More Than One Way To Skin A Story

This past weekend supplied me with a bit of an epiphany. I’ve known about this particular epiphany prior to this weekend , but this time it really inspired me and landed closely to home. On Saturday, a good friend of mine provided me with the opportunity to go and listen to a local indie rock band comprised of some of his good friends. I was immediately excited, although I hadn’t heard of the band before, so I initially assumed the band would be somewhat amateur and have a long way to go before “hitting the big time.” It is a rare occurrence that I am actually pleased to be wrong.The performers I had the privilege of listening to was the Eugene local band, Edewaard. The reason I bring this up on a writer’s blog is because, this isn’t just a blog about writing. I’ve always felt and looked forward to this blog being about telling a good story, not strictly writing one. That will become clear as I hope to post more about stories, events, and experiences that inspire me. Essentially, what I am trying to say is, there is more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, tell a good story.

Edewaard Playing at The Downtown Lounge

That is what stood out to me this weekend as I listened to this group of young and upcoming musicians who clearly enjoy what they do. They play music because it’s in their hearts and it drives them to strive for greatness. That alone is an amazing, inspiring story within itself, not to mention their actual lyrics. Seeing others take control of their lives and strive to do what they love is enough to convince me to press on with my own dreams. Their demo album, “Never Take Back,” is filled with a number of songs that tell brilliant, relatable, and intriguing stories. Many folks understand that music can be used to tell a tale, while others still just see music as pleasant noise that is strictly for entertainment with no ulterior motives, but so much of it is the attempt to evoke emotions and paint vivid images in our minds. One of my favorite songs off of their album is titled, “Mr. Niceguy,” and paints the image (if I am interpreting it correctly) of a man and woman together. They are together in spite of the fact that he is the exact opposite of the mild mannered, polite, average Joe that she could be with (Mr. Niceguy), if she chose to do so. Despite the warnings that, “I’m no good for you,” despite the bad stuff, they stay together, and that just because he’s not like Mr. Niceguy, doesn’t mean that he isn’t her Mr. Right. While music is generally open to interpretation, this is the beautiful scene that it paints in my mind, and while it would be fascinating to know what, or who, this song is truly about, not knowing has always been half of the magic. It’s songs like this one that make me strive to create something that tugs on the heart strings, and connects with an audience.

Edewaard Band Photo

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a few things. The first is to not be constricted by a singular train of thought, or narrow “field of view.” You can experience and be inspired by a vast, and great many things. While it is widely presumed that you must read to be able to write a good story, that doesn’t mean that you know how to tell a good story. So watch, dream, listen, read, and experience good stories, then let them inspire your work. Secondly, I can’t emphasize how much I enjoy live music, especially that of good, up and coming artists. I truly do look forward to experiencing more of what each of the members of this band have to offer, their sound together, their solo’s, their vocals, because they obviously have so much to offer. Finally, a good old fashioned, shameless plug, because I strongly feel that they deserve it for putting on such a great show. Check out Edewaard on Spotify, iTunes, ReverbNation, Facebook and Twitter, and keep an eye, and an ear, out for them in the near future. Their upcoming performance dates can be found on their website, edewaard.com, so check them out and enjoy!