It's all over but the shouting
posted by Jason Tiller
It's Christmas Day, and we've been back for about 24 hours. The "No Jet Lag" that Missy forced down my throat every hour turns out to have worked pretty well! While I didn't sleep on the plane, after a 5-hour nap yesterday and then 7 hours or so after a Christmas Eve service, my wife, Diane, and I are happily on our way to Kansas for some much needed R&R at her parents' house.
The bells are silent, the clapping has faded away, and we're back to being just folx once again. It *is* fun being on tour: getting treated like royalty, playing in drop-dead gorgeous concert halls, performing good music for appreciative audiences, being silly and goofing around, and generally making the most of these fantastic experiences. Almost every night that I step out onto a brightly-lit stage, I breathe a simple mantra that reflects the moment:
"I am so fortunate."
Truly, my life has been blessed, from musician parents who encouraged me in my own studies and provided a rich environment in which to grow, to my wonderful wife who shared my handbell journey for a while and now supports me in every way possible; from the visionary founders of Sonos, to the felicitous coincidences that led Diane and I see the group and throw caution to the wind, to leave our comfortable existence and embark on this long and twisty road. I know there are many more talented and capable than I who have never had the opportunity to experience the things I have, merely due to circumstance and situation.
So, while it's always good to get home after a long tour like this, to see my parents, hug my wife, and terrorize our kitty, those pleasures are always tinged with regret. Who knows? Sonos may find itself unable to continue in the future; this may be a bubble in time that will never be reproduced. Sometimes we teeter on the edge, struggling to maintain the balance of a demanding musical art against our families and "outside" lives. It hasn't been easy for Sonos, despite outward appearnces.
But, while the opportunity exists to make music, perform, and affect people in a real way, we'll be doing our best to fulfill our dreams: play the best music as well as we possibly can.
Until we meet again,
---Jason
The bells are silent, the clapping has faded away, and we're back to being just folx once again. It *is* fun being on tour: getting treated like royalty, playing in drop-dead gorgeous concert halls, performing good music for appreciative audiences, being silly and goofing around, and generally making the most of these fantastic experiences. Almost every night that I step out onto a brightly-lit stage, I breathe a simple mantra that reflects the moment:
"I am so fortunate."
Truly, my life has been blessed, from musician parents who encouraged me in my own studies and provided a rich environment in which to grow, to my wonderful wife who shared my handbell journey for a while and now supports me in every way possible; from the visionary founders of Sonos, to the felicitous coincidences that led Diane and I see the group and throw caution to the wind, to leave our comfortable existence and embark on this long and twisty road. I know there are many more talented and capable than I who have never had the opportunity to experience the things I have, merely due to circumstance and situation.
So, while it's always good to get home after a long tour like this, to see my parents, hug my wife, and terrorize our kitty, those pleasures are always tinged with regret. Who knows? Sonos may find itself unable to continue in the future; this may be a bubble in time that will never be reproduced. Sometimes we teeter on the edge, struggling to maintain the balance of a demanding musical art against our families and "outside" lives. It hasn't been easy for Sonos, despite outward appearnces.
But, while the opportunity exists to make music, perform, and affect people in a real way, we'll be doing our best to fulfill our dreams: play the best music as well as we possibly can.
Until we meet again,
---Jason
posted by Jason Tiller at 10:37 PM
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