After my last post i realized that i had spoken about the second leg of the tour as if I had told you all about the first leg, which I hadn't. So, I shall tell you about it.
It was wonderful...awful and rainy, but great. Our first three shows were rained out, but we were redeemed by Ithaca. My guitar malfunctioned in Dansville and we had to travel to Canandaigua a day early but an amazing family saved us. We saw a laser show in Rochester and stayed with my dads cousin, and played a barn party on the Cornell University student farm. Everything went wrong, but everyone we met was more than willing to offer all the help they could. Vendors, if not always customers, at all the markets were grateful to have us there and showered us with praise, help and well-wishes. Everywhere we went we were greeted with offers of food and shelter, which we sometimes accepted and sometimes went without and camped. The night we camped an army of spiders took up residence on dave's djembe case and I winced each time i took a sip of the water we purified from the stream in fear of getting giardiasis again.
There are more stories than i care to type (as i'm not on my laptop, i'm on the computer at the home of the family i nanny for and their keyboard is quite different feeling than what i'm used to). I can't even begin to explain what it was like. That tour was everything one could want out of a first tour. There was tragedy, victory, fights, even profit and a spread of our music, particularly in ithaca where we sold about ten CDs in one day between the Farmers Market and our show at the Dilmun Hill barn (which we recorded, by the way, and will hopefully have a few tracks from on myspace soon-ish),and, of course, a grand finale. The show at Dilmun Hill was so good an end to the tour that dave and I came home a day early instead of playing in Vestal and Endicott.
We missed whitney point, johnson city, endicott, vestal, canandaigua and auburn all because of rain, we played at Florida, greece, rochester and dansville as scheduled, and unexpectedly played the commons in ithaca, Juna's Cafe in ithaca, the Ithaca Farmers Market and Dilmun Hill farm. Ithaca basically ruled our world, but Rochester was pretty cool to. We have a show in October because of a CD we dropped off at spot coffee in Rochester while we were there.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that the weekend before all of this started on tuesday we played in Brockport at Java Junction (very very good show, nice town, cool audience) where we will be playing again in october that same weekend. We stayed in Ithaca (obviously, right?) that night (almost ran out of gas driving between cayuga and seneca lakes and then were saved by a godly gas station in Ovid...who even knew there was an Ovid?) and played Oneonta (awesome market) and cooperstown (good market, touristy town beyond belief where there is no escape from baseball kitch) the next day.
Okay, i can't type anymore, except that that's a lie because i could type forever. Why i'm a musician and not a secretary I don't know. I think i'd be good at it. I can type quite fast. Anyway, the point was that i'm not going to say anything else about the tour right now because i've lost my train of thought. I'm also afraid to dig myself into a hole of too much detail i won't be able to get out of before my charge here wakes up.
*poof*
*C*
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Markets round Dos.
Going on tour, seeing what there is to see, spreading your music, is always a good experience...but not always as good as other good experiences of a similar nature.
The first long leg of our farmer's market tour behind us, Dave and I embarked on the southern section with high hopes for humankind and the sorts of people we'd meet and experiences we'd had. There was such an outpouring of support and love for us and what we were doing on the central/western tour, that we could only assume a similar atmosphere would prevail when we traveled south of Albany.
It's not to say that the tour wasn't profitable, we saw amazing places, made some money and exposed a lot of people to Almost Awake. New Paltz was a superb town, where we played to a joyous audience at the Mudd Puddle Cafe, I swear I saw Pete Seeger in Beacon, and White Plains seems like a whole new place now that i've seen both the westchester mall and the working-class people at the farmers market. But all the same, the energy wasn't in this tour that flowed so freely through the entirety of the other leg. It was very hour to hour, joy or despair. This was more steady. There were ups and downs, but they were less extreme in both directions, and people in general didn't seem as into the purpose of our tour or the presence of our music.
A perfect example is Sandy Hook Connecticut. The person who booked us to play was so accomodating and happy to have us that she offered her pool house for us to stay in. When it turned out that she would be in NYC for the dates we'd be there, she decided to book us a room at a hotel. The hotel was the fanciest, most amenity-saturated place i've ever stayed, and the recreation center as well as cable, WiFi and free cookies and coffee provided more entertainment and fun than I could have imagined. We were also told that everyone in Sandy Hook was looking forward to our performance and that we would be recieved quite favorably. This seemed to explain the gracious treatment on the part of the market manager, but wasn't actually true. The people at the market only responded luke-warmly to our appearance, and although a number of people tipped us, not many stopped to listen, clapped, or bought CDs. Even the Assistant Manager didn't do much more than tell us where it was okay to set up. The market having been the highlight of our tour looking forward, it ended up being the turning point that brought us home early in the end.
Dave and I decided, after a similar situation in White Plains that Beacon and Mudd Puddle were the best part of the originally scheduled tour and the prevailing trend was downward at that point. We were four days in and we decided to change up the next four. We still played in Arlington, but took friday off and spend Saturday and Sunday at markets close to home that we knew would rock a lot.
