Practice! Pratice! Practice!

To all aspiring musicians and singers:

Practice, practice, practice!

As awful as you may think you sound right now (and you probably do) the better you get...eventually someone that loves you will look up at you with adoration if not amazed disbelief!

It is in that one shining moment that all of your efforts will be rewarded in a unique way. Yes, performing music brings it's own private rewards that no one else will understand. However, there is nothing like a positive response from another live soul to what you do. For proof, look again at the above picture of my wife and I!

People long to hear live music of all sorts. It fills a gap like nothing else can. The gift of joy you can bring is unique only to you. It is only up to you to not let it go to your head. If need some Preparation H for your ego, let me know.

I am getting less and less nervous about the proposition of performing in front of people. I hope I always am somewhat nervous, though. I read a Loretta Lynn interview recently where she said that if someone is not nervous about performing, there is something wrong. There is something about her advice that makes sense to my guts. I think I heard Julie Andrews say the same thing in a recent interview with her sister, Lynn.

If you do still sound bad you'll be an inspiration to someone anyway. Either way, can you really go wrong?

I know I'll eat my words later.

Les Buffham

Les Buffham. For people that like western music you should know this name. A cowboy poet foremost, his work has been incorporated into songs by Dave Stamey, Kip Calahan, Riders of the Purple Sage, George Dickey, Stampede and many other current western artsits.

He "winters" here in the Tucson area in his RV on B.L.M. land. My wife and I got to meet him recently and were invited to his camp. Yes, it is true he is a cowboy poet & singer but mostly he is a great guy, a gracious gentlemen that can fix up a mean plate of beans. My only regret from our visit is that I didn't bring a tupper-ware container so I could take some the extras home.

The above picture of Les and I was taken by my wife during sunset on top of a hill overlooking the desert expanse. Out on Federal land in a more remote part of the desert surrounding Tucson it was a near perfect picture book of a desert scene that night: we three sitting around the camp fire, the moonlit desert stretching off to mountains dark against the starry skies, coyote yips and howls, guitar music and poems lifting into the air, Les's face lit by the warm glow of his laptop....

I said an "almost" a perfect night-time desert scene.

Truth be told, he has so much good stuff there is not a chance anyone could recall it all from memory. He shared some poetry that he doesn't share in public, some favorites, some newer and others he was kicking the dust off of.

We got a copy of his brand new disc: Writes and Co-writes. It is a collection of his songs that he has had a hand in writing hence the title. Thankfully, he stands alone in the spotlight on a track titled "Montana Lullaby, a song he wrote for his new grand daughter.

If you have any western music in your collection that has been recorded within the past decade or so, check your liner notes for his song writing credit. His own solo work is harder to find but worth it.

Ah, the treasures found in the desert!