ISO

They're perfect.

I just left my audition with Michael and John and I haven't been able to stop laughing quietly to myself since.

I've been trolling Craigslist and The Reader looking for groups to sing with. It is quite a bit like when I was dating guys from match.com after I had been recently divorced: you have to hope that whoever wrote the ad has some writing ability so that all of your reading between the lines is worthwhile. Otherwise, all the literary analysis in the world won't help you make an accurate prediction as to whether you'll like him when you meet.

I responded to a few ads and heard back from 4 of those. One band I eliminated after a few email interactions, mainly because it became clear that they were four guys in their late 30s and early 40s who were married with kids. Since played only 2-3 gigs a year but rehearsed every week, I realized that this band was their weekly escape from the wife and kids, like the basketball league for some guys. Their last singer quit the band because she couldn't balance it and 5 kids anymore. Not only was I feeling fairly toxic about adding more people with kids to my life, I also realized that it wasn't long before one of their wives felt threatened by little ole me with no early-onset wrinkles from years in the tanning bed and the time I was spending with their husbands, unencumbered by the need to chase a child away from certain death between every third sentence. That's just drama I don't need. Another guy eliminated me because it was clear that I wasn't excited about Bjork as his major influence.

So, this is the ad for the guys I met with tonight:

Female vocalist wanted by singer/songwriter & bassist duo for performance of original compositions. We're about the joy of playing and performing.

During our phone conversation, Michael revealed that he believed that he music he writes was beamed to him on a certain frequency and that he was just a care-taker for the music.

Rock.

So, Michael is a hippy in his early 50s, which means he's at the very tail end of that Baby Boomer generation of original hippies. He wore a tie-dyed shirt tucked into his worn jeans and a khaki hat above his one faceted gem earring. John is probably in his late 30s, with a long pony-tail. As I write the word pony-tail, I realize that he is the embodiment of sensitive-pony-tail guy. Formless light blue jeans, plain navy t-shirt, 6-year-old white gym shoes that have absolutely no branding, color or design on them anywhere. He doesn't work out, so they have accumulated the subtle grime of little wear. These are the shoes that he wears when he changes from the pleated-khakis-and-polo-shirt that he wears for work every day. Like Mr. Rogers. He might be divorced because there are pictures of two little girls all over his sparsely furnished studio apartment. Both of them are totally harmless bachelors.

I am delighted.

They are like guys that I would meet on the island. This is a whole new social dimension that I'm entering. The songs are fairly simple but I like the style. It's a perfect venue for my kind of voice. Plus, I will be performing again, which I haven't done in a long time. It's a new adventure!