Saturday was Troy...and it was awesome despite a little rain late in the day. It's great to be playing and see friendly familiar faces meeting and greeting each other, stopping by to say hello and visiting their favorite vendors for their weekly re-stock of produce.
Today was Cambridge, which is just the most giving market i've ever seen. I think we recieved tips in the form of goods from over half the vendors at the end of the market, and a good portion of the patrons stopped to listen or sit at the picnic table next to our tent and soak in the sound. It sprinkled and misted for our first two sets but no one was detered, and the third set was gorgeous.
So, that's the story of the farmers market tour, leg 2. Dave and I still have Manchester VT next week, as well as Ballston Spa (our last chance to play it without rain). Lets keep our fingers crossed that those two towns can appreciate some fin local music to brighten their natural shopping expedition.
*C*
The first long leg of our farmer's market tour behind us, Dave and I embarked on the southern section with high hopes for humankind and the sorts of people we'd meet and experiences we'd had. There was such an outpouring of support and love for us and what we were doing on the central/western tour, that we could only assume a similar atmosphere would prevail when we traveled south of Albany.
It's not to say that the tour wasn't profitable, we saw amazing places, made some money and exposed a lot of people to Almost Awake. New Paltz was a superb town, where we played to a joyous audience at the Mudd Puddle Cafe, I swear I saw Pete Seeger in Beacon, and White Plains seems like a whole new place now that i've seen both the westchester mall and the working-class people at the farmers market. But all the same, the energy wasn't in this tour that flowed so freely through the entirety of the other leg. It was very hour to hour, joy or despair. This was more steady. There were ups and downs, but they were less extreme in both directions, and people in general didn't seem as into the purpose of our tour or the presence of our music.
A perfect example is Sandy Hook Connecticut. The person who booked us to play was so accomodating and happy to have us that she offered her pool house for us to stay in. When it turned out that she would be in NYC for the dates we'd be there, she decided to book us a room at a hotel. The hotel was the fanciest, most amenity-saturated place i've ever stayed, and the recreation center as well as cable, WiFi and free cookies and coffee provided more entertainment and fun than I could have imagined. We were also told that everyone in Sandy Hook was looking forward to our performance and that we would be recieved quite favorably. This seemed to explain the gracious treatment on the part of the market manager, but wasn't actually true. The people at the market only responded luke-warmly to our appearance, and although a number of people tipped us, not many stopped to listen, clapped, or bought CDs. Even the Assistant Manager didn't do much more than tell us where it was okay to set up. The market having been the highlight of our tour looking forward, it ended up being the turning point that brought us home early in the end.
Dave and I decided, after a similar situation in White Plains that Beacon and Mudd Puddle were the best part of the originally scheduled tour and the prevailing trend was downward at that point. We were four days in and we decided to change up the next four. We still played in Arlington, but took friday off and spend Saturday and Sunday at markets close to home that we knew would rock a lot.
Saturday was Troy...and it was awesome despite a little rain late in the day. It's great to be playing and see friendly familiar faces meeting and greeting each other, stopping by to say hello and visiting their favorite vendors for their weekly re-stock of produce.
Today was Cambridge, which is just the most giving market i've ever seen. I think we recieved tips in the form of goods from over half the vendors at the end of the market, and a good portion of the patrons stopped to listen or sit at the picnic table next to our tent and soak in the sound. It sprinkled and misted for our first two sets but no one was detered, and the third set was gorgeous.
So, that's the story of the farmers market tour, leg 2. Dave and I still have Manchester VT next week, as well as Ballston Spa (our last chance to play it without rain). Lets keep our fingers crossed that those two towns can appreciate some fin local music to brighten their natural shopping expedition.
*C*
Friday, June 02, 2006
Heaven or Massachusetts
I forgot to say that we booked two shows in Massachusetts at the Dreamaway Lodge in Becket. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it's surreally wonderful. June 18 and July 30
All over the place
Alplaus, Coxsackie, Cambridge...we're going to be all over the place this weekend. I'm okay with that, I only wish it wasn't so soggy out. Travel is fun, but not when it means driving long distances in crappy weather and hauling equiptment through the rain. All the same, it will be exciting. Three new venues in three days. Three new towns to play in even, although I'm not sure Alplaus entirely counts as it's technically a hamlet of Niskayuna...still we haven't played in Nisky before as far as I know.
Being the person of the two of us (Casey and Dave) that reports more in a train of thought manner than in a 'this is what has been happening in the land of Almost Awake recently' manner, I thought i'd let you know that Dave's bike was stolen from our backyard. Mine is now locked to stop that from happening to both, but it's still sad. He won that bike in a raffle! Some would say 'easy come easy go' but i would say 'come by good luck, go by bad luck'. Both our bikes were unlocked, but only daves was taken. Somehow it makes me feel guilty because i still have a bike. Luckily there are garage sales all over Cohoes this weekend and a flea market at Powers Park, so we may be able to find him a new one.
