KEVIN ROGERS: A Case of the Mondays

The weekend really throws you out of wack in terms of concentration and schedules. You get out of practice easier and also your mind wanders more. On monday you don't play as well, and that happened to me. Today was a case of the mondays...name that quote and you have culture.

After rehearsal I sat at lunch, then practiced, then ate an early dinner and just kind of did an assortment of fun things. I was a little emotionally occupied today by stresses in my life, but I feel everyday it's easier to handle. Otherwise a pretty uneventful day.

Here at festival there is a large question of musical integrity and etiquette. By this I mean, playing the music with an energy and passion, with an intent that's musical. The etiquette comes more into a question of ethics. The two seem to be intertwined, because in order to traverse the canals of musical integrity you must do so with tact and an air of humility. I fail at this miserably sometimes, but we all stumble sometimes, we all tip the canoe. But the cool thing is people will help you flip the canoe over and pull you back in. That's integrity of character for those that I've tipped into the water before. Being in this pseudo professional environment you instinctively feel certain ways to phrase things. Sometimes it's wrong sometimes right, but you make mistakes in everything and figure out the right. I talked to Sandmeier today about how to phrase something, and he said be careful not to step on anyone's toes. This is very true, because a lot of times musicians are very critical on themselves as it is. Hearing things said with a negative conotation can create even more distress and hurt many people. I've been hurt this way. In the end, it's about maintaining a healthy balance of being assertive for the musical integrity but being compassionate for the feelings of everyone around. So now that I've got some shadow of something in my head I can start to bring some light forth into my own musical integrity.