Finding inspiration in the mirror? and new song clip

Recently I came across a story about Kevin Michael Connolly. His book Double Take: A Memoir has recently been released in paperback. Kevin was born without legs and has managed to insert himself into an active (understatement) life with, shall we say, gusto. He has travelled the world, was a silver medalist at the 2006 Winter X-Games and rides around on stake and snow boards. With all that what impressed me most is how he turned the lens, so to speak, on everyone who stares at him as if He is the one who is the oddity while accomplishing more, much more, than most of us bi-peds. Here’s the thing, he knows people will gawk, stare, ask questions he’s heard thousands and thousands of times all the while, by his presence alone, saying hey my drive, my creative force, that which is me is not my limbs, or lack thereof. No, he says the spark within me is in my heart and mind and spirit and I’m expressing it, holding up a mirror to the people staring and making assumptions. You can hear his story here http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128107424

I doubt he has a hero complex. Heroes, I think, are people who do something unremarkable every day and never ask for credit or recognition. The moms who raise kids with little sleep, the addict battling every minute with relapse, the immigrant who rides the bus, works every day 14 hours, goes home and teaches themselves to read and does it all over again next day.

As a professional musician that feeling of being on display like Connolly, is something I and other artists experience every day too. With my new album, “Pura Vida – This is Pure Life” about to be released I share some of the same feelings of vulnerability mixed with defiance and then disregard for what others think like Connolly. It isn’t a “Punk” like attitude or an “I don’t give a hell,” instead it’s caring about my music deeply, documenting it (in an album) as best I can then detaching from the response. Thick skin is what people used to call it probably. I don’t know what in the human experience makes others want to criticize, make fun, belittle or dehumanize others—and honestly I don’t spend time thinking about it. You can’t, and be sensitive and honest about what you do. If you spend your time wondering what your virtual and non-virtual friends think about every song, every video or comment you post--you are a slave. I don’t think of myself that way. You have to let it go in every sense of the word. One of the reasons I ignore MySpace is because of the constant emails I’d get saying, “Hey come and check out the music on my profile and tell me what you think.” Ugh.

This weekend I was Busking at our local Grower’s Market for a few hours then played a festival in El Paso Saturday and Sunday at Ysleta Mission Cultural Arts Market. As I took the stage realizing only a handful of people had ever heard me play. I dug in my heals, took a breath and reached deep into everything I am and played that flute like it was my last time to play ever. The sounds of the lower valley Barrio were all around booming from cars and Harleys. I knew I was creating an envelope of sound and peace that would envelope everyone listening. This belief in my music has sustained me financially and my spirit as it has so many other artists from ancient to modern times. Success is self-measured and forward motion is motion. Don’t wait for that perfect flute, microphone, gig or someone to tell you something nice about your playing or CD. Do something towards your dream everyday regardless and try not to spend too much money doing it is the best advice I feel I give to the myriad musicians who email or approach me after shows.  Kevin Connolly didn’t wait around for artificial legs, the perfect technology or for people to quit staring. He took the tools he had and dug deep. All you can ask yourself is to do that too—make what you already have your tools and do the best you can now. Life, like success, is incremental and roads are made a brick at a time. Okay, enough of those metaphors before I choke myself on them…haha

The official release date for "Pura Vida - This is Pure Life" is July 15 on Amazon, CDBaby.com,  and iTunes a fews weeks following. I will be on the road when it comes out and will have some CD’s shipped to me as I head to INAFA and gigs up north in Wisconsin and Illinois. The best relationships are dances, the ones you ease into. I’m hoping this release will be like that for listeners. I’ve included an mp3 clip from the song “I Am the Mountain Within.” The lyrics pretty much tie in with my own belief that the person is more than the appearance and that heroic acts happen every time you move outside of your comfort zone.

Thank you

Randy 

Kicking around the southwest getting ready for summer touring.

Greetings I hope this summer is finding you and those close to you safe and happy. Last Blog I reported I was up for several New Mexico Music Industry Awards. I am happy to report I won one of those nominations in the category of New Age Contemporary. I was surprised and honored as I accepted the award for all the hard working musicians in my part of New Mexico. It was a top-notch awards ceremony with amazing performances, formal banquet and all the major players in New Mexico Music. Lest you don’t think that is much several are Grammy winners and recently Oscar winners. Music is big and close to the burgeoning film industry here as well. I met the two other musicians from Las Cruces who were also nominees, C.W. Ayon in Blues and Mick Harris in Pop. C.W. Ayon won his very competitive category. Though we had met half-an-hour before the awards show I hit it off with he and his wife immediately. Maybe it is because we are both extremely hard-working independent artists. Or maybe it was that we were all three sitting at tables nursing beers because no one would talk to us. The music industry in New Mexico is heavily represented by the northern cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Most have never been to Las Cruces, which is, incidentally New Mexico’s 2^nd largest city. I introduced myself to one of the major distributors of Native American Music who was presenting that night. He dismissed me quicker than you can open a beer saying, “I was wondering who ‘Randy Granger’ was.” Okay. I was polite and professional and slightly embarrassed that I had been so nice to him and his wife.  He was presenting two of the categories I had multiple nominations in and mispronounced my name. I wanted to show my award to him afterwards but thought better of it.