At that point we will have our earnings from Samuel's Coffeehouse...in Alplaus. That's our gig tonight. We've never even been there, but have heard very good things about it. I'm looking forward to it, hoping that people from both the Clifton Park and Schenectady areas come out for the show. It's yet to be seen if that will actually occur, but it is my hope. I like playing new venues when they are coffee shops more than new venues that are bars because I tend to go in more relaxed. I expect that even if we don't brind in listeners as a band, the people who are there will be receptive and respectful. It's not so much that way with bars. We generally get a good reception from individuals, but the envronment isn't nearly as cozy or welcoming to the un-initiated. A good mix is fun though. The thing I like about bars is that we don't have to censor our lyrics (all two words of profanity that we have) and We get to turn up and be loud. We also tend to dress up more for bars because it's important to catch people's eyes when they are in a loud environment with alcohol and lots of other stimuli.
On saturday we're playing Purple Cactus Cafe in Coxsackie, which I'm hoping will be a good mix of the coffee-shop relaxedness, the restauraunt respectfulness/fanciness and the bar volume/playing up our act-ness. It's a beautiful room. It looks like the kind of bar/restaurant that people who like coffee-shops would go to, and being one of those people, it's a place I'm glad we have the opportunity to play. As I've been saying in everything I write about it, the menu looks killer also.
Sunday we're playing the Cambridge farmers market, which will be our first farmers market that we've actually been invited to play at. It will also be the first one we play at that isn't troy and we didn't get kicked out of due to silly state employees not liking music. We'll see how it goes. I'm expecting a fun day, and it's a really nice drive up there.
Anyway, this is getting to be a long post, and i want to go brush my teeth because they feel yucky...so if you want more, go read dave's blog or something. It's on our myspace page.
*C*
Being the person of the two of us (Casey and Dave) that reports more in a train of thought manner than in a 'this is what has been happening in the land of Almost Awake recently' manner, I thought i'd let you know that Dave's bike was stolen from our backyard. Mine is now locked to stop that from happening to both, but it's still sad. He won that bike in a raffle! Some would say 'easy come easy go' but i would say 'come by good luck, go by bad luck'. Both our bikes were unlocked, but only daves was taken. Somehow it makes me feel guilty because i still have a bike. Luckily there are garage sales all over Cohoes this weekend and a flea market at Powers Park, so we may be able to find him a new one.
At that point we will have our earnings from Samuel's Coffeehouse...in Alplaus. That's our gig tonight. We've never even been there, but have heard very good things about it. I'm looking forward to it, hoping that people from both the Clifton Park and Schenectady areas come out for the show. It's yet to be seen if that will actually occur, but it is my hope. I like playing new venues when they are coffee shops more than new venues that are bars because I tend to go in more relaxed. I expect that even if we don't brind in listeners as a band, the people who are there will be receptive and respectful. It's not so much that way with bars. We generally get a good reception from individuals, but the envronment isn't nearly as cozy or welcoming to the un-initiated. A good mix is fun though. The thing I like about bars is that we don't have to censor our lyrics (all two words of profanity that we have) and We get to turn up and be loud. We also tend to dress up more for bars because it's important to catch people's eyes when they are in a loud environment with alcohol and lots of other stimuli.
On saturday we're playing Purple Cactus Cafe in Coxsackie, which I'm hoping will be a good mix of the coffee-shop relaxedness, the restauraunt respectfulness/fanciness and the bar volume/playing up our act-ness. It's a beautiful room. It looks like the kind of bar/restaurant that people who like coffee-shops would go to, and being one of those people, it's a place I'm glad we have the opportunity to play. As I've been saying in everything I write about it, the menu looks killer also.
Sunday we're playing the Cambridge farmers market, which will be our first farmers market that we've actually been invited to play at. It will also be the first one we play at that isn't troy and we didn't get kicked out of due to silly state employees not liking music. We'll see how it goes. I'm expecting a fun day, and it's a really nice drive up there.
Anyway, this is getting to be a long post, and i want to go brush my teeth because they feel yucky...so if you want more, go read dave's blog or something. It's on our myspace page.
*C*
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Windows to the world (state)
We have gigs in Oswego and Brockport that aren't farmer's Markets! Woo Hoo!! We're working on syracuse, some more rochester, and ithaca. This didn't come about because we wanted to stray from the theme of the tour, but because the nature of farmers markets is that they come and go, and change a lot while they are here. A number of the markets we were planning on stopping at have either changed days or are no longer in existence, which made it necessary for us to book some non-FM shows. We've been working really hard this week, making calls and sending e-mails and all that, but there's still so much more to do. Today, while at Famous Lunch in the downtown (of troy), I made the sign for our tour that we will display while playing. It says "Almost Awake, Farmer's Market Tour 2006" has a picture of some veggies/fruit in a basket, says "CDs $7" and "Next Stop" with a blank after it, where we will affix a piece of paper that says where the next stop is at each new market.
