Term paper.
in Gigs Posts
I had a phone interview yesterday with a music journalist who is going to write a review of my CD. I have to admit, it’s quite a scary thing. My first review, my first “grade” if you will. I’m taken back to high school, Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor’s class. (Yes, that was really her name.) Term paper, Honors English. Robert Frost and the symbolism of dark and light in his poetry, my chosen topic, after a week of contemplation. I worked on that paper for the whole semester, and at the end of the nine weeks I felt like I had given birth to a beautiful stack of paper that smelled like typewriter ribbon. Ummm.
But that was nothing, I mean noth-thing, compared to the anxiety and feeling of total vulnerability of opening up my body of musical work for review. I mean, it’s one thing to perform my songs in front of an audience of fans who come out to see me all the time, my wonderful “regulars” who support me and would clap even if I burped in the microphone. It’s a different story entirely to place my songs under the tenacious microscope of an experienced music journalist, adept at dissecting a song with great precision and reading melodic nuances the way most of us read a subway sign.
His questions were tinted with just enough self-awareness to make me sit sweating in my car, answering as best I could. I mean really, who am I as an artist? Which song is most indicative of my true sound as a performer? What did I have for breakfast that morning? No, it wasn’t one of his questions but I can’t help wishing that it could’ve been, just like one of those bonus questions at the end of a huge essay test like, “What is the name of our school mascot?”
So I wait patiently with fingers crossed. And if it’s positive, I will of course post it here, well, post haste. And if it’s not, I’ll be at Publix in the ice cream aisle loading up on Triple Fudge.
By the way, Robert Frost? An A-. Let’s hope I’m so lucky this time.
