to be a part of benefit efforts.

I've said it before, and I'll repeat it now. I'm proud to be a part of the Rochester area music community.

Unfamiliar Territory
So far, good fortune has smiled on me in the new year. I've had a bunch of new places contact me about playing. I'm doing a new open mic at Swain Ski & Snowboard Center every Monday night. I've also been playing Sundays at the Sierra Inn across the street from Swain. A very nice lady who owns a place in Hornell heard me play at the Sierra, and has asked about having me play down there. In addition, I'll be playing for the first time at Coffee Cabanna in Spencerport and Lunahsea in Geneseo in the next few weeks.

Every now and again, I get to feeling a little bored with what I'm doing and I feel like I have to re-invent my music. I think that I've discovered that playing in new places for new people can have the same effect. I've really enjoyed playing at the places that have become sort of like home base for me, but it sort of recharges the creative batteries to play new venues where I don't know what will happen.

New Year Ramblings
I guess this is a good problem to have, but I've been very busy in the new year. Including New Year's Eve, I'll have had five gigs in the first seven days of 2006. I also picked up five new guitar students. I'm happy about it, but my sleep pattern has suffered for it some this week.

Last night, I subbed for Lisa Bigwood as host at Daily Perks. It was very slow. There were only six players for the open mic, which is very unusual. Anyway, it was actually kind of nice because instead of two songs and you're out, I got a chance to let people stretch out and play a little. It lead to some very interesting collaborations. I accompanied Larry Sugarmans banjo rendition of a Bob Dylan tune on my harmonica, and Laurie Leenhouts and Nora Kaminski did a couple of beautiful violin duets while Nora's father, Tom played piano.

On a non-musical note, when I went to bed last night, the news headline read that 12 of the 13 trapped coal miners in West Virginia were found alive. I said a little prayer. When I woke up, the headline said that it had been mis-reported. 12 of the 13 were dead. I said a little prayer.

2005 In Review...
It's only natural to reflect this time of year. Here's a brief review of my 2005.......

I kicked off the new year with a new gig. Chocolate Bar in Lakeville moved into a brand new location and decided to try some music. I secured the position of talent booker. As compensation, I get to book myself there once a month. Our opening weeks were tremendously successful. It's also nice to bring something to do to my own back yard. January found me feeling particulary blessed relative to a lot of folks in the world. I decided to turn an otherwise ordinary gig for Pete Collin and me into a benefit for the people effected by the tsunami in Southeast Asia. I lined up a lot of great performers, had plenty of media attention, got sponsors to donate door prizes, and then had to cancel because of a blizzard. Oh, the bitter irony. We rescheduled for the following week and had a great time. A nice amount of money was raised for the Red Cross, and I got a lot of new experience along the way. I also got to meet some great local musicians who were very generous with their time.

In February, my lessons business was starting to grow with some new students. I also started a new project. An acoustic blues trio with a couple of members of the band Stick Boom Papa. In the spirit of expanding my range a little, I did gigs with Allan Howe, Pete Collin, JoAnn Vaccaro, and Dee Adams. I also played some new venues like Paradigm Cafe' and Java Junction.

March wasn't quite as hectic. A couple of gigs with Pete were very comfortable. The blues trio was evolving as our original bass player found he didn't have the time to be in two groups. Ross Bracco stepped in and added his talents on both bass and guitar, as well as vocals.

April saw the debut of what was billed as the "Steve West Blues Trio" at Chocolate Bar. We were billed as such not because of my ego, but because the owners needed something to put on the marquis and we hadn't decided on a name yet. I also went into the recording studio with Jamie Romeiser, a friend from SUNY Geneseo. We recorded a couple of songs just for the fun of it.

In May, W.B. Blues was our official name, and we had our first actual paid gig at Club 41 in Geneseo. I also put together what turned out to be a great night at Chocolate Bar. I billed it as "Steve & Friends" and invited some people I know to join me. They were mostly people I knew from open mics. They didn't necessarily have enough material to do a whole show on their own, but are certainly talented enough to entertain the folks with what they have. Chris and Brian Swanson, Jeremy Blair, and Tim Shea sang great, and Laurie Leenhouts added just the right touch of fiddle to make it a memorable event.

