Monday confessions of a “folk organist”

My head is still spinning a little from Saturday night’s gig. Seeing all those people from my past left me a bit freaked, I guess. Several of them popped up in my dreams the last two nights.

Yesterday at church, the violinist (whose playing I admire very much) confessed that she felt she was more of a “folk violinist” than the other violinist who occasionally plays at church. They are both fine violinists in my opinion. I responded that it had occured to me that very morning when I was rehearsing a Buxtehude choral prelude that I have little attraction to so much of the organ repertoire, specifically the romantic symphonic organ tradition of Vierne, Widor and others. I told my friend that I think I might a “folk organist.” heh.

I have been rehearsing the numbers that I will probably play on Friday. Trying to memorize the lyrics a bit better. Especially of my new song. Last night I dreamed I was playing a gig with my old friend Ron. We were going to do original songs but we started out with “Norwegian Wood.” Ron was sitting across from me in an interesting framed little stage. Right next to him was a three dimensional sort of display case that had a group of figures who were somehow related to the Beatles song we were playing. It was like a live video presentation. Pretty cool.

Anyway after we finished someone in the audience said, “I’m going to ask you guys to play something that is completely different from that. Do you know any Led Zeppelin?” Ron came over to where I was and began sketching something Led Zeppelinish on the glass behind me (some kind of painting). I told him I thought we should do originals like we had planned.

Also later in this dream, I was with an acquaintance from grad school named Lynn Trapp. We were in the midst of a disaster and were traveling to a college. When we got there, I discovered that the in-college phone system was functioning. Lynn asked me to dial someone on it. I kept getting the wrong number. I think Lynn was like a visiting prof/celebrity type and I was just along for the ride. I handed him the phone and said I can’t get the right number.

I love my dreams. heh. In real life, when I worked with Ron in a bar band I eventually lost interest. Later in life I ascribed this to the fact that we developed song lists based on our understanding of our audience’s taste. Even though both Ron and I wrote tons of songs, we avoided doing original material. In middle age, it’s the original material that interest me the most.

Lynn is a very successful church musician/composer/professor. He is very active in the profession and I see his name and picture frequently in the trade magazine of the American Guild of Organists. I like the way he writes a lot of his stuff and perform it. I haven’t had direct contact with him in years.

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