Also today, Dave and I went to see Lisa's painting of us, which is amazing, on display at Clifton Park Center, and will be the back of our next album, which John from Coffee Planet is helping us design, although he doesn't know it yet. We litterally had to force ourselves to stop staring at it. Lisa is going to be a famous artist. I can tell. And she'd better come to Dreamaway with us on sunday or else I will be sad, not that there's anything wrong with a trip to Mass. with dave and phillip (phillip being the car)...it's just that Lisa would be awesome to have along.
Oh my, I've been distracted by instant messanger. Apparently my character in the wrestling game on our ps1 just turned on dave's character...
Also today, Dave and I went to see Lisa's painting of us, which is amazing, on display at Clifton Park Center, and will be the back of our next album, which John from Coffee Planet is helping us design, although he doesn't know it yet. We litterally had to force ourselves to stop staring at it. Lisa is going to be a famous artist. I can tell. And she'd better come to Dreamaway with us on sunday or else I will be sad, not that there's anything wrong with a trip to Mass. with dave and phillip (phillip being the car)...it's just that Lisa would be awesome to have along.
Oh my, I've been distracted by instant messanger. Apparently my character in the wrestling game on our ps1 just turned on dave's character...
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Busy Weekend
It's been a very busy weekend here at Almost Awake headquarters. Or should I say, It's been a very busy weekend for almost awake. So much so, that we've barely been home at all, and now that we are, Dave is cleaning at a feverish pace while listening to Appalachian Spring by Copeland, and I'm typing this blog entry.
Thursday Dave got his new djembe. He ordered it at Parkway Music from the remo catalog. It's exactly the same model and design as Jules, but now Dave really owns it. That night he gave jules back to our friend Jo(h)n, and, samantha, as she is called, is borrowing Isabel (Dave's first djembe)'s case (overcoat) until Samantha's Case comes in.
On Friday, we were on WAMC's roundtable performance place, being interviewed and playing a few songs. It was fun, as always, and although I was freaking out a little bit at the beginning, i calmed down by the end and all was well. Afterwards, we went to guitar center where I found the guitar i'd been searching for, was forced to obtain it only partially against my will because it was calling to my soul, and played her (Sarah) that night at our show at the Night Sky Cafe.
Night Sky was a very good show with a nice turnout of couples that had heard us that morning on the radio, some people who had seen us before, and a few random wanderers in. We sold five discs and gave one away. I had a small fiasco in which i didn't have a capo in my new guitar case and had to rush over to Moon and River hoping Richard would have a capo...which, to Dave's great surprise and my great relief, he did. I also had to cut the hole in my guitar strap bigger so that it would fit over the massive peg that I plug in through.
Afterwards we saw Mudfunk and Hector on Stilts at the Daily Grind. A blast. Mudfunk will never get old. They are always god-like. Part of "Into the Woods" sounds like the "Beef it's what's for dinner" song, or the bit of Copeland that is playing in my kitchen right now.
Saturday was filled with Emma Willard. We played at their spring fling (sadly forced indoors due to weather) with the bookdrop bees (friends of ours, and very talented musicians, Gemma and Ilan Halfi) and a random student band called the Chupacabra's, or something like that. It was fun though. We played about two hours, The Bookdrop Bees played about two hours and we did six songs together at the end. It was nice to just sing on a few songs and not play guitar, but I felt sort of naked up there. I didn't know what to do with myself without a guitar occupying so much of my energies. Harmonizing with Dave and Gemma was awesome though. Three-part harmonies on March Neverending kicked ass.
Sunday, today, we played at church, as always...and then went up to coffee planet for some breakfast and tea/coffee before we headed over to the Saratoga County Fairgrounds for the Old Iron Springs Festival of Music and Art. Headed up by the McKrells, it was a fundraiser for St. Mary's School, that apparently has been going on for many years. It's a pretty big event, with rows and rows of craft and food vendors, kids games, live radio broadcasts from the fest, and two stages of music. The weather was horrid: Rainy and windy and all this under a roof with no sides and parking in a lot that doubles as a mud-wrestling pit. It turned out that we had a special spot to park right by the stage though, and the sun came out right when we were supposed to play. We even sold a disc, and got to see some great performers like Kate McKrell, My Friend Other and the wierd and ecclectic Ramblin' Jug Stompers. After that we got to hear ourselves on 104.9's Kaleidescope with Jim Barrett.
And now we're home and the fish has been fed.
It's been a weekend.
Thursday Dave got his new djembe. He ordered it at Parkway Music from the remo catalog. It's exactly the same model and design as Jules, but now Dave really owns it. That night he gave jules back to our friend Jo(h)n, and, samantha, as she is called, is borrowing Isabel (Dave's first djembe)'s case (overcoat) until Samantha's Case comes in.
On Friday, we were on WAMC's roundtable performance place, being interviewed and playing a few songs. It was fun, as always, and although I was freaking out a little bit at the beginning, i calmed down by the end and all was well. Afterwards, we went to guitar center where I found the guitar i'd been searching for, was forced to obtain it only partially against my will because it was calling to my soul, and played her (Sarah) that night at our show at the Night Sky Cafe.
