Future

Back in April I had my Spring Concert at SLCC with The Pencil Discussion.


The Pencil Discussion ft. Adam Potts
(Jeff, Kyle, Steve, Jonathan, Adam, Payton, Aly, Benito, not pictured Kayin on drums and Alex on Trombone)
(Photo Cred: Joy Tlou)

I was lucky enough to get to present and sing an original song in front of at least 200 people. I've played saxophone in front of a large audience before (Rice Eccles Stadium [Oct 2014], Maverick Center [June 2015] & Abravanel Hall[2012 and 2015]) but singing was a completely different experience. One that I was not ready for, nor expecting.
Sometime around November, I was toying with the idea of writing a song and performing at an open mic. I wrote down some lyrics and set the rhythm with my guitar. Something didn't seem quite right about the song, I guess maybe something was missing. I asked my friend Sierra if she could take a look at it and help me with the words. She did an incredible job and even helped by accompanying me on piano.
The song was about something really personal: my future. I want to go into music performance and I know the road is tough. I can see my end goal and I know the path and the way, yet somehow it feels like I'm not doing enough to be successful. I worry about the clarity and the certainty of this goal. Music is more than just a hobby for me, it's a way of life. I understand that my path doesn't provide stability and there will be times where money is tight, yet I know this is what I want to do. My fears extend beyond my professional path into personal life, going on about  things like possibly settling down, getting married and starting a family. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what I want other than to play music.

(Photo Cred: Joy Tlou)

Fast forward to February 2017, and I told my [now ex] boyfriend I wanted to present a song for the band, since we were both in. I told him about how I had originally written the song for me and my bass and I had no structure. He helped me by putting together a steady, unmoving beat and changed a few words so that the flow was a lot better. He had experience making rap beats, so that's essentially what we did. Musically, the song was very uneventful and a little difficult to play due to the lack of movement and variety.

(Photo Cred: Joy Tlou)

Before I knew it, April 25th had arrived and I was standing there in front of my parents and some of my friends. I opened my mouth and the words began flowing. It was not perfect. I'm not a singer, but I understand music. I got lost at some parts. The rush of energy was intense, the crowd was there. There were no changed to differentiate between the chorus and verse. I got back up and kept going at the next opportunity. Overall, I think that it was a very brave thing to do. I am not a singer, but I do love singing in the car and harmonizing with Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish. I think my career in singing is over. I am completely okay with that.

 Overall, the concert was amazing, we played some great tunes and everything seemed great.

To Future Aly: If you are reading this as you look back on your journey of where you started and where you are now, I hope you see how beneficial all of these experiences were. I also hope that you find a better way to look cool while playing the saxophone. Don't ever forget why you do this or why you love music.