Monday 31 October 2011

Halloween

   I grew up in a very conservative home where Halloween was a bit of a bad word.  Each year for my big brother and I though, October 31st meant one very important thing, free candy.
   I was that kid who always had the home made costume when all of your friends' parents seemed to have unlimited funds when it came to outfitting their kids for the big night.
   I can remember one year my brother finally outgrew his home made skeleton costume and passed it down to me.  You know, like Jonny and the "Cobra Kies" in "The Karate Kid"?  I didn't care that the crotch of those tights had almost completely been blown out but years of my brothers use and Halloween candy gas.
I finally had a cool costume and I wore it with pride.
I actually have lots of good memories of those days.  The friends I grew up with in my neighbourhood, houses that gave out full chocolate bars and cans of pop.       Even though home life was a mess at that point, I really enjoyed most of my childhood years.
So we started having kids I had to ask myself, are we going to celebrate Halloween and go crazy so that our kids have the newest and greatest costumes?  Well, yes, and no.
I have grown to believe that Halloween is a great night to meet your neighbours and get to know the people around you better because almost everyone is outside for a change.
I also love to watch the excitement in my kids eyes as they get dressed up for one day of the year and pretend they are someone or something that they are not.  Ok, so my kids dress up like princesses all the time but you get what I mean.
So we make our kids' costumes or get hand-me-downs.  We set a budget for how much candy we are going to hand out and collect, we all get dressed up and we all head out together.
I think these are great moments to create memories and have fun together as a family.  Life is way too stressfully to always be busy and worrying.
So in an hour, I'm going to get my kids from school, help them finish getting their costumes ready and slip into a Super Hero costume of my own.
I hope you have a wonderful night and spend it with those that you love.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

There's nothing like a cup of Java and some good tunes

I'm meeting up with a good friend today for lunch but in typical Darin Martin fashion I planned to show up really early so that I could get to a Starbucks, grab a cup of Jo and get some music related work done before my meeting.  So I went with a tall Vanilla Latte this morning and found a leather chair.  Once I finally got all of my crap organized, I plugged in my headphones and played my new Civil Wars Album "Live at Eddie's Attic" and just took my first sip.  Ok, I know for the non-artsy types this sounds like pure rubbish.  Or for those who have chosen to not drink coffee, which I respect but don't understand.  For me, this is a small taste of the good life.  It's strange as I look around this place to see so many people coming and going.  Lot's of ladies these days seem to wear the sports wear as if to show everyone that they have just been to the gym so the extra calories in their Latte is justified because they've just burned it off on the treadmill at the gym.
Everyone is going somewhere.  Everyone except for the group of us who have set up camp here for a few hours to tap into the free wifi and "get our work done."  I find myself getting lost in the songs at moments like this.  Music is such a drug for me.  It has the ability to overcome me with incredible emotions.  It can take my mind on long journey's that my body it too afraid to go on.
Today is one more chance to really live and be about something.  I want to make a difference today.  I want to accomplish something great.
Ok, one more cool thing.  I have a friend who attends Mount Allison University in New Brunswick and she is doing a review of my EP "Every Time You Smile" for her school newspaper.  That's a bit scary but I thought it would be fun to get some feedback so we'll see how that goes.
I wish you a wonderful and productive day.  Even if productive for you looks like sitting in a coffee shop and working on your blog.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Do you ever stop and think about where the time goes?
Tomorrow I get a little older and although it's just a number, it really makes you stop and think about your life.  How are you living each day?  Do you stop and take time to notice the little things or are you the type of person to always be looking forward to the next event in your life?
I've had a great deal of time to reflect over the past few months of doing music and some of that time has included wishing I had started this earlier in life.  The rest of the time though I'm just thrilled to have this opportunity now.
Right now I am getting paid to play music on a weekly basis and often times I have to stop and pinch myself because it feels like a dream that I'm going to wake up from.
Playing music definitely has its challenges but it's also an incredible gift that I get to open each day that I face.
So tomorrow I get a little older and I'm right where I want to be.  I just can't believe how much time has flown by.

Thursday 20 October 2011

The Violet Burning

Last night Geoff and I had the tremendous honour of opening for The Violet Burning in London Ontario.
All I can say is, I was totally blown away by this band.  So professional, so many great melodies and so much passion.
This is one of the bands who have been rocking it out for a long long time and have stayed true to their sound and the passion behind each song they write.
I love that although they have met some resistance over the years about their darker style and the rocker look, they have stayed the course.
When talking with Michael (A legend in Christian Rock music) I felt like every word I said to him was actually heard and respected.  He's such a cool cat and has an amazing ability to connect with the audience in ways that years of rocking and honing their craft has provided.
We felt so blessed to have that opportunity and look forward to playing shows with other great bands in the future.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Searching For Some Great Covers To Play

Over the past few months I have been working on learning as many covers songs as possible and trying to do justice to them.
Since moving in with Rob he has been giving me a ton of ideas for great new covers to tackle.  We've also met Chris at one of the venues that Geoff and I play at who has given us over 20 suggestions for covers that he things we will do well.
So I got thinking this morning, what songs do people want to hear when they are sitting down for a nice meal with their special someone?
The songs that have received great feedback so far are:
Ahead By A Century....Tragically Hip
Sleeping Sickness .........City and Colour
Hello Goodbye .............Beatles
Take It Easy.................. Eagles

