While the music is enjoyable for all music lovers, it seems that probably more than half the audience is composed of musicians, many of them professionals themselves. It’s that good!

My wife and I try to get there whenever possible, even though that means a hundred mile drive each way. When we can’t get there, the live streaming saves the day.

The article mentions some of the great performers, such as Wendy Waldman and Jack Tempchin, who play there occasionally. But there are also many others who keep coming back on a fairly regular basis.

Some of these include James Lee Stanley, Freebo, Stephen Bishop, Aaron Wolfson and more.

Our particular favorite is Severin Browne with the 1st Friday Band. On the first Friday of each month (8/6/10 coming up!), Severin and his crew “start it up.”

The 1st Friday Band usually consists of Gary Popenoe (harmonica), Alex Del Zoppo (piano), Mike Bisch (bass), Jeff Kossack (percussion) and David Stone (drums and uke).

For those in the Southern California area, Kulak’s Woodshed is located at 5230 1/2 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood.

If you can’t make it in person, but sure to catch the webcast … the links are in the article above. (Won’t be there myself this month … got a gig!)

- Brian, Tips For The Band admin

I wish I had the definitive answer and advice for you about procrastination. Like you, and like many creative (and not so creative) people, I also have a problem with procrastination. But is it really procrastination or is it that there’s always something else more pressing that needs to be done? (At least that’s what I always claim.)

In other words, you need to prioritize … and commit.

A few years ago, when a songwriting workshop my wife and I regularly attended was discontinued, my wife made a commitment to write a song a day, without fail. She now has several hundred lyrics written.

By consistently writing everyday, whether it was good or not, she has progressed from very amateurish and awkward lyrics to where she now writes very creatively.

Of course, some of these are junk, but many are gems. Now she’s working on picking the best and adding music. (Lyrics were her weak point … she’s a very capable musician.) She stuck to her goal, now the goal needs to be moved to the next level.

So … here goes …

Make a list of your goals, and then take a look at how you’re spending your time. This will show you what your priorities really are.

Do you spend hours surfing the web? Then that’s a priority. Is it really important to you? No? Then make an effort to spend your time on your real priorities.

Take that list of goals, prioritize them, and make a commitment to work on the top one or two every day.

If you have time, rotate through the other goals, doing them on a less frequent, but still steady, basis.

The main thing is to take control of your life, and take action … really DO something.

I’ll finish here with a related quote from American author/editor Peter De Vries: “I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning”

- Brian, TipsForTheBand.com