Awards do count. Especially the awards where you don’t have to beg every Facebook friend, relative and acquaintance to go vote for you. These awards were pre-judged by New Mexico music pros then sent out to some seriously qualified national judges. I mean seriously well known. I was blown away by that. The people who weren’t talking to me before all of a sudden were seeking me out saying hey we have your music in heavy rotation at our station could you record a station ID? It is all part of it. Awards for independent musicians help bring us cred, attention and better paying gigs. You have to make really good music first though. No substitute for music that sounds killer, has feeling and raises you above the hundreds of thousands out there. Here is some good press we had in our local papers http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_15156196 my hometown of Hobbs, NM ran a front page story and interview on my award. I was so happy knowing my family would read it and feel proud. They have always supported me in everything I’ve done. You can read the articles and more at my website http://www.randygranger.net/press.html.

I was in Santa Fe playing some shows and thought the awards ceremony was Saturday night so I rushed to my room after playing followed by a trip up to 10,000 Waves to soak in the communal tubs. Drove an hour south to Albuquerque only to find it was the wrong night. I just laughed at myself and went back ending up with a great night strolling in and out of live music venues around the Santa Fe Plaza. I conducted a flute playing workshop for the Albuquerque area flute circles and had a wonderful time seeing some friends and meeting new ones. Melissa Dominguez, a Santa Fe photographer and college friend I hadn’t seen in too many years took some really nice photos she let me post here. Yes that’s a Kilt I’m wearing. Specifically a Utilikilt which I absolutely enjoy wearing both on and off stage. You’ll love their approach and humor.

My schedule for this year’s International Native American and World Flute Association’s (INAFA) convention for me is:

Lead a Clinic titled “The ABC’s of Playing the Native American Flute” in Lecture Room 143, July 15^th at 1:00 PM

Perform July 14^th at 7:30 PM with Michael Graham Allen aka Coyote Oldman in Gantner Concert Hall

Perform Solo concert: July 15^th at 3:00 PM in the Phillips Recital Hall

You can find out all about the Convention at http:///www.inafa.org. For the first time INAFA will be allowing main performers to offer private lessons during the Convention. You can email me directly for info an costs at lonegranger@netscape.com. I have over 15 years teaching guitar, percussion, voice and Native flute along with being a lifelong, classically trained musician I have worked with some of the best flutists such as Michael Allen and R. Carlos Nakai. If you want to get an intense private lesson and evaluation feel I don’t have much free time at the convention so slots are going quickly. I will also have a booth with my Indian Summer Music Award and NM Music Industry Award winning CD’s, t-shirts and more. I plan to have two new CD’s available and am working on the details now and will be ordering them soon. I am so absolutely excited about these new CD’s.

I’ll be playing in El Paso at the end of June. You can always bookmark my calendar at http://www.randygranger.net/calendar.html. While up north in Wisconsin I will do a few other gigs including the 6^th Anniversary World of Faeries Festival in South Elgin, IL. I am open to booking some House Concerts or flute circle performances/workshops. Email me if there is an interest. I look forward to seeing again the friends I made at the 2008 INAFA Convention. Don’t be shy. Say hello.

See you down the trail,

Randy 

Native American Flute Firefly music in the Texas Hill Country.

Feels like the first time.

Recently I watched the movie “Crazy Heart” starring Jeff Bridges. It’s about a tarnished, waning country- music artist who is still on the road abusing his body, relationships and stumbling into redemption. Not the religious redemption but the personal kind that makes rock bottom look like a ceiling. Seeing the scenes of New Mexico, where it was filmed and my home state, made it even more engaging and knowing that the songwriter Ryan Bingham who wrote the title song is from my home town I may be biased. Bingham and T Bone Burnett won a Music Oscar for their theme song. It makes sense though as New Mexico has long been a place where people come to convalesce after failure or just because they run out of money. When I lived in Albuquerque I met so many people who would say their car broke down and they just stayed or that they pointed blindly at a map and landed on New Mexico. Our sparse population, history of getting along, open, far as the eye can see landscape and active spirituality means you can heal here and be left alone to do it. We’ve found a way to enjoy life, friends and family on income parsed from odd jobs and low wages and tend to let eccentrics be.

