The Purple Dragonfly - ProfilesArchive

About Me

The Purple Dragonfly is basicly about my own illusion to get back into playing the drums again after not doing it for so long... It's about having a dream for a change... A change that's more natural & meant to be. A change that benefits everyone in some way to live true to themselves. Life ~ is ~ Music. When it's Good... ~ IT'S ~ GOOD.So, here's the deal, we headed back to Pagosa Springs CO for another quick weekend getaway & stayed at the same place as we did the last trip for our anniversery last month. This time we stayed there an extra day. For me, this trip wasn't anywhere near as relaxing as it was the last trip when it was just Shannon & I. At one possible breaking point where I was just on the verge of busting off into total zen, I suddenly was being bothered by three grown people begging me to come out of the hot springs for a solid hour, saying "Come on Chuck! Let's go!" & my reply... It was always the same... "Ok. Just 5 More Minutes Ok." Felt like a little kid who wouldn't come out of the pool & the strangers there were probably thinking, man what a big baby brat! But you know what...? I don't care! I didn't want to go! I was about to totally relax! But the stares kept getting meaner & meaner & it got to the point where the relaxation wasn't gonna come back no matter how hard I tried, so I played along & got out of the hot springs & against my better judgement let everyone run my life as usually is the case. Drip. Drip. Ugggghhh. The first night there, we ate at Boss Hoggs & Derek ate the biggest steak on their menu & the waiter's eyes about fell out of his head when he saw the plate clean! The next night Shannon talked us all into going to eat at Tequila's outside on their patio overlooking the hot springs resort. It was actually really very nice. We also drove out to see Treasure Falls earlier in the day which was located about 15 miles outside of Pagosa Springs where Jessica suddenly turned into a real Rambo leading us all up a treacherous 3/4 mile hike about 800 feet more in elevation to the little Falls. It was a nice little trek, ...but man is the air thin up there for us out of shape drummers! Whoa! But was it ever cool standing underneath that little 105 foot drop falls. Burrr!!! The last day in Pagosa Springs we checked out & headed over to Durango CO to spend the afternoon in the shops downtown & we ate at some little busy place that was really cool. I don't remember the name of it... But the Fish & Chips there was really good! Chomp. Chomp. The drive back to Albuquerque was beautiful. We got rained on & saw several Rainbows along the way as we watched the sun set in the west on the way home. We stopped off at one gas station where I heard some very loud chirping coming from this one little tree that was beside the highway there & I tried to get a picture of all the little birds in the tree but they didn't seem to want to pose for my camera. Oh well... If you look at the picture of the tree, just try to imagine 20,000 little birds or more chirping away in it. So, now here I am, home... & I really need to relax!!! GrrrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr...! I need a vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!At the Albuquerque Zoo ~ 8/17/2008:

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 7/1/2007
Band Members: My Sons & I:The SONGS & JAMS posted here are home-made recordings made recently with both my sons playing the guitar for me. We used Audacity & one $24 USB microphone plugged into a laptop - Nothing fancy"THE RAIN SHINES ON" was a song recorded with my youngest son Derek in Sept of 2006."CONFLICT" was a jam I recorded with my oldest son Nick in Feb of 2007 soon after he returned from a second tour in Iraq.Beyond that, I've just been busy lately ripping home videos from an old VHS tape captured from my younger days with the Local Bros (An air-guitar & Lipsync tribute band you might say) during the 80's.Editing my old videos hasn't been at all productive to my physical drumming, but it certainly has been giving me a lot of ideas so when I do get back to my drums, I can create some new stuff... Soon I hope! I'm working towards it!7/14/2008 - Nick showed up outta the blue wanting to jam & Derek just happened to be here...So... I wiped the dust off of my drums & we captured a few interesting sounds from our noise session together trying to get into a vibe.This really was a rare treat because I've always wanted us 3 to do some songs together, which we've yet to ever do!Our last jam session shows some shred of hope & gives Nick & I an excuse to brush up & play more to keep up with ol' Buckethead-Megadeth Boy (Derek) who's about the only one of us now who plays his guitar on a regular basis. 7-14-2008 JAMS: "HUMAN LIKE AN ALIEN FROG" - Inspired Van Halen riff Derek just tossed at Nick & I and we tried...! "COOL HAND PAW" - Sorta creepy progressive jam which ends with some ol' Black Sabbath riff that the boys sprung on me outta no where! "TOPODABOTTOM" - Off the cuff progressive type jam with some interesting twists & Nick's comment at the end makes me laugh everytime! You had to have seen his face!! "FLOATIN ON A RAZOR BLADE" - Another off the cuff progressive type jam that starts slow, shows some real hope, & then sorta flails at the end thanks to me not being used to the knub on my right bass pedal. After this last noise session, my sons actually got together & put together an original song... Then on 8-21-2008 - I finished adding some drums into it. We made history... This is the first song with all three of us together in the same song!!!! We haven't actually committed to a name for the song yet so, until Derek or Nick come up with some lyrics for this, the name of the new instrumental piece is..."IN A HEARTFELT WAY"
Lead Guitar - Son - Derek
Rhythm Guitar - Son - Nick
Drums - Chuck Skinner (with Derek's percussion device doing most the driving)Check more of my videos at: www.youtube.com/thepurpledragonfly
Influences: Too many to list them all here. Musicians from all genres of music who have dreamed & experienced enough to tell their story & share their feelings by way of sound. Sounds that inspire others who might listen to their music, music which was more than likely influenced by the music of others who had inspired them to sing & play. To live is music... It's all connected.Also ~ All you musicians who don't actually play music in the typical sense of the word by playing some musical instrument as an extension of yourself, but you've still managed to create & play your own unique song through some example of living by your own talents that inspires others to go beyond just dreaming some dream to actually live out their dream too. Be it the same dream, or a different one. Albert Einstein would be an extraordinary example of this type of "musician" for having a talent for science & an incredible imagination.Watch a few more of the musical influences that were shared with friends in the 1980's... Check out my videos at: www.youtube.com/localbros
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None

My Blog

WON'T YOU TAKE ME TO... FUNKY TOWN!!!

Check out my recordings and let me know what you think! Ok. I just found out that myspace has karaoke. So I did an Elvis & Shannon did Some Barbara Streisand. lol Is this fricken c...
Posted by The Purple Dragonfly on Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:50:00 PST