Your Year in Review

[Potts]

2012 was a great year. It was easily one of the better ones- my entire life changed in one day.

I lost my job in March and my wife and I realized that I was done with my 12 year career in collections. We immediately decided that I'd return to school to get my Bachelor's degree. Between June and December I knocked out 27 credit hours and carried a 3.91 GPA.

Obviously I had to help support the family, so I took on extra gigs and formed my business Just Darrell. I added 70 gigs to my previous year's total. It was a good year for playing covers but the work took a heavy toll on the tendinitis I've been dealing with for years. My voice showed signs of wear and tear toward the end of the year as well.

My lower end Martin took a {censored} on me in May. Somehow I ended up shopping for a new guitar while being broke. I ended up with a Taylor 210CE and I hated it so much that I thought that the electronics in it were faulty. I took it back and got another one and it sucked just as bad. I ended up purchasing a 2000 Taylor 410 and fell in love with it after about 3 months. It's easily my favorite guitar I've ever had.

I spent the entire summer at home with my kids. It was one of the greatest summers of my life. Playing Mr. Mom was great and I still have another year of it. Somehow, being broke as we could be, we ended up taking three 2-3 day vacations with the kids and had a blast!

After 10+ years without a formal CD, I decided to put out a solo disc. Again somehow I've managed to do things that I can't afford while not having a standard day job. I found some great guys that really give a {censored} about my music and gave me a generous hourly price. I struggled with finding a bass player and that issue is still unresolved but I'm not worried.

My son left for Afghanistan in the later part of the year. It sucked, I was a little depressed and seriously did not want him to go. It hasn't been that bad for him other than fighting severe boredom. It hasn't been too tough on the family either. We talk VIA Facebook a few times a week and he'll be home in a few months.

I opened myself up to giving away more music for free. I found out how {censored}ty breast cancer can be. Three people I know were diagnosed this year and although I'm not overly close with all of them, it hit me hard. If my schedule allows it I'm trying to do as many benefits as I can for free.

I sit here at 8am drinking coffee, on break from college, and I'm just about to get my 7 year old up for school. I'll celebrate 18 years of marriage this year, my son will return from war, I'll graduate from college and release my CD. My family and I are loving my new role and I've never been happier. I can honestly say that if you find a portion of the happiness that I found in my 43rd year of life, you'll be doing OK.

Thanks for reading!

[SLScott86]

Chronologically, not in order of importance:

The band put out our first music video. It was a product of one of the greatest weekends of my life, and as such, is the thing I'm most proud of as a musician. It's in the link in my Sig, I don't need to post it for the umpteenth time.

The band played for a large number of people for a TV broadcast later this month. This will likely surpass the video as a source of pride, but I haven't seen the finished product. I saw a rough edit and was satisfied with the performance, so I think it will be extremely cool.

I got married. They say it's the best day of your life. It is.

I played an open Mic. Not a big deal, but in my case it was. I was ill-prepared. I messed up to often. And for three songs, that just wasn't acceptable. But my voice still stood out from what other people were doing, and it got me thinking that I could and should be great. So I'm really pursuing it now.

I stopped talking and booked a gig. I was still me- with my screwups and a slave to my sheets. But having gigs on the books makes me work on it, and people had a good time.

I had what should have been the worst week of my life. On the way home from my parents' house, where my dad told us he had cancer that had made it to his spine, I hit a deer and totaled my car. Then I said goodbye to my Grandma that weekend before she passed away s couple days later. In the month since, we've learned that the cancer is a treatable, if likely not curable form of bone cancer, so there is still potentially time on the clock. There's hope.

[Potts]

Originally Posted by SLScott86

Chronologically, not in order of importance:

The band put out our first music video. It was a product of one of the greatest weekends of my life, and as such, is the thing I'm most proud of as a musician. It's in the link in my Sig, I don't need to post it for the umpteenth time.

The band played for a large number of people for a TV broadcast later this month. This will likely surpass the video as a source of pride, but I haven't seen the finished product. I saw a rough edit and was satisfied with the performance, so I think it will be extremely cool.

I got married. They say it's the best day of your life. It is.

I played an open Mic. Not a big deal, but in my case it was. I was ill-prepared. I messed up to often. And for three songs, that just wasn't acceptable. But my voice still stood out from what other people were doing, and it got me thinking that I could and should be great. So I'm really pursuing it now.

I stopped talking and booked a gig. I was still me- with my screwups and a slave to my sheets. But having gigs on the books makes me work on it, and people had a good time.

I had what should have been the worst week of my life. On the way home from my parents' house, where my dad told us he had cancer that had made it to his spine, I hit a deer and totaled my car. Then I said goodbye to my Grandma that weekend before she passed away s couple days later. In the month since, we've learned that the cancer is a treatable, if likely not curable form of bone cancer, so there is still potentially time on the clock. There's hope.

Wow man! That is an incredible year! I wish you and your family nothing but the best in kicking cancer's ass!!!!!