Ryan Drums

Have you ever heard of a town called Ojai? Yeah? Neither had I until a few days ago…

<Click on this story’s header for more.>

So just the other day I came home from work and was about ready to have a nice night, go have dinner and drinks with my friends. A little low-key Hollywood outing if you will. My buddy shows up at my place at around 7:30ish and I’m like awesome, I’ll change real quick and head out. Then I get a call…

Josh “Hey, we have a show in Ojai tonight. Our drummer just texted and bailed 45 minutes ago. What are you up to tonight?”

Me “Well…I’m about to go eat dinner.”

Josh “Wanna play a show in Ojai?”

Me “Where is Ojai?”

Josh “Just north of Ventura. Like an hour and a half away.”

Me “Oh. This is one of those pack of my drums and head out right now kinda things isn’t it.”

Josh “Pretty much.”

Me “Who am I playing for? Have I met him or her?”

Josh “I don’t think so, but you can listen to the tunes on my iPod on the way up.”

Me “…”

Josh “Are you up for the challenge?”

Me “……. yes. But I’m really hungry.”

After a sincere apology to my friend and a growling tummy I left for Ojai shortly thereafter. I’m really hesitant to pull this kinda move but Josh is a good guy and a trusted guitar player. He’s always been good to me and seemed like some bad stuff happened last minute, I wanted to help out. I am however EXTREMELY reluctant to play anything else than my best in front of people who paid for a show.

However at the end of the night it was that challenge part that got me. Could I do it? Can I pull it together and play confidently after listening to songs in an hour and a half car ride to the middle of nowhere in the dead of night and rock a show?

Yes. Yes I can. I didn’t know that before this weekend but now I do.

I’m sure there will always been new things to learn and different kinds of challenges and situations that come up but it is my firm belief that it’s not the situation, rather how you handle them that’s truly relevant.

Thanks to my friend Josh Hernandez who makes rad custom pick-ups for guitars, Mitchell for letting me play what ended up being a really fun show in Ojai, and to Joanna who booked a wild show!

 A patron at the bar notified me that it was the spiritual capital of the world. Who knew?

Ojai from Ryan Wilson on Vimeo.