Well, I’m finally finished with my vacation. It was a good one. I enjoyed my time away from Los Angeles, I enjoyed hanging with family and friends. I also found that it was good for the most part to unplug a bit from being constantly on the internet which is the rut I was in. Obviously I still did the blog, that I enjoy. Though there were a few days there where I was unsure I’d get to it. Generally because I was in areas where there isn’t much for internet connectivity. Yes, it’s true, there are parts of the country where there is no internet and for that matter, cell phone service. That’s a good thing.
I got to sit on a cliff over looking a place in Torrey on my mom’s property. Its interesting to take a step back and realize how insignificant we were in world compared to mother nature. Much like a miniature version of the cliffs at the Grand Canyon, the spot I sat on still would have killed me if I had gone over the edge. It’s beautiful country. On one side is a mountain covered in pine trees. On the other side is more cliffs and mesas of insanely cool red rock. To east is Capital Reef and the to the west is valleys of farm land.
I got to meet a musician who was content sitting in a field playing a well used Baby Taylor guitar. Nice chap, Eric Bell. He was out seeing about a girl he met from Moab and ended up in Boulder, Utah. We talked about music as I marveled how he just tunes to all kinds of chords and creates songs. Then he had me play a few a things for him. He returned the compliment as well about how I put chord ideas together.
I got to see some of my family history. Much of it is steeped in Loa & Lyman, UT. I saw the site of my great great grandfathers house. I ended up taking a hand chiseled stone from the site since it was now a pile of rubble. I saw the house my grandmother grew up in. I heard stories about what it was like being there in her childhood. It’s more interesting than it sounds.
Another highlight was a soda company that I had heard about, Steaz. My mom is known to rent out her house for the Sundance Film Festival. This past year, the Steaz company stayed there. So she told me about their drinks. Being in LA, when she first told me about them I was interested because they’re all organic and I’m into that. Well, they weren’t available here. Ugh. So I had to wait. Well, while in Park City, I got to taste the Orange soda, the Raspberry and the Root Beer sodas as well. I can tell you right now, if you find a Steaz, get your hands on it. I’m now hooked on it. Great stuff, extremely tasty and obviously pretty darn good for you too.
Obviously this song was already a hit in the not too distant past. Maybe you escaped it or something. Could it have been that it wasn’t available where you were, or maybe you were in Boulder, Utah. 🙂 I don’t know a lot about Gavin, but I do know he’s using some very tried and true chord changes in this song. The same progressions have been used by Pachelbel, Green Day, Bush, Aerosmith, myself, Stevie Wonder, you name it. I think at some point every decent songwriter makes use of this progression.
I like the idea about being yourself. As was once stated in a movie, “It’s hard enough just trying to be yourself.” Truer words have never been spoken. Try it sometime.
(** Disclaimer: If Gavin’s label decides they don’t like me being myself here on the blog, then I’ll have give in and remove the offending audio. The post will remain cause I think it’s cool to see and do new things. **)