

Memphis Charlie / Glen Smith / Blog

Life Is About Experiences

It's not how many things you have. Life is about experiences for me. What you do with your time, your opportunity, your gifts. This past weekend I spent my time in Cape May, NJ. I was hosting a showcase at a little bar called Lucky Bone for the Singer/Songwriter weekend. Not only was I playing music, I was meeting people, living life and sharing gifts. I drove 200 miles each way, at my own expense to have an experience. En route, my car broke down, I got stressed, and burnt the candle at both ends. And in return I recieved the following. I sang songs that I wrote to people from California to Canada. I had two little girls tell me that if I was on "The Voice" they would turn their chairs around to pick me. I met Clara, who wants to fix me up with her husbands' niece. I met the Kobiks, locals who earlier attended a funeral and really enjoyed my music, staying extra late to listen. I met Kali, a Kent State student majoring in theater. We talked about acting and the stage for a good while. Not to mention the 2 old dudes who thought I reminded them of Harry Connick Jr. And Pat the bartender who wants to stay in touch on facebook. I also got to play golf, ate the best veggie pizza I've ever had, and visited the WW2 lookout tower at Cape May point, where a select group of men stood watch over their small part of the Atlantic to make sure we would all be okay for another night.. All of this was made possible through music. Me being willing to put myself out there in front of an audience and be honest, raw, and vunerable through my songs. And then the audience connecting with whatever little thread of truth they could grab hold of. The real magic is in the conversations afterwards, where we explore that connection. Where we post a picture to Clara's niece, or share a video on Facebook. That's what having an experience is all about. And it lasts much longer than any "stuff" you can buy.

Sharks, MTV, and the sordid now.

So my friend Robin just posted an old Sharks video on facebook. For those of you who don't know, the Sharks are a local band who won MTV's Basement Tapes award back in the 80's. A local band that actually got the music industry looking at little old Harrisburg, and started what I would call the "renaissance" period of the city. As I watched the video, I couldn't help but remember how I felt when I was a kid, watching my first music videos. There was a sort of rogue feeling about MTV then. It was like I was watching something I shouldn't be watching. It was probably similiar to that "dirty" feeling that rock and roll had back in the 50's and 60's when kids grew their hair long and danced in a way that made their parents blush. Now MTV is unwatchable, and the music industry is floundering. Instead of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles, I can imagine a Weird Al parody called "Johnny Knoxville Killed the Video Star" as MTV has long since forsaken the music video for the sex tape, and the story telling for the superhype. Progress ? Don't think so.

Happy November

Good afternoon music fans, It's been a week since my last blog and I'm still not sure what a blog is. If anyone can give me a definition of the word blog, fill me in. I looked it up in my Webster's dictionary (not the one written by Emanuelle Lewis), and it's not there. Must be old. If it would be there it would fall neatly between the words Bloemfontein (a city in central South Africa) and Blois (a city in France). Better yet, buy me a dictionary for xmas!! That way the kids and I can read it together every night in hopes that one day one of us will someday figure out when the definition of the word "axe" will include - "to use use words in seeking an answer to something". What does any of this have to do with music? Nothing of course but I thought that's what a blog was. See you next week, hell maybe tomorrow, I kinda like this. It's like therapy without the copay. Glen

Getting ready for the fall!!

Hey there music lovers, It's been a while since we've gotten together, that's what a full time job will do to you. So guess what.....I quit. Sure why not? I've done it before, so let's play some music! We're back to practicing and the show on the 11th of December at the Market Cross Pub is our next one on tap. We'll have new originals and new covers by bands like Vertical Horizon, Dog's Eye View and others. Keep in touch and we'll see you in Carlisle on the 11th. Glen.