1.3 - Supporting Evidence

Jan 6th

We've begun our three piece primary instrument and vocal harmony practice sessions for the upcoming Wayfarer show. The arrangement right now is me on guitar and lead vocal, Ollie on bass and mid harmonies, and Kasie on the organ and hi harmonies. Blake is playing lead guitar but is not involved most of the time in these rehearsals because of his work schedule and Dear Daisy practice. Paul will be on kit but its essential that we get our harmonies together and make sure Kasie knows how to play all the songs before he and I get to work on getting his drum parts together. These practices have been going great. Everyone is nailing their parts well and its great to hear the songs with organ in them live. It feels challenging to confront Blake around his level of commitment to the band at the moment because, based on a previous conversation, I learned that he really isn't as invested as he once was. It is a little awkward between us at the moment but luckily while we're playing, everything feels great. We'll see how everything unfolds. 

Jan 26th

We have made a ton of progress the past week and Im feeling great about our sound at the moment. Its still very intimidating to actually imagine playing up on that stage but I trust that I will remain in my center, do my best, and have fun. Paul has picked up all the songs really well and is playing them great. Overall, the dynamic between us is super empowering and mutually beneficial, yet also quite intense. This is because we are both natural leaders and want things to be done "our way" when it comes to creative decision making. I am happy to say that we are both remaining flexible and open, communicating well, and dealing with any challenges that arise in a constructive and co-creative way. I also learned that the way we tuned the Organ was not as practical as it could have been so Kasie is now re-learning/re-transposing the key of the songs in a more efficient way. This is a tedious process but she's doing great. 

Feb 16th

The Whiskey show went really well. I learned that the signal chain on my pedal board has a week link because all sound left my guitar for a time during our first song, 'Ancient Eyes'. I didn't panic though, just grabbed the mic and sang the rest of the song without playing. Every other song was seamless. After watching some videos I noticed we played 'Beautiful Darkness' super fast. it sounds great but I can tell the song was very adrenaline fueled. It has become clear that its time to ask Blake to leave the band. He didn't make an effort to release with us before the show on the mainland. We recommended Dear Daisy to the venue and so they got a slot but consequently all of Blake's focus went into preparing for his set. I don't really blame him for this but would have loved more communication from him about his priorities. When my guitar cut out in the first song, Blake didn't even seem to notice, facing away from the audience with his hair covering his eyes, he seemed to be in his own world and didn't make an effort to fill in my parts when my guitar signal didn't cut back in. I didn't blame him for this either as I ultimately saw all of this as a signal that its time to draw a boundary and lovingly let him go.  

May 23rd

Our show at La Cave was really fun, possibly our best sounding show yet. Definitely the best show we've had with Eric on the drums. I was becoming a bit apathetic about Eric on the kit because I didn't feel totally supported by him at our first two shows, especially the at the Wayfarer. I couldn't really feel his power and Iv'e learned that a powerful and confident presence on the drums is crucial for me as a guitarist. Luckily, his presence on the kit was right on this time. Even though he's leaving in August for New York, I am feeling way better about him being our drummer through the summer months up until that point. We are however beginning the search for another drummer so we can be prepared by the time he departs.