We were on a plane a few weeks ago, and got to talking about Daniel Lanois' killer pedal steel playing and tone. Then, we started discussing Jerry Douglas and his amazing dobro skills (A.K.'s dobro player). I had heard Alison Krauss before, but never really LISTENED to it, if you know what I mean. I bought three of A.K.'s cds last week, and they are really awesome on a musical and production level. Maybe I've been playing too much mandolin, and I need to head out into the backwoods with my cousin ol' Ricky Jimmy Daniels for a few months and wallow in crazy bluegrass until I can get this out of my system.
At the end of the day, listening to such high level stuff is really inspiring. I can't listen to really inspiring stuff before bed anymore, because I get too worked up to sleep... I end up going to my studio and working into the wee hours of the morning! I love music that does this to me, because it is the far less macho equivalent of a pre-game pep talk for a sports team.
Picture a coach getting the team all worked up...
"You gotta fight, FIGHT hard and never give up!!! When the going gets tough, ducks fly together!!! No Man is an island!!!..."
What if the coach then said, "Now head on home, put on your PJ's, and get some sleep."
That's totally what it's like for me to listen to really inspiring music before bed. The trick is finding music that is good, but not so good that it will turn me into an insomniac. I save the really really good stuff for when I am emotionally and physically prepared to deal with the hours of creativity that stem from listening to it.
I'd love to continue this insane blog post, but I'm getting tired and am feeling the urge to listen to some fairly okay music and catch some zzz's.
T.J.
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