My 2018 Musical Resolutions

Last year, I wrote a quick thing about what my musical resolutions would be for 2017.  They were as follows:

1. Release “RESCUE" - Last year at this time the recording for RESCUE was complete, but not much else.  We subsequently launched a campaign to mix and produce RESCUE on vinyl.  The RESCUE Album Release Campaign on indiegogo.com raised more than $5700 to get the record properly mixed and printed on vinyl.  The only words I have lately have been brief, but sincere thank you’s.  What I feel in my heart however, is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the friends and family (because I know every single one of you!) who supported this venture.  Quite simply, this record is a home recorded album getting the vinyl treatment.  I got my friends to learn my songs and come over to record over a few afternoons in the living room of my little house in San Antonio.  From there we thought, and talked, and played a lot while thinking about how to get it funded.  We set up the RESCUE Album Release Campaign on indiegogo.com and our friends and family showed up in droves.  In total we had 72 backers give $5768 in support from a goal of $5500.  It was fun to reach out and catch up with you all supported us.  I am continually humbled by the generosity of our friends and family. Again—thank you.  I can’t wait to show you what we put together.  As of now, our backers have received a download code for a band camp download of RESCUE, so technically we can count this as a release.  RESCUE will be available on vinyl and CD at the end of this month!

Album Artwork for RESCUE, 2017.

2. Go see more live, LOCAL shows - I didn’t do this.  I didn’t do this really at all.  I have the same tired excuses as well:

    Everything starts too late.

    Getting out/parking/Ubering is too expensive and it’s a pain in the ass.

    What if it sucks?

All of these are terrible justifications.  There is plenty of local music playing at reasonable hours.  Uber/Lyft is king and the cost is worth it.  These people (for the most part) are my hard-working neighbors trying to make a little extra scratch, so why don’t we all save ourselves from a DWI and go ahead and have someone drive us?  What if it sucks?  Well—then it sucks!  The next weekend I should get a gig and do better.  There is too much opportunity and talent in this town to just sit on my couch on a Thursday through Sunday and pillage my way through a joint Netflix list.  I will do better this year and I look forward to seeing and hearing performances from local bands in San Antonio.

3. Play more live shows - We had a fun Reindeer Games season this year, but other than that we did not get a chance to play any Buck Webb or full Sleuth shows which is kind of a bummer.  We’ll do better in 2018 as we have lots of reward shows to fulfill for our Indiegogo backers!

Clint Buck and Hollis Webb, Reindeer Games Save Christmas at Schnabel's Hardware, December 23rd, 2017.

4. Make Better Music - The highlight of the year was getting to play more holiday shows as Reindeer Games.  I really felt the Christmas and holiday music improved over last year and the year before.  Everything seems to sound a little bit better every year we do it, so in that way we made better music.  It’s funny how the making of better music is directly tied to playing more live shows.  I see this (in the very few locals shows I have attended) with my friends’ bands.  Every time they get better, tighter, more focused.  It’s a cool thing to watch and inspires a sense of fandom in me.

5. Take care of my most important instrument.  I did a better job of this in 2017 than in year past.  I quit smoking and have taken steps to address an issue which has plagued me since I was a child: snoring.  I’ve planned on writing something about this as it is sound coming from me which I’m not in control, however you could say there is something music about it?  I mean, it is sound so technically it is within the purview of things to talk about in these posts.  It should be interesting to report back on what I do to get my snoring fixed.

It’s going to be an interesting year, but I feel I should add a new resolution for 2018 so we’re not only addressing the failures from last year.  For 2018, I resolve to manage my time better and look for more opportunities throughout the day, week, and weekend to practice.

What are your resolutions music or otherwise?  I love hearing what people want to work on in the coming year.  Good luck to you all and Happy New Year!