Night Sky was a very good show with a nice turnout of couples that had heard us that morning on the radio, some people who had seen us before, and a few random wanderers in. We sold five discs and gave one away. I had a small fiasco in which i didn't have a capo in my new guitar case and had to rush over to Moon and River hoping Richard would have a capo...which, to Dave's great surprise and my great relief, he did. I also had to cut the hole in my guitar strap bigger so that it would fit over the massive peg that I plug in through.
Afterwards we saw Mudfunk and Hector on Stilts at the Daily Grind. A blast. Mudfunk will never get old. They are always god-like. Part of "Into the Woods" sounds like the "Beef it's what's for dinner" song, or the bit of Copeland that is playing in my kitchen right now.
Saturday was filled with Emma Willard. We played at their spring fling (sadly forced indoors due to weather) with the bookdrop bees (friends of ours, and very talented musicians, Gemma and Ilan Halfi) and a random student band called the Chupacabra's, or something like that. It was fun though. We played about two hours, The Bookdrop Bees played about two hours and we did six songs together at the end. It was nice to just sing on a few songs and not play guitar, but I felt sort of naked up there. I didn't know what to do with myself without a guitar occupying so much of my energies. Harmonizing with Dave and Gemma was awesome though. Three-part harmonies on March Neverending kicked ass.
Sunday, today, we played at church, as always...and then went up to coffee planet for some breakfast and tea/coffee before we headed over to the Saratoga County Fairgrounds for the Old Iron Springs Festival of Music and Art. Headed up by the McKrells, it was a fundraiser for St. Mary's School, that apparently has been going on for many years. It's a pretty big event, with rows and rows of craft and food vendors, kids games, live radio broadcasts from the fest, and two stages of music. The weather was horrid: Rainy and windy and all this under a roof with no sides and parking in a lot that doubles as a mud-wrestling pit. It turned out that we had a special spot to park right by the stage though, and the sun came out right when we were supposed to play. We even sold a disc, and got to see some great performers like Kate McKrell, My Friend Other and the wierd and ecclectic Ramblin' Jug Stompers. After that we got to hear ourselves on 104.9's Kaleidescope with Jim Barrett.
And now we're home and the fish has been fed.
It's been a weekend.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Getting Interviewed...all week...
We're getting interviewed all week. Today was for the Saratogian (I'm actually writing this post from the Saratoga Springs Public Library). Tomorrow for Kaleidoscope on 104.9 and friday for Roundtable's Performance Place on WAMC. Then on June 10th we're going to be on 91.1 WSPN's Soiree.
I don't mind being interviewed, but I do feel like I'm pretty inarticulate most of the time. I think i would enjoy an interview through e-mail better. Then I could have a moment to think about what I wanted to say and write it down with my fingers instead of attempting to speak. It wouldn't hurt that i'd have a thesauraus at my disposal.
I'm near the art section in the library. I started a collage a little while after we moved to 'burgh, but I never finished it. I'm doing more laundry today, and being poor. It's alright though, it's the noble kind of 'pursuing your calling' poverty. At least Dave and I have a skill/talent we employ to get money from strangers on the street and we don't have to beg.
Man! I just remembered that I'm in Saratoga and that means I have to go to Saratoga Guitar and look at guitars. Good times.
I was so afraid we'd run out of gas this morning, but we didn't, and we're still here to tell the tale. There is someone in between my computer and dave's. I think he's on computer three because he's counter-clockwise from me with one computer in between and I'm on computer five.
I love my life. My ear feels a little bit better right now than it did last night. Maybe I won't go to the doctor. I don't think I actually have my insurance card anyway. That's a problem with being a musician. Lack of access to insurance. We could join the union, but then we'd have to pay dues, and I don't have money for a pack of gum right now, let alone union dues.
11 minutes remaining on this computer.
I'm going to wrap it up. I'm getting typing elbow and the mouse is on the right-handed-person side. It's totally time to go to the guitar store. Only if Dave is done with his computer though. We do have ten minutes left until they kick us off after all.
*C*
I don't mind being interviewed, but I do feel like I'm pretty inarticulate most of the time. I think i would enjoy an interview through e-mail better. Then I could have a moment to think about what I wanted to say and write it down with my fingers instead of attempting to speak. It wouldn't hurt that i'd have a thesauraus at my disposal.
I'm near the art section in the library. I started a collage a little while after we moved to 'burgh, but I never finished it. I'm doing more laundry today, and being poor. It's alright though, it's the noble kind of 'pursuing your calling' poverty. At least Dave and I have a skill/talent we employ to get money from strangers on the street and we don't have to beg.
Man! I just remembered that I'm in Saratoga and that means I have to go to Saratoga Guitar and look at guitars. Good times.
