They Sang As They Slew: a New-Old rehearsal space

[Introductory note: As I was writing the following post, I realized that I may not have explained clearly that I am a part of a rock band called They Sang As They Slew. We formed in Toccoa, GA, and were originally known as Canary. We are currently signed and have released two albums on Northern Records. I also am a part of a now-ancient rock band called Luxury, which has released records with Tooth and Nail, Bulletproof and Northern. I will try to provide some more back story for both of these entities in the future...]

Sunday night (9/21) was our first night practicing again since we were unceremoniously ejected from our previous practice space of ten years in late August. "Ejected" is probably too harsh a word. We were located in John West's building in downtown Toccoa for about ten years, using different rooms in different parts of the building. He charged us practically no rent and was very patient with the presence of a rock band in his office space for that whole time. He truly was a patron of the arts, whether intentionally or unintentionally. We owe him a debt of gratitude.

Nonetheless, we weren't all that happy to be given two weeks notice to move out, essentially without any warning. But that's the way things work, I suppose. For me, these sorts of changes
seem to coincide with bigger life changes, and sometimes unexpectedly. Yesterday, I gave our parish priest a reference form to be filled out by him and sent to St. Vlad's as part of my application process. If accepted, my life in TSATS is probably over, which leaves me with a sort-of empty feeling in my stomach. What will the guys do? How will they take it when they see a definite point in the future that denotes the end of my being in the band? I can hardly believe that this is a possibility myself. I have been in bands since I was seventeen. Literally two decades of rock have been generated with my fingers and the sweat of my brow. The greater majority of that time has been spent in Canary/TSATS. This is both a wonderful and difficult time for me. Change is always wonderful in it's expectation and difficult in it's termination.

But back to the new practice space... About ten years ago, our drummer's dad allowed us to use a part of his basement (which he subsequently sound-proofed) as a rehearsal space. Now, our drummer is renting that house from his parents and we find ourselves back in that same room. Aaron and I spent much of our first practice remembering that time ten years ago. Strange, strange, strange. So many feelings and memories tied in with that short period, and they all sort of percolate beneath the surface when re-encountering that old, familiar space. It seems so much smaller, now!