words on a page

words on a page



The Tempo of My Essence

“From the very first time I blessed my eyes on you, my heart said ‘follow through’”, these are some famous words preached by the great Bob Marley whom I now attribute most of my life’s inspiration to. This quote represents the way I felt about the “hobby” I love when I first stumbled upon it. Growing up we all have millions of ideas of who we want to be and what we want to do when we’re grow up. Hell, I’ve ranged from wanting to be the guy who drove those giant cement mixers, to being an astronaut walking on distant planets and moons (a dream I still secretly hope for). However, all of these were just silver-lined fantasies until the one day I played my first solo concert in front of over a thousand people. I never thought I’d play an instrument, or multiple instruments, and sing when I was growing up. My twist of fate happened after I found myself continuously pouring over generations of music and analyzing every property to it in my spare time. I reached a point when I thought “Hey these songs don’t always take the turns I want them to, what if I wrote my own?” Six years later I found myself in a small room backstage of, what was then called Three Stages, with my palms uncomfortably damp and a feeling like my stomach was going to rise towards the clouds right out of my body.
“Five minutes,” my teacher said. Within milliseconds of hearing those words my heart rate jumped to the pace of ticker tape at 2:58pm in the New York Stock Exchange. I pick up my guitar and begin tuning both the strings and my mind. I hear my name announced and it brings an excitement similar to getting 100% on a big test. What happens immediately next, I don’t exactly remember, I just remember turning on the wireless control, taking a few deep breaths and placing my fingers on the fret board without an ounce holding me back. The tune is “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix, a solo guitar/vocal song that demands a lot of focus. I walked out on the stage...

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