Okay, the band is good. We can take over the world now.
Things clicked at practice when Donny came outside while I was taking a break and announced, “Sharma’s playing the bass—and she’s better than I am!” I suggested, since Donny plays harmonica (among other things) that we try “Armadillo on the Interstate” (which we’d had trouble with) with him playing harmonica and Sharma playing bass—and it was beautiful. We subsequently revised the whole setlist to do it that way.
So there’s the new lineup: Sharma on bass, Doug on drums, Dave and Donny trading leads on Strat and harmonica, respectively, and me with rhythm guitar and vocals. It has some sideline benefits. This’ll be Sharma’s first performing gig, or first one in a long time, and bass is a great way to break into performing, because you don’t have to be up front. It matches people’s talents up perfectly—something I always tried to do when I was a city manager. We can do the slower stuff easier now, because it gives the harmonica room to wail. And I’ve got the dual “whiny lead” (harmonica) and “non-whiny lead” (guitar) I maintain works best with most of my material.
And we have the Magic. I had been wondering if (and hoping that) it was possible; arranging a gig and then putting together the band, with less than a month to spare, is really putting the cart before the horse But it’s going to work, I think. One more practice—next weekend—before the Big Night.
Only change in the setlist is we’ll do “Naked Space Hamsters in Love” instead of the Tri-Met bus song. With the reaction I’ve been getting to the hamsters in other places, it should be a crowd-pleaser.
I had Sharma (who is a sound engineer par excellence) check out the PA system at the Red Room, and she says it’ll work for what we need. We’ll need the phantom power for that big omnidirectional mike we’ve been using for the vocals, but everything else can just plug right into the PA.
I’d like to use these guys on the album. I have a studio lined up, I think; all I need is the money to do it with. Maybe by the time I have the money, the band--if they continue to play together—will be really good. We haven’t played any really new material, yet—except for “Electronic Love,” the songs are all Old Sleazies that have an historical success with bar crowds. For a first gig in a new market, one wants to be certain one has something that’ll grab the audience.
I got another job rejection—and this one after an interview; I was told in pretty blunt terms that I simply didn’t have enough degrees for the job, even though I’ve been doing these manager jobs for 15 years, and they were going to hire somebody better degreed than I was, irrespective of whether they could do the job. I guess that’s de rigeur for these tough times, when a lot of people are chasing a small and shrinking number of jobs. It doesn’t make it any easier to take personally.
My first reaction, as a songwriter, is “There’s probably a song in that.” Got a few snippets of verse and/or chorus already, and we’ll see. It will of course be hopeful (if it’s a blues, it has to be hopeful), because I’m a hopeful kind of guy. Have to admit, though, the hope is getting a little frayed around the edges.
On the new job possibilities front, the U.S. government is reportedly hiring 11,000 new Border Patrol officers. They’ll be taking applications in Portland next week. I wonder what that kind of career path would be like?
Joe
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
THE GHOST HOLE (AGAIN)...
Performed again at the Ghost Hole here in Garibaldi (two blocks from the house), and again, it was just two of us. I concentrated on uptempo numbers, since the other fellow doesn’t do any (he said he’s working on it, though—he did notice the crowd liked them), and he did lots of Neil Young and Bob Dylan. He’s got a couple of originals that are a real good fit with what he does, and I complimented him on them—they really are better than most of the Neil Young stuff. He should do more. And again, we split the tips (and there was more money this time).
The one song of mine the audience insisted on us playing again was “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I think that one may need to be part of the setlist for the Red Room gig if bar crowds react that way to it. It’s very fast bluegrass, and a punk-rock band can do it—it was a favorite of Screamin’ Gulch when I played with them. With both the bass player and drummer in our Red Room Band coming from punk backgrounds, it’d be good to accommodate them. We would sound better.
Ghost Hole Guy hasn’t had a lot of luck in attracting more musicians to his “jam session,” probably because most of the musicians he knows are out of the area, and I probably should do my part to help. I do know a couple of folks in town, and I can announce it at the Friday Night Group’s get-together this week, too. I don’t know if folks’ll come, but they definitely can’t come if they don’t know about it. (I probably should do a few posters, too. The ones that are up are handwritten and very hokey.) Live music needs to be promoted wherever possible, I think; in these troubled times, people will be looking closer to home for entertainment, and it is the job of the entertainers to make sure they find it.
For the venue, the question—and answer—are simple. Does it, whatever “it” is, bring in more customers? If it does, it’s a good thing. The Ghost Hole is a good place to try this; it’s one of four bars in town, and the only one with a little sort-of stage (left over from when they used to have live music on the weekends). None of the others has live music of any kind at any time (one has a karaoke machine). Our old rock ‘n’ roll “band” at the Ghost Hole three years ago—just five guys who got together to play on the weekend—brought enough customers into the bar that other bars were trying to hire us to play for them. It could be made to happen again.
The lesson? Take a big (or long, or wide—however you want to express it) view. How does what you do fit into a bigger picture? Is it possible to take advantage of something that’s going on? It’s a little like 100 years ago noticing an increasing demand for automobiles and realizing you know how to repair tires.
The “Broken Record” master has arrived, so now we’re in Production Mode. New cartridge for the [expletive deleted] Lexmark printer, and enough CDs, cases, and glossy paper (for the covers) to do the job. And a whole day to work on it. I am assuming it will be a labor-intensive task, but I’ll get to see which parts could feasibly be hired out if I were doing this for a living.
