Of course, my soul craves to be in constant company of the guitar, only to improve myself. I don't mind having Johney around, but I figured I need a lighter load so I could avoid a permanent spinal injury. So I have faith that Sakura Damo (I think he's Japan-born and Taiwan-bred) would be an awesome traveling companion.
From now on, I'm gonna be shameless, if I feel like there's no harm in playing the guitar at any time or place, I'm gonna take Damo out and have some fun. This surge of carpe diem bravery did not blossom overnight however. It took me a couple of shows under my belt now and this burning desire to be a better guitar player for my own self-satisfaction. The gang and I have been discussing possibilities of us basking on the streets ever since that show we did at “that green thing”. We went unplugged totally. ;)
I only knew Damo for less than 3 hours before we had our first public performance together. I tried my “best test” to tune the guitar without the trusty electronic tuner (I’m usually a serious musician and do carry a tuner around but on that day I left my little guitar bag in the big guitar bag). It sounded fairly out of tune but it wasn’t disastrous as long as the strings were tuned on each other or tuned in together, I think, I hope. There was a charity carnival at my faculty so I sang two songs of my own. Someone requested Ghost and I was like ‘how in the world do you know that song?’ It surprises me each day to chance upon people who actually heard me on the net.
Anyway, Damo and I did Ghost together. It was a rather interesting experience. I wish I could say we sounded good together. I never knew how difficult it was to play with the mic constantly picking fights with my guitar strumming hand. And to concentrate on singing pleasantly enough while your eyes glued to the yet unfamiliar fingerboard to form chords. Playing Damo is going to be a tad torturous for the upcoming weeks I’m sure, but the outcome is gonna be worth it.
Having a closer inspection of Damo, I could finally make out the pencil marks on the plywood, the lopsided brand sticker, the messy bridge … Well, I got it for a dirt cheap price anyway. Of course it doesn’t matter if he’s of a lesser quality. As long as he gets the job done i.e. translating my ideas into music and helping me to improve my playing. I should probably state the fact that I have no intention whatsoever to be an extraordinary guitarist or pull a 2 minute solo on any one of my songs; I do have an amazing gang of musicians and friends ( the MARHAENS) to back me up on that. I just hope to be more equipped in delivering my songs as it rightly deserves.
