Neil Diamond, David Gray, and cranberries...

check this out.

i'm sitting in a bookstore and neil diamond comes on the overhead speaker. he's singing the adam sandler song about hanukkah. the one that says 'gin and tonic-a'.....you know - that one?

it is not putting me in the mood - at all.

how did christmas get here so fast? it's crazy!

and why are the two dudes that are sitting next to me so loud? it was all quiet when i got here. now, there are all sorts of teenagers smacking and munching all around me. one dude is talking about some party they are going to. and a nearby girl is going on and on about ...well, i can't even tell. at least if you're going to interrupt my overpriced cranberry bread sandwich with your gobble gobble gossip - at least speak up - will you?

ahh....christmas. a time for peace.... and chocolate covered cherries. and spending lots of money for crap that you wish you could keep for yourself instead of giving away.....to folks who didn't get anything for you.....and never have.......

yeah, i'm ready for the holidays - bring it on!

now the system is playing the bare naked ladies playing other versions of other christmas tunes. this does not put me in the mood either.

i got pretty jazzed up last night at the idea of possibly opening for david gray. what a trip that would be!! he's coming to durham in april of 2010. my peep buzzed his peep. his peep is hopefully checking it all out. who knows?

i'll keep you posted.

(that would be sooooo SWEEEEET!)

i notice he is listed as a 'folk rock singer songwriter'.

isn't that like saying 'chocolate doughnut hamburger veggie plate'?

i dunno but i like it.

maybe that's what i am? folk? no not really. i'm not pretentious enough.

rock? evidently not. people are constantly telling me to yell louder and play something 'upbeat' whatever the fuck that means.

singer? - you betcha! songwriter? well, i try.

here recently, i've been pretty thirsty for something other than the rock and roll hype. too much hot air floating around and not enough songs being built. i recently joined nsai and will be heading to nashville in jan (to visit) to try to get better at putting songs together. nashville is a cool town filled with musical energy. nsai stands for nashville songwriters association international. i hope i make some cool friends there.

i blew the dust off of some old guitar books and decided to dive back into studying what makes the guitar tick. pretty fun.

(those loud rude dudes just split - thank God!)

i was about to throw a chocolate covered espresso bean that i found on the floor.

so yeah, songs, tunes, recordings. that's where my head is right now. all the reasons why i got into music in the first place.

bands and songs i'm digging on right now:

1901 - phoenix

fireflies - owl city (can't help it)

some gal a move - mr. anonymous (still hooked on it - BAD)

you're the world to me - david gray (i woke up singing that one this morning...)

by the way, i'm really not a scrooge. as we move into the holidays, i totally get into it. i love the spirit of christmas. there's nothing like it. it just gets to me that the reason we celebrate christmas (the birth of jesus) gets lost in the shopping fog. i know quite a few atheists that don't believe in god or jesus but choose to celebrate christmas. what is that all about?

that's like saying.......i can't even think of what that is like. it's just messed up.

but - it wouldn't be the first time someone has put god down and then leaned on his spirit at the same time.

anyhoo - life is good. i just wanted to hop on here and say hey and happy holidays.

talk to you soon!

bill

disconnect...

i can't believe it's been months since i blogged. i'm such a loser for waiting so long.

actually, i've been REALLY busy which is a good thing.
i need to start posting weekly if not daily updates.

there's a bunch of stuff on my mind - always...but here lately it seems that i am focused on the compartmentalization of life - through the use of the internet.
not so long ago, we were bombarded with pitches from phone companies to "reach out" and "touch someone". it seemed friendly enough, but the reaching out has been replaced by "poking" someone instead. facebook has made it fashionable to stalk people and peek into their lives. i-tunes has helped folks like me streamline the sale of music to people all over the world - without leaving my house. no more cds. no more stamps.
money is transferred into accounts and forwarded on to pay for things and not one dollar passes through a hand. emails and text messages are continually trying to be interpreted because they were written in a hurry. in a sloppy hurry. people go out to interact with live human beings and instead huddle in the corner of a booth over a blackberry trying to "connect" with folks...while also trying to simply figure out how to operate the damn thing.
i don't know. i don't want to sound old here. but there seems to be a huge disconnect between everyone - and well..everyone else.
if technology supposedly improves our lives and makes certain tasks easier, then shouldn't we use the "extra" time for cool stuff? - like walking, talking, or chilling out?
instead - we go faster. we type more. we take on way more tasks .we poke and text and scan for IMs or more spam.....
remember when you talked to a friend on a monday and made plans to meet on the following friday? at 4pm? at the place?
that was it. that was the plan and we stuck to it. now, we spend approximatley 37 minutes throughout the week texting and faxing each other to verify the plan, the location, etc....
i think if we total up how many minutes we spend texting, poking, and so forth, we might just be shocked at how much time and energy we are wasting. energy that could be spent excersizing, reading, or snuggling with your sweetie.
you know, it's still a good idea to stare at the clouds every once in a while.