More to-dos: A copy of the Joe Songbook to make—I’ll see Fred Friday night. Music Friday night, Saturday (band practice), and Sunday at the Forestry Center. Parts to record for Country Rose’s latest radio play (I’ll be the narrator this time), and the “Ackerman cuts” for the Five Dollar Album—and Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues.” I meet with the Bay City Arts Center’s Board of Directors Monday night to discuss the possiblity of a Joe Concert.
Still have the Red Room concert to promote, too. I haven’t done much yet, because I’ve been waiting for the band to sound good enough to promote. I did join Facebook, and announce the gig there and on MySpace; I still need to send out a memo to the “joelist”—but not many of those folks are in the Portland area, either. How do I reach more people in Portland? One possibility is to hit up the music stores—not the Guitar Center types so much as the little hole-in-the-wall shops where owners and customers might listen to something besides the latest Top Twenty on the radio—and personally leave them posters. And then what? Press releases to the press? Would that be less of a lost cause if I included a CD? (I’m down to five now. I’ll have to get more.)
Joe
The one song of mine the audience insisted on us playing again was “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I think that one may need to be part of the setlist for the Red Room gig if bar crowds react that way to it. It’s very fast bluegrass, and a punk-rock band can do it—it was a favorite of Screamin’ Gulch when I played with them. With both the bass player and drummer in our Red Room Band coming from punk backgrounds, it’d be good to accommodate them. We would sound better.
Ghost Hole Guy hasn’t had a lot of luck in attracting more musicians to his “jam session,” probably because most of the musicians he knows are out of the area, and I probably should do my part to help. I do know a couple of folks in town, and I can announce it at the Friday Night Group’s get-together this week, too. I don’t know if folks’ll come, but they definitely can’t come if they don’t know about it. (I probably should do a few posters, too. The ones that are up are handwritten and very hokey.) Live music needs to be promoted wherever possible, I think; in these troubled times, people will be looking closer to home for entertainment, and it is the job of the entertainers to make sure they find it.
For the venue, the question—and answer—are simple. Does it, whatever “it” is, bring in more customers? If it does, it’s a good thing. The Ghost Hole is a good place to try this; it’s one of four bars in town, and the only one with a little sort-of stage (left over from when they used to have live music on the weekends). None of the others has live music of any kind at any time (one has a karaoke machine). Our old rock ‘n’ roll “band” at the Ghost Hole three years ago—just five guys who got together to play on the weekend—brought enough customers into the bar that other bars were trying to hire us to play for them. It could be made to happen again.
The lesson? Take a big (or long, or wide—however you want to express it) view. How does what you do fit into a bigger picture? Is it possible to take advantage of something that’s going on? It’s a little like 100 years ago noticing an increasing demand for automobiles and realizing you know how to repair tires.
The “Broken Record” master has arrived, so now we’re in Production Mode. New cartridge for the [expletive deleted] Lexmark printer, and enough CDs, cases, and glossy paper (for the covers) to do the job. And a whole day to work on it. I am assuming it will be a labor-intensive task, but I’ll get to see which parts could feasibly be hired out if I were doing this for a living.
More to-dos: A copy of the Joe Songbook to make—I’ll see Fred Friday night. Music Friday night, Saturday (band practice), and Sunday at the Forestry Center. Parts to record for Country Rose’s latest radio play (I’ll be the narrator this time), and the “Ackerman cuts” for the Five Dollar Album—and Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues.” I meet with the Bay City Arts Center’s Board of Directors Monday night to discuss the possiblity of a Joe Concert.
Still have the Red Room concert to promote, too. I haven’t done much yet, because I’ve been waiting for the band to sound good enough to promote. I did join Facebook, and announce the gig there and on MySpace; I still need to send out a memo to the “joelist”—but not many of those folks are in the Portland area, either. How do I reach more people in Portland? One possibility is to hit up the music stores—not the Guitar Center types so much as the little hole-in-the-wall shops where owners and customers might listen to something besides the latest Top Twenty on the radio—and personally leave them posters. And then what? Press releases to the press? Would that be less of a lost cause if I included a CD? (I’m down to five now. I’ll have to get more.)
Joe
Monday, January 26, 2009
PRACTICE WITH THE BAND..
First practice with the band Saturday. Spent most of the day at it—bass player and drummer and Sharma on electric guitar in the morning, lead guitarist in the evening; we’re planning on having everybody together in one place next Saturday.
It’s still pretty rough. That’s partly from Doug and Donny (drums and bass) not being familiar with the material, and part because they’re coming from a punk-rock background, where the instruments are just played differently. I’ve suggested to Sharma maybe we should substitute a couple of bluegrass songs that Screamin’ Gulch (which was a punk-rock band) was comfortable with, for a couple of the slower tunes. We’ll see. Dave (lead guitar) can play anything, I think, and do it well, and maybe with him there, it’ll all sound better.
We will be videotaped on Gig Night, and that’s good. But I want us to be perfect.
And of course I have Next Steps in mind. I’d like the band to get more gigs; there are a lot of venues in the Portland area that are looking (or say they’re looking) for entertainment, and it would be nice if we could be some of that entertainment. None of it appears to be country music, either, and it would be interesting to see if it’s possible to popularize country music in Portland, a place that has historically shied away from country music as not sophisticated enough. (There’s that endemic pretentiousness again.)
I have that next album to do, too—the one that’d be in a studio, not the Five Dollar Album—and I need a band for that; it’d be nice if these folks could be it. I tentatively raised those questions at practice, and—again, tentatively—they’re interested. Got to be perfect, though, in order to pull it off. (I am going to worry about the perfect part until we’re there.)
