What I've done with my time - A history of me part three

Ok, the third installment. I think this will be the last, bringing everything up to my current activities. It seems this post-college phase of my life comes in larger pieces so I'm going to break it down more by project.

Strange Land:

• Joined in Nov. 1998
• Released Foundation demo in 1999
• Released Anomaly in late 2001
• The song I Don't Know You Anymore appears on ProgPower 4 sampler cd
• Demoed new songs and gave away samplers at ProgPower
• Blaming Season in late 2004
• Catharsis in mid 2009
• Have opened for National acts King's X, Joe Stump, Event, Three, ex-Marillion singer Fish, and soon, Gary Hoey
• Have been reviewed and interviewed in print, online, and on the radio
• Played many, many shows

Solo work:

• Started working on solo acoustic music in 1998
• Started playing out with friend Catherine Scholz. I owe her a lot for getting me out and helping me find my voice. 
• Released Book Of Ashes in 1999
• Released Driving Empty Miles in 2001
• Released October Dust in 2004. All cds were acoustic instrumental to this point.
• Released first instrumental electric solo album This Is What It Sounds Like Inside My Head in 2008
• Many shows, including several trips along the Mississippi river/Minneapolis circuit.

(Hmmm... There seems to be a hole between 2004 and 2008/09.)

Miscellaneous projects:

• Played substitute gigs with the Mr. Lucky Swing Syndicate and Les Artiste Big Band for a few years after college.
• I've played for at least 5 weddings. One in high school and the rest after. 
• Taught private lessons for 10 years. That isn't really a project but I am proud of many students who've formed bands playing original music. I've also had a handful go on to study music in college. 
• Soaker - a Galactic Cowboys-ish rock band. Wrote some tunes, recorded a few tracks around 2003-04
• Played in the ABS Blues band 2006-08. Fun, but died partly due to lack of drummer. Darn drummers.
• The Julie B Well - Art/prog/pop band. I joined in October 2008. Currently recording a cd.
• I work a day job at a music publisher. I have been fortunate that they have published 3 of my songs so far. I have also been doing a lot of artwork for them.
• I've done the artwork for all the cd's I've done with Strange Land and solo. Some are original creations and some are arrangements and layouts of photos taken by others. 

And still I've managed to do some traveling which is what I really love. Maybe I'll do another post chronicling my travels. 

What I've done with my time - a history of me part two.

And now we enter the college years. The time I thought life wouldn't suck as much as high school because people would stop telling me what to do. Wrong. Honestly, I spent a lot of time in college as a bitter young man. I now wish I had enjoyed it more and had taken advantage of some opportunities I missed. Has a serious medical problem in my 4th year that caused me to drop most music classes and I was afraid I'd have to quit guitar altogether. A story for another time.

Notable activities:

• Member of UWM Jazz Ensemble 94-97 (mostly guitar, bass here and there). Played on the first UWM Jazz band cd. Of all the tracks picked I'm actually only playing bass on a funk tune. 
• Continued with Big Brown Newport through 96 I think. We recorded a lot. Probably at least 4 albums worth of material
• Various Jazz combo and classical ensembles at the Conservatory. Many recitals including senior recital. 
• Played electric guitar in the Downey festival (celebrating composer and UWM prof John Downey). The Edge of Space / Fantasy for Bassoon and Orchestra. That was a blast. Electric guitar in the orchestra.
• Met Chad at UWM. Joined the band that would become Strange Land in November of 1998

There wasn't much else. I guess I was pretty focused and the ensembles I was in filled my time. Big Brown Newport and Fishboy had tapered off by about 96. I kept writing the whole time but only recorded a couple of experimental things. Had a low key few years before Strange Land.

What I've done with my time - a history of me part one.

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind... let it be something good." - Unknown author.

Sometimes when I'm not feeling my best it is good to think about all the things I have done. Most often I'm beating myself up for not getting more done. For not living up to the quote at the top of this post. One thing I am not good at is stopping to smell the roses. As soon as one thing is finished I'm thinking about the next problem or project, chastising myself for not working harder or faster. But somewhere there is balance. I have not wasted as much time as I think I have. Allow me to flex my ego a bit and run down a list of achievements, activities and projects worth mentioning. These all fall into the "I chose to do these" and not in the "I had to do these" category. In roughly chronological order. To the best of my recollection. Some of these memories are 20 years old.

A brief look at high school, dipping a little back to middle school (which is all I can stand):

• Started playing guitar, age 13
• A few half-started bands and projects with friends
• First public performance, freshman year. Terrified. Joined some friends on Metallica's One and I think maybe Man In The Box by Alice in Chains. I can't remember.
• Two years in jazz band, mostly guitar, some bass
• One year marching and concert band - percussion
• Did the usual Solo & Ensemble competitions. 
• Member of the Greater Milwaukee Youth Jazz ensemble - one year
• Performed and wrote with a band. Started as Perpetual Motion, later became 3 Blind Mice
• Recorded about a CDs worth of music with 3 Blind Mice (two tapes, back in the day)
• Started the project that became Fishboy, recorded first album summer after junoir year
• Joined Big Brown Newport on bass. Played around Madison

A detour into details:
Perpetual Motion - Me, guitar and vocals; Mike Troemel, drums; Joe Grandeffo, bass and vocals. Some older guy who turned out to be a douche on guitar and lead vocals for one summer. About 89-91 (my date recollections here are pretty sketchy)
Three Blind Mice - Me, guitar and vocals; Mike Troemel, drums; Bob Duclos, bass and vocals. Also a rotating cast of lead singers including Jamie Ryan, Tim Delay, Paul Hutchison and even my dad. Some guy named Chris on rhythm guitar for a while. About 91-93
Fishboy - Me, guitar, bass, vocals; Jamie Ryan - drums, bass, guitar, vocals. This was a studio project that wrote songs spanning styles from Maiden to Pearl Jam to freeform improv. We did one album the summer before college (an epic a la 2112) and did three more the following summer. One was an all improv trio with Jeremy Kreideman on trombone, bass and vocals. One was a sequel to the epic, and the third was more stand alone tunes. About 93-95
Big Brown Newport - Me, bass; Jamie Ryan, drums and vocals; Tim DeLay, guitar and vocals; Andy Beavers, guitar and vocals. About 94-96 I think.

/end part one