Today I had the big honor of being part of a project of Kris Whitenack. Kris is one of my dear friends, and is pretty much the reason I am out here in the Triangle. Kris has been “in the lab” with some truly original songs, and today I appeared in the studio to sing on one of them.
The whole experience was a pleasure from start to finish, and I was reminded of how fulfilling it is to be a part of someone else’s creative process. To show up and bring forth your best self for someone’s creation, as if it is your own, is a magical feeling, to be sure.
Afterwards, I felt a great sense of accomplishment – like I had been a part of something. Something that was bigger than myself. I felt like there were new frontiers to be explored, new places to go, but that being in the studio for Kris paved the way for whatever was to come next.
It seems to me that this feeling, of showing up and offering a contribution to a process involving any number of other people, is the very definition of not being “boxed in.” Going back to the last entry, artists can get “boxed in” any number of ways. The way I last wrote about was getting caught up in the conception of how the Art should be, which usually comes from influences outside of us (teachers, fellow Artists, trends, and techniques, to name a few). Another way could be to “play it safe” and not stray too far from what one supposes is acceptable or low-risk.
But to be a force in a collaborative process is a great way to start to get out of the “box.” You, along with all of the other collaborators, are involved in something that is greater than the sum of its parts, and that is about the best way to ensure that true innovation can start to take place.
I was honored and thrilled to experience this today, and even more thrilled to be writing about it. To me, this is what being an Impresario is all about – engaging in a creative process with other Impresarios, and then documenting the experience.
If any of this resonates, send me an e-mail: piersonkeatingmusic@gmail.com.