Ended up getting my amps fixed while I was at it (I have two, and they’d each developed a pretty annoying buzz); Sharma’s husband Sam took ‘em apart, and cleaned the volume potentiometers, and the old Austin amp ($10 at a yard sale, 10 years ago) sounds brand-new now. The little thing is about the size of my camera case (though quite a bit heavier), and I can put a shoulder strap on it (at last—a use for that old guitar strap) and it’ll be easy to take anywhere.
Pieces of the “Broken Record” project are all done; I have the individual tracks, and they do sound fine—Albert did a great mastering job. I’m waiting on the physical master disk to make copies from, because it supposedly has author and performer information “embedded” (so it’ll display on-screen when the song is playing), and that would be neat. Liner notes are done, label done, and cover done—they just need to get printed. (And I will go through at least one more set of printer cartridges in the process. I can tell.) First Joe-the-Music-Producer job took a while, but is going to turn out okay, I think.
St. Leif’s Day (March 29) is a Sunday this year, and since he’s the patron saint of bagpipes, it’s been suggested there should be jam sessions in his honor. That ought to be possible. I wonder where one could do it? I almost had a St. Leif’s Day concert last year in southern Oregon, but it ended up getting postponed a whole month, to April 29. It would be nice if St. Leif’s Day got celebrated more widely outside Sweden. Imagine—a holiday you celebrate by playing music…
Joe
It’s still pretty rough. That’s partly from Doug and Donny (drums and bass) not being familiar with the material, and part because they’re coming from a punk-rock background, where the instruments are just played differently. I’ve suggested to Sharma maybe we should substitute a couple of bluegrass songs that Screamin’ Gulch (which was a punk-rock band) was comfortable with, for a couple of the slower tunes. We’ll see. Dave (lead guitar) can play anything, I think, and do it well, and maybe with him there, it’ll all sound better.
We will be videotaped on Gig Night, and that’s good. But I want us to be perfect.
And of course I have Next Steps in mind. I’d like the band to get more gigs; there are a lot of venues in the Portland area that are looking (or say they’re looking) for entertainment, and it would be nice if we could be some of that entertainment. None of it appears to be country music, either, and it would be interesting to see if it’s possible to popularize country music in Portland, a place that has historically shied away from country music as not sophisticated enough. (There’s that endemic pretentiousness again.)
I have that next album to do, too—the one that’d be in a studio, not the Five Dollar Album—and I need a band for that; it’d be nice if these folks could be it. I tentatively raised those questions at practice, and—again, tentatively—they’re interested. Got to be perfect, though, in order to pull it off. (I am going to worry about the perfect part until we’re there.)
Ended up getting my amps fixed while I was at it (I have two, and they’d each developed a pretty annoying buzz); Sharma’s husband Sam took ‘em apart, and cleaned the volume potentiometers, and the old Austin amp ($10 at a yard sale, 10 years ago) sounds brand-new now. The little thing is about the size of my camera case (though quite a bit heavier), and I can put a shoulder strap on it (at last—a use for that old guitar strap) and it’ll be easy to take anywhere.
Pieces of the “Broken Record” project are all done; I have the individual tracks, and they do sound fine—Albert did a great mastering job. I’m waiting on the physical master disk to make copies from, because it supposedly has author and performer information “embedded” (so it’ll display on-screen when the song is playing), and that would be neat. Liner notes are done, label done, and cover done—they just need to get printed. (And I will go through at least one more set of printer cartridges in the process. I can tell.) First Joe-the-Music-Producer job took a while, but is going to turn out okay, I think.
St. Leif’s Day (March 29) is a Sunday this year, and since he’s the patron saint of bagpipes, it’s been suggested there should be jam sessions in his honor. That ought to be possible. I wonder where one could do it? I almost had a St. Leif’s Day concert last year in southern Oregon, but it ended up getting postponed a whole month, to April 29. It would be nice if St. Leif’s Day got celebrated more widely outside Sweden. Imagine—a holiday you celebrate by playing music…
Joe
Thursday, January 22, 2009
MORE UPDATES...
Might be about to get busy. This week, I will have made two trips to the Squirrel House (one to retrieve the pellet stove); in addition, I went to that advertised jam session at the local tavern, I have practice with the Portland musicians, and I have a job interview. (Local job.) I’ve got two more jobs to apply for, too—one local and one not. Picked up an application to drive school bus, too, after I got another city manager rejection letter in the mail.
I have the tracks from Albert for the “Broken Record” CD, and they did come out nice; the master should arrive any day. In the meantime, I have finished the CD label, with song order and times, and arranged it to print two-to-a-page on CD label stock. I can print and cut the covers and liner notes while I’m waiting, too. Then I’ll burn copies, and assemble packages for mailing to the 19 recipients. It will with luck be the last time I use the Idiotically Expensive Lexmark Printer. (I’ll hook up my older one if I can find the drivers.) In my spare time (if there is any), I need to record the Dick Ackerman cuts for the Five Dollar Album, record Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues” and a country version of the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” for a contest.
Played at the Ghost Hole Tavern for 3 hours—the “jam session” consisted of just one guy (he said he’s had friends come over before from Portland, and would next week). Mostly that sort of quasi-acoustic quasi-folk music popular in the ‘80s (a lot of Neil Young), but he was good at it. Fairly easy to follow, so I played lead. Nothing fancy—I just tried to fill holes.
