Back in early October of 2022, I started talking about rebuilding my body so that I could play musical instruments again. It's taken a lot of hard work, but I am exactly where I wanted to be with the viola.
When I started this process, I was vague about what, exactly had lit a fire under me. There have been exciting developments around getting to play with Robin Burton, which was unexpected and wonderful as a thing to have happen. I very much like where all of that is going.
What happened, back in September is that Keith Errington (already a co-creator on many projects) admitted to having a guitar and writing songs. There's been a fantastic trajectory around him sharing this as he's written a couple of songs for the Hopeless, Maine project over the winter.
Back when I played music regularly, that was very much for and about the musicians I was able to work with. When Keith started sharing his songs with me (cautiously) I had what at the time was a pretty bonkers response - I wanted to be able to accompany him on viola. And so, with no idea whether that might ever be an option, I put in the time, and the work, and pushed through a lot of pain to get my hands and arms back up to strength. I pushed through the frustration of not being able to do half the things on a viola that I could once do on the violin, and by slow degrees I got better.
So here we are, viola and guitar, and me improvising around his songs. It was good. Really good. Everything I could have hoped for, and more. I'm so happy about having got to this point, and about the way in which that autumnal leap of faith is starting to pay off.
When I'm playing accompaniment, I'm entirely focused on supporting whoever is leading and enriching the music in whatever way I can. I like setups where my job is to make the other person look even better. There's a very particular flavour of inspiration that comes from working that way.
I had forgotten what it's like to have music become a whole body experience, not just a matter of head and hands. To play with my entire person, to be utterly focused and in the moment such that the music flows through me and out through my fingers. Keith has written some fantastic songs, and performs them with an intensity that brings out the best in me as a musician.
Right now, I don't know exactly where we are going with all of this, but there's a lot of potential and we're certainly going somewhere. New adventures!
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