To Thine Own Self Be True

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell. My blessing season this in thee.
– Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

One of the things I’ve learned over this fairly interesting life is that it is very important that you represent all of yourself, that you are as authentic as possible. It’s the “as possible” part of that that has sometimes troubled me.

For many years, I felt – and I don’t know why – that my identity as a creator, songwriter, musician, artist was somehow less legitimate than the other parts of my life. Things like my day job, my identity as a father, son, etc. all seem like they were very legitimate things to be. However, the guitarist who also created songs about the world around him, didn’t seem like it was something that I should talk about out loud.

So, for many years, I simply kept the two worlds separate. The first album I put out, I put under the band name Steeling Time. Then I put up music under my old band name Tunnel 18. It’s not that I didn’t want people to know that I did this, but I felt that my day job people wouldn’t take it seriously, and that my musician friends also would not take me seriously if I put it out.

Of course, I eventually realized that was perhaps silly. With Tales Told Out of School, I went one step further, and went ahead and let my day job, professional friends know what I was up to. This was the result:

No, of course this is not the first time that I have crossed the streams, as it were. But this was the first time I did it this broadly. I’ve certainly brought my guitar out on work trips, and it’s given me the chance to play in markets like Indianapolis, Cape May, Toronto, Red Deer, and of course, Edmonton. But letting this broad an audience into this part of my world was incredibly freeing, and it turns out, quite rewarding.

I know that I am coming at this from a point of privilege, in that I am at a point in my day job career where I am already established, and my seriousness there is unlikely to be questioned. However, I am still grateful. And I hope that maybe you can find a way of always being true to yourself as well.

Thank you as always for being on this journey with me, and I hope to see you at one of my upcoming shows soon.

-Chris

PS – Day job aside, keeping this all going still takes some doing and as a result tips are welcome and gratefully accepted. And of course, please also let me know if you have ideas of places you’d like to see me play!

And also, thank you to all who have been ordering CDs from Bandcamp! I’ve been signing the box for each. I know it’s perhaps a bit over the top, but I really do appreciate all of the support and I hope you’re finding meaning and enjoyment in the music!