Adam Rafferty’s Blog – Guitar and Spirit

Tour Diary- Greetings from Leesburg VA 5-10-08!

Greetings! I’m writing from a Days Inn breakfast room in Leesburg,VA and knocked out gig #1 last night of what I call my “Kentucky Fried” tour. I did a warmup gig at a small coffee house called Market Street Coffee.

Well the gig was ok, but I feel my playing was not at it’s peak. Gotta practice after finishing this post! 🙂

Before we get to Leesburg though, let’s go back to NYC in our minds – I’d like to thank Holly from Rudy’s music stop in NYC. I went there the day before the tour with a Taylor guitar with an intermittent ES pickup system. Needless to say, having equipment crap out the day before the tour is stressful. I do have a backup guitar, but the idea is to travel with 2 functioning guitars, not just 1.

Holly totally gutted & replaced the ES system. Oh, and just for kicks she filed & re crowned some frets, oiled the fingerboard, and saw that the nut grooves needed a slightly different cut. Yeah!! Thank you Holly for loving what you do and over delivering!

Last night’s gig was also the maiden voyage of my new BOSE L1. That too, was source of stress a day before leaving as it had been behaving weirdly at home. Long story short, the little T1 mixer is more akin to an ipod than a mixer. I had to download the latest firmware, reboot and all that jazz. The little T1 is incredible – 4 channels, digital effects, presets- all connected with just a data cable. Whatever the updates did, the BOSE did great on the gig.

I feel good knowing that I have a killer acoustic rig, and can show up anywhere and have great sound.

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An artist can’t stand still or just do yesterday’s tricks. What was full of life, and in the moment last month is not the same now! When I launched my acoustic direction part of the beauty was the freshness, the aliveness and the newness. I have officially hit the next stage, but an important one that I think many musicians deal with.

It’s time to refresh again. I already feel like I am doing yesterday’s tricks and it’s not even a year that the CD has been out. Yes, part of playing a great solo guitar gig is that you have great music ready to go under your fingers – and maybe it’s a question of being “in the moment” with the known music – just the same way David Copperfield has his tricks that he does night after night. Part of my practice today will be getting “the juice” back into tunes I feel like I have played ENOUGH.

Certain songs have a different meaning after having played them for a year. Some songs feel better and deeper. Some don’t feel right and need tweaking or need to be dropped / replaced. (FYI “I Got Rhythm” is one of my trickiest and I will go practice it in 5min…)

The journey never stops. Looking forward to tonight’s gig at Patisserie Cafe in Lexington,VA…..more to come!

Adam Rafferty on Tour May 2008: Kentucky Fried Pickin’, BOSE L1, Visualization and more…

By Adam Rafferty Leave a Comment

Friends, short entry here. I am very very excited about this tour that is coming up. I am doing a small tour of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky playing SOLO guitar May 9-18, 2008.

Once again, I am PSYCHED to connect with people in the good ol’ US of A and make friends, play guitar and, well, get the hell out of NYC for a week!

Did I just say that? 🙂

Visit Adam’s Myspace for TOUR DATES

I am proud to tell you that I bought a killer sound system – the BOSE L1 (Model 2). I’ll be bringing it with me. It has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. Essentially it looks like a thin pole 7 feet tall, with a tiny subwoofer. And yep, BOSE kicked butt on the engineering. It’s better than a regular PA – less shleppping, and a better experience playing.

Take a look, and if you are near a Guitar Center, check it out:

https://www.bose.com/musicians

In fact, I spent enough on it that even if it sucks I am determined to like it 🙂

Seriously though I will post a more in-depth gear review after some gigs!

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It’s late here, yet I feel obliged to write.

I do want to say one thing – back when I started my solo guitar project is when I saw “The Secret”. Say what you will about the movie, but it is vital to know that we get what we think about whether it is wanted or unwanted.

In my minds eye I saw touring, playing for good ol’ folks in the heartland, and kickin ass on the guitar. And it’s a comin’. It took some time to manifest but iit’s on it’s way.

Now after having held the vision in my mind’s eye, it is becoming real.

Thank You, God – Universe – Source. It is an amazing feeling and realization to know that whatever I envision comes. It also gives me a “knowing” that the vision in my head is MORE important than what appears to be objective reality, as it paves the path ahead.

My current future visions – just to let you know, consist of concert hall and festival touring, a busier year-round touring schedule, more recording and well – more musical exploration.

