Life Does Turn Around, Especially When You're in Seattle

So I know I'm supposed to be sharing all those revealing stories from my past four months of touring but that's going to have to wait for another rainy day. I'm too much of an optimist to be whining about what's wrong in my life and I'm learning that life does turns around if I'm patient enough to let that happen. Today is a good example of that.

I had gotten myself really down in the dumps over the past few days. My last post is an example of that. Guess that's normal when you've been on the road for this long and when you're feeling stuck. With all the darkness that I was feeling, I was questioning why I was pursuing a life as a musician. With an industry that is so harsh and so competitive, especially to it's emerging artists, I was losing faith that I had a special place in it. I was ready to give it all up as it all felt too damn difficult and I was tired of struggling.

It was at that moment that I remembered what one of my musical mentors said to me last winter in Banff. She explained that life as an artist can be such a huge sacrifice and that there would be many moments when I would want to give up. She explained that as I continue to climb the success ladder, I will feel lonelier and lonelier towards the top and that many people will want a piece of my success and will do anything to get it from me. She explained that I will make people react more and more, that I will make many enemies without even knowing what I did wrong. She said that I will see the ugliest sides of people and that people will let me down when I least expect them to. She told me that it is important to always keep going in those dark moments and that I must believe in myself. I think we all need to be reminded of that stuff sometimes and it was comforting to be reminded of her words.

Well I thought long and hard about what she said yesterday and decided to take control of my life, to turn things around for the good. I did and it was easier than you think.

I looked online at Seattle's weekly, The Stranger. Checked out the concert listings and started checking out the websites of so many artists that I knew nothing about. It was really fun to do and got me all excited about discovering a bunch of new artists and a totally new music scene. Seattle's just buzzing with important musical institutions, especially for indie music. This is the home of Sub Pop Records afterall, a label I dream of being signed to.

Through my curiosity, I discovered an American indie folk artist who I had never heard of, the beautiful indie folk songstress from Portland, Laura Gibson. I immediately fell in love with her music as soon as I heard her stuff on MySpace. She reminds me a lot of Eastern Canada's Julie Doiron.

Then it hit me... I thought about all those moments when I just put myself out there and true musical magic came of it, like the recent moment in Edmonton when I ended up performing flute with Raising the Fawn. And even though I don't have an American cent to my name and have no idea how I'm getting to Laura's show tonight, I've already sent her an email to offer my flutistic services and am really excited about seeing her show.

Who knows what will happen tonight but I've lifted my spirits just by deciding to put myself out there. I'm also confident that tonight's show will be a fantastic one and that many new musical friends will be made by the end of the night.