house of the rising sun

so tonight was good.  sweet, sweet, good.  we had a par-tay at church tonight...tons of people, a lot of good food.  and part of the party was "bring your instrument".  well, I can't quite bring mine, but we have a keyboard & an organ [of the keyboard variety] in the building, so it was all good.  we started jamming at 7 or so and didn't end until after 9.  two hours of playing random songs and just jamming with our group.  some bluegrass, some country, some beatles, some dylan.  leonard cohan's hallelujah.  it was all good.  okay, maybe not so good when we didn't have music and it was too complicated to hear it out, but for the most part, it was all good!

it's been a long, long time since I've been able to play like that - just chilled, no pressure.  not that when I play I ever feel that pressure, but tonight was different.  I only play the piano at church for the most part - and really that's maybe once a month.  back in the day [like 10 years ago...wowzers!], I was playing three times a week - wednesday night for choir, saturday mornings for rehearsal, then sundays for choir and worship.  I played with the same five or six people over the course of about seven years.  and we would jam.  and just play. and no one had small kids, so you could just hang out.  then we left shiloh and I went to just playing once a week.  and trust me, that was a good change - three times a week made for a hectic schedule and occasionally bloody fingers.  then when we started going to next, my playing schedule went to once a month, which is really a good thing.  I play with the same group of guys every month [I am one of two girls in our little band!] and we have a good time, but we haven't played together in a long time.  so tonight was sweet.  I some times forget how therapeutic playing the piano can be.  it's good for the soul.  and good for my brain.  and I so enjoyed doing it with friends tonight.  I am grateful for the opportunity to hang out with such talented, talented musicians.  they make me a better musician.