Progress for goodness sake!

Dave and I finally rehearsed some new stuff.

As you know, i've been writing lots of new stuff. So, since all that material's been kicking around, playing our old stuff has gotten, well, old. But Dave didn't want to rehearse new stuff until we had a way to record our practice sessions. You see, when we figure stuff out together, we often forget what we arranged. Maybe it's because Dave's tricky and maybe it's because my notes are less-than-intelligible, but in any case, it's frustrating.

So, one of our plans for our tax-return money is buying a field recorder, and one of the things we could do with the field recorder is record our rehearsals. Then we wouldn't forget what we did. Well, we'd still forget, but there'd be a record. And Dave could work out backing vocals on his own time. You know, like, while I'm at church or growing a vegetable or something.

Our plan was to wait until we got this field recorder. But our tax-return hasn't come yet. And I sometimes play guitar during the day. And Dave was home sick. And we rehearsed.

So, now we have two new Casey/AA songs in the pipeline and two new covers (KT Tunstall and Jars of Clay) in the pipeline. It's fun.

Well, we actually debuted one of the songs at our Autumn Leaves show, but no one was there so it doesn't count.

Recording is also finished for Green Both Ways. If you have a picture of the NYC subway system you'd like us to consider for the cover, please forward it to casey(dot)almostawake(at)gmail(dot)com.

The End.

*C*

Courting Cortland (or trying. . .)

Dave just did his booking magic again and booked us a show at the Blue Frog Coffeehouse in the big C (Cortland) for Friday April 3rd. It will be our second weekend show there (we also did a featured-act deal at the O.M.).

Hopefully some delightful folk from the city will come out and learn how much Almost Awake can improve their lives. We're really going to have to make an effort to woo the people of Cortland. We don't have the years of living here and the contacts that builds up that we had in Albany.

So We're going to have to work.

Especially when you are playing a tips show in a town where you don't have any sort of 'following' yet, you have to work.

I'm thinking newspaper event listings, 1/4 sheet flyers, all that. It will be fun! But then again, I'm feeling motivated today ;)

The least we can do is go to Lucky's and Blue Frog for open mic. that week.

It's not like it will kill us, our wallets or our spirits if there aren't many people in attendance at the show, but it sure would be nice to get a crowd.

When it comes down to it, I'm not nearly as self-assured and egotistical as I portray myself on stage. I really want people to like me, and even more so, my songs. So, I'd like people to come. Even if they don't like us, I'd like them to hear us. To give us a chance.

I want Cortland to see what Almost Awake has to offer. People may know Dave from the bank. They may know me from seeing me pushing around the twins in the double-stroller, but they don't really know either of us at all until they've seen us play music.

Musician. Artist. That's what I really am . . .how I want to be known.
I think it's how Dave wants to be known too.

So, I hope people come. I think we can make their night better. I'm going to promote the show.

The end.

*C*

Some other thoughts

As I said in my last post, I've been writing a lot of songs recently. I keep thinking in 3/4 time, so that's a little limiting and redundant, but I'm trying to work past it. I'm also trying to keep Dave in mind when I write because I tend to get into phases where my songs either sound like they need drum-set or nothing but guitar and voice. Needless to say, that's not too kind or helpful to the djembe master.

I wrote another song about the mohawk/erie a few weeks ago. It's the sequel to Clinton's Ditch I guess. It's in C and not a waltz, and used a capo until I lost my capo, not that you care. You don't want to know what key my song you've never heard is in, do you? Well, it's too late. I'm far to lazy and self-centered to delete that whole paragraph. The additional text makes me look intelligent-- like I have things to say.

But I wrote some other songs too. As you can guess, they are depressing. But, despite the desperation/angst-infused lyrics, I am not planning on snuffing myself any time soon, so you can count that as one point for home team! I am the home team. The visiting team is made up of people who doubt my artistic genius.

I took up playing the mandolin for a while, but then I stopped for a while, took some artistic photos of it, posted them on facebook, and went back to the guitar. I also learned how to play some delightful bluegrass numbers I'd be happy to jam with you on if ever we meet around a campfire at a fest.

Dave found a djembe stand that would allow him to stand up while playing. This is more comfortable and stable, he says. I, however, worry that he would be taller than me then, and I would not be the center of attention. Luckily the stand is quite expensive so it has not been purchased. He is looking into buying a lovely, sturdy, handcrafted djembe bag though. Both items were discovered at a drum store in Ithaca. Imagine that.

Cortland is a fun adventure. You may not understand how a place can be an adventure, but this one is. It's like jungle land at Great Escape, except it's not the jungle and it hasn't been replaced by Looney-Tunes-ville or Wiggles-world or whatever is there now.

There are a lot of neat places in Cortland. A lot of Cortland reminds me of a larger Mechanicville.

And similar to my oh-so-metro hometown, few of these neat places have live music.

Some do though.

If you feel like visiting them on the web, they are
Lucky's (Monday open mic!)
Blue Frog (Thursday open mic!)
Stone Lounge (Patio!)
Dryden Community Center Cafe (actually in Dryden.)
Homer Center for the Arts (actually in Homer.)

I mean, there are some churches and the youth center and whatnot, but i haven't linked to them because I am elitist and hate community organizations, as you know, as well as Christians and young people.

(If you didn't realize that was a joke, you are a fool and I hope you fall into a mud puddle that is actually filled with dissolved poo. I am egalitarian, love the community, am Christian and spent most of my own youth working to empower youth . . . so there!)

So, this isn't a particularly meaningful post from an Almost Awake perspective. I just wanted to let anyone who reads this know about what is going on musically in Cortland. I'll probably post more about it in the near future.

I also wanted to say that if you want to know what being a professional musician is like (it's quite glamorous!), check out the Times Union blog written by our good friends and fabulous musicians Mel and Rich of the band Sirsy. Dave says we have a lot in common, so if you want to see what Almost Awake would be like if they were cooler and rocked and had shows and fans, check it out.

Seriously though, Sirsy is the best. I don't think i've never seen anyone make a gazebo in Halfmoon rock just as much as Rev. Hall. They are unparalleled musicians and fabulous people to boot. Check them out if you can.

That's it for now. I am off to use my superior intellect to better the world by brewing the perfect cup of pumpkin-pie-spice coffee.

The End

*C*