I remember before I even had one solo arrangement down, I told my girlfriend Jill “Watch and you’ll see. It will happen…” and it is. I tell you the same!!!

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I promise I’ll write from the road. Looking forward to giving you tour updates!

Warmest Regards,

Adam

Adam Rafferty On the Road: April 2008 Europe Tour Review

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

Greetings Friends!!!

It’s 4am and in feels like 10am and I am back in NYC after a long commute back from Linz, Austria – you know, one of those good ol’ 14 hour treks.

Well all I can say is THANK YOU to those that helped, hired, drove and hung out with me overseas. The tour was an absolute success, and ridiculous fun. I am on Weiner schnitzel overload, but some NYC chinese food and Starbucks will balance out my body’s PH.

I did want to do some road blog entries, but time was too short, and I was in “tour zone”. It ain’t like sittin’ at home with my ibook! Here is a quickie video greeting, and an in depth review follows…

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXzkjwl0Azw&hl=en]

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ABOUT THE PERFORMANCES
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I have only toured Europe with a band, and going solo I must say – there were certain aspects that were MUCH easier (sorry guys, I still love you!). Coming and going when I wanted and less overall managerial functions made it easier. Also, no one to egg me on to stay out until the birds chirped kept me in better shape physically 🙂 Fitting in a taxi also made things comfy. (Yes, I have done a whole jazz trio with upright bass in a German taxi….that’s a good way to practice swear words in a foreign language)

Oh, and did I mention one plane ticket, train pass and hotel room on off nights instead of 3?

Hey – that’s just gravy though…the music is what led me to solo playing, but it is a nice perk to have lower expenses. 🙂

I did miss having some other musicians to “lean on” sometimes, and the intensity of playing solo was, well…intense! Of course I will play with bands, but this is what is happening now!

Fortunately I had more than enough material to do 2 long (1 hour plus) sets. That’s with pretty much no improvising, so it’s quite a lot of music.

I really re-learned an aspect of practicing music, which is “practice the tune you think you know” because just when you think you’ve got it covered – that’s where a brain fart can happen!!! I was shocked at where mistakes happened. I knew, and I am sure no one else did.

As well, I found that early in the tour I had concentration problems and difficulty being “present” while performing. I was concerned with the show’s flow and often thought about “what tune will I play next” while playing a tune.

That’s ok – a few musical brain farts in the music would zap me back into the present moment, and all would be well again.

Audiences were of 3 sorts: 1) a hushed concert audience that had to be shmoozed to an loosened up. 2) a cigarette smokin’, beer swillin’ audience that had to be attacked 3) and something in-between. All 3 types are expected and totally cool. A performer should be able to deal with all those situations. Just don’t play a sentimental ballad for the beer swillers.

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ABOUT THE TRAVEL
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Well, at least now I know I can actually move across an airport and train station with 2 guitars, a suitcase and a laptop case. I was a little unsure about the sheer physicality of moving around, but it worked out ok.

And, kudos to Bruce Lamb of https://casextreme.com – guitars did get thrown around, but survived. The only scratches on my Taylor are due to my percussion!

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ABOUT THE PEOPLE
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One of the success / self help people I have been checking out lately is a guy by the name of Joe Schroeder (I got hold of an interview done by Mike LIttman) and he made a comment “people first, money second” and really beat the drum of the spiritual approach to business, as opposed to the “money first, people second” approach.

You can’t TRY to do this because that’s like saying “once you fake sincerity, you got it made”. It’s only in hindsight that you see what attitudes take you through life happily. Dare I say maybe a smidge of wisdom is dawning? 🙂

I came to realize that touring and playing music can be summed up in one word: LOVE. That is just where it is at! Sounds easy and as if it is regurgitation of someone else’s principle – but I realized that it is all about “people first, gigs second” and NOT “gigs first, people second”….which is an easy trap to fall into when you are booking a tour.

I enjoyed my time with the people who helped me organize and helped schlep PA systems, and all that. I enjoyed connecting with parents of kids who enjoyed that concerts at schools. I enjoyed shmoozing with the audiences. People first!!!

Funny how it works. There was just way less ego involvement than I have had in previous years, less self importance. There I was, just wanting to turn people on with the music…and when faces would light up, and there’d be a buzzing energy in the room. One club owner told me after the gig “I do 100 concerts a year here and can see whether or not the people REALLY dig it or not – and man, they loved this!!”

And I realized, this is about people, whether it is a student, a club owner an audience member, an old friend – whatever. All the yummy stuff surrounding success comes second. All the books say this, but to experience it first hand is POWERFUL.

