Finding inspiration

I figured I would drop a blog in here so I can maintain my #1 spot as the best badgemen blogger.

So I just wanted to inform our readers of a couple of things that I have been up to musically for inspiration.

First - I have been watching the PBS series Jazz by Ken Burns on DVD. Pretty much I got a subscription to netflix just to watch these. I like the music and it takes a while to get into but I am on disc six right now and after I drop this one in I will be on seven. The DVD's are probably an average of an hour forty five a piece but they are interesting on two levels. Hearing these stories about how these great musicians made great american music can be very inspiring.

Second - I took Eric Clapton's Autobiography from a friend of mine and I have read about half of it in three nights or so. Very interesting...good ole Eric is a real self aware guy and he has appreciated everyone who has been a part of his life good or bad. This is a real healthy outlook on things, though a lot of his actions during the period of this book were not so healthy. The same thing with the Jazz series though learning how he went about making this great music is really inspiring and motivates me to do the same.

Thirdly - Piano lessons - I have been taking piano lessons for a while now and it has been really helping me understand music much better. I have a long way to go, but I think this is really going to be something that I can enjoy doing and will help me along in a lot of ways.

Lastly - Listening - Went to see Wilco in Rochester on Saturday and I have two of their albums "Sky Blue Sky" and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". The show was great and I learned how much of a guitar band they are and how the songwriting varies and takes you up, down, around and sideways. It was just great music and fun to see a band who was not blisteringly loud and played and sang some great songs. Even though I only have two albums, I am definetley checking out some more.