anyway - i sound old. and i have to go now. i have a bunch of emails to sort through and reply to as well as cleaning up my to do lists that i texted to myself to remind me to take a look at my two other inboxes to make sure i don't lose touch with that one guy that i have already forgotten what we were supposed to meet up about. maybe i'll google him and that will give me a clue as to what action item to pursue next.

talk 2 U L8tr
bill

Where does it all end?

howdy guys - bill here.

i'm in key west at the moment...making friends....and making money playing the guitar.

(the money and the experience come in handy...)

so, i figured the first two nights of my 4 night run would be boring. just me and a guitar entertaining fat cruise ship peeps that swing in for a frozen drink (with little to no alcohol) and a 40 dollar hat..... i mean - souvenir.

instead, on my first night on stage, an old friend comes up and says hey. his name is randy and he is a local drummer. an awesome drummer. (not as awesome as chuck now mind you). just an all around good guy. he introduces me to his band and proceeds to inform me that they are playing across the street. (my competition if you will...)

so i chat with them a bit and quickly realize that they have played with the likes of steve earle, mary chapin carpenter, the mavericks....the list goes on and on. top notch session players from nashville.

suddenly, i go into rock and roll geek mode.

when my break comes around, i run across the street to catch their set. and pick their brains. and hear their stories. cool ass stories. afterall, this is the whole reason i got into music. not the cruise sheep...i mean crusie ship peeps. but to hang with REAL players who have seen it, played it, lived it, done it, and are still here to reminesce about it.

so yeah, i'm geeking hard and they can tell. but they heard me play and they dig me so ...for the moment - i'm in. i'm one of the guys. they were super cool, took me in, and proceeded to share tons of cool stories from the road, tidbits of music biz jargon, and so forth. what a night!

when i was done, i packed up and ran straight back to hog's breath and hung out with them all night - (their last night in town).

we talked about gigs. we talked about chords. we compared opinions of what it means to be a success. we talked about elvis. (i'm reading a book about his 'last days'...so it is fresh on my mind)

we talked about all sorts of fun stuff that only a geeky musician a thousand miles from home would be into. we stuck around and watched the next band -'fanny pack' - from nashville.

after buying several rounds for each other, i realized that david mead was playing lead guitar.

(i thought i recognized his face...).

i opened for him once at the pour house a while back in raleigh.

it turns out that each band member we were watching was really talented and accomplished in his own right. one cat wrote a song that tim mcgraw released. the other dude (the drummer i think) just had a song placed in a movie coming out soon and so forth....

so the night was getting better. they played a jackson 5 cover and the crowd went berzerk.

(me included)

then they played originals. and then more covers.

and then - it hit me like a ton of bricks.

we are all in the same musical waters.

i catch a lot of flack from certain folks that think i shouldn't be playing covers. (folks that will never be capable of my patience, endurance, or work ethic when it comes to entertaining people)

tom petty said he loves covers. his band knows hundreds of them.

john cougar mellencamp made his band learn 50 covers and then just before going into record his original songs - said " here you go....here's MY stuff ".

it's simple. if you want to learn how to be a surgeon, you hang around surgeons...and talk surgery.

if you want to be a painter, you study other people's techniques.

so why should it be any different for writing songs?

yes, chuck, chris, and i write great songs.

have we scored a number one hit yet?

no....(not as of the last time i checked anyway..)

but we keep on going.

we play. we write. we study other songs that we love and we play them. and we play them well.

i'm not sure where this is going except to say that i had a blast tonight and i think tonight happened for a reson. to make me feel not so bad afterall.

i've caught a lot of negative energy lately from a lot of people who don't care about me anymore.

