Free Spirit and Passion

The Band of Heathens latest album, their first studio album, hit the stores last Tuesday. This band of talented individual musicians from Austin, Texas kind of just found each other and instantly clicked. One of their members is a guy I know and have a great deal of admiration for... Ed Jurdi. I met Ed through a mutual friend, watching him do gigs at the Tin Palace, Dolphin Striker, and any number of little bars and pubs throughout the Portsmouth/Durham, New Hampshire area. Those were some fun nights, hanging outside on those patio decks on warm summer nights with friends sipping on adult beverages and listen to Ed belt out his own original works and the occasion cover of a Van Morrison or Black Crowes classic.

I've always thought Ed had a lot of guts and heart, and these qualities definitely come through in his music. He's a free spirit in every sense of the word. You really need to have a love for music to make your life from it. He'd play two or three gigs a week, sometimes for not much more than beer money or a small cover at the door. Countless weekends, smoky bars (yes you can still smoke in NH), and packing and unpacking the equipment for those few bucks he was making and for his music. Eventually he and his wife moved to Austin, a hot bed of live music to make more of a mark. Bigger bars, more attention, and the happen chance meeting of Gordy Quist and the rest of the guys who would make up The Band of Heathens.

I often wish I had the free spirit and passion of Ed Jurdi. His creativity, writing skills, and of course musical talent is inspiring. It may be a job and what puts food on the table for him and his family, but it's also a passion and that's something missing from my life. I've always thought that I would be a much happier person if I had more of these qualities. Unfortunately, I know I could never live comfortably without the security of a regular paycheck. I'm enough of a wreck knowing that direct deposit is coming every two weeks. I used to love what I do, but the bloom is off the rose and now it's just a job... living paycheck to paycheck. There's no passion in playing referee between difficult employees, creating yet another spreadsheet, or signing purchase orders. It's become void of any free spirit, creativity, passion and therefore any fulfillment.

I sit here tonight, putting out these words listening to Ed and the Heathens. I tear up a little, yearning for those peaceful nights with friends at the "TP", the total absence of free spirit in my makeup, and for the passion that has been slowly worn away in my life. This blog is my small chance to be creative and to bring some of what is left of my inner passions to the surface. I hope it moves you the way Ed Jurdi does for me.