To be honest, this year I started the holidays feeling a little frazzled. I didn’t realize until the end of the year that I needed a little time to process (hence my disappearance from any online interaction- so glad you still remember me!) since this year has been full of new things that have forced me out of my comfort zone. Getting this kind of break was so good for me — my house and life at home in CA is so filled with music and it’s all just for fun (minus my dad who’s in like 10 bands). It was so wonderful sitting with all the fam near the big crackling fire, playing music with my parent’s sweet doggie laying by our feet and enough local wine and charcuterie to last all of 2019.
This year, my dad’s band had this gig at this super fancy + gorgeous winery and we got to sit in on some songs. And it was FUN! Everyone was dancing (there was also like no food there so I think the people’s dinner was made of 90% wine), the set list was all great songs everyone knows and loves, and you could tell people were just happy. I got brought up for Sweet Home Alabama (because I live in Nashville, duh!) and there were ladies screaming and saying it totally made the start of the new year. There was so much energy on the stage and in the crowd. I’m not saying this to humble brag (bc none of us like an ole humble bragger!) because I pretty much just stuck around the blues pattern and kept it simple, but these kinds of experiences make me remember what I love so much about playing guitar and music. You can play the most standard song ever with the most standard soloing techniques and still have this amazing experience connecting with strangers and everyone you’re playing alongside. This year, I was so excited to keep learning a lot of new theory, cool techniques, and about gear, but at the end of the day, nothing is more important than just having the time of your life playing music and sharing that with other people.
This really inspired me for this new year of my life to keep things simple and do what I love, and not what I think I should do. You don’t have to be this full-time touring musician to share the creativity you were given with people and make someone’s day! There is so much joy and beauty to be found, in both the excitement of a big crowd that you can feel the energy radiating the stage, to the smallest gig where your amazing friends show up to a dilapidated bar and pretend they all love PBR just to support you (but for real PBR isn’t THAT terrible!).
So to start off the new year, I wanted to give you this free goal guide to help you map out what you want to be intentional about and what you want to clear out of your life.
Click here to get the free 2019 Goal planner!
I know some of you don’t like goals, so if you aren’t an organizer you can skip this. But I created this because these are the questions I asked myself this year to work through what sort of mindset I want to have in 2019. Thank you as always for reading!
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Check out my acoustic booster course!
Encouraging lessons to boost your acoustic guitar skills!
I know there are a lot of people who just love walking into a guitar store and everything about the experience. For me however, there’s always been an element of anxiety to pulling a guitar off the wall (or even worse, having to ask an employee to do so for me!) and thinking of what to noodle on it. Even though I know no one is watching me or cares at all about what I’m playing, I feel self conscious and my mind tends to forget that I’ve ever played a guitar in my life. Through the years though, I’ve learned some techniques that have helped make this a more fun and less anxiety producing experience. Learn my top tips in this blog!