- Rick Hulett - Blog http://rickhulett.com/blog.html Rick Hulett: Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:49:49 -0700 A Whirlwind of Gigs http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/a_whirlwind_of_gigs Yep, it seems like I've just had a whirlwind of gigs. I've been trying to send out notes about them, but usually its to tell people about the gigs I just had.

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/a_whirlwind_of_gigs Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:49:49 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog Good Gigs http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/good_gigs That's really all I want. Good gigs where I get to play and lose myself in it. Since almost dying I think I play differently. I know now deep in my bones that this is all going to end. Everything we know, the way your face looks, your friends,  your family, everything you know, it's all going to have an end. It's finite. The number of gigs I have left to play in my life is finite and winding down. Maybe it's a few years worth, maybe it's 20 years worth, I don't know, but I know it's a finite number.This could be the last time.


 


These days when I play, I seem to play from that knowledge. I try and dig down deep into that place, immerse myself, bathe in it. Sometimes I'm distracted and I can't stay there very long, but other times I go deep and I hit something. That's what I want, more of that, all the time more. I'm searching, to see what I can find.


 


I just had a string of good gigs and I'm looking at some more coming up. I love this music stuff. I love getting my gear ready and loading it in the car, scoping out the location, hanging out before the gig, that special moment of ESP between band members during a song, hanging out and reliving the moments after the gig. I love it all. I want to drink it all in for as long as I can. Because really it's all about the moments. So I say make moments. Make this next batch good moments that you'll remember. Even though you'll die and probably won't be able to remember it, just do it anyway. Just do it because really why not? What do you have to lose? Laugh right smack dab in the face of adversity because you have a choice. Choose to be unafraid and take it head on and just party on, party on.

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/good_gigs Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:11:53 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog Relay for Life http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/relay_for_life After playing a cool gig on pedal steel with Barlow Road yesterday afternoon, Sharon and I went out to Relay for Life. If you don't know what it is, it's a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. You can make a donation and get a paper bag. You write the name of a a cancer survivor or someone that didn't make it on the bag and put a little light inside. The bags are placed in a circle around a track and people walk and walk, getting donations for how far they walk. I had a vague uneasiness about going and I didn't know why. After we got our bags and placed them on the track we began to walk. The bags created a beautiful golden light and it was an incredible scene but I began to feel more and more uncomfortable. On the second lap, the full realization of the meaning of the bags hit me and I burst into uncontrollable sobbing and tears. The pain and sorrow represented by the bags was just too much for me. After a few laps my sobbing subsided to the point that I could talk and I began to get angry. Angry at God or the creator or the flying spaghetti monster or whatever the hell it is that made us and this world. If you set out to create a world why would you create such pain, suffering, agony, despair, hatred, greed, etc? What purpose does it serve? If I were in charge I wouldn't do this. It just seems stupid. I want an answer. Do you hear me God? I want a fucking answer! Are you just an asshole, toying with us or is there a purpose for this? An explanation is not too much to ask for so let's have it. Now, damn it.


I can't say that I got an answer, but as we walked I began to see each glowing bag as two sides of the same thing. On the one hand they represent pain, suffering, and sorrow, but on the other hand they also represent hope. Hope that the pain will somehow cease. Hope that there is an explanation for all of this, that it may someday make sense. It may be that that little bit of hope is all we have to hang on to. But I still want an answer. You listening?

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/relay_for_life Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:02:00 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog Let's Party http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/lets_party Tim got me watching Treme on HBO. If you haven't seen it, it's about post Katrina musicians in New Orleans. One thing about those guys, no matter the adversity, they're always up for a party and a parade. And really, why the hell not?  I've gotten some e-mail from friends expressing concern, but really nothing's changed here. Nothing to worry about. I'm just enjoying the amazing fact that we exist at all.  When you really think about it logically, we should all be out in the streets everyday asking "Hey! What's going on here? How did we get here? What are we supposed to do now?" It really is the main question. And the answer is More Parties! More Parades!

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/lets_party Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:50:23 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog Fight Decay http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/fight_decay That's what I'm thinking. You have to fight decay. Not just tooth decay, but all decay. It's inevitable and you'll lose, but still you have to fight it. Because, really what else is there? There's just decay if you don't fight it. You have to make a choice. You have to try to make order out of the chaos because really there is no other option. Every instant you're making a choice whether you know it or not. Order vs. chaos. What if by conciously choosing order over chaos, you influence the outcome. Some sort of quantum entanglement process. What if you could do this for longer and longer periods of time and begin to feel some sort of awakening? As if you'd developed a new sense organ. But one, much more subtle than any of the others. Wouldn't that be an incredible thing that if by believing in something strong enough you could actually create what you were believing in? I want to believe that this is possible. I want to believe that it works this way. That if I believe strongly enough it become possible. For me it seems like it did.


It seemed that way, but now there's a chance it's trying to come back. Maybe there's another  fight lurking around the corner here. Am I causing this? It's possible. I admit that I miss the fight. I miss the single minded dedication. But I also feel like the fighter that won the championship but it was such a hard fight that it took something out of him and he's having a hard time getting back in the ring. But really, what choice does he have? What choice do I have? What choice do any of us have? But to fight decay.


 

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/fight_decay Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:15:07 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog Stevenson Blues Fest http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/stevenson_blues_fest Last night we played at the Stevenson Blues, Beer and BBQ Bash. It was a blast. Me, Dustin on keys, Ryan on bass and Tim on drums. We rocked pretty good and everyone wanted to know the name of the band and where they could get more info. Of course we didn't have any cards or even a band name. Another stellar moment in self promotion.

]]> http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/stevenson_blues_fest Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:24:25 -0700 - Rick Hulett - Blog New band at The Mint http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/new_band_at_the_mint http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/new_band_at_the_mint Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:11:57 -0800 - Rick Hulett - Blog The Theater http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/the_theater http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/the_theater Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:03:13 -0800 - Rick Hulett - Blog Mayers at The Mint http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/mayers_at_the_mint http://rickhulett.com/blog.html/mayers_at_the_mint Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:34:54 -0800 - Rick Hulett - Blog