Seventh Epic

Below is a vlog of us performing at Snug Harbor (a pirate themed bar in Charlotte) recently. They have a good sound and a good vibe. It was a decent show, a “minimalist” kind of crowd, but a crowd with a lot of class none the less. Thanks to everyone for dancing like maniacs up front during our drum breakdown at the tail end of the set. That’s something I won’t soon forget. The strange thing about performing for a room with only a handful of people around is how hard it is to reach our usual frenzied pitch. Especially from the top…

“Dack doom dack doom Dack doom doom…” ::Crescent starts:: Show starts.

This can be even harder when there are TV’s going in the room. Which there was that night. The hardcore folks are up front giving us back just as much as we’re giving them. It’s the fringe crowd mulling around in the back who’s attention is our battleground. Sometimes I can see them hearing a melody, bobbing and smiling looking at us… are they getting up to come up front!? Regardless of there eventual choice they always get a nice loud background track they won’t soon forget.

I also hope I’m not creeping anyone out by how much I notice up there…

::Sauron’s voice:: “I seeeeee YOU!”

I know how hard it is too. After we finished our set I swore I was going to not do the same thing to the closing act… but before I knew it. I was staring at Leprechaun 3 on the Television. ::sigh:: Smack myself and turn back to the stage… only to be seduced back in to it’s warm glow. The worst is the few times I’ve caught myself watching TV from stage. I just need to start carrying a universal remote with me. Really start messing with the staff.

Enjoy. ~josh

We have a loose competition going in Seventh Epic. The award goes to whoever will be the last to completely eat it during a show. It happens. So far Garret and Scott have taken the tumble. So it’s down to Sarah and I now. At some point as a performer you learn to embrace malfunctions and just go with it.

I’ve had a few close calls. Just last week in Lancaster I was using a nice box up front for some rock star poses/jumps ect. and the thing nearly fell forward on one of my more energetic leaps. This would have sent me packing off the front of a relatively high stage. All that kept me from falling was “Sarah cannot win!”

We got Scott’s “moment” on video and did exactly what anyone should do… blog about it. This was in Asheville about a month ago. Enjoy.

~josh

A small crowd has trickled in and gathered in small pools around the tables and bar. The band on stage offers them their best. Some listen with rapt attention. Others are distracted by deep and meaningful conversation. All pause to clap or cheer appropriately in the silence between songs. But there is a tangible difference in the atmosphere as a song picks up and catches the attention of bystander and conversationalist alike. Suddenly there is harmony, rhythm, and depth to the music that pulls at something inside each of us and beckons us communally to a better, higher place than where we were. As the song comes to a close and slowly releases us from its hold the tell tale scholar in cut-off camos holds up his beer and calls out with gusto, “Free Bird!”

This is one of my all time favorite quotes:

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
C. S. Lewis

I like quotes like that because they feel practical to me. Something I can cling to while I work through the so many roadblocks from concept to completed song. Which I will add feels like a frustratingly long time to me. I also heard someone else recently describe that working on a song is like one minute they have the best song they’ve ever heard and the next minute it’s the most embarrassing garbage they’ve ever heard. He continued to say that “neither of those is ever true”. I love it when someone relates something perfectly for me.

Serious writing (for me) is a constant struggle between what I genuinely want to hear (which almost always are my best tracks) and feeling like it’s been done before (which usually just sabotages the whole thing). I’ve got the concept that it’s better to come at a song without outside prejudice and pressure.

Got it. Really. But.

The reality is that I’m just as broken as the next guy, so I tend to fall into the trap of “what will they think”. My saving graces are that I am hard to please and very stubborn. So I will work at something until I find what I’m looking for. My health be damned

Practically there are things I can do to help this process come easier: rest, listening to some good music, coffee, Guitar/Piano practice, good instruments to work with, knowledge and so on. Great songs happen when happy accidents meet a skilled hand.

So I always try to work in the idea that my goal should not be originality or having the hottest track around but to honestly and skillfully interpret the songbird that is constantly singing in my head. ~josh

Three things that personally inspire me:

The more and more we get out and play shows the more and more I’m appreciating showmanship.

The dictionary says… “the skill of dramatic or entertaining presentation, performance, or publicity” What I’m finding is it’s FUN and kind of addicting. I want to keep pressing to get better at every aspect of it. Whether it’s energy, skill or just better composition, I’m paying attention now.

I’ve spent much more time in my “music career” writing music than performing it. Now that we’re trying to get a show on the road, I’m really learning to appreciate a good performance for what it is. I’m even finding myself getting live DVD’s where I used to be a studio album hermit. I’m also finding that some of the best showmen were before my time (surprise, surprise).

In the clip below Gene Krupa is playing music I would probably never play in my car but man if I witnessed this I’d be having a good time. Enjoy. ~josh

First of all we hope you’re enjoying the changes to SeventhEpic.com. The new format is already making updates easier on us and we’re hoping to use it to connect better with you. Something I’ve learned from traveling and performing is that this WHOLE thing boils down to people trying to communicate with each other.
We just tend to communicate through huge amplifiers

Anyone who knows us at all knows we carry a video camera around with us whenever we’re out at a show. Honestly it was kind of odd at first being the only band at these shows filming each other… we get some perplexed looks… but we promptly got over it.  I’m quite happy we did because if anyone enjoys watching these vlogs,  I do. ~Josh

Watch more of Seventh Epic Vlogs here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/seventhepic