I’ll be playing a private party tomorrow, up in Dumas. That’s “DOO-mas.” (I know what you were thinking. And you were wrong.)
I’ll be gearing up for the gig most of tomorrow, so don’t expect another post until Sunday.
Until then, here’s one of my favorite commercials to keep you company:
My daughter – let’s call her “Private Digital” – is studying the violin. She played with her symphony orchestra this past Saturday. Way cool. I wish I’d been able to play with a symphonic orchestra when I was in grade school. (I got to play with a lot of jazz combos and rock groups, but that’s another story.)
What I find interesting is that in many ways, she’s much like most of my better students, back when I taught music lessons for a living. I found that the ones that were pretty sharp had more trouble with the mechanics of music, because they relied on their ears instead of their eyes. That may sound odd, since music is an aural media, but using your eyes (to read music) is essential. It’s what makes the difference between someone who plays violin and a violinist. Continue reading I’ve got rhythm. (And you can, too.)
To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of country music. I grew up as a drummer, and as far as traditional country music, a drummer is either unnecessary, or reduced to playing “boom-chick-boom-chick” kinda stuff that is mind-numbingly boring. I tended to agree with one of my idols, Buddy Rich, on the topic. When he was admitted to the hospital not long before his death, he was asked “Mr. Rich, are you allergic to anything?” He replied, “Yes. Country music.” When I began to play acoustic guitar, I discovered that there was actually some music that would qualify as “country” that I liked. I developed a taste for bluegrass, traditional folk music, newgrass, and even some pop country. (Still not that crazy about the Porter Waggoner/George Jones/Johnny Cash stuff. Your tastes may varry.) Continue reading This is “Country”?
It dawned on me, as I was creating some ‘quickie’ bizcards, that I needed a website specific to the musician-side of my life. I’m a big believer in perception versus reality, and the reality is, people perceive a certain degree of “serious” in regards to an email address. If you want someone to take you seriously, a Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo address is not gonna cut the mustard. On the other hand, if you have your own domain name, it’s almost like instant street cred. So I bought bradkozak.com and set it up as a site dedicated to my singer/songwriter/entertainer biz. Of course, since I create websites for a living, it didn’t take but a couple of hours to throw together a website. (It took longer to get Mrs. Digital to help me with the photos, and to do the Photoshopping than it did to write the site code.) Continue reading Let me entertain you.
As some of you know, I’ve been a musician since an early age. Up here in Amarillo (Centrally Located Between Two Oceans!™), I haven’t had many opportunities to play professionally.
All that has recently begun to change.
Andy (the Brother I Never Had) Chase and I have put together a group, and we’re calling it “eclectic” ek•lek•tik.
Tonight, we’re playing at Randy’s of Wilderado (which is actually not in Wilderado at all – it’s in downtown Amarillo on Polk Street in the Paramount building), from 6 to 9 PM. As the band’s name suggests, our playlist is eclectic. Come on down, and you’ll hear everything from James Taylor and Jim Croce stuff to Nat “King” Cole and Hoagy Carmichael – with everything in between. Tonight, we’ve added a really excellent bassist to the mix, so there’s now four of us. Andy and I share lead vocals duty, and we switch off between guitar, mandolin, percussion, and harmonica. Describing our sound is a little tricky, because there’s nobody else doing what we do here in the Panhandle. I guess it’s kind of like [Insert name of artist here] Unplugged, because everything we’re doing is acoustic. However, that doesn’t mean it’s mellow, nor is it all ballads, all the time. We can rock the joint, too. And do.
So if you’re interested in an evening of live music, come on down to Randy’s tonight and check us out.
For those of you in the Greater Amarillo/Texas Panhandle area (Centrally Located Between Two Oceans!™), I will be playing at Joe Taco’s restaurant on Friday, from 6:30 to 9 PM, and at Randy’s of Wilderado (on Polk St.) on Saturday, from 6 to 9 PM, and again on Wednesday, as a part of the Noon on the Square series, downtown. I’ll be playing guitar, bass, mandolin, some percussion, and singing. If you’re into acoustic guitars and an eclectic mix of music, we’d love to see you there.