I was so afraid we'd run out of gas this morning, but we didn't, and we're still here to tell the tale. There is someone in between my computer and dave's. I think he's on computer three because he's counter-clockwise from me with one computer in between and I'm on computer five.
I love my life. My ear feels a little bit better right now than it did last night. Maybe I won't go to the doctor. I don't think I actually have my insurance card anyway. That's a problem with being a musician. Lack of access to insurance. We could join the union, but then we'd have to pay dues, and I don't have money for a pack of gum right now, let alone union dues.
11 minutes remaining on this computer.
I'm going to wrap it up. I'm getting typing elbow and the mouse is on the right-handed-person side. It's totally time to go to the guitar store. Only if Dave is done with his computer though. We do have ten minutes left until they kick us off after all.
*C*
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Open Mic is Fun
Open Mic is Fun. Yes, that's what I said. For some reason Coffee Planet open mic has been rejuvinated this week. I think it's because half the population of Schenectady randomly showed up. The awesome half that is, not the half with the confusing layout and deadly erie boulevard pedestrian crossing-ness.
Dave just almost got what i believe was an almond thing...ick! We are both glad he didn't. He should get a sandwich though. Or maybe a muffin. The poor boy isn't taking advantage of free food. It is a good thing to take advantage of.
Nik is playing Dave's favorite song of his.
I should write entries that are applicable to people other than those who go to this open mic, but everyone should, so there you are.
*C*
Dave just almost got what i believe was an almond thing...ick! We are both glad he didn't. He should get a sandwich though. Or maybe a muffin. The poor boy isn't taking advantage of free food. It is a good thing to take advantage of.
Nik is playing Dave's favorite song of his.
I should write entries that are applicable to people other than those who go to this open mic, but everyone should, so there you are.
*C*
Monday, May 08, 2006
Goodmorning Allergies
Yes, goodmorning is one word. I made it so with my miraculous powers of making things so.
I cannot breathe through my nose, but it's alright because I don't have a real show until friday. Maybe by then the pollen count will be down or something.
I ran out of soy milk last night so now i'm eating dry raisin bran for breakfast. It could be worse. I could be eating white bread and drinking Dasani water.
On Saturday, after our show at Coffee Planet with Nik, Dave and I went up to Saratoga to see Sirsy at the Parting Glass. That's the nice thing about daytime shows on a Saturday, they allow you to go see other bands that night. So, seeing as we were up north anyway, it was Sirsy, and they were unveiling Sirsy version 2.0, we couldn't really pass it up. Anyway, I am amazed by the versatility of Melanie and Rich. They manage to sound like a full band with only two people! I could go on about it further, but it would probably be best if you just saw them yourself....(seguay to...)...Hopefully with Almost Awake later this summer! We're in the process of trying to put together a show at the Daily Grind with Sirsy and (randomly enough...the techno/electronic/keyboard/accordian-playing) Harry Pyle. Hopefully all will work out, because this would be an absolutely slammin' show!
Speaking of slammin', or should i say Jammin', Yesterdays second set at Heritage Day, kicked ass. Mostly because my dad sat in with his Telecaster and gave a new spin to our acousticness. We rocked out, and there was a lot more of an audience than at the Old Iron Spring. We even sold a few CDs. It was spiffy. And we got to hang out with Nik and friend and father at Coffee Planet, see Lisa dn Kristen and make enough money to buy lunch without going into the red.
On saturday dave battled with a Lion. More on that to come.
I cannot breathe through my nose, but it's alright because I don't have a real show until friday. Maybe by then the pollen count will be down or something.
I ran out of soy milk last night so now i'm eating dry raisin bran for breakfast. It could be worse. I could be eating white bread and drinking Dasani water.
On Saturday, after our show at Coffee Planet with Nik, Dave and I went up to Saratoga to see Sirsy at the Parting Glass. That's the nice thing about daytime shows on a Saturday, they allow you to go see other bands that night. So, seeing as we were up north anyway, it was Sirsy, and they were unveiling Sirsy version 2.0, we couldn't really pass it up. Anyway, I am amazed by the versatility of Melanie and Rich. They manage to sound like a full band with only two people! I could go on about it further, but it would probably be best if you just saw them yourself....(seguay to...)...Hopefully with Almost Awake later this summer! We're in the process of trying to put together a show at the Daily Grind with Sirsy and (randomly enough...the techno/electronic/keyboard/accordian-playing) Harry Pyle. Hopefully all will work out, because this would be an absolutely slammin' show!
Speaking of slammin', or should i say Jammin', Yesterdays second set at Heritage Day, kicked ass. Mostly because my dad sat in with his Telecaster and gave a new spin to our acousticness. We rocked out, and there was a lot more of an audience than at the Old Iron Spring. We even sold a few CDs. It was spiffy. And we got to hang out with Nik and friend and father at Coffee Planet, see Lisa dn Kristen and make enough money to buy lunch without going into the red.
On saturday dave battled with a Lion. More on that to come.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Rainy Saturday
It's a rainy day, it's a rainy day, it's raining outside so I can't go out and play. It's a rainy day, it's a rainy day. It's raining outside today.
