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NEXT YEAR, MAYBE THE YEAR AFTER

October 12, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Next year shows up fast, so fast that you haven’t gotten over anything from the last year. Suddenly you’re stacking the new ‘get over it’ on top of the old ‘get over it.’ You used to care about getting over things. What happened? This happened:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: american sons, daughters, educate, education, election year, get over it, GUITAR, hopeful, jet lag, motivate, music, next year, play guitar, sons, the blues, the grind, time, travel, true, vote, voter, voter registration, what happened

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON MAKES IT THROUGH THE NIGHT

September 30, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Kris Kristofferson died yesterday. I found out in a text from one of my guitar guys. “RIP Bobby McGee.” We mourned Tom Petty’s passing, now Kris. In baby boomer world, it’s reminder of our tenuous grip on life.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, baby boomer, bobby mcgee, country music, Johnny Cash, kids, kris kristofferson, live, mourning, music, old, Portland, taylor swift, writer, writing

ADVERSITY STAGE FOR THE WIN

August 25, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The adversity stage was set for a beautiful Oregon afternoon in the woods. Why adversity? Cannonball Adderley: You know, sometimes we’re not prepared for adversity.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adversity, adversity stage, cannonball addlerley, GUITAR, hope, hope stage, learning songs, listen, listener, live music, mercy mercy mercy, music, Oregon, oregon woods, plein air, sax, saxophone, storytelling, swing, the David

NO FEAR, OR LOTS OF PRACTICE

August 21, 2024 by David Gillaspie

No fear is a brand and lifestyle. As for the lifestyle, it’s a lie. Who’s not afraid? Everybody’s afraid, but some are more up to the challenge than others.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: afraid, candidates, Churchill, courage, decisions, elections, fear, fearful, government, hope, Justin herbert, muscle memory, music, musical, musician, Oregon, practice, Roosevelt, skill, stalin, truman

NEW IDEA GETS OLD TOO SOON?

August 19, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Remember that new idea that was going to change everything? It was so obvious, so perfect. What happened? You forgot about it, didn’t write it down. Or one of your trusted sources said, “Your new idea will never work.”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: advice, bad words, beer, diet, drink, drink beer, eat less, exercise, exercise more, fat shame, good advice, grows old, kids, let it fly, losing weight, music, musical talent, new idea, Safeway, Silence, small changes, story, story telling, Weight Loss

MAKING TIME TO SHARE TIME

July 7, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Making time for this, for that, but we still run out of time. On the run? From a Beaverton Farmers Market morning to a Waterfront Blues Festival evening, all the different faces turned into a blur. Some faces, not all.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, beaverton, blues, compression, get married, good vibes, have kids, join the Army, making time, music, Oregon, Portland, portland woodstock, share time, shared time, the blues, time, Waterfront Blues Festival, writers thing

BLUE PORTLAND IN STAGES

July 6, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Blue Portland is like a blues band. You don’t start at the main stage in the Waterfront Blues Festival. You don’t always have a limousine ready to jump into after playing your set. That’s Portland carrying its guitar in a gunnysack, headed on down to the railroad tracks.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blame, blue portland, blues, blues band, burn Portland burn, clinton street, division, Hawthorne street, inner eastside, ken bodie, lucinda williams, music, music festival, Oregon, perception, perspective, Portland, portland blue, portland problem, Purple Portland, sing, song, Waterfront Blues Festival

HOW TO BLUES FEST ON JULY 4TH

July 5, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The Blues Fest, or Waterfront Blues Festival, can be tricky. From once showing up with two cans of food for admission to now, it’s been a long strange trip. Back then you’d go in, drink beer, walk around, get something to eat, drink beer, and leave. Today it’s reservations and lobster rolls before going in. […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: beer, blues, blues fest, blues music, drink beer, drones, FLYOVER, food, improvisational parking, independence day, July Fourth, lobster rolls, looking forward, music, reservations, Waterfront Blues Festival

BEATLES LIVERPOOL FROM THE M6

May 31, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The Beatles Liverpool showed up on the way from Lancaster to Cambridge. Should I stop and look around? Pose by the statue? At the very least, sing a few Beatles songs on the way by? Me: Honey, take a music video of the Beatles Liverpool sign, and me singing. Her: Really?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: beatle songs, Beatles, England, English, let it be, liverpool, m6, music, music video, singing, song, songs, travel, yesterday

GUITAR PLAYERS OF THE PAST

April 30, 2024 by David Gillaspie

My guitar friends say guitar players are the same from every era. Unlike current critics of the NBA who say past greats played against milkmen and plumbers and wouldn’t survive in today’s game, musicians from the past are just a request away. Or a documentary. I recently saw The Wrecking Crew.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: babies, blog, blogger, blues, boomerpdx, brooklyn, classical guitar, documentary, fender, fender strat, friends, grand babies, GUITAR, guitar friends, guitar players, husband, lucky blog, married man, music, musicians, played guitar, Stratocaster, wife