A Lesson in Greatness

I think the most exciting thing about having a blog is that I get to share things that really leave a mark on me. I am a creative person often inspired by the work of others, be it words, music, visual art or something else entirely. However an overabundance of amateur work means I’m finding it increasingly hard to be impressed.

Last month, my sister came to visit for my birthday and we headed to a local bar for some cheap drinks and live music. We’d missed the first one, I think, but the two bands that followed were pretty decent, and we stuck around. The last set for the night was a local band called Verona Lights, comprised of a drummer, two guitarists and a female vocalist.

The second they started, I was lost.

I must have spent their entire 40 minute set standing there with a forgotten drink in my hand, my mouth agape. The music was dark and brooding, with soul and strength; but what got me most was that voice. Sarah (as I discovered her name to be later) sings with purity and clarity, her voice strong and absolutely captivating. She didn’t falter on a single note and her range is stunning. The lyrics have depth and are assembled into catchy hooks that get inside your head and repeat themselves. Combined with the talent of bandmates Mick, Nath and Lucas, it makes for a formidable sound.

It has been years since I was so affected by a band, and it was invigorating. The way the elements of the group complemented one another was astounding and their live presence was professional. They are the kind of group I could never get bored of watching.

Naturally, after the show, I introduced myself to Sarah as their newest groupie, and she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

These are the people that should be recognised. To be that talented, and still be grounded and humble is becoming such an uncommon thing in the music world. Children with a natural talent are finding fame through talent shows and missing out on so much of the learning experience. They don’t have to work particularly hard, don’t even have to produce anything particularly amazing in order to find their music played repeatedly on radio. Meanwhile, bands like Verona Lights are constantly practicing and improving, developing their skills, getting themselves out there and playing shows in order to be heard and yet are being overlooked.

It makes me sad when talented artists who work so hard to share their passion with the world only reach a small portion of the population, while the less-talented people just doing it for money and fame are the ones who are constantly featured in the media. It only takes a half-decent voice to sing someone else’s lyrics to someone else’s music.

Applied to literature, these are the people who are self-publishing without bothering to use an editor, or without even getting others to critique. The people who churn out half-hearted stories to match deadlines and make money, while lovers of the craft may spend years on the one novel, refining it to absolute perfection, only for it to be skimmed over for the mainstream.

In summary, I suppose my point is that talent is all around us. But we are so busy looking where we’re told to look that we miss everything else passing us by. And these things that we miss, they might be the things that would inspire us to be OUR best. The things that would push us to challenge ourselves, or our views.

Seeing Verona Lights play that night was an inspirational moment for me. I’m not a musician, but finding such amazing talent just down the road, at a bar with no cover charge, made me realise that not being recognised doesn’t mean you are not great. It just means the world hasn’t had time to figure it out yet.

You can learn more about Verona Lights here: http://www.veronalights.com/ or here: https://www.facebook.com/veronalights/info