It’s almost been five months since I’ve moved to New York now and I’m starting to wonder where all that time went. So much has happened since then and things move so quickly here. I’ve already lived in two different apartments, played several gigs, holidays have come and gone, seasons seem to have flown by. Not to mention all of the happenings with sports, politics, world news, possible zombie attacks in Florida (still not convinced we’re safe from zombies, but that’s a blog topic for another time…). The past five months are nearly filled to the brim with news and events, but it’s in the last couple years where my life has really begun to change.
Those of you who know a little bit more about me know that the last two years have been sort of a transitional period for me. After leaving my hometown in good ol’ Central Illinois in summer of 2010, I lived in Miami, Florida for a little over a year, playing piano aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Although it was hard to be out at sea for 6+ months at a time, the experience was very good for me. With nothing to do all day but practice, I had a lot of time to better myself as a musician and learn more about my instrument.
Finishing with my ventures aboard cruise ships, I then moved to New York in February of this year and it certainly is a lot different than back home. There are more people here, taller buildings, and everything seems to be crammed together to fit into the land area roughly the size of my city of 100,000 people in Illinois. Not to mention, I don’t even remember the last time I saw a corn field. Those of you who have driven through Illinois understand what I mean. Corn field, corn field, corn field, cows, city, corn field, corn field, city, etc….
Although I sometimes miss the simpler and quiet life that was Illinois, I feel very driven to succeed here and become part of the city. Being in a great band of fellow musicians who are also driven to succeed, and having such an amazing fan base as we have has also helped me feel welcomed into this city. The past few weeks before I was officially announced into the band, I was forced to sit back and watch as all of you reach out and talk to us almost every day. It’s such a relief to finally be able to talk back to you now and connect. I’m looking forward to being able to “meet” many of you via our Facebook page, and hopefully you’ll come out to our shows as well!
As always, we appreciate all of the support from our loving fans and hope you keep up the good work! Without you, the world of performing music would be a very lonely place. Hope to see all of you very soon!
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Harrison Wade
