Holidays and Music

During this time of year, or rather right before you open presents Christmas morning, your mind can start to wonder.  Wonder about what you are getting, wonder about if the Christmas sweater your grandma got you is going to fit or if the presents you got for other people are going to be enjoyed by those people.

Well during this time my mind has done the same thing.  I have not been wondering about what I got however.  I have been wondering about music.

As many of you know we, Silver, has just finished recording our first CD together.  Brent and Pat have recorded one without me but this one is all three of us.  So, of course during this season of wondering, I have started to wonder about our music and will it be enjoyed by people around us.  I will have to say that I really like the music that we have recorded, but I think that I am a little biased.  Of course everyones dream that plays music is for their music to be liked by the masses.  My dream is that but so much more.  I have always wanted my music to mean something to someone.  Whether it is a nice riff that inspires someone to pick up an instrument.  Or, whether it is by another avenue that I can help someone.  The possibilities are endless.  

So I wonder what will come of this music.  How can I, or we as Silver, impact someone else's life in a positive way.

Hell Frozen Over?

This post will probably be more for musicians or bass enthusiast.

So for pretty much the whole time I have been playing bass beside one of my good friends, Aaron Chappell, we have had this little battle.  A battle of Fender Bass Guitars.  I never liked playing them and he said that they were great bass guitars.

Well over the last few months with it ending this past Monday, I have come to the realization that Fender Basses are really well made and have a great sound if you work with them long enough.  The Jazz bass is a really good live bass and has a lot of punch to it and so it is in your face all of the time.  The Precision bass, or "P Bass" as some call it, records really well and is really smooth.

This is a very heavy hearted day for me, cause it is like finding out that your favorite baseball player did in fact take steroids and did not just work his ass off to get that big.  I was under the impression that Warwick basses are the best and no other bass would even come close.  Well that is wrong, Fender basses have become probably one of my favorite basses now.  

So, Chapps you won this round, but do not think that you will win the next round.

So, now the only thing to do is figure out how I can get one for cheap or sell mine so that I can get a Fender Jazz Bass.

In the studio

So, this morning I woke up, ate a bowl of cereal, grabbed the four basses I had in the apartment, only one of them actually being mine, and headed off to meet Patrick and Brent at Patrick's house.  We met and headed off to Warrior Sound studios in Chapel Hill.

This is very exciting for me, cause music has always been a big passion of mine.  I have been in several bands in the past.  I am currently in Silver and I play at my church, Visio Dei.  Along with them two I have played for Shelly Moore, and another church, Summit Church.

So, being in the studio and recording an album with two guys that I really enjoy playing music with is awesome.  My wife is excited as well cause she knows that this is something that I hope to do as a career one day.

We are currently tracking the first song on drums right now.  It is already giving me chills, it is freaking awesome.

Stay tuned for more about my experience and hopefully some pics as well while we are in the studio with Al from Warrior Sound.

J

Long Time

It has been a while since I posted anything here.  It has been an extremely busy time for me and my wife.  Of course, getting ready for the upcoming holidays and trying to figure out how we can see both families.

The other big thing is trying to get all of the work finished that needs to be completed before Christmas.  The guy that I am helping remodel some houses, have sold two of them and rented one of them.  So we are in a hurry to finish those houses as soon as possible (or faster than we would want to).  Many of you know that I am working as an electrician on the 6 Oakwood Shotgun House remodels, working for an old friend of mine.  However, through good quotes, I have recently won 4 fence projects, another electrical project and also a big General Contracting job.  There has been a lot of work done and planned in the recent couple of weeks.  

However I am looking forward to the holiday season.  For many reasons, the main one being this was the time that my savior was born, this is always a great time and I can never tired of hearing the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.  Call me a kid with that story, but I am.  However the other reasons are the fact that I can buy gifts for people that I care about and they don't tell me, "you shouldn't have."  I like this season because I make an extra effort to slow down, to hang out with friends more and to talk to my extended family more.  

