Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Connection


 
Brothers and sisters, Your Friendly Neighborhood Christian is abuzz from a GREAT weekend. I did a feature performance at Nashville’s Poetry in the Brew (if you’re in the area on the second Saturday of the month, do yourself a favor and check it out), and I rolled into town on Friday. I treated myself to a Tokyo Police Club show, my first dining experience at Jack in the Box (it’s the little things), and an exploration of some of what the city had to offer on Saturday before the event. It’s been years since I’ve really spent any significant time in Nashville, and I feel like I kind of connected with the city anew.

Poetry in the Brew on Saturday was really great. I had big fun just sitting back and hearing everyone else. It was definitely inspiring.


When the time came for me to jump on the mic, I ran through pieces from my chapbook Ghosts & Echoes, my EP Between Beauty & Bedlam, and a little somethin’ somethin’ new. I had an amazing time, and I can’t describe how it feels to be able to look into the eyes of people in an audience and see your work connect.

At the end of the night, I was really pleased to meet a good number of the people who read or were just hanging out. If you’ve known me or followed this humble little blog for any period of time, you know how much I enjoy CONNECTION (word of the day, kiddos!). It’s what I strive for in my work and in my personal life, probably because I feel like an alien a good bit of the time and I’m extremely fascinated with quelling that. If people are moved by my work, have invested their money in purchasing something, etc. I legitimately like to keep in touch with them. Hopefully, some of the people I met over the weekend will reach out soon.

Switching gears, as fate would have it, over the past two weeks, I’ve had some interesting conversations about connection, specifically when it comes to social media. In my most humble of opinions, a good number of us have become staunch voyeurs, and I can’t really wrap my head around it. We enjoy being plugged in to many things, but from a safe distance.

I think the whole dialogue really hit close to home because I am so open and value being connected in a genuine capacity with people, that it’s a really foreign notion for me to think that people just want to be in your company just because. If you send them a message on Facebook, you get no response, yet you’re Facebook friends. That kind of thing is a different beast that I just find incredibly remarkable. I’m no judging anyone, but I’m really pleased that I can’t function like that. It’s not for yours truly.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got for now. Be good, stay cool, and I’ll be in touch soon.

Blessings

Links:




Twitter - @ichristian3030

 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Ch-ch-checking In


Greetings,

 
I’ve been slacking on my blogging, but I have been on the busy side. Plus, last weekend after the Function show, I got drugged by a bartender, but who wants to hear that story? Honestly, WHO?!

 



Anyway, things have been pretty good for the most part as of late. The show with Function was AMAZING. It was really fascinating to see how they work and how much really goes into their process. I knew during rehearsal that we were going to do something that was great, but whenever you’re in the actual moment of execution, things just tend to take on a broader light, and that definitely happened on the 26th, dear brothers and sisters.

 
Towards the end of our show, I debuted my brand new poem. The music came down a little bit, I looked out in to the audience, and everything was rolling. At least, until, I got lost in the piece. A musician once told me that with any new piece, he has to screw it up in front of people, and then he’s got it down for life, and I can completely relate to that. I was really fortunate in this instance because I didn’t stumble over anything, and I’ve been doing this here biz long enough to know to just jump to the next part that you can remember. So, I worked the heart of the poem out of order (which, in itself, was an interesting feat), and it dawned on me as I was doing it that I had the benefit of NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD being familiar with how the poem was supposed to go, so I was the only one in on what was taking place. Mua ha ha!!!

 



Interestingly enough, I received the biggest response from that piece, which was very humbling. Once we finished the show, a woman told me that she cried during it, and a man said that he’d lost his mother in the 90’s and he dedicated my words to her. IMMENSELY touching.

 



This week, I’m gearing up for my feature performance at Nashville’s Poetry in the Brew. I had the chance to check it out earlier in the year, and I’m really excited about being able to return. My setlist has been made, my accommodations have been taken care of, and I feel pretty set for the most part. Yours truly is ready to g-o get it!

 
Well, that’s about all I’ve got for now. Be good, love your mamas, and don’t be strangers. Don’t do it!!!

 
Links:




Twitter - @ichristian3030