Georgia Tech MBA

Song-A-Day February

Ya'll really need to check out The Gabe Dixon Band.  Gabe is a soulful crooner and piano player backed by his two college roommates on bass and drums.  I saw them open for Stephen Kellogg and his Sixers at Smith's Olde Bar a few months ago and thought they were amazing.  I saw Gabe and crew again at Center Stage opening for Marc Broussard.  Fabulous.  The guys are great muscisians and you can tell that they have played together for sometime.  Of course, it helps that I'm a fan of Nashville rock - especially with a piano! I received an email from the band a week or two ago where they announced Song-A-Day February where every day in February they will be releasing a "never before released" track that you can download for free.  Even if you may be opposed to MySpace, it might be worth it to get on and get some new, "alt-rock" music for free.  There are 20 days left. 

Dreaming My Life Away

I recently had the time of my life. Well, I don't know if it was the BEST time of my life, but it was pretty damn good. I was on a big boat in the middle of the ocean with friends and all the good food I could eat. The all-you-can-eat-anytime-of-day-or-night nearly qualifies as the time of my life since I have to eat all the time. However, the really stand out feature of this vacation was the fact that I was participating in the world's greatest floating music festival.

So nearly nine years ago, Sister Hazel of All For You fame, asked their promotions manager, Andy Levine, to put together a cruise where the band could hang out with their fans. I'm not sure I want to give props to the University of Florida, but I suppose one should give credit where credit is due. (Gatorade and The Rock Boat - "work 'em silly, Gators!") This year was The Rock Boat IX and the ship was bigger and fuller and more crazy than ever. I'm pretty sure a lot of people never made it back to their rooms at night.

What I loved more than anything was being a part of the music culture. It was only for a few days and it wasn't like I was hanging out with the bands all the time or performing in the random jam sessions. Don't get me wrong, I only didn't participate because I can't, not because I don't want to. Some day. Music just gets me excited and new, upcoming music gets me really excited. It's something that I feel like I can help make a difference, helping the guys who are working so hard to make it. The one thing that struck me when I was watching the incredible Stephen Kellogg play is that these guys are living the dream. They took the risk, they worked hard and their doing it. They may not have multiple cars yet or the big house, but they didn't settle for boring and maybe the thought of sitting in a cube never occurred to them.

Is there something I should be pursuing that would really get me excited everyday like that? Can I manage to put the relatively irrational fear of not being able to put food on the table aside and dream up something big? (I could always go back and live with Mom and Dad...)

Are there people out there who can say they are living the dream? Maybe now is the economic time to pursue it. There may be nothing else to loose. Do people have dreams to share with us?