I’m not sure his material was what the audience wanted. He didn’t seem to know any uptempo songs (I’ll see if he can’t get familiar with some of mine). In my opinion, uptempo songs—ideally, danceable uptempo songs—are necessary for bar gigs. People don’t go to bars to be depressed; it’s a good bet some of them are already depressed. They want to feel better. (Neil Young songs—my opinion—do not help you feel better.) If you can get folks dancing—or, failing that, at least get their toes tapping and increase their heart rate—they may feel better, and decide they like your music even if they haven’t got a clue why.
I did have the opportunity to man the mike and play solo while the other guy took a break. I figured it was good practice performing before a room of people (can’t say it was a room full of people) who mostly were not interested in the music, and probably were especially not interested in a solo acoustic guitarist. I did notice, though, that they did listen when I played my stuff (rare for a tavern), and some clapped along with the uptempo songs. (One old fellow even broke out a set of spoons. And he was good.)
Other guitarist guy played lead on some of my stuff, and he split the tip jar with me when we were done—not much money, but it felt good to be paid for doing music. It was also nice that he complimented me on both my guitar playing and my singing (even though I disagree on both). I will be back. If other musicians show up to this thing, we might actually have the material for a band.
Still looking for a band to play with on the Coast. (I am assuming the Portland musicians are not going to be interested in traveling over this way for gigs—but I’m soliciting gigs here, too.) The Joe Concert I’m proposing at the Bay City Arts Center is an unknown prospect at this point, as is the “Taste of Tillamook” festival (which very likely will not take place because of money), but there are weekend fairs in Astoria to the north, McMinnville to the south, and Tillamook right close by, where a band would be preferable to playing solo. (In Astoria, bands get paid and soloists do not.)
The other local gig I’d like to line up is a benefit for the North County Recreation District. I’d mentioned it to their Board when I first talked to them about the general manager job, but I think I’d like to do it even if I don’t get the general manager job. I can even quote President Obama’s “everybody got to help each other” mantra. It would be great promotion—for me as well as for the District’s financial problems, which need to be better publicized if they’re going to get fixed. And that’s another gig that would be really good to do with a band.
Joe
I have the tracks from Albert for the “Broken Record” CD, and they did come out nice; the master should arrive any day. In the meantime, I have finished the CD label, with song order and times, and arranged it to print two-to-a-page on CD label stock. I can print and cut the covers and liner notes while I’m waiting, too. Then I’ll burn copies, and assemble packages for mailing to the 19 recipients. It will with luck be the last time I use the Idiotically Expensive Lexmark Printer. (I’ll hook up my older one if I can find the drivers.) In my spare time (if there is any), I need to record the Dick Ackerman cuts for the Five Dollar Album, record Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues” and a country version of the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” for a contest.
Played at the Ghost Hole Tavern for 3 hours—the “jam session” consisted of just one guy (he said he’s had friends come over before from Portland, and would next week). Mostly that sort of quasi-acoustic quasi-folk music popular in the ‘80s (a lot of Neil Young), but he was good at it. Fairly easy to follow, so I played lead. Nothing fancy—I just tried to fill holes.
I’m not sure his material was what the audience wanted. He didn’t seem to know any uptempo songs (I’ll see if he can’t get familiar with some of mine). In my opinion, uptempo songs—ideally, danceable uptempo songs—are necessary for bar gigs. People don’t go to bars to be depressed; it’s a good bet some of them are already depressed. They want to feel better. (Neil Young songs—my opinion—do not help you feel better.) If you can get folks dancing—or, failing that, at least get their toes tapping and increase their heart rate—they may feel better, and decide they like your music even if they haven’t got a clue why.
I did have the opportunity to man the mike and play solo while the other guy took a break. I figured it was good practice performing before a room of people (can’t say it was a room full of people) who mostly were not interested in the music, and probably were especially not interested in a solo acoustic guitarist. I did notice, though, that they did listen when I played my stuff (rare for a tavern), and some clapped along with the uptempo songs. (One old fellow even broke out a set of spoons. And he was good.)
Other guitarist guy played lead on some of my stuff, and he split the tip jar with me when we were done—not much money, but it felt good to be paid for doing music. It was also nice that he complimented me on both my guitar playing and my singing (even though I disagree on both). I will be back. If other musicians show up to this thing, we might actually have the material for a band.
Still looking for a band to play with on the Coast. (I am assuming the Portland musicians are not going to be interested in traveling over this way for gigs—but I’m soliciting gigs here, too.) The Joe Concert I’m proposing at the Bay City Arts Center is an unknown prospect at this point, as is the “Taste of Tillamook” festival (which very likely will not take place because of money), but there are weekend fairs in Astoria to the north, McMinnville to the south, and Tillamook right close by, where a band would be preferable to playing solo. (In Astoria, bands get paid and soloists do not.)
The other local gig I’d like to line up is a benefit for the North County Recreation District. I’d mentioned it to their Board when I first talked to them about the general manager job, but I think I’d like to do it even if I don’t get the general manager job. I can even quote President Obama’s “everybody got to help each other” mantra. It would be great promotion—for me as well as for the District’s financial problems, which need to be better publicized if they’re going to get fixed. And that’s another gig that would be really good to do with a band.
Joe
Sunday, January 18, 2009
BAY CITY...
BAY CITY went real well. I had Dick Ackerman there to play blues harp, so we did “Armadillo on the Interstate” (which he’s been practicing), “Tillamook Railroad Blues” (which he knows), and “Milepost 43” and “Vampire Roumanian Babies” (which he did real well on). And the audience did love every one. (Yes, Bay City audiences have historically been very appreciative—but this time, with the open mike taking place right after a fancy fund-raising dinner, there were relatively few people there who knew me.)
