The Bobby Rock Newsletter #113 (7-23-24) - Midsummer Madness and Mindfulness!
The Bobby Rock Newsletter #113 (7-23-24) - Midsummer Madness and Mindfulness!
 |
Note: If you subscribed to my site some time ago, but this is the first Newsletter you are receiving—so sorry. We just discovered a glitch in the "machine" and fixed it this afternoon. You should be golden from here on out.
Hey Everyone - As always. thanks so much for taking the time to scope this thing. Clearly, it's summertime around here, which means lotsa travel, tons of shows, and a little sleep here and there. We are fully in motion, and I am grateful for all this high-volume activity, which is spinning together all of these unforgettable moments and memories. Just trying to stay "present"... which actually takes practice! Let's step into it... In This Issue:
+++++ Note: Been working on an extensive blog post/article about my recent trip to Africa. This piece is shaping up nicely with lots of writing, pics, and vids of the experience. Should have it dialed in for our next issue!  With our gorilla trackers in the mountains of Rwanda. Not sure if they understood the whole "rockin' horns" hand gesture thing, but they sure were good sports about it! _______________ Mindfulness and the Meditation Connection For those who have been following along, you may recall I've been engaged in a consecutive-days-of-meditation streak on my trusty Calm app. So far, so good. Just hit the four-year mark a couple days before my b-day.  And again, I ask, "Why?" "Is it worth it?" "Would it really matter if I missed a day?" "How much longer should I fuck with this?" etc. And again, I say, "Yes, it's worth it." As I've always maintained, anytime we are engaged in a practice we're serious about, it's always a good idea to tie numbers into it. For example: knock out x-number of workouts per week; practice the drums x-number of hours per week; run x-number of miles per week; write x-number of words per week; meditate at least 1X per day, for x-number of years (to be determined!). Truly, the numbers don't lie. They might not always convey "quality of reps," but they do convey "quantity of time in the cockpit," so to speak, engaging that thing. This matters. And while we can't expect every session (whatever the practice) to be stellar, we can't expect any session to be stellar that never happened. It's a numbers game, a matter of odds. If we can get our asses in the batter's box every day, odds are, we will improve... especially if our time of engagement is intentional and deliberate. So what's the primary benefit of a daily meditation practice? I would say, a stronger, calmer mind, that is more readily capable of concentration and focus. And this, to me, leads us to the ultimate endgame of meditation, which is its unparalleled contribution to the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is essentially about proactively controlling the filter of how you perceive things in your world. This involves the ability to proceed through your day with a high degree of intentionality and awareness, but also, without caving in to all of the knee-jerk, emotional impulses that flare up when things aren't going the way we like. This takes a strong mind, which is to say, a mind that can consciously override those "mindless" and always regrettable first reactions. And hence, this is one of the key ways that meditation comes into play. Meditation is basically the art and practice of controlling or directing your inner thoughts... even as that "monkey mind" onslaught of distraction conspires against you. In this way, the inner battle of resistance that we feel is not unlike the resistance we experience with all of the heavy weights we attempt to lift in the gym. The more we practice the heavy lifting, the greater capacity we develop to lift more weight, for more reps.  And so it is in the mental game of mindfulness. With an iron mind, strengthened through the heavy lifting of meditation, we are able to consciously choose how we wish to filter an experience, what we choose to read into any moment and, perhaps most importantly, how we choose to react—or not—to people, situations, or circumstances we find challenging. After all, here's what we know about impulsive, emotional reactions: they are almost always ill-advised, because they do not originate from the higher-minded part of our brain. Instead, they tend to bubble up from our raw, lizard brain, which is notoriously primal and one-dimensional with, at best, practical use in only the rarest fight-or-flight of occasions. We simply do not employ our most rational or intelligent thinking from this hemisphere, so when faced with something upsetting, it is crucial that we keep our mouth closed, let the emotion settle, then put some neurons on the situation from a more evolved part of our brain a bit later... which is what usually happens in the aftermath of one of our childish outbursts, once we've thought things through. And this brings us back to the practice of meditation and evaluating its true, in-the-trenches value. Most any practitioner can maintain a sense of that calm "Zen Master" tranquility when all is going well: There are no immediate worries or concerns, the weather is beautiful, you are in a favorable environment with agreeable people, and enjoying pleasant interactions. No problem. But remember, it's not these kind of scenarios that we "practice" for. We need to be able to maintain our composure and remain intentional, even in the eye of the hurricane when all hope for harmony is slipping off the rails. We may not always succeed (I certainly don't!), but with a good meditation practice, we stand a better-than-average chance of "repping the Zen" in a most respectable way. So, yes, onward with the streak, I say! There is still much practice to be done... _______________ A Picture's Worth...: My Kid's First Drum Kit!
