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The Creative Process

I've long said that I liken creativity to psychosis...and if you really think about it, it's probably not far from the truth. The creative mind sees/hears/smells/tastes things that don't exist until we create them.

As a musician, writer and photographer, I view the world with my own weird set of senses. I hear music that no one else can hear. I see images that while visible to others, are probably not perceived the way I perceive them. I have stories running through my head at all times. It can be quite a frightening mess at times! LOL But every now and then, I can get these ideas OUT of my head and transform them into something that others can (hopefully) enjoy or at least recognize.

I, for years, played in rockabilly bands almost exclusivley. During the past few years, along with some serious personal issues, I found this to be severely stifling. My photography suffered from it as did my writing and composing. I found myself becoming a caricature of myself. I did NOT enjoy this one bit! So I did the only thing I could: I backed away from all of it. I bought a new guitar and started playing different styles for my own amusement. I fought the urges to incorporate this "into the act". I turned down more shows and tours than most cats my age ever get offered. I continued to suffer through my own personal issues without my outlet for my creativity. But I perservered and dug deeper into myself and within the past year, I've been getting the old magic back. The creative process, as in decades past, was back with a vengeance!

I produced a CD for an old friend and got to approach music from all sides. I got to takes the songs and rebuild them my way. It was a truly interesting and fun process. I'd listen to the basic tracks over and over...listening for the smallest weeds of sonic ideas to grow. My girlfriend was most likely sick to death of hearing these songs, but as she's a very supportive type, she perservered...and kept to headphones close by so she could escape my noise! LOL

Around this time, I'd been writing freelance. I took whatever writing gig I could get...and let me tell you, there's some real crap writing gigs out there! But something unique happened...I took whatever assignment I was given and let the creative process take it over. I figured that I could take even the most dry assignment (writing copy for a tech school was one of the gigs I had) and make it at least SEEM interesting. I played with words. I made the mundane seem magical. I eventually lost the gig because I got a bit too wordy. LOL They wanted Jack Webb ('just the facts ma'am') not Jack Kerouac! LOL But it brought it all back to a head. I could still write!

Then I started digging deep into my musical library...I went for the most stripped down old blues records I could find. I didn't want 'bands', I wanted cats who let their souls ooze out of their pores and onto the microphone! I started delving into old Mississippi country blues and found what I was looking for. These guys didn't necessarily follow the standard blues patterns. No, they went for something more natural...more primitive, something that flowed in their blood. A lot of the music just droned on and around one chord. But it has a beauty that floored me! I started to experiment with this style...could I really find the magic trapped inside a single chord? Needless to say, I think I have. I'm not comparing myself to these legends by any stretch of the imagination...but their influence has unleashed the creative process again!!!!! AND I'm having FUN again!

I'm doing something that I haven't done in ages...I'm making plans! I'm multitasking! I'm all over the place! God...please don't just let this be a manic episode to be followed by a big crash! That's the downside of the creative process. Sometimes...there's a crash....

To be continued.....

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