So, with the extremely busy and fast life I have right now.  I am looking forward to the next month or so, cause of the effort that I make to slow down and make sure I understand what is the true meaning of the season.

P.S. Here is a link to the Oakwood houses that I am working on.

Moving

So, as some of you may know, Dana and I are moving to Austin, Texas.  We are looking forward to moving but are going to hate moving away from some of our friends and family.

Just kidding, we are not moving to Texas even though I think we would if we had a chance.  We are moving, we are moving downtown.  We have really been wanting to move downtown and we finally found a place that we like and can afford.  We feel sometimes like we are soo far away from a lot of our friends that we miss out on stuff.  Anyway, we are looking forward to it.

Places that are going to be close to our new apartment (besides most of our friends)  Woody's Sports Bar, Rum Runners Piano Bar, Tir-Na-Nog(sp?) Irish Pud, The Flying Saucer, Raleigh Times (have not tried this place but people say that it is awesome), and of course El Rodeo-Downtown.  So, I guess at least our lives will consist of Mexican food and beer, what more can you ask for.

Mr. Wuf

Here is something fun.  Click on the link to go a vote for Mr. Wuf.  Maybe NC State can win at something!

What?

Do sometimes when you wake up do you feel like this is going to be a weird day?  Today has been that day to me.

I first woke up this morning at 5:45 because on Wednesdays I meet with two guys for journey group, a smaller group that meets to test, build and support one another.  This group is through Visio Dei, the church community we are apart of. 

Well the meeting was good, we mainly just hung out like we do sometimes just to catch up with one another.  I then went to Lowes', this is also a weekly, almost daily occurrence.  When I went there I had a plan, but when I got in, I forgot the plan.  So I had to make one up, luckily I remembered what I was going to do today.

Next I went back to my apartment to change my clothes, cause I work at a construction site and I do not like wearing my work clothes to breakfast.  I just felt weird when I got back.  My wife was getting ready for work and everything between us is good, but there was just something that I felt that made it weird.

I then spent the next 8-9 hours working beside a guy who really hated his job and proceeded to tell me, I think, every half-hour.  I, on the other hand, like my job cause I work for myself.  None the less work was horrible cause of that guy.

Next my wife and I went to home-group in which we had a healthy discussion on faith.  Maybe this is what has gotten me in a weird mood, cause I deal with several faith issues.  Not that I do not have faith that what The Lord has in store for me, but the faith that I will make the right decision and that of how much to question.  I think in a natural, intelligent, truth seeking world we always question.  We always want to know more.  Know how this works, know how this is going to happen, know why something or someone is the way they are.  We are naturally curious.  Well, I think I have come to the point where I only want to question what is valid.  How will I know the difference, I HAVE NO IDEA.  Any thoughts?  Please I could use another opinion.

I sent two emails to four different people (one email per two people).  Two very different emails both seeking some kind of reassurance.  The people who have received these emails may laugh, be freaked out or whatever.  But, I sent them anyway.  Maybe this is my attempt at trying to figure out what I should and should not question. 

So, to those four people I write this.  Sorry if the email freaks you out, I am just looking for some help.

MUSIC ANYONE?

New post tomorrow, Music.

So it is a day behind.  Tonight my brother, my dad and I went to our yearly concert outing.  Once again we went to The Allman Brothers Band concert at Walnut Creek.  It was once again a great show, we had a blast.  The Brothers were awesome.

That brings me to my post.  My post is about the way I see the music going.  I am kind of excited about the path that music is going down now.  I am first going to apologize if this hurts people's feelings, but the simple guitar playing and just playing bar chords for the entirety of a song is stupid.  The people who signed those bands put American music back about 10 years when they did that.  

Now I understand I wish we could have skipped disco as well, but at least they had sort of flashy clothes.  But in the 90's when most of the bands were playing music that the guitarist just knew how to play bar chords and nothing else was stupid.  However, as I was saying, the music has seemed to take a turn.  Everyone across the board is starting to experiment and trying new things.  Implementing new sounds, different instruments and just making music enjoyable again.  

