Feelgood, air drumming, free CD
Brazilian instrumental guitarist Lari Basilio 'The Way Home'. My favourite player at the moment, relatively recent discovery (for me), in the style of Joe Satriani. It's a fun song, demanding to play unless you know how, and I don't! Definite feel good factor, smile to start the day. PLEASE CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG WHILE YOU READ
So, my newsletter/blog got a bit heavy last week, despite a late conversion with an old pee story https://www.musicforparkinsons.co.uk/a-naked-truth/ . It was a tough one to write overall but in the end in the interests of being open and giving a true account, honesty prevailed. The UTI flare-up has repaired quite well now, not perfect but much improved. Thanks all for the support.
Next, I want to turn a bit closer to the actual music and as brought along by the video above, as a musician the joy of playing or just listening, is a great strength. We live in a semi-detached house but the adjoining property has been vacant for around 3 years or so, and that has given me the opportunity to crank up the music to a level which would be impossible if I had neighbours to respect. But even at modest volumes music can set the mood early in the day, especially where insomnia is also a consideration. Remember what Neil Peart wrote in the Rush classic The Spirit of Radio...
"And the magic music makes your morning mood"
It's true friends, the music really can put your day on track, with the ability to turn a dark, sometimes painful beginning, into a joyful mood.
As a rocker/metalhead (I'm assuming most of you reading this are), do you remember the first time you headbanged / air-guitared / air-drummed - in public, not in front of the mirror? For me, it was a rock disco run on a Sunday evening in the basement of a small pub called The Unicorn, Peel Green, Salford, Manchester (aka The Jules Verne at times I think). This would have been 1978. I went there with people met at sixth form college, and we instantly all hit it off, integrated with a group of like-minded souls, so much better than being an oddity at school. I'm sure plenty of you will relate to that.
I digress a little but the connection with Parky's is the movement and the beat, especially (but not exclusively) to combat the tremors. It can work, keep you moving in a regular fashion rather than shaking, and even if it's just a relief from the tremor, it is just that - a relief. Music and dance! Now, I'm not a dancer by any stretch of anybody's imagination but throwing one's self around to the sound of a glorious electric guitar seems so much better than Parky's tremors!
Festival-hopping: this coming weekend we hope to make it along to 2 festivals - StoneDead (Newark) on Friday afternoon/evening, then again the early part of Saturday, before we peel away to Rockwitch (Northwich) where son Luke is headlining the acoustic stage on Saturday evening.
Guitar Greats Competition: On behalf of Rocksector Records label we are giving away a CD of Absolva's brand new album 'One Night in Mannheim'. www.absolva.com The album is due out late September and this is what you have to do to enter...