Wednesday 1 February 2012

GOOD SPIRIT


The world is fecked as we know it, the pubs are dead, music is bland, there are no more revolutions to be had, it's been done before, the good times are gone, you can't do anything without money. blah, blah..?
 I have always been a romantic at heart, despite portraying a tough old cynic. Deep down I've always insisted that everything is just how it always has been, really, it's just buried itself a little bit deeper into the fabric of modern culture and society...

Since announcing the birth of The Medicine Sessions to the world, I have found that actually;
The world isn't totally fecked.
The pubs are struggling, but they're not dead yet.
Music isn't all bland.
There are a million revolutions to be had, they don't always have to be headline grabbing.
Yes, lots of things have been done before, but this just makes for a very rich well of lovliness to make new stuff from.
The good times aren't long gone, there is, in fact, a distinct feeling of good timeyness in the air, despite the depressing news headlines.
You can achieve a great deal without money. Those who read from the same non-profit pages have an ability to seek each other out, the internet means that we can all say hello to each other and see what's going on in each other's back gardens. There is a very rich, textured culture running along quite happily out there, apparantly free from the confines of  mainstream recognition or funding.

I hope that The Medicine Sessions will become, eventually, a minor little working part in the support structure of the rich culture that is happening all over Ireland at this very minute. It is being built out of good will, free time, love of creativity, and probably a healthy dose of idealist ignorance (on my part)... oh and plenty of donated bits and bobs, some interesting people and the lust for laughter.

4 comments:

  1. Oh. You mean...there's no money in it?

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  2. When it gets going you could make Medicine Session CDs.

    By the way, have you thought of starting a West Waterford Musicians Collective? I'm reminded that I used to be in Manchester Musicians Collective. Used to do a monthly gig at The Band on the Wall there. Nobody "got paid" - it was basically a good platform for everyone: reviews, in the news, selling records, synergy, etc.

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  3. PETER:
    Imagine! yet another event for musicians and poets that pays nothing. Yes. I'm skint, you're skint, we're all skint together, but lets have a fucking great time in the process!
    ;)

    DOMINIC:
    yeh, there are quite a few similar events around Ireland that release yearly CD's, I'd love to do this eventually, sure we'll see what happens. I'm fairly limited by not having top notch equipment at my disposal at the moment. we're working with The Watercats' PA and mics and some borrowed extra bits. I think The Medicine Sessions might eventually build into a collective of some sort, I'm still vaguely pondering the idea of leaving some time spare at the end for "jamming", as there are a few of us in Lismore who play and it would be great to include other musicians. I'm not going to put too much control on the night and let it flow naturally, of course I will have a plan in place to keep everything moving without big gaps, but I want The Sessions to have a spontanious feel too. Who knows aht might happen! :D

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  4. thinking again on it, it would be great to encourage some sort of jam that includes the spoken word stuff too, bring back the spirit of the Beat era... an evening finished off with a dose of spirited word, song, music, and even a bit of a boogie.. why not!? :)

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