(above quoted from a sesame street song.)
This morning I got up really early, and then went back to sleep. Then dave and I got up for read and went to coffee planet. Our show went awesomely. Nik was a hit, Hannah and Chelsea stopped by, and I didn't sneeze during a single song.
We did two ten song sets. It rained. Lisa stopped by. Kristen was working! We sold five CDs and got yummy breakfast. Dave did the super-secret musican handshake.
Dave was slightly injured by a cat that we almost adopted, but his hand has been dis-infected and bandaged, and he promises that we he will be 100% for tomorrow...
..which is Heritage Day!! We're playing from 1-2 at the old iron spring at the end of Front Street in B-spa and from 2-4 with my very own dad, and hopefully some other all-star guests at the gazebo in wiswall park. Whether we are able to successfully tear down our whole PA and move it down the street and set it up again in litterally no time is quite doubtful. I'm anticipating more of 1-1:45 at the spring and 2:30-4 at the gazebo. My dad will be playing lap steel and electric guitar.
But as it is now, i need to pee. I will talk to you all again soon.
*C*
(above quoted from a sesame street song.)
This morning I got up really early, and then went back to sleep. Then dave and I got up for read and went to coffee planet. Our show went awesomely. Nik was a hit, Hannah and Chelsea stopped by, and I didn't sneeze during a single song.
We did two ten song sets. It rained. Lisa stopped by. Kristen was working! We sold five CDs and got yummy breakfast. Dave did the super-secret musican handshake.
Dave was slightly injured by a cat that we almost adopted, but his hand has been dis-infected and bandaged, and he promises that we he will be 100% for tomorrow...
..which is Heritage Day!! We're playing from 1-2 at the old iron spring at the end of Front Street in B-spa and from 2-4 with my very own dad, and hopefully some other all-star guests at the gazebo in wiswall park. Whether we are able to successfully tear down our whole PA and move it down the street and set it up again in litterally no time is quite doubtful. I'm anticipating more of 1-1:45 at the spring and 2:30-4 at the gazebo. My dad will be playing lap steel and electric guitar.
But as it is now, i need to pee. I will talk to you all again soon.
*C*
I'm not sure what's going on
So I changed the tempate on this thing, but for some reason it isn't showing up yet. Maybe my computer is weird, maybe i'm missing something, or maybe the world can sense that i'm off due to allergies. It's up for grabs, but there you are.
I've been up since six am because my allergies are so bad that i can't sleep. I considered having breakfast, but then i remembered that we are playing at coffee planet today, home of awesome bagels, and the best hummus since the invention of the food processor. Additionally, I don't have anything to do between 11 and 12 because Nik is playing for the first hour, and Dave and I for the second two, meaning ample time for breakfast!
I hope my allergies are feeling better by then. I feel pretty aweful, and although the medicine makes my allergies more tolerable, it makes the rest of existance a little worse. A trade-off I suppose, as it everything, but i'd perfer to not be falling asleep at the mic.
Today should be fun overall though. After the show, Dave and I are heading up to saratoga to book another show at Starbucks, and then sticking around the spa city for a Sirsy show at the Parting Glass later in the evening. This is all assuming my health holds out (aren't we always wishing for that with me?). Right now I feel as if I could lie in bed all day.
"The Slight of an Impass..." went really well last night, and i'm excited to play it at coffee planet today. I want to debut another song tomorrow at heritage day, one of our new covers, but I don't think we'll have time to get one ready. We're working on "look what you've done" and "come around again" by Jet, "between the bars" by elliot smith, "don't go away" by oasis and, in theory, "dream on" by aerosmith. We've been threatening to play "torn" by natalie imbruglia for some time now, but for one reason or another we've never really worked on it. I have trouble memorizing covers. I guess it's because I actually need to know the words rather than just having them come out by some sort of reflex as they do with my own songs.
I'm going to try to go back to sleep now. Wish me luck!
*C*
I've been up since six am because my allergies are so bad that i can't sleep. I considered having breakfast, but then i remembered that we are playing at coffee planet today, home of awesome bagels, and the best hummus since the invention of the food processor. Additionally, I don't have anything to do between 11 and 12 because Nik is playing for the first hour, and Dave and I for the second two, meaning ample time for breakfast!
I hope my allergies are feeling better by then. I feel pretty aweful, and although the medicine makes my allergies more tolerable, it makes the rest of existance a little worse. A trade-off I suppose, as it everything, but i'd perfer to not be falling asleep at the mic.
Today should be fun overall though. After the show, Dave and I are heading up to saratoga to book another show at Starbucks, and then sticking around the spa city for a Sirsy show at the Parting Glass later in the evening. This is all assuming my health holds out (aren't we always wishing for that with me?). Right now I feel as if I could lie in bed all day.
