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As I sit here typing this blog entry, I'm listening to a makeshift compilation of all the current mixes of the rock band I'm the lead singer for, Continuous Audio Transmission. The other two esteemed members of the band are Jeff Smoots (guitars, bass and drums), and Wayde Cooper (guitars, bass and drums).
The link for our band web site is here: Continuous Audio Transmission We are about to release our first single, after three and a half years of work. This is somewhat misleading; we haven't worked on the project continuously for all that time (despite our band name). All three of us have day jobs and various adult responsibilities, so finding time to work on our parts is a bit of a challenge at times. We also all coincidentally work in information technology jobs. I finally jettisoned my erstwhile career in restaurant serving about three months ago, and returned to work more suited for my analytical sensibilities. Despite the time-eating, necessary evil known as work, here we are, about to release the first single from a collection of ten originals and one cover. We three have quite a history together, and it goes all the way back to 1991/92 when we were in a band called Axis, that played rock clubs all over Seattle during that time. If you remove me from the mix, the collaboration goes even further back, to 1986, when Jeff and Wayde first met in school. I prefer to maintain my wife's and my privacy, but I felt this was an exceptional moment in my life. In truth, I had been writing, recording and performing music from 1980 all the way to 1998, when I had finally had enough of banging my head against the wall in attempts to "make it." Back then, I was so fed up with trying to become a rock star, I was glad to shed myself of anything more musical than singing in the shower or car. But my philosophical odyssey in Columbus somehow managed to get my head screwed on properly about music. Music should never be explored for the sake of fame or fortune; it should only be pursued for the honest desire to simply enjoy it. Anything other than that is a sham and a waste of the everyone's time. So what will happen to Continuous Audio Transmission? I no longer harbor the self-indulgent rock star dreams of youth. Whatever the world may make of our music, good or bad, I have experienced a considerable sense of pride and accomplishment in the music that Jeff and Wayde and I have made together. In the process, two extremely talented individuals who were nothing more than a pleasant memory have become my friends and respected colleagues. What more can one really ask? |