Signing Off

Given that the only posts I sit down to write (then delete, nine times out of ten) are depressing and bitter, and that I can only seem to post happy thoughts when drunk, I'm going to discontinue blogging. (As if I were so into it before that I'd post more than, say, once a month).

Later

-nate

Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, and Oh My God

I saw Chris Thile and Mike Marshall perform everything from Bulgarian bar dances to Bach tonight. It was a worthwhile two hours, to say the least.

Thile is one of the most entertaining musicians to watch, if and often only for his facial expressions, which run from quizzical to happy to contorted to sticking his tongue in between pursed lips. The top question of the night was this:

"Do you think he makes those faces when making love to a person" (as opposed to the mandolin)?

I don't know...is he single?

"At present, yes."

I might know why.

I've seen Chris before, but not Marshall, who spent half the night playing the guitar as well as he plays the mandolin - effortlessly. Musicians like these are always a sign of how far I have to go.

In some ways, however, I've more than mastered being a musician. I'm thinking here of the verbal parrying that went on between Thile and the audience.

Thile: "This song is one of our true collaborative efforts. By which I mean we didn't hit each other."

Marshall: "No, in this one, we alternated choosing notes."

Thile: "Damn you, man! Why did you choose the F? F is a sucky note. It's soulless, really. Not worthwhile at all."

Marshall: "Ah, come on...where would D minor be without it?"

Thile: "A lot happier."

Eleven people laughed, including myself.

Thile: "We think we're funny, I'm sorry...too much time spent in a bus talking to each other."

Marshall: "It gets really strange after a few hours. 'Dang! I love the sound of the suitcases vibrating off the engine!'"

Thile: "Let's make a song out of that! I am the next Schoenberg!"

Six people laughed, including me, and I thought to myself, that joke would make more sense if he'd said "I am the next Philip Glass!" And that's when I realized what a dork I was. Am.

The more I read about Thile, the more I realize why he is where he is. He's a "hoss," as this website attests. And though getting to where I want to be as a musician is quite difficult, being a hoss is quite easy - you simply take away anything you do that isn't hoss-like.

I am therefore going to practice. Please go watch Thile. Or Marshall. Preferably both.

(I should note that Chris and Mike played a cover of The Strokes - Juicebox - for the encore. Highly recommended.)