(long story).

all i can say is that i drove a thousand miles, played my ass off to hundreds of people in the room hour after hour, and made more money in one week than i make all month back home.

find the harm in that. tell me i'm not succesful.

tell me i'm not happy sleeping in each day, working on music whenever i feel like it, and spending time with my beautiful girlfriend and brand new 80 pound puppy - (moose...)

(shout out to all the kitties and shelba of course).

i play music for one reason only. because i love it. God has given me a talent and i decided a long time ago to dedicate my life to figuring out how to play music as much as i can.

tonight was a wonderful reminder of just how lucky i am.....

Building communities one (Open) Mic at a time

The thing that makes music such a powerful tool / ideal / entity / (fill in the blank) _______ is the fact that you can form communities through music. Some people like to refer to them as scenes, but that description sometimes gets a bad rap. It often gets that bad rap because people often equate “scene” with “clique”. Something very exclusive you have to be invited and accepted to be a part of it – no outsiders allowed, no “uncool” kids by whatever definition the scene deems appropriate, secret handshakes, etc., etc.

I’ve been observing lately that music communities can develop in a more positive manner through Open Mics. The rules of most Open Mics (when followed) are simple yet effective – “show respect for the other performers and when it is your turn they will show respect to you.” That sums it up in a big ol’ generic heap, but it is the truth.

Lately I’ve taken to going out Wednesday nights to observe the Mac’s Tavern Open Mic Night that is hosted by Bill. A community is beginning to develop. There are young performers, older performers, acoustic instruments, electric instruments, solo artists, full bands, original tunes, cover tunes, couples, fathers, and sons, etc. There is no one set or type of performer – nothing typical. You cannot say oh that Open Mic Night is for rock music or that one is predominantly country / bluegrass. Anything goes as long as it is respectful to the audience and the other performers. The people are coming out with loads of talent. All well-rounded communities need diversity and this Open Mic Night is no exception.

Relationships begin to develop. Leaders begin to present themselves leading and mentoring others. It takes a lot of guts to get up there and perform that first time. Legs may buckle a little and voices may crack – but all are empathetic to what they are going through and first-timers are respected for doing it. These rookies begin to improve on a weekly basis. What was a struggle for them the first time they performed becomes easier. Fewer lyrics forgotten, fewer sour notes – they begin to shine. The guidance they’ve received from the more experienced individuals is beginning to pay off. Everyone is complimentary, positive, and accepting. No one feels as if what they are doing is the best most unique performance – everyone can see the positive elements in the performances.

The overall point is that I invite all who read this to do a little Google-search and look into any Open Mic Nights that might be going down near you. Go out and support these developing communities. Support through performing your own “work of art” or support simply by ordering beer or coffee, watching respectfully, and clapping your hands for the performers. Either way you will not only feel entertained, but you may also feel like you were a part of something special.

Thanks for Reading,

Chris

Open Mic Night hosted by Bill West – Wednesdays 8:30 p.m. Mac’s Tavern in Cary

www.macstavern.net

Finding us in I-tunes...

Hey everybody!

Finding us in I-tunes is easy. Simply type in "Bill West and the Truth" in the search box inside of the I-tunes store.

Our artist page will feature all available songs for purchase.

(There is a separate artist page altogether for Bill West which features 'Thanks for Listening' and other songs also available for download...)

We've had quite a few questions about this so we hope this helps.

Thanks for all the downloads of 'Whiskey' so far!!!

Bill

Chuck

Chris

Ready?

our new song "ready' is... - well....almost ready.

to be honest with you, the excitement is killing us. (can you tell?)

as soon as it lands in i-tunes, we'll let you know.

a super huge thanks to everyone at the downtown raleigh show on june 13th.

we had a blast!

in case you didn't make it - check it out here -

swing by i-tunes and pick up 'whiskey'. to find it, just type in:

'bill west and the truth' - or 'whiskey'.

the direct link to go straight to the i-tunes page where 'whiskey' is sold is here...

thanks again to everyone for sending the love our way!

talk to you soon!!!

bill

Hey!!!

hey guys...
bill here...
this is the first official blog entry for the band's new blogspot yo.

please stay in touch and check back often.