A lot of people probably think I'm too old to start something new. Especially something (music) that is obviously the purview of young people. Wait! There's Tina Turner. Barry Gibb. Aretha Franklin. And more. Of course, all of them started a long time ago and maybe their previous fame has carried them through. Would they be able to hit it big now at their current ages? Hmmm.
In other arts areas, though, we have Grandma Moses (painter) and Laura Ingalls Wilder (writer). (And others, of course.) The two mentioned didn't get started in their art until age 65 (Laura) or 78 (Grandma Moses). So there's hope for me.
Anyway, I joined these forums back in December of 2014 and I'm finally getting active a year later. I know it's important to provide feedback in order to "earn" some for myself. Unfortunately, I am on limited bandwidth and find it difficult to spend enough time online to give an adequate listen to sufficient amounts of music so I can spend more time online providing feedback. <<sigh>> I do what I can. At this moment, in fact, I have used too much bandwidth and, if I continue at the same rate, I will exceed my allotted amount by the end of the month.
A little about me. I've been singing since elementary school when I would challenge other kids to singing contests. In high school I was painfully shy and thought I would die when I sang a solo for contest. That started to change when I was 16, though. I started playing guitar and spent 7 weeks away from home at a kind of camp for 16-year-olds. Started singing and playing guitar in public. Found out it was fun!
Majored in vocal music in college, and played guitar and sang all through college for fun. Instead of studying, much of the time. Won a trophy at a singing contest.
Played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when I was 33 (community theater group). Organized a mixed octet for a few years. Organized larger ad hoc groups from time to time to provide entertainment at Relay For Life events in my area. Won a grant in the mid-2000s to make a CD. Put together a women's trio, which became a quartet (called Half Past Twelve), to finish the CD (in 2012). It was so much fun, we made another one in 2014.
Diagnosed with a non-invasive form of breast cancer (I call it fake cancer, as it is not life-threatening) twice. The second time I opted for a bilateral mastectomy (Feb 2015), which has put me largely out of commission much of the time since. Retired at the end of 2014, which made all the treatment stuff easier, since I have to travel 5 hours from home to get to the medical center. I live in a remote area. The wilderness.
Now that I've retired, I no longer want to go to town every week for practice, so I'm dissolving my quartet. And I'm starting to get into writing, which is turning out to be more fun than I expected. I have previously written a few songs from time to time, but I always had the idea that writing a song was an anomaly, a happy accident I experienced occasionally. Then I discovered, signed up for, and completed a songwriting course offered from Berklee through Coursera online (taught by Pat Pattison). I learned there are tools that make it easier to write songs. Who would have thought?
Finally, I did a search for songwriting forums and found this one. In fact, I must have done the same thing a year or so ago, since I was already registered and had been for a year. Surprise!
So back to the beginning. My goal is to live what I believe. And that is: Don't just watch stuff. Do stuff yourself! Even if it isn't perfect. Even if someone else can do it better. Do your own best.
Vicki