Definitely a feel-good occasion—and I was definitely in need of one. I could use more of them.
There may be opportunities out of it. The Arts Center has a new executive director, so I made sure to introduce myself, give her one of my last 9 CDs, and pass on my daughter’s idea of “you’re out of work, why don’t you put on a concert and make money?” And said executive director did get to see how the audience reacted to the material, and maybe get the idea that a Joe Concert could draw people. I have an appointment to talk to the Arts Center’s Board of Directors Feb. 2.
The show was being videotaped, and I talked to the cameraman about getting a copy of the tape. (Gave him a CD, too. Now we’re down to 7.) Yes, he’ll do it. He believes he has some footage of me performing at last summer’s Jews Harp Festival, too (that was with an impromptu band), and he’ll send that as well. He agreed a DVD would be a good marketing tool for getting gigs.
The lesson in both of those is the old proverb about how you can’t win the lottery unless you buy a ticket. Don’t be afraid about selling, in other words—sometimes, you actually manage to sell something.
There’ll be promotional work to do if I get the gig, of course, but that’s relatively easy: the posters are a set piece, I can do press releases blindfolded (if I don’t care about typos), and if I no longer know the local media folks personally (so many have retired, lost their jobs or died), it’s an opportunity to meet the new ones—I do at least know who and where they are.
If I do get the gig—and I do not know this—it would be good to do it with a band; the Arts Center has not only a good stage, but a good dance floor, and some of the folks do like to dance. I do know four bass players in the area (met two last night), a couple of lead guitarists, a harmonica player, a fiddler… We could probably do this.
Practice next Saturday with the Portland-area musicians (can’t call ‘em a band when they’ve never met) recruited by my dear friend Sharma to be “Joe’s band” for the Red Room gig. Got a drummer and bass player thus far, and one of ‘em (I forget which one) knows a sound engineer who also plays other things. A third fellow and I are still playing phone tag as this is written.
Another of my songs got covered—Steve Grayson (dba The Lone Arranger) recorded “Crosses by the Roadside,” and did it as a blues. Very nice. (He has a good voice for blues.) He’s probably not much more famous than I am, but he does perform, and I’d like to encourage him to perform that one. (He also does “Hank’s Song”—and his rendition of “Hank’s Song” has gotten way more attention than mine.) Other performers doing your stuff is multiplying exposure. You’re cloning yourself.
I like to encourage songwriters to perform each other’s material for that reason. I’m not the greatest one to be making the suggestion, because with my limited voice range I can’t sing most other people’s stuff; since my stuff is performable by just about anybody (including people like me, who can’t sing), I’d get more benefit out of the practice than they would. I still think it’s a good idea. Back in the ‘60s, famous folks did it—that’s one reason why so many Bob Dylan songs got made famous by other people. Famous artists don’t do it much any more—but like any tool, it’s useable by anybody.
One writer whose stuff I’d like to do (because I do want to participate in socially desirable activities I’m encouraging) is Scott Garriott, whose music I ran into in southern Oregon. (I played lead with him a number of times.) Traditional-style folk music, of the type nobody plays any more, but with really compelling melodies and very strange lyrics. And deliverable in almost a monotone (which is mostly the way I sing). I’ve told Scott his “Mattress and the Snake-pit” would come across real well as a two-step. I’d like to try it with a band.
Joe
Definitely a feel-good occasion—and I was definitely in need of one. I could use more of them.
There may be opportunities out of it. The Arts Center has a new executive director, so I made sure to introduce myself, give her one of my last 9 CDs, and pass on my daughter’s idea of “you’re out of work, why don’t you put on a concert and make money?” And said executive director did get to see how the audience reacted to the material, and maybe get the idea that a Joe Concert could draw people. I have an appointment to talk to the Arts Center’s Board of Directors Feb. 2.
The show was being videotaped, and I talked to the cameraman about getting a copy of the tape. (Gave him a CD, too. Now we’re down to 7.) Yes, he’ll do it. He believes he has some footage of me performing at last summer’s Jews Harp Festival, too (that was with an impromptu band), and he’ll send that as well. He agreed a DVD would be a good marketing tool for getting gigs.
The lesson in both of those is the old proverb about how you can’t win the lottery unless you buy a ticket. Don’t be afraid about selling, in other words—sometimes, you actually manage to sell something.
There’ll be promotional work to do if I get the gig, of course, but that’s relatively easy: the posters are a set piece, I can do press releases blindfolded (if I don’t care about typos), and if I no longer know the local media folks personally (so many have retired, lost their jobs or died), it’s an opportunity to meet the new ones—I do at least know who and where they are.
If I do get the gig—and I do not know this—it would be good to do it with a band; the Arts Center has not only a good stage, but a good dance floor, and some of the folks do like to dance. I do know four bass players in the area (met two last night), a couple of lead guitarists, a harmonica player, a fiddler… We could probably do this.
Practice next Saturday with the Portland-area musicians (can’t call ‘em a band when they’ve never met) recruited by my dear friend Sharma to be “Joe’s band” for the Red Room gig. Got a drummer and bass player thus far, and one of ‘em (I forget which one) knows a sound engineer who also plays other things. A third fellow and I are still playing phone tag as this is written.
