Following Through II

In a sea of talented voices.. Will mine stand out?

I’ve asked myself this a million times before.. Life has it’s uncertainties. Not knowing what to expect from one moment to the next can be nerve racking.. In the end, when everything is said and done. You tell yourself that the uncertainties of it all, has been the best part. You wouldn’t change one thing about the past. That is only if you’ve come to the point in your life where you are pleased with where and who you are..

Sometimes, we get the urge to google a name. On this day, I’ve Googled and Yahoo-ed my fathers name… I typed in Clancy Eccles.. Sites after sites popped up. I guess I was checking to see if the world had forgotten him. Alas, they didn’t. It’s funny how the internet can provide you with so much information. Even on your own family. Reading up on him had almost urged me to pickup the phone and tell him all the new things I’ve read. I really did want to call him, but not to say that. I wanted to tell him how much I wanted to be like him in his days of glory. How I wanted him to shed light on this whole music thing. I wanted him to tell me that it was okay for me to follow in his footsteps. But in the end, I just couldn’t. We no longer speak.

As a child, my father was the one I wanted so much to be.. I adored his voice, his charisma for life, and his glowing burst of energy. Most of all, I was proud to be known as his daughter. He was the kind of man who would take in a child who was not so fortunate, clothed him and paid his way through private school in Jamaica. On certain weekends, I could be found laying out an a couch in a music studio high in the mountains. I would look at my father, headphones holding his dreads back while he sings, scats and dances to the rhythm. I was in awe of him. He was like a rock that only moved when it felt like doing so. He’s a pioneer of Ska/Reggae music. I wanted to be like him, but without the reggae part.. It wasn’t for me.

2004 has opened my eyes wider than ever before.. Yes, I was previously inspired by my father, but this year.. WOW.. I found myself at concerts after concerts, watching and hoping that the next time I’m at that venue, it would be me making an appearance. I mean, could I be received by the majority? Do I actually want to?. My music is from my heart and maybe, just maybe the next person listening might not get what I’m saying. I’ve come across various message boards where the most common thing you see is each person trying to out theorize the next with what they think the song actually means. It’s funny and often cool when you read all these different theories. I sit back and say to myself that even though they’ve made this one song, thousands of people get it, but in their own way, as to make it their own.

With 2004 almost a recent memory. I’ve been both shocked and inspired of all that I’ve seen and heard. My father, has giving me something that will either keep me still or shoot me into the musical unknown. He has given me some of his charisma for life, and the education in knowing that even though life has many uncertainties, being absolutely certain of anything would be stupid.

Who have inspired me in 04

(1) Raúl Midón
(2) Damien Rice
(3) Joss Stone
(4) Gavin Degraw
(5) Jupiter One
(6) Tristan Prettyman
(7) Jamie Cullum
(8) Marc Broussard

Who has inspired me over the years

(1) Dave Matthews band - Has been inspiring me since 1995 or was in ‘94?

Dashboard Confessional
Gladys Knight
Howie Day
GreenDay
Jason Mraz
Pearl Jam
Blues Traveler
Counting Crows
Ray Charles
Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Common
Beastie Boys
Janis Joplin
Eric Clapton
Billy Joel
Elton John
Death Cab for Cutie
Ben Harper
Bon Jovi
Guns-n-Roses
Ben Folds
BoB Marley
Jimmy Hendrix
John Mayer
B.B King
Miles Davis
Bushwalla ( thanks to Mr. Mraz for this one)
Sting
U2
The Cure
Duran Duran
Ben Jelen
Aerosmith
Johnny Cash
Willie Nelson
Match box twenty