I would be very interested to hear what songs people would like to hear.
If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment and let me know.
Peace, Darin

Sunday 16 October 2011

The Rude Native part 2

Just to quickly follow up on my last blog, we played the Rude Native again last night and it was awesome!  There was a big family birthday party happening there and Geoff and I had tons of fun playing the hits and rocking out together.  
I think Geoff has set the bar pretty high here with his stylish outfit so perhaps for our restaurant shows, we should wear semiformal rock-star gear on a weekly basis.  
Thanks to our dear friend Lisa who comes to almost all of our shows and snapped this photo for us at about 12:30 this morning.
On another note, I have a very big decision to make about starting a new recording project this week with the producers at Oak Recording Studio in Toronto.  I will write another blog about that soon.

Saturday 15 October 2011

The Rude Native Tonight

A few weeks ago I drove around South Mississauga aka "Port Credit" looking and quite honestly praying that I could find a place to start playing music.  Moving here has been super exciting but the music scene is so vast and spread out compared to Hamilton that it was feeling overwhelming.
So I walked into a nice little place called "The Rude Native" and asked if they had live music.  Turns out that they had a DJ on a regular basis but were looking to do some live acoustic music on weekends.
feeling rather excited inside, I passed them my business card and asked them to give me a call if they were interested in having me come in to play.
That Wednesday I was in a library with my kids when I got the email from the Owner saying he checked out my music and would like to give me a gig on Saturday night.  I was so stoked.  I quickly called my wing man Geoff Laforet and asked if he could join me and as always, he was down to play.
I was very nervous going into the gig.  I had a ton of cover songs to learn in a short period of time but I plugged away tuning up the songs I already knew and learning a bunch of new ones that i thought customers would enjoy.
Saturday night arrived and although I was playing the cool pro musician role as I walked into the Native, I was very nervous inside.  Wondering, what will people think?  What if they hate the songs I have chosen?  Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
At 6:58pm I realized that Geoff was not going to be there on time for my 7pm start so I tuned up my guitar, spoke quietly into my microphone to make sure it was on.  Then I started to play.  Just noodling around with some chords and my loop pedal.  I looked around to see if people were reacting at all and they were starting to notice that the dance track in the house speakers had faded out and a some nice acoustic guitar music as started.
I was now feeling ready to go.  So I put my capo on the 6th fret and played "Feeling Groovy" by Simon and Garfunkel as quietly in the background as I could.  People started to notice and I started get the sense that they both recognized the song and felt inclined to tap their fingers on the edge of the table.
When I hit my last chord a few people clapped and smiled and i suddenly understood what it truly meant to feel groovy.
I continued on with the other 9 songs of my first set and felt much more comfortable with my surroundings.  The amazing staff at The Rude Native constantly walked past me and whispered things like "This is awesome!" and "You're killing it, they love you".
At exactly 8pm I finished my first set and spotted my friend and musical partner Geoff make his entrance in to the Native for the first time.
A whole bunch of things were happening at the same time at this point, Geoff was setting up his hand drum and microphone, a couple at the bar were chatting with me saying "they were so glad they decided to come to the Rude Native for the first time that night" and the manager immediately booked us in for every weekend that we could possibly play there.
It was an amazing feeling.  Knowing that your art and talent were both recognized and appreciated by the wonderful people at The Rude Native.  It was an incredible feeling and I was reminded that it was just Monday morning when I prayed and walked into that place.
At 8:30 I sat down to my guitar with my good friend Geoff Laforet in a tiny little corner of the Rude Native and we rocked out a whole bunch of tunes.  Geoff adds a ton to my songs as he is not only a great and entertaining percussionist but he can also sing and provide all of the harmony for the songs we do.
We are on a musical journey together and The Rude Native has now become our weekend home to play covers, try out new material, develop in our ability to perform and interact with audiences with all different types of background and weekly experiences.
By the end of the night I floated home on a cloud.  I was feeling so thankful for the opportunity and so excited to be back there the following Friday.
Wow, this post got long but I wanted to share that story because I think it will be pretty significant for the rest of this journey.
Tonight at 6:58pm Geoff and I will be tuning up and ready to hit our first song at 7pm at the Rude Native in Port Credit.  We love this place and the great people who call it home on Friday and Saturday nights.
If you are looking for a really nice restaurant to go to some time on a weekend and want to hear some Darin Martin Music, make yourself some reservations and come on out.

Friday 14 October 2011

A Conversation

This morning I had a friend respond to my blog post which is on my website darinmartinmusic.com.  She suggested that it would be good if my friends could have a chance to respond and interact with my posts.  I thought this was a great idea and perhaps a way to help get my music out to more people who are interested in these types of conversations.
So I signed up for Blogspot and am going to post blogs on a regular basis here.
It won't take long for you to see that I have terrible spelling and grammar but I figure, who cares, if spell check misses it, who I am to try and fix it?  Not to mention, I am a song writer not a professional blogger.
So in this forum I will share some of my thoughts and news as things progress with my music career.
It's hard to know how much to share in this forum.  Do people want to know about my daily goings on?  Do they care when it's my kid's birthdays?  I guess you'll have to let me know that.
My hope is that we can converse on this page and that you can give me some feedback as big things come up in my musical life.
Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Uncle Nathan