Another of my songs got covered—Steve Grayson (dba The Lone Arranger) recorded “Crosses by the Roadside,” and did it as a blues. Very nice. (He has a good voice for blues.) He’s probably not much more famous than I am, but he does perform, and I’d like to encourage him to perform that one. (He also does “Hank’s Song”—and his rendition of “Hank’s Song” has gotten way more attention than mine.) Other performers doing your stuff is multiplying exposure. You’re cloning yourself.
I like to encourage songwriters to perform each other’s material for that reason. I’m not the greatest one to be making the suggestion, because with my limited voice range I can’t sing most other people’s stuff; since my stuff is performable by just about anybody (including people like me, who can’t sing), I’d get more benefit out of the practice than they would. I still think it’s a good idea. Back in the ‘60s, famous folks did it—that’s one reason why so many Bob Dylan songs got made famous by other people. Famous artists don’t do it much any more—but like any tool, it’s useable by anybody.
One writer whose stuff I’d like to do (because I do want to participate in socially desirable activities I’m encouraging) is Scott Garriott, whose music I ran into in southern Oregon. (I played lead with him a number of times.) Traditional-style folk music, of the type nobody plays any more, but with really compelling melodies and very strange lyrics. And deliverable in almost a monotone (which is mostly the way I sing). I’ve told Scott his “Mattress and the Snake-pit” would come across real well as a two-step. I’d like to try it with a band.
Joe
Friday, January 16, 2009
WORKING ON THE WEBSITE (&C.)...
And when we can’t think of anything else to do, we write, right?
Dick Ackerman’s willing to do the harmonica lead on the “Armadillo” song; might be able to record that in the next couple of days. Following that, I want to record Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues,” and then do harmonica parts for “The Tillamook Railroad Blues” and “Milepost 43.” The railroad song especially should be a one-take thing—we’ve been playing it for years. The Tascam’s digital-camera chip “brain,” which allows only one song at a time, forces to-be-recorded music into a pipeline. What’s enabled significant output is being able to get acceptable tracks usually in a handful of “takes.”
Don’t know about the music jams at the music store. The Friday night jam sessions I used to go to in Baker City started out that way, just playing in the music store, and just outgrew the place, and Tillamook Music could do the same thing. It’s necessary to be consistent, though—one can’t be telling people it’s on in the afternoon, and then calling them a couple hours later to tell ‘em it’s off. (Then again, they may have just called me because they don’t want me around. This could be Rejection-as-a-Musician Week for all I know.) On the good news front, the Ghost Hole Tavern here in Garibaldi has started having live music again, after a three-year hiatus; they’re billing it as a jam session, and I’ll go. I need to be playing with other people more.
No gig for me at the Tillamook County Fair, according to the Fair Manager (not surprising—they usually don’t book any local entertainment—but as Locally Famous Dude, I had to ask). The “Taste of Tillamook” festival in mid-March might get cancelled (the Fair Board will decide Feb. 3)—reportedly last year’s “Taste” was a financial flop, and some of the backers aren’t backing it this year. It would be a shame if the event died—it was and still could be a good showcase for local music—but that’s not something I can control.
I have been working off and on on the Joe Website (free hosting space from the phone company), but it’s a rough go. I have to work within stock templates they provide—and a telephone company, I guess, has funny ideas about what people are going to use Websites for. One almost wishes for a blank slate—even though I have no idea what I’m doing. (Blank slates, alas, are not an option where the phone company is concerned. Not surprising—for over 100 years, the phone company told us what telephones were going to look like, what colors (if any) they were going to be, and even where we were going to buy them. One should expect no different with Websites.)
Mostly, what I want the Website for is a place for LINKS. I already have music—over 70 songs—archived on Soundclick and Whitby Shores, a MySpace “presence,” and “The Writer’s Blog” in four places including the “traditional” one on Google’s Blogspot. I just need links to all those places. I need a link to a second page for ordering the CD, which for right now has to be ordered from me (the next one will be on CDBaby—I promise), and a link to a third page to sign up for the “joelist.” (I have noticed other musicians using their Websites the same way.)
Everything else is gravy. Sure, we can have some photos—I have plenty—and something that’ll play a couple of songs; there’s space for a video (one of those “template” things I can’t do anything about), but I don’t have any videos. Add that to the to-do list, I guess. A video of me performing would be a good tool to give venues I want gigs at. Performances at the Bay City Arts Center have been videotaped in the past; if the open mike Saturday gets recorded, I should be insistent about getting a copy.
Got to send another song to a music publisher; I’ve been on her mailing list for a few years now, and when she needs something—usually for a film or TV show—that she doesn’t have in The Catalog, she sends out a call to the mailing list. I try to respond to those when I can—it keeps my name out there. In this instance, she wanted love songs: not my usual stock in trade, but I did have one over-the-top one that didn’t have dead animals in it. She got “Twenty-Four Seven.”
I am not expecting miracles (the only miracle, really, was “Santa’s Fallen” getting included on that Philippine Christmas album). What I could use is to be on more publishers’ mailing lists. I presume most of them do business the same way. How do I find out who they are, and get on their lists?
Joe
Dick Ackerman’s willing to do the harmonica lead on the “Armadillo” song; might be able to record that in the next couple of days. Following that, I want to record Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues,” and then do harmonica parts for “The Tillamook Railroad Blues” and “Milepost 43.” The railroad song especially should be a one-take thing—we’ve been playing it for years. The Tascam’s digital-camera chip “brain,” which allows only one song at a time, forces to-be-recorded music into a pipeline. What’s enabled significant output is being able to get acceptable tracks usually in a handful of “takes.”