June got really busy. I picked up some new students for the summer, W.B. Blues had a bunch of gigs on the deck at Club 41, and my friend Bill Brown got me some gigs at the Lakeside on Keuka Lake. I would have to say, however, that the highlight of the summer wasn't a gig at all. My family owns a cottage on Conesus Lake. After talking about it for a couple of years, I decided to throw a party for my musician friends. We called it the Conesus Lake Musicians Picnic. Lots of food, sun, water and jamming. An unexpected, but very welcome treat was the arrival of Joe Dady. Still recovering from a very serious heart problem, he showed us all how to enjoy life. On a sad note, my favorite venue closed down for an extended vacation. Al and Patty left beautiful sunny Canaseraga for dingy old Costa Rica.

Wow, Fourth of July and the year is half over already. After all the playing, I finally got to go to a concert as a fan and just enjoy. My lovely friend Laurie accompanied me to the Syracuse Blues Fest where we saw Roomful of Blues and The Subdudes (my favorite group in the world). I also got to do a gig with the fabulous Andrea Dodge. Well, half a gig. (Get a map, Andrea!) Ok, she got there and it was a lot of fun. More gigs at Keuka Lake and a few guest appearances at Heron Hill winery made it a memorable summer.

With the closing of Canaseraga Hardware, as well as Paradigm Cafe', I had to look for some new places. Luckily Boulder Coffee opened up and started to book some music in August. I also got a gig at the Flipside Bar and Grill. I've met some great musicians at Flipside who have opened some other doors for me. Alas, summer was over before I knew it.

September is the season of change. Back to school means some lost guitar students, some new ones. Pete Collin got married. Jamie graduated from Geneseo and prepared to leave, but not before she did a gig with me at Boulder. W.B. Blues also did a benefit for the Red Cross to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Instead of organizing one big show like I did for the tsunami, I encouraged all of my musician friends to donate the proceeds from one gig to the Red Cross. There was a great response to this idea. Once again, I was very proud of the local music community. One gig that stands out in my mind was the Gallery Night Out at Artisan Works. I was invited to play along with some other great musicians up on the rooftop bandstand. How cool! Chocolate Bar opened again for the fall music series. More gigs and Flipside and Java Junction, as well as some fill-ins at Daily Perks. Busy month, you say? You're right. I lost my voice.

That's right, my voice was gone. I went to the doctor and he stuck a camera down my throat. Oh, I got issues! I won't go into details, but I basically had to take a rest and take care of some problems with my throat before they got worse. I did my lessons, and that was about it. Consequently, October was pretty slow. On the bright side, I discovered a fun new thing. The jazz open jam at Daily Perks. I started going and played some harmonica. It gave me a chance to work on my harp playing without the strain of singing.

In November, I started to ease my way back into some singing. I filled in for Keith Harden at Beale Street, and played a private party at Artisan Works. Under doctor's orders however, my trademark growl was gone.

In December, I started taking some vocal lessons at Hochstein Music School. Learning how to properly warm up and how to breathe while I sing has really reduced the strain to my voice. I'm back to doing gigs, and feeling like my voice is stronger than ever. The month was punctuated with concerts by Wynton Marsalis and James Taylor. The annual Christmas show that Pete and I used to do at Canaseraga was moved up to Boulder. All in all, I'd say it was a nice way to cap the year.

Time moves by so fast. As I've reviewed everything, I can't believe some of it was less than a year ago. It reminds me that we all need to appreciate the good times while they're happening. Take some time to smell the roses.

Happy New Year!

The Joy Of Music
Several weeks ago, my friend Laurie asked me if I'd like to come to her work and play for her clients. Now I sort of knew what Laurie does, in a general way. She works with people who are handicapped. When I got there, I was a little uncomfortable at first. Her clients all have some degree of mental disablility. Some are rather severe. I really couldn't understand what most of them were trying to say. I watched what she and her co-workers do for about a minute and was completely amazed. I have a new degree of respect for her. But I digress. This page isn't really about that. This is about music, and the effect that it has on people.

One woman in particular made an impression on me. She was blind, and has some degree of retardation, as well as some physical disabilty. When I started playing, she started clapping in perfect rhythm. I did some songs that I thought everyone could enjoy, and they all clapped at various speeds and seemed to enjoy themselves. But this one woman captured my attention. I played "Stormy Monday", and was very surprised when she started singing along with me. Later, I did "Over the Rainbow," and not only did she sing along, she sang harmony and knew where the key change was coming even before I did it. Mind you, this is my own arrangement of the song, and most people don't change keys in it. Laurie later told me that her father was a jazz musician.

By the end, any nervousness I had was gone. It was replaced by a feeling of satisfaction that for one hour, these people were having a good time. My music may have changed their lives in a tiny way for the better. I know mine has been.