"The Slight of an Impass..." went really well last night, and i'm excited to play it at coffee planet today. I want to debut another song tomorrow at heritage day, one of our new covers, but I don't think we'll have time to get one ready. We're working on "look what you've done" and "come around again" by Jet, "between the bars" by elliot smith, "don't go away" by oasis and, in theory, "dream on" by aerosmith. We've been threatening to play "torn" by natalie imbruglia for some time now, but for one reason or another we've never really worked on it. I have trouble memorizing covers. I guess it's because I actually need to know the words rather than just having them come out by some sort of reflex as they do with my own songs.
I'm going to try to go back to sleep now. Wish me luck!
*C*
Inaugural Post
I'm Here, here at Blogger. This is my new blog. I like the setup of this service better than bravejournal. There are more options and whatnot, so I moved my blog. Once I figure out how, I'l lmove all my old posts here as well. I just wanted to get one post up to begin with so things didn't look so blank.
Anyway, we played at Starbucks in Saratoga tonight, and it went really well. It was our second show there, and our second success. Despite the reputation of the establishment, we've always had very good experiences there. I don't mean that I'm ever going to forego a local shop in order to buy a latte at Starbucks, but playing there is nice. The staff are friendly and helpful (one barista even gave me allergy medicine!), we get free food and drinks, booking goes smoothly, and patrons are generally attentive.
The downsides are that the performance space itself if rather small, and there is a strange divider cutting the room in half. It's also a pretty noisy room for a coffeeshop, but the blender is significantly quieter than at a lot of other places.
We got a few new names for the e-mail list as well as sold some discs, made a bit in tips and presented our invoices to be stamped. You see, with Starbucks, you have to make an invoice, fill it out, get it stamped and signed by the shift manager, and send it in to the national office. You also have to fill out a w-9 and pay taxes on your income at the end of the year. It's sort of a big process to make a buck, but it's worth it, and it's not that hard now that we have a standard invoice.
Dave and I also developed a standard contract today. We used a generic one my dad (head AASS) found on the web and altered it to work for us. Emma Willard and Green Mountain College both require contracts, so we thought it would be best if we wrote it out ourselves and made sure we got what we wanted in there, rather than relying on a standard one the venue might present to us.
We had our public debut of the new song "The Slight of an Impass...Stalemate" at Caffe Lena open mic. last night (to which we carpooled with the awesome new trojan musician Gregory Rosenthal) and the gig debut of it was tonight. I really like the song, as does Dave. It's in 6 and it was inadvertantly inspired by Elliot Smith. The chorus and bridge don't have words, just sounds, which is fun, and certainly cut down on the lyric writing.
Also, I'm in the process, with my dad Richard, of getting all my songs copyrighted and registering Switchback Music as my publishing company so that I will own the rights to all my songs. I think that's very important. My songs are my creations, my children, and owning the copyrights and publishing are like having legal custody.
Anyway, I think that's it for the moment. Hang in there folks, and keeping humming that tune in your brain until you infect someone else with it and you are free.
*C*
Anyway, we played at Starbucks in Saratoga tonight, and it went really well. It was our second show there, and our second success. Despite the reputation of the establishment, we've always had very good experiences there. I don't mean that I'm ever going to forego a local shop in order to buy a latte at Starbucks, but playing there is nice. The staff are friendly and helpful (one barista even gave me allergy medicine!), we get free food and drinks, booking goes smoothly, and patrons are generally attentive.
The downsides are that the performance space itself if rather small, and there is a strange divider cutting the room in half. It's also a pretty noisy room for a coffeeshop, but the blender is significantly quieter than at a lot of other places.
We got a few new names for the e-mail list as well as sold some discs, made a bit in tips and presented our invoices to be stamped. You see, with Starbucks, you have to make an invoice, fill it out, get it stamped and signed by the shift manager, and send it in to the national office. You also have to fill out a w-9 and pay taxes on your income at the end of the year. It's sort of a big process to make a buck, but it's worth it, and it's not that hard now that we have a standard invoice.
Dave and I also developed a standard contract today. We used a generic one my dad (head AASS) found on the web and altered it to work for us. Emma Willard and Green Mountain College both require contracts, so we thought it would be best if we wrote it out ourselves and made sure we got what we wanted in there, rather than relying on a standard one the venue might present to us.
We had our public debut of the new song "The Slight of an Impass...Stalemate" at Caffe Lena open mic. last night (to which we carpooled with the awesome new trojan musician Gregory Rosenthal) and the gig debut of it was tonight. I really like the song, as does Dave. It's in 6 and it was inadvertantly inspired by Elliot Smith. The chorus and bridge don't have words, just sounds, which is fun, and certainly cut down on the lyric writing.
Also, I'm in the process, with my dad Richard, of getting all my songs copyrighted and registering Switchback Music as my publishing company so that I will own the rights to all my songs. I think that's very important. My songs are my creations, my children, and owning the copyrights and publishing are like having legal custody.
Anyway, I think that's it for the moment. Hang in there folks, and keeping humming that tune in your brain until you infect someone else with it and you are free.
*C*
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