Don’t know about the music jams at the music store. The Friday night jam sessions I used to go to in Baker City started out that way, just playing in the music store, and just outgrew the place, and Tillamook Music could do the same thing. It’s necessary to be consistent, though—one can’t be telling people it’s on in the afternoon, and then calling them a couple hours later to tell ‘em it’s off. (Then again, they may have just called me because they don’t want me around. This could be Rejection-as-a-Musician Week for all I know.) On the good news front, the Ghost Hole Tavern here in Garibaldi has started having live music again, after a three-year hiatus; they’re billing it as a jam session, and I’ll go. I need to be playing with other people more.
No gig for me at the Tillamook County Fair, according to the Fair Manager (not surprising—they usually don’t book any local entertainment—but as Locally Famous Dude, I had to ask). The “Taste of Tillamook” festival in mid-March might get cancelled (the Fair Board will decide Feb. 3)—reportedly last year’s “Taste” was a financial flop, and some of the backers aren’t backing it this year. It would be a shame if the event died—it was and still could be a good showcase for local music—but that’s not something I can control.
I have been working off and on on the Joe Website (free hosting space from the phone company), but it’s a rough go. I have to work within stock templates they provide—and a telephone company, I guess, has funny ideas about what people are going to use Websites for. One almost wishes for a blank slate—even though I have no idea what I’m doing. (Blank slates, alas, are not an option where the phone company is concerned. Not surprising—for over 100 years, the phone company told us what telephones were going to look like, what colors (if any) they were going to be, and even where we were going to buy them. One should expect no different with Websites.)
Mostly, what I want the Website for is a place for LINKS. I already have music—over 70 songs—archived on Soundclick and Whitby Shores, a MySpace “presence,” and “The Writer’s Blog” in four places including the “traditional” one on Google’s Blogspot. I just need links to all those places. I need a link to a second page for ordering the CD, which for right now has to be ordered from me (the next one will be on CDBaby—I promise), and a link to a third page to sign up for the “joelist.” (I have noticed other musicians using their Websites the same way.)
Everything else is gravy. Sure, we can have some photos—I have plenty—and something that’ll play a couple of songs; there’s space for a video (one of those “template” things I can’t do anything about), but I don’t have any videos. Add that to the to-do list, I guess. A video of me performing would be a good tool to give venues I want gigs at. Performances at the Bay City Arts Center have been videotaped in the past; if the open mike Saturday gets recorded, I should be insistent about getting a copy.
Got to send another song to a music publisher; I’ve been on her mailing list for a few years now, and when she needs something—usually for a film or TV show—that she doesn’t have in The Catalog, she sends out a call to the mailing list. I try to respond to those when I can—it keeps my name out there. In this instance, she wanted love songs: not my usual stock in trade, but I did have one over-the-top one that didn’t have dead animals in it. She got “Twenty-Four Seven.”
I am not expecting miracles (the only miracle, really, was “Santa’s Fallen” getting included on that Philippine Christmas album). What I could use is to be on more publishers’ mailing lists. I presume most of them do business the same way. How do I find out who they are, and get on their lists?
Joe
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
THE PHILIPPINE CHRISTMAS ALBUM!
I received the PHILIPPINE CHRISTMAS ALBUM—took three weeks to get here from The Philippines by their version of registered mail. (Must’ve swum.) It is definitely a rush having somebody else’s record with my song (and name, and photo) on it.
I’m not the only american on the album (there are two Stan Good songs, too); some of the songs are in English, and some not. Some of the music would be quite at home in an American bar or concert hall, even though the singing isn’t in English—I guess music really is a universal language. One hip-hop piece on the record—very well done, and fascinating to listen to, even though it’s in Tagalog (I think).
The album is a flash drive—cute li’l thing, with attractive packaging; I just had to plug it into one of “Alice” the ‘puter’s USB ports (she has 5) and it played right away. I don’t think most entertainment systems in the U.S. have USB ports (mine certainly doesn’t, but my components are 20 to 30 years old); I gather it’s common overseas. One thing I heard the publisher complaining about is flash drives still aren’t very cheap, even in quantity, and I definitely have not seen them cheap in the U.S., where they’re not a widely-used entertainment medium. A big challenge for the Southern Pigfish album, which I wanted to issue on flash drive, complete with videos, is going to be keeping costs down
RED ROOM GIG: I keep being reassured we’ll have a band for the Red Room gig—drummer, bass, lead guitar, harmonica, maybe even keyboard—and that we’ll have time to practice ahead of time. First chance to do so (and to meet everybody, ‘cause I don’t know them) may be this coming weekend.
On the assumption they know what they’re doing, here’s what I’d propose for a band set. 9 songs, 45 minutes—and not necessarily in order:
Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (slow & sleazy)
One: I Love You (mod. fast country)
Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy)
Hey, Little Chicken (country blues)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rock ‘n’ roll)
Portland: The Tri-Met Bus Song (bluegrass)
Electronic Love (slow burlesque)
Milepost 43 (mod. fast country)
I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas (mod. slow country)
All sound good with a band. Some wouldn’t sound good any other way. Since the gig is just before Valentine’s Day, we can concentrate on love songs (7 out of 9 are love songs, though maybe not the kind of love one would talk loudly about). It’s good to have a common theme to string things together.
