Bigger than me.

I just spend the last 2 weeks really honed in on Altra Volta. It was our 20th anniversary concert and it simply required all of our focus in order for the show to live up to it’s expectations. I initially looked at is as a huge set back in GuitarBorn because I essentially put it on hold. BUT after further reflection, I made the conscious effort to shuffle priorities not because I had to, but because I wanted to. The members of this group live and breath the GuitarBorn mantra; continuous pursuit of personal and artistic passions outside of the 9-5. This group and its members have all contributed to where GuitarBorn is today and is a reflection of what this project is meant to serve. Altra Volta has pushed itself beyond any preconceived notions of a “nice hobby” to a legit, side hustle that continuously pushes our limits as human beings. This is the kind of stuff I want to be doing in order to fill my cup and is on the exact same frequency as GuitarBorn.

The concert took place this past weekend was a huge success. From the full production of the concert to the execution of the music, we pulled it off with flying colours. Of course we’d like little things like tuning and performance to be even better, but overall, it was a one of a kind event. I even had to learn how to finally edit video for the concert which featured numerous video vignettes in between songs in the first half to help tell the group’s story. I took on those duties mainly because I knew it would pay dividends for GuitarBorn as well. The execution of the whole concert itself as well as the marketing leading up to it was all great practice for our show on May 5th. I learned that with mixed media, it’s not enough to do a single run through during tech rehearsal. Too many things can go wrong. It requires practice, repetition and constant communication… sound familiar?

In the end though, I’m unbelievably happy I can move on from this and really focus on GuitarBorn for the rest of December. I have one performance at the end of the year I need to practice for as well, but nothing close to my commitment to Altra Volta. I’m singing with Calgary’s only professional choir in Luminous Voices. I took mainly because the director offered me a big solo and we are performing at the Bella. I figure it will be well needed practice on the same stage as the GuitarBorn concert so I can get used to performing there with all eyes and ears on me.

I’ve got about 2-3 weeks to get most of the songs “performance ready” so I can do a FB live concert in December and also play the music on the new guitar. Cliff tells me it should be ready mid month. I want to be ready for that moment I get to try it for the first time!

-- Noel