Longtime friend, colleague, and guitarist for Warrant, Joey Allen, has gifted our 18-month old son his first drum kit... and what a hell of a gift it was! We set it up right next to "dada's" at-home practice room kit. This will facilitate "lessons," jams, and our first duet, which we'll be working on shortly: a modified version of Frank Zappa's "The Black Page" drum solo. (Drum-nerd humor: Google for context.)  Our kid has been bangin' on shit since he could hold two sticks, from several small toy-style "kits," to sitting on my lap on occasion and hitting dada's drums. But upon my setting up this new kit for him, he really took to taking a seat and striking all the drums and cymbals with great joy and wonder. And although mom and I have no attachment or expectation as to whether he will become a drummer or not, we love seeing him light up at the discovery of all the various "angelic" tones of God's chosen instrument: the drums! Seriously, though, I can't tell you how impressed I am with this Pearl Roadshow Junior drum kit. IT IS NOT A TOY! These are real drums, with real heads, and real hardware and cymbals... just smaller sizes. But the kit sounds decent, and even the 16" bass drum has a surprisingly nice thump to it. Plus, everything fits neatly into one large box, and set-up is a breeze. Bad-ass! A great first kit, for sure. Thanks again, Uncle Joey! We are thrilled and grateful. _______________ On the Road with Lita Ford: Happy Birthday in Grand Ronde, OR - 7-13-24
I had the good fortune of celebrating yet another birthday on the road this year. (Love when that happens.) The gig was at the Spirit Mountain Casino, an hour or so outside of Portland. Started off in the AM with a nice workout at the hotel weight room. Focused on upper-body pushing movements for chest, shoulders, and triceps:  +++++ Here's what I posted on social that afternoon, after my morning run. Ran a solid five miles in the clean and beautiful Oregon air:  From this morning’s run… gettin’ ready to thrash that shit tonight here near Portland. Thanks for all the wonderful birthday greetings today, everyone. There’s nowhere else I would rather be than on the road playing a show. And a special shout-out birthday greeting to my beloved, Kari Wahlgren, with whom I share a birthday. (Yes, it’s true!) I wish you and “the big man“ were here with me tonight… +++++ Here's a view from the "office" during soundcheck. Cool room!  +++++ A Tale of Two Techs
The legacy continues! The legacy of world-class drum techs, that is. That's my longtime tech, Cubby Hubschmitt, in the middle there, with my current tech, Chip Rainone, on the left.  Cubby was my tech for over 30 years, starting from the VVI days in '88, all the way through virtually every major record and tour I did up until a few years ago, when he entered a sort of "semi-retirement." He is my brother-from-another, the Master, the Cub-Man, the Cubster... infamous throughout the industry. The hard miles we've traveled and full scope of the ups-and-downs we've been through together would be hard to articulate. There is only ONE of this guy, and anyone who knows him, knows this. Chip is a "new school," bad motherfucker who's been kicking ass and taking names every night on the Lita Ford gig for almost a year now. He is an absolute pro: the tuning of the drums, pinpoint set-up, and even my in-ear monitor mix, are all so scary accurate that I barely tweak anything... just step behind the drums and start wailing. He's also a kick-ass drummer in his own right and, like Cubby, a cool character who everyone loves having around on the road. Cubby was in the Portland area on on my b-day and dropped by to surprise us. That he did! So crazy that the Cub was hired in Seattle and did his first full show with me in Portland 36 years ago! Kind of a full-circle moment... and so happy I was able to get both of these guys in a shot together. +++++ Visiting with friends after the set. That's Patrick McCormick on the far right there, dropping in from the Portland area. I recently played on his new record, so he brought me a copy of the disc (which was just released) that night. It's under the band name, "Saints Crossing." Cool stuff, featuring Bruce Kulick (Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad), Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister), and a host of other killer players. We had a blast tracking it with Bobby Ferrari in Vegas.  +++++ B-Day Treats!  My lame ass was so stoked about the vegan cupcakes—and also some vegan doughnuts that the McCormick gang brought me—that I didn't get a decent commemorative photo of either! The gang always takes care of my vegan dessert preferences on these special occasions. And although Portland is a pretty progressive town where vegan food is concerned, some of these other cities we wind up in are not, so I'm always impressed when our tour manager, Debi, can track this shit down! She even finds vegan desserts for me (and also Lita, who tends to prefer the non-dairy aspect of vegan treats) when we celebrate someone else's birthday. Always appreciated! +++++ Of course, I couldn't indulge too much, as I still had one more workout to knock out. This one was after midnight, back at the hotel gym, working on pulling movements for back, traps, and biceps:  We had an early lobby call the next morning because we had an early flight to Fort Wayne, IN for our next show. But what else is new? This is part of why I train at crazy hours: so my body stays acclimated to dealing with stress under minimal sleep. But also, because I just love to train at odd hours! A memorable birthday, for sure... _______________ To sign up for this Newsletter and/or to scope back issues, click HERE. _______________ Thanks again, everybody. Connect soon!
Until then, BR
_______________
_______________ |
