I haven't written on this blog since we were in Adelaide. The rest of our time there was a flurry of activity and it was followed by packing and planning for our trip to Western Australia. We arrived in Perth about 10 days ago and since then we've spent time with good mates, we've had family arrive from Adelaide and Los Angeles, we've had two incredible shows and we've tasted about 75 different kinds of Australian wine. It has been a wonderful experience, albeit emotional and stressful at times. Most of the stress I put on myself. It's hard stepping up to the plate and performing with a former Velvet Jane, especially when your set precedes a Velvet Janes set. Martine and Rose had one rehearsal the week before the show. Initially it was just supposed to be a meeting between the two of them to shake the rust off of the songs, and refresh memories of lyrics and chords. At the last minute we decided to turn it into a dinner party/bbq, so I got to go and listen to The Velvet Janes rehearse. It was like watching the Australian Indigo Girls (this is a huge compliment coming from me) and it was very intimidating. I found myself wishing I hadn't come to rehearsal, as it only added to the pressure I had already put upon myself for the upcoming triple-bill show. Truthfully, I was blown away by their 15 years of flawless harmonies and I wanted to vomit. The day of the show was almost painful...again, because of the pressure I was putting on myself. By show time I was ready to play and mostly over the intimidation hanging over me. I had come to the point where my options were limited. I could run away or stay and play. The choice was obvious. It was a beautiful night of music and laughter at the Kidogo Arthouse, and I was so proud of my sweetheart and her incredible talents. I found myself taking it all in, and beaming with love and pride. I was happy to find that my only reaction at the end of the night was that of feeling truly inspired. Martine and I had a show two days later at an Irish Pub and I felt free of the constraints I had been putting on myself. I felt like I was finally stepping out of my own way. I hope that trend continues. We had a rockin' good time and some awesome Guinness on tap. ;-) Mardi's good friend, Jemma King, came and played a set before us. It was her first performance in at least 10 years and she was awesome!!! I was proud of her for getting up there and singing her truth. I can tell how much she loves doing it, so it's even better that she's getting out there and sharing it again. Yay, Jem!!!
This blog post is not meant to be all about my stress around performing in Velvet Janes territory, but I had to get it out...put it out there and call it what it is...was, ya know. It's all good.
We spent a little over a week in Fremantle with Jemma and Jane, and can I just say...I love them. They feel like family already.
We're down South in Margaret River now with my dad and step-mom. Margaret River is a beautiful area full of wineries, beaches, forests, wildlife and many other things of interest. There's so much to do, we're having trouble working out how best to spend our time. Today we went to a bunch of wineries, a chocolate factory, a couple of olive oil farms and had lunch at a beautiful winery. Tomorrow we're off to an Eagle sanctuary, a beach, more wineries, more galleries and who knows what else?!? Maybe we can fit some ice cream in there too.
I've taken about a zillion photos, some good, some bad, some average. I'm sure I'll be sharing a good portion of them with some of you. Stay tuned.
Peace out.
No comments:
Post a Comment