The first performance of 2025: a set by Wizard Hotel (Battleship-style synth battle)
Hysteria podcast host, Erin Ryan, recently coined the term “scheme-based life form” regarding Federalist Society VP Leonard Leo. 2025 has been a year of dark schemes and stratagems coming to the surface. I have to remember that I have schemes of my own for my little music world, for instance I am slowly getting back to booking my own music, rather than waiting for a call. This reminds me of something my guitar guru John Sutherland once said after I successfully played a piece for him: “It feels good to be in control of something, doesn’t it?”
When it rains it pours, and I’ve also received several rewarded performance opportunities, so I simply decided to say “yes” to everything in the spring. Well, I didn’t quite think through the rehearsal schedule for multiple projects all happening within weeks of each other. It wasn’t too bad, and I could take a day off here and there, but there were moments where I wondered when I would find the time to practice.
I do love to practice. John was right: Working on a piece of music, building dexterity for a particular passage or line, and focusing all of one’s attention on creating a truthful musical moment is satisfying. It does create a sense of control over a part of your life (albeit a small part) each day, similar to a daily meditative practice.
A beautiful lesson is that everyone has the capacity to get into this focused zone, whether through meditation, music practice, watching clouds, whatever.
Performances so far
So far this year I have performed solo electric guitar sets at Eyedrum‘s Kirkwood Ballers Club series, Majid Araim‘s Magic Lantern series , and Railroad Earth’s open mic night. It’s funny, but up to this point I haven’t made solo performance with the electric much of a priority – playing solo with electronics is still fresh to me. I look forward to more shows with this setup.
Much of the guitar music recorded for Colin’s Music Corner comes from practice sessions for these sorts of sets.
Many of my gigs this year have been closely related to my buddy Jeff Crompton and Karen’s imminent departure from Atlanta for Bellingham, Washington this fall. So if Jeff asks if I can play on something, I say yes! Particularly this year. We’ve had some great performances.
Relay Station tour: Jeff’s sangin’ group micro-tour (Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville). Moni always raises the bandstand, and the musicians follow suit.
Mary Lou Williams celebration in Edgewood: Jeff pulled all the resources together to get a historical marker installed near Mary Lou’s birthplace by the Edgewood Community Garden. A festival was proposed, and he put together a great little pickup group to play a set of instrumentals and then back the wonderful singer Tim Parrott for several songs.
Jeff Crompton’s Edgewood Big Band: This was Jeff’s third big band performance at First Existentialist in Candler Park. The first set was his original music, and the second entire set was Miles Davis’s “Great Expectations.” I played that bass line for almost half an hour, and was in a trance by the end.
“CrompFest” / “Cromp ‘n’ Stomp”: A celebration of Jeff Crompton’s music and contributions to the Atlanta music scene. Ben Shirley put this one together, and it was huge!
I may have bit off more than I could chew, playing bass and guitar as well as organizing material for three different groups in the first set and then playing in other formations in the second set. There’s a lot to dig into with his music, and ways of playing it or organizing one’s harmonic approach to it, so I guess I can simply say I got excited! Check out the selections performed by Helton & Bragg below, professionally captured by Adam Mirza and Priscilla Smith.
The community turned out, and it was a wonderful evening. Jeff was honored, a little embarrassed at all the attention, and also content in knowing his friends will continue to put together new projects, new music, and keep the flame for new music lit in Atlanta.
I’ve played several dates now with Mark Ross and the Contraptions. Mark is a kick-ass keyboardist, and a super-creative songwriter. The music is a mix of Stevie Wonder and XTC, or at least that’s how I’ve approached it on the bass.
I’ve played several dates with the Fourth Ward Afro Klezmer Orchestra / Wedding Unit. It’s been great to catch up with the fellas on these “society” dates.
Back into the corner
My podcast Colin’s Music Corner is returning in September! It will feature recent solo recordings, tracks from excursions into my external hard drive archive, and several duo sessions with my music friends old and new.
So I keep plugging away! Funny how perpetually pushing that boulder up the hill actually becomes a welcome distraction from the never-ending news cycle.
But then, I need to replenish and recharge too, and maybe let things go for a while. For me, that might mean putting the guitar down and trimming our rose bushes, picking scuppernongs, or going on a hike with friends. For others, I hope they might consider Colin’s Music Corner as a soundtrack for letting go and watching their boulder crash through the underbrush.
Colin Bragg 