Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Vin-naay speaks


Vincent Scarpitti (Vincent Carpthea in Second Life), posted a comment to the blog the other day. I decided to put it up in front here so everybody could read what he has to say.

A Message from Vinnie

Six words: "I wish I had started sooner"!

I first met Lexie Smith on Paltalk in one of the "Live Music" rooms in the early 2000's (possibly pre-911) where we became good friends and kindred musical spirits. She was a seasoned singer/songwriter trying to find an audience for her material, and I was a working professional musician trying to explore the internet for musical possibilities. 

Lexie first informed me of Second Life and its potential for acquiring a following for original music back in 2006. Neither of us were capable of exploiting that potential at that time due to the limitations of our computer systems and internet connections.

Times being what they were, I eventually lost touch with Lexie because my schedule was frantic and I had lost interest in playing/singing on Paltalk. A couple years later....at some point during 2008 (or 9) Lexie began performing in Second Life - unbeknownst to me. By then I had discovered Second Life but was ignorant to the music scene. 

Instead, I was fascinated with building things and the artistic potential for letting my inner child run free in an artistic manner with 3D computer graphics on an often flawed but seemingly amazing platform. Having learned to create "sculpt maps" with Maya software, I had just sold some raw ideas for curtains and bedding to a Second Life retailer in Caledon Victoria City (a private estate nation in SL) when I passed a gentleman on a virtual street bearing the tag "Lexie Fan" (or something of that sort) over his head. I sent this wandering stranger a private message asking who Lexie was (I already had a strong inkling) and he gave me the appropriate information to contact her in Second Life. Upon doing that, I discovered this was, in fact, the same Lexie I knew from Paltalk, so I rushed to see one of her live shows in SL, and reconnected with her, renewing our friendship and catching up in general. It was at that point she introduced me to the music of Jack Kinagree aka Zorch Boomhauer.

By then the music scene in Second Life had grown leaps and bounds, and Zorch was one of its shining stars. I was hooked on his music after the 2nd song I heard and began attending his shows regularly. At that point, Lexie and Jack performed separately from one another and supported each other as fans, but lived in different parts of the US, limiting their ability to play and write together.

I, meanwhile, in spite of having expressed an interest in playing music in Second Life, wandered away from the internet music scene once again to deal with "real life" projects and issues. Several important things happened in my life during that period. For one thing, I lost my songwriting partner and musical collaborator Jack Chesterfield, to heart failure, after having recorded seven albums together over a 10-year span of working together. Secondly, my marriage had ended and I found myself living alone in an apartment for the first time in my adult life. I had gone from living with my parents to traveling on the road in a band to a 21-year marriage. Suddenly I was a musician without a creative outlet as well as a man without a family within arm's reach. That isolation brought me back to the Second Life music scene, arriving once again in 2011 where I discovered Lexie and Zorch "together", now performing under the name Kinagree-Smith. They had recently added an accomplished world percussionist named Ira Norman Segall, and were showcasing their original material as well as some very distinct covers all over Second Life.

That, my friends, brings us pretty much up to current times. In spite of my former self, I assembled the appropriate gear to put myself "in the game" and with the help of Jack & Lexie, began doing my own shows in Second Life, performing scads of songs from my past and present, including many of the songs written during my Chesterfield days as well as a few newly-composed originals. The Kinagree-Smith troup supported me in every possible way. Another musical Second-Lifer, Maia Chrome (aka Our Girl Kia) from New Zealand began managing my bookings in SL and organizing me there (including setting me up with my own podcast stream) and to date I'm approx. 2 months old with regard to performing in Second Life.

Another of the artists I've become friends with since becoming acquainted with the Second Life music scene is called "Noma Falta" (Vallery Barbin in real life), one of SL's most popular performers, as well as an important member of the Kinagree-Smith family. In addition to being a remarkable vocalist, Noma is an accomplished bass player. Since I am a drummer by trade, we began discussing the possibility of making some special appearances with Kinagree-Smith when time permitted which might include some recording. It appears "the time is now". In two short weeks all our forces will converge upon Kinagree-Smith Central to commence with this very special musical collaboration. My heart beats with the anticipation of meeting these people "in real life" for the first time. I have already written one new song to offer up to this project titled "The Way It Goes" - so stay tuned for that! I'm suspending "The Vinnie Show" in SL during that week so I can point all my focus toward the collaboration. My only wish is that I'd started sooner as a performer in Second Life. As this convergence commences, I'm still very much "The New Guy". And so, my friends in the Ether....are you ready?!?

Much Love, Vinnie

Here is a Video of Vinnie Singing with his “Real Life ™ “ band ,”LaFlavor”. Vinnie is singing lead on this video but most of the time he's the bands Drummer.

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