Kyle Kage

Why am I afraid to get a job and work? I don’t consider myself lazy; I practice guitar and do school work almost everyday, and I always have projects in mind to accomplish. I wouldn’t say I’m not motivated, as I have big plans for a good career and a good life, and I have always been afraid of entering the “work force”. When I was 15 I figured I’d have some menial job to make ends meet while I was in school by the time I was 17, and here I am at 22 years old with no work experience really. I’ve technically had two jobs; the first was like a cashier/sales assistant at a local music store. I only worked for a total of 10 days of the course of 2 months (only worked on Saturdays). I’m not sure why the owner even hired me but I never fully learned how to operate the cash register and always felt awkward with customers. My 2nd job a couple of years later was as a peer tutor at my community college. There were times where working with people was very difficult, but overall I really did enjoy that job; the problem is there’s not much career choices for tutoring remedial math to middle aged people who’ve gone back to school. Both these jobs are pretty atypical for your average high-school/college student, which is why I feel I have no work experience, and the thought of having a “real” job scares me to death. I just have this anxiety about having to go to work everyday and messing up, doing something stupid, saying the wrong things to people and having to interact with them constantly. I’m extremely introverted, and constant contact with people I don’t know drain me significantly, and yet any basic job seems to require this. I’m in my 5th of school now, with at least one more to go, partially because I’ve been trying to avoid work all this time. I’m a musician and music major, and landing something within my interests right after school would ease my fears significantly, and is the reason why I transferred to a University in the first place. But what if I have to settle for some non-music related job? What if my only option is customer service related work? The thought terrifies me to no end, and I’ve got to find ways to cope and options out there to help me avoid this.

WILL WRITE HIT FOR CASH…

This doesn’t mean to sound conceited, but every time I watch the Grammy’s or shows like it I feel like I should be with the other artists in the audience…

It’s crazy to think that I’d have fewer classes to take from other majors towards a degree versus this music degree I’ve been working to earn for years now…

Last Fall/Eye-29 2008-2013

  So I got news from Matt’s fb status today that Eye-29 have officially broken up. I personally haven’t been a part of the band for close to 2 years now, but I gotta say as much of a role I had in my tenure it’s kind of sad to hear that the rest of the guys have called it quits. Of course at the same time, I knew they haven’t done anything outside of a few practice sessions over the last year and a half, and I’m glad Matt finally was humble enough to realize that he wasn’t gonna be a “big rock star” with the band. And I’m glad I left when I did…I’ve accomplished a lot on my own since then, even though I had to work a lot harder at it. Looking back my best times with the band weren’t the paid shows we played or the sales of our demo, but moments like the first open-mics we played at the VC restaurant and Southern Gourmet, jamming out at Tamara’s bonfires, or fooling around with cover songs and new originals in Matt and Lance’s living rooms. The times I had in the band were some of the best in my life, and I wish all the guys success in their individual careers and aspirations. Hope Matt doesn’t take this as an excuse not to hang out and catch up though, haha.

I Just realized that out of all my friends from high-school or just from the time period that played music, I’m basically the only one left still actively pursuing it…something to be proud of.

If there was a college in my state that offered a music major with a concentration in songwriting, I’d be all over it…

But there’s like, no outlet for me there academically, and it’s probably the main thing I enjoy in music. I’ve been trying justify the benefits of my classical guitar study, but I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever touch the instrument again outside of maybe teaching once I graduate…I want to be the best classical guitarist I can be while I’m in school, but I don’t want to put my songwriting aspirations on hold either…and I can’t figure out how I’ll be able to fully concentrate on both…BAH!

     Maybe I’m one of the few dinosaurs that think in these terms, but you know how you buy a CD/Album and it has a big impact on you and your life? I often think back to the music and albums I’ve collected throughout my life and how they affected. It makes me wonder, how would things be different if my friend in 9th grade didn’t give me his burned Nirvana Greatest Hits CD since he already had it? If I didn’t splurge and by The Kinks’ studio album collection from RCA records in 2007? Or if I didn’t hear Wonderall on VH1 Classic late one night over Christmas break my junior year? And I often wonder of the albums I wanted to get a certain time but didn’t. Jamie Cullum’s Catching Tales, The Academy Is’ Santi, Motorhead’s Ace of Spades…the list goes on. Could music be so powerful that something as small as purchasing an album at a certain time affect your entire life? I think so…