Music and Mysticism
I was playing and listening to music at the Golden Link Folksinging Society sing-around last Tuesday night. This group of people has been getting together on a weekly basis for over thirty years. People play the music they love and listen with interest to songs others perform. I played the old Leiber/Butler song “Down Home Girl.” Andrew and I put together a bluesy arrangement of this song a couple of years ago, but we hardly ever play it. It is fun to sing, with lyrics like, “every time I kiss you girl, it tastes like pork and beans” and “every time you move like that I have to go to Sunday mass.” Fellow club members were playing along with me: Gavin on upright bass and Allen on the blues harmonica.
A friend, Deborah, wrote in a note afterwards that she had a “really sublime moment” during the song. “It was so intensely enjoyable that it lifted me out of my usual state of mental chatter, worry, self-consciousness, or whatever, and into a state of pure, intense, in-the-moment enjoyment.” Those of you who have heard me play and sing know that it is not my modest ability as a musician that “lifted her out of her usual state.” It was the music. Music has that capacity. Music can help us forget our usual troubles and shortcomings and take us someplace else where we can, for a time, be lifted by its beauty. Religious people have these types of experiences in their encounters with the other. I have known nature mystics who are filled with wonder in their contact with the natural world. Music has the same power.
During the early days of the music, people used to listen to blues to escape from the hardships in their lives. Many lived in poverty and worked in levee camps or as sharecroppers on cotton plantations. On weekend nights they would go out to listen to blues and have a good time with friends. The music would help them forget about their troubles for a while. That was the mission of the blues. They could “have a good time singing about feeling bad.” So what should we do? LISTEN!!! Listen to your favorite music. Get out and listen to live music. LISTEN! Observe the interactions of the players with their audience and with one another. Support the musicians you like by attending their performances and purchasing their recordings. In these difficult economic times, many music venues are struggling to survive and musicians have a difficult time booking good shows. LISTEN! Maybe, like Deborah, you will have one of those special moments when the music takes you someplace else. I’ve certainly had them. Andrew and I have a light music schedule coming up. We are only going to play two or three shows in March. Then, we are going to take off the beginning of April. We could use a break. We haven’t had any real time off since September of 2008. The two events we are playing in March are listed below. We have another date booked for the 27th of March, but the venue hasn’t gotten the show details to me yet. To learn those, check our website over the next couple of weeks. (www.ernieandandy.com)
Best wishes and LISTEN, Ernie Lawrence
During the early days of the music, people used to listen to blues to escape from the hardships in their lives. Many lived in poverty and worked in levee camps or as sharecroppers on cotton plantations. On weekend nights they would go out to listen to blues and have a good time with friends. The music would help them forget about their troubles for a while. That was the mission of the blues. They could “have a good time singing about feeling bad.” So what should we do? LISTEN!!! Listen to your favorite music. Get out and listen to live music. LISTEN! Observe the interactions of the players with their audience and with one another. Support the musicians you like by attending their performances and purchasing their recordings. In these difficult economic times, many music venues are struggling to survive and musicians have a difficult time booking good shows. LISTEN! Maybe, like Deborah, you will have one of those special moments when the music takes you someplace else. I’ve certainly had them. Andrew and I have a light music schedule coming up. We are only going to play two or three shows in March. Then, we are going to take off the beginning of April. We could use a break. We haven’t had any real time off since September of 2008. The two events we are playing in March are listed below. We have another date booked for the 27th of March, but the venue hasn’t gotten the show details to me yet. To learn those, check our website over the next couple of weeks. (www.ernieandandy.com)
Best wishes and LISTEN, Ernie Lawrence