Classical Revolution

I lost my job a month ago. Since finishing college in 2013 and moving back to Athens I had been working at KEBA Sandwiches. My original plan was to hold down the part time job for a year before applying for graduate school but I enjoyed the job. As my work hours increased it became more difficult to find time to practice and guitar became more of a hobby.

At first I didn't mind only getting a few hours of practice in a week. After nearly 20 years guitar it was somewhat of a relief to not have the daily practice for hours a day. I got a dog and had time to enjoy other things life. I still found time to practice though. It wasn't a lot but enough to maintain some of my favorite classical pieces.

Why do we practice? The simple answer is to make us sound good when we perform. But why do we perform? Every musician's response should be because it makes you happy. Its taken years of not practicing and performing regularly for me to realize this. I've had my share of hardships since finishing school. I've lost friends, an apartment due to fire, and finally my job at the restaurant. I've found myself bringing back the practice routine every time life throws a curveball. Music is an escape. If I make a mistake while performing, I keep going like nothing happened. The only thing that's important is what lies ahead. I'm so in the moment that I am able to tune out everything around me. It's meditative. One of the greatest gifts of music is the ability to share this with others. Music brings up many emotions; happy, sad, angry, whimsical.

A few months ago I stumbled upon the Athens Classical Revolution page on Facebook. It's essentially an open mic night for classical musicians. My performance at their event last night was my first public performance in years. It wasn't flawless but it felt great to be back on stage with my guitar in front of me. It's exciting to have music back in my life and I'll definitely be back at Classical Revolution.