I am not an articulate enough teacher in this subject to tell you how to do this, all I can tell you is that when my mind shifted to LOVE and PEOPLE, the world shifted to SUCCESS!

I guess another way to say this is when one shifts from GIVING instead of WANTING the world opens up and actually gives the giver even more!

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ABOUT THE MUSIC
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Playing solo is much more akin (at least to me) to being in a rock / pop band than playing jazz guitar with a band.

Every tune is planned, and the evening is “crafted” with dynamics, highs an lows, covers and originals. Contrast is vital to making solo guitar interesting for a long time.

In the vein of my hero, Tommy Emmanuel – I strove to make it enjoyable for non musicians as well as musicians…and it worked!!!

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WHAT, SO WHAT, NOW WHAT ?
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Well it is over and in the past coming home from tours has been a downer. Not this time, I am psyched for the next one. I have some Kentucky gigs in May, some summer stuff, and a festival outside Prague in November 2008, so I’ll be busy filling in dates.

Time to catch up on some sleep!

zzzzzzzzzz

Things are a Changin; Right Livelihood in the ‘Hood!

By Adam Rafferty Leave a Comment

Hi friends. What I am about to write is rather diary like. Hope you don’t mind. It’s also a THANK YOU note.

Ok, to all of you who have kids, and a house and 2 cars and many responsibilities, my life probably looks like a walk in the park. Hey, I have been careful to try to carve out time and space for the “creation” of my life – which is playing music. I’ve also made (and make) emotional sacrifices so that life circumstances don’t eclipse the music.

I have a lovely lady in my life, 3 cats between us, and I am a musical entrepreneur at heart. I am blessed.

Yet I still have my ghosts, demons, responsibilities, doubts. However, action is about to change all of that, or at least kick it’s butt. In fact the action has started – as thought.

I digress – It’s funny – practicing music is like not wanting to drink at a party. It seems everyone pressures you contrary to your needs and desires (unless of course I am simply creating my reality). “C’mon, have a drink” is like “do you have free time, aw you always practice…” Next thing you know – days slip by and others are getting their needs met…just not me. Well guess what, I am saying YES to my needs and it may sound like a NO to them now, but too bad.

The compulsion to fill every moment with something, some activity- particularly if it makes money – does not allow for 2 seconds of spaciousness – the quiet out of which music springs forth. Again, I take 100% responsibility for what’s happened these past few months, and I am responsible for a new direction.

Right now my “music” is many things – communication with people, practice, composition, booking gigs, reaching out and learning from those further ahead than I, and most of all – working on myself as a person. I have been doing the personal development work prescribed by many of todays success teachers and gurus (who are actually very hip).

The upshot?

No more fall back plans allowed. I am jumping off the cliff and will find wings on the way down (Ray Bradbury’s quote).

Music for me is a FULL TIME gig. All the “fall back plans” (steady little time consuming gigs of various sorts) are eating up 4-5 days a week, leaving spaciousness for 2 or 3. So what was once good to help pay bills and “help become” a working musician has now become a ceiling and a hindrance.

Without going into details, I will say this: the train is leaving the station, so to speak. I am on my way to the next level – not externally, but internally. My commitment to music and this life is in a deeper place than ever before.

And who is the thank you for? You!!! Family, friends, fans. Particularly my YOUTUBE fans.

It’s amazing – without audience feedback, I guess much of this music and new acoustic direction would evaporate like a small puddle on a summer day…but the response has been so AWESOME that any last shred of self doubt has turned into a resounding “I can do it!”. All I need now is patience!

Addition: In younger years I had many “great ideas” and thought – “yeah, I could do such and such if I wanted”. Now I see – it’s the action that counts!!!! Anyone can say “I could do it if I wanted”. I ask – “well, what are you doing?”

I know in my bones that this is what the Buddha meant (sort of…err, I hope) with the concept of Right Livelihood. A calling, a passion that benefits the giver and the receiver.

Hmm…I think someone wise once said “get good enough out of the way to make room for great” 🙂

Stay tuned…more music is on the way!

Love

Adam

Don’t Use a Metronome

By Adam Rafferty 153 Comments

Recently, a new fan who found me on YOUTUBE asked me if I used a metronome to develop my sense of groove.

Not a simple question, or topic, I am sure I’ll say some things here that will raise some eyebrows.

That being said – “there is more than one way to do it”. I can only tell you what has worked for me, and I still have a lifetime of learning ahead!

Here goes.

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