Rambling 101: Respectful, But Practical or Making Your Own Music, or Etc. Etc..

I've always had a respect for religion - out of the fear that I may one day end up in the "Hell" that I was brought up to believe in. Pitchforks and fire, little demons chasing you, all of your worst nightmares multiplied by 1000. So, I rarely laughed at jokes that I thought were blasphemous, and even stopped a band mate from tearing the last page out of The Bible to use it as rolling papers for his pot. "It's natural, man! Practical! It's made of rice paper. That's why they made it out of rice paper. What Would Jesus Do? You think Jesus didn't smoke it?!!?" I told him if Jesus did smoke he wouldn't rip a page from the Bible. And if, by chance, he did smoke and did rip a page from the Bible to do so, then he would have gone to his own room to do it.

I respect spirituality more than religion. Spirituality means much more to me. It's much more powerful because it's self-empowerment. When someone says that they diet "religiously" or watch hockey "religiously" - what does that mean? Obsessive, I think. Self absorbed, in a less empowered way. Now if someone were to say that they dieted spiritually, then it means an entirely different thing. (Of course, if someone said they watched hockey spiritually, I would smile politely and walk away slowly, mindful of any sudden movements.)

Today's "conventional" church is one giant fraternity or sorority. You move into a town, and you want to join a club where everyone else is kind of like you. You have instant friends! Instant support! Instant advice on who to stay away from, and who to befriend. Who's cheating on who. Who makes the most money, etc. etc.

Joining a church seems lazy to me. It sounds like the freshman in college who doesn't want to have to go out and find his own friends so he joins a fraternity. He lets the fraternity that is steeped in history and money funded by alumni, do all of the choosing for him.

Musicians are the same way. We go along with the traditions. We look for the big label deals and play the places we are "supposed" to play. Those places have a tradition to them. So what if the sound sucks and the toilet is broken in half? So what if the it's smoky, and everyone is too cool to show any enthusiasm for your efforts? You get to play the "in" place! Word will get out, and you'll soon be packing them in.

Bullshit. You are just like every other band out there, trying to make it the easy way. I say easy way, because those before you have paid their dues for you.
Just like Jesus. Jesus paid his dues. He already rocked that club, and moved on up the local ladder to the national ladder. He's rocking with Jimi and Janice now! They are all gathered 'round the heavenly keg, sipping beer from a plastic cup!

I believe everyone can make your own "music" whatever their "music" happens to be. And they should approach it not religiously, but spiritually.

It seems more and more that secular artists have turned to spirituality lately. Or have they always been spiritual? Who knows? No one but them. As it should be. Spirituality isn't yelled from a corner in Times Square. It isn't preached as an alternative to hellfire.

The alternative band The Violent Femmes were a huge college/fraternity favorite. They found success there. I've covered their music in bands over the years as well. Brian Tairaku Ritchie, the bass player of the Violent Femmes, is a practicing Buddhist, who uses music as a form of meditation. He played those nasty clubs, moved up and got out to the bigger venues, and ended up finding himself. Imagine! Writing and performing music as a form of relaxation! If more musicians followed that lead, perhaps the world would not only be more musical and spiritual, but a little more...relaxed. (You can check him out here.)

I'm not sure that I've ever heard a "conventional" Christian say the word "relax". It's always, "Be hot or cold!" That would be exhausting.

Natural or not, I think that I could ever smoke a page from The Bible. It think it's doubtful that Jesus would have. And most likely, had he smoked, he wouldn't have "bogarted" as much as my band mate did.