I feel like we are taking steps forward towards a better musical society.

Prayer

Some of you know that I, like my good friend Patricio Downing, is currently without a "full-time" job.  Stressful in a time where there are a lot of people without jobs in our area?  Yes it is!  Are we panicking?  No we are not!  We are not panicking cause we both feel like there is a reason and a "plan" for what we are supposed to be doing.

Keeping my options open I am trying to pray everyday for guidance or a path to follow.  I know that people very often will get written off for saying, "I am just going to pray about it and let The Lord take care of everything else."  I for one am not like that.  I like to take advantage of the opportunity that The Lord has given me and also in the same sense pray about more possibilities.  I fell like praying can do but so much!  Before some people start to criticize me for what I am saying, hear me out.

I feel like The Lord has given us free will to choose what we want, that I feel is the whole basis behind why God allows certain things to happen to people.  Does God want those things to happen?  No.  Could God stop those things from happening?  In a millisecond.  Because our world is inherently evil and we are broken people.  We have to choose the path that lies before us.  For me in my case.  I, with a passion, am pursuing two different careers at the same time.  

First being my contracting company.   (Warning to all, shameless plug approaching.  I need more and more work, I can do a lot of things concerning building or designing.  If you know of anyone that needs work done, please email me at john.enzor@gmail.com.)  I have big ideas for the company that my wife and I are forming.  Global things.

The second passion is music.  I am currently in a band, Silver.  We are currently not performing so that we can write new songs and record them hopefully in December.  I love playing music with the two guys that I am in Silver with and would hope that this is the "plan" The Lord has for my life in the near future.  I also play at Visio Dei, and The Summit Church and also with a good group called The Shelly Moore Band.  This is a passion in my life that I also have big ideas for.  Global things.

With both of these things the only thing I can do to make sense and make sure that my own desires are not the driving forces behind them, is to Pray.  I ask God to open and close doors everyday.  Some days are more clear than others.  However the one thing I am not doing after I pray is sit on my tail and wait.  I know that I am going to make some bad choices and I know that I am only human and the path is not going to be as clear or easy.  But I trust that through prayer the mistakes are kept to a minimum.  

Sorry for the long post, I had a good Journey Group meeting this morning and wanted to share with you all.

Head Hurt?

So, today I woke up like any other day and was getting ready for work.  Thinking about how I could make myself, since I am the whole company, more efficient.  So I was sitting down on the coach and my wife had just left, the side of my head starting hurting.  Which this reminds me of a joke that my dad always says when I tell him my head is hurting, "Is your face hurting, hurts me to look at it"  loving dad huh?  Anyway, back to today.  My head starting hurting and when I was about to get up it just felt like someone had hit me in the side of the head with a hammer, and yes I know how that feels.  Well this was a migraine coming on, I took some medicine and feel asleep for a few hours and woke up in the early afternoon.  Needless to say I was not very efficient today at work.

This brought me to a thought tonight of how frail life is and how our "plans" sometimes do not work out.  A good friend of mine, which most of you will know who is reading this, a few weeks back was getting ready for his twins to be born.  Going through all of the motions; painting the nursery, going to birthing classes, going to baby showers, all of that stuff.  Then after a routine exam the doctor tells him that his wife is going into labor at like 27 weeks.  Well this story has a good ending and the babies and parents are doing well.  I just have realized that our plans are never our plans.  We even should stop asking people what their plans are and start asking them, "what do you hope to do in the near future?"  Cause you never know what may happen.  Now some people may look at this blog and think that I am depressed and I have not hope in life.  In fact it is the exact opposite, I have great hope in life and I am not depressed.  I have hope that what ever happens it is my Lord's will for my life.  I have the comfort knowing that I have a great family, awesome friends and the most beautiful, caring, funny, and supportive wife anyone could ask for.

So just remember that life is frail but fulfilling if you let it be, that plans are just a suggestion what you hope to do, and most of all if you find love in something or someone make sure you cherish it cause it could be gone in a second.