The opening scene of Crazy Heart shows Jeff Bridges’ character, the aptly named Bad Blake showing up for a gig his manager booked at a bowling alley. He gets out of his truck, empties his piss jug and mutters something about the venue while cursing his manager. It is classic because any working musician has been there hundreds of times. There are some firsts that are part of the “paying the dues” like: 1 Showing up to your first paying gig 2 Hearing your song on the radio for the first time 3 Seeing a listing for you (or band) in the paper for the first time 4 Reading your first review 5 Handling your first CD and the first time you hear your voice or instrument through a kick-ass PA system. I remember them all. That Bad has been doing it for decades and still playing bowling alleys is the irony that sets the movie. I recognized that look well. The way you scan the venue in a detached way almost squinting, assessing in seconds whether or not they are expecting you by the little tells that only seasoned musicians know to do like if the flier you sent is anywhere in sight. New musicians are prone to freak out and expend energy getting frustrated or angry. I don’t do that anymore. I’ve showed up places where I was double or even triple-booked with other acts, left off the schedule all together even though there was press. Usually these happen because there is no communication or booking system. You take it all in stride.

I try to make every performance have some of that first-time excitement and enthusiasm and it takes some serious chutzpa, especially after driving 12 hours that day. Keeping newness about what you do will help you like few other things can. While many venues like to remind you how lucky you are to be there my mantra is “Don’t take anything personally and kick some ass through your music.” Playing at the Sundance Film Festival one of my sets was to the other musicians and the bar staff. The Next was to about 700 people who all had their back turned doing deals. Didn’t faze me in the least. Just do your job as well as you can that day.

Last weekend I played in Houston, TX performing at the Rothko Chapel. This is another first. People such as the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu have spoken there and to say it is an honor is understatement. I’m working with a trio including Jodi Roberts on Tibetan Singing Bowls and Stephanie Phillips on Viola both seasoned giggers like me. The stringent contract says we can’t perform as the same trio again in the Houston area for a year, can’t touch the walls (seriously, guards made sure we didn’t yelling, “Don’t touch the walls!”) can’t videotape or take photos of the show etc. They honor their mission strictly—I honor it too and while I’m humbled I also know I will show up rehearsed and do the best I can that day and hopefully connect with and move the audience. Here is a review of the concert: http://www.examiner.com/x-8993-Houston-Humanist-Examiner~y2010m5d17-Blend-of-cultural--spiritual-music-inspires-at-Houston-multifaith-chapel

Randy Granger, Jodi Roberts, Stephanie Phillips. Rothko Chapel Concert 2010

On the way here I stopped and camped in the Texas Hill Country at a place called Comanche Bluff along the Medina River. It was beautiful and I recorded a video. I played my flute in the canyon during the day and at night. I was blown away by the fireflies that danced and chirped. I had read about the ancient Teyas Indians and sang and drummed for about an hour listening for them. I was the only human there so that was awesome. I wasn’t prepared the humidity, heat, bugs and gusts that just about took my tent up to Kansas. As I was driving east to Houston I drove through Bandera in search of more coffee. I noticed all the trucks (pretty all there is there) have these huge aggressive-looking front grill guards and me in my little Honda Fit could be moved off the road like tumbleweed. I passed a scene that spoke volumes. A guy by his barn wearing a Cowboy hat, jean shorts with knee high Ropers putting gas in his truck with an old, red gas can while a lit cigar hung from his mouth. Yep, I’m in Texas all right. That is what I like about being on the road as a musician though. It takes me out of the comfort of home and festivals where everyone looks like you (well so to speak). Playing gigs in venues where not a soul knows who you are is something I love. I have to sell myself, be at the top of my game, prove their money was spent well and watch that transformation as the music touches people and you know you’ve done something real. Something about it being their first time to hear you makes it new all over again. Next weekend I’ll be in Santa Fe, NM playing at the Native Treasures Art Show, attending the New Mexico Music Industry Awards Banquet where I’m up for four awards, two in the Contemporary Native American category and one each in New Age Contemporary and World Beat. I’ll also lead a Native American flute workshop for the Albuquerque area flute circles. A lot to fit into a weekend but it’s what I do and that’s all good. Here is a video I made at the Comanche Bluff camping area. Enjoy.

Randy