Of the nine, the only one that’d take some work is “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” because the timing has to be so exact. The rest are pretty simple, and most (including “Dirty Deeds”) have only three chords. I’d include “One: I Love You” because it’s real danceable, and it’s been popular at the Library—I think I’ve played it every week. “The Tri-Met Bus Song” is local color—it’s a parody of that old bluegrass turkey, “Wreck of the Old 97,” and is about Portland’s bus system; the one time the Dodson Drifters played it (in Portland, of course), the audience wouldn’t let us stop. It might still be popular after 30 years. We’ll find out.
And I suppose we should plan on an encore—you never can tell. It needs to be short, because everybody’ll be on a tight schedule, and there’s two bands following us. “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” might fill the bill—it’s short, and sleazy, and memorable.
OTHER UPDATES: Not much. (I am not going to repeat that “no [insert activity] yet” statement—it bothers me.) A couple more jobs to apply for (one local), jam session at the music store Wednesday night (maybe), open mike in Bay City Saturday night (definitely). Still trying to decide if I should put my last set of strings on the guitar before or after the open mike.
joe
I’m not the only american on the album (there are two Stan Good songs, too); some of the songs are in English, and some not. Some of the music would be quite at home in an American bar or concert hall, even though the singing isn’t in English—I guess music really is a universal language. One hip-hop piece on the record—very well done, and fascinating to listen to, even though it’s in Tagalog (I think).
The album is a flash drive—cute li’l thing, with attractive packaging; I just had to plug it into one of “Alice” the ‘puter’s USB ports (she has 5) and it played right away. I don’t think most entertainment systems in the U.S. have USB ports (mine certainly doesn’t, but my components are 20 to 30 years old); I gather it’s common overseas. One thing I heard the publisher complaining about is flash drives still aren’t very cheap, even in quantity, and I definitely have not seen them cheap in the U.S., where they’re not a widely-used entertainment medium. A big challenge for the Southern Pigfish album, which I wanted to issue on flash drive, complete with videos, is going to be keeping costs down
RED ROOM GIG: I keep being reassured we’ll have a band for the Red Room gig—drummer, bass, lead guitar, harmonica, maybe even keyboard—and that we’ll have time to practice ahead of time. First chance to do so (and to meet everybody, ‘cause I don’t know them) may be this coming weekend.
On the assumption they know what they’re doing, here’s what I’d propose for a band set. 9 songs, 45 minutes—and not necessarily in order:
Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (slow & sleazy)
One: I Love You (mod. fast country)
Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy)
Hey, Little Chicken (country blues)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rock ‘n’ roll)
Portland: The Tri-Met Bus Song (bluegrass)
Electronic Love (slow burlesque)
Milepost 43 (mod. fast country)
I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas (mod. slow country)
All sound good with a band. Some wouldn’t sound good any other way. Since the gig is just before Valentine’s Day, we can concentrate on love songs (7 out of 9 are love songs, though maybe not the kind of love one would talk loudly about). It’s good to have a common theme to string things together.
Of the nine, the only one that’d take some work is “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” because the timing has to be so exact. The rest are pretty simple, and most (including “Dirty Deeds”) have only three chords. I’d include “One: I Love You” because it’s real danceable, and it’s been popular at the Library—I think I’ve played it every week. “The Tri-Met Bus Song” is local color—it’s a parody of that old bluegrass turkey, “Wreck of the Old 97,” and is about Portland’s bus system; the one time the Dodson Drifters played it (in Portland, of course), the audience wouldn’t let us stop. It might still be popular after 30 years. We’ll find out.
And I suppose we should plan on an encore—you never can tell. It needs to be short, because everybody’ll be on a tight schedule, and there’s two bands following us. “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” might fill the bill—it’s short, and sleazy, and memorable.
OTHER UPDATES: Not much. (I am not going to repeat that “no [insert activity] yet” statement—it bothers me.) A couple more jobs to apply for (one local), jam session at the music store Wednesday night (maybe), open mike in Bay City Saturday night (definitely). Still trying to decide if I should put my last set of strings on the guitar before or after the open mike.
joe
Sunday, January 11, 2009
JUST UPDATES...
Just updates… I can’t produce the songbook, even in black-and-white, for five bucks—not when my printer goes through a $20 ink cartridge in less than 200 pages. (Yes, I need a cheaper printer, as soon as I can afford one. And Lexmark needs a Very Nasty Letter about their equipment, which I am not going to buy any more.) I’ll have to print one master, and take it to a print shop that does work for college students, and see what that costs. There’s none of those around here, but I have a little time—I won’t see Fred, who ordered the songbook, for another two weeks.
No music this coming week except for the open mike in Bay City; they’re refinishing the Dance Floor at Garibaldi City Hall (can’t set foot on it for two whole weeks), and the Tillamook Library’s music room is booked by somebody else for next Saturday.
There are maybe more places to play. The music store in Tillamook has started having Wednesday night jam sessions, and I’ll go. And there’s a Monday Musical Club that’s been soliciting my membership for a couple of years; I thought they just booked performances by famous people, but I hear that in their spare time they arrange performances by each other. (One I heard about was “Doc” Wagner playing Puccini--on the harmonica.) I could maybe do that sort of thing (not the Puccini, of course). No money in it, but it’s a way to get better known. And I have to do it around here, because without a job and income, Around Here is what I’ve got.
In the same vein, I need to try to parlay my appearance at next Saturday’s open mike into a concert (a CD release party, maybe?) at the Bay City Arts Center. Some people are at least talking about the fact I’ll be at the open mike, and that’s good. Also in the same vein, I should visit—again—the Saturday Market at the Old Mill (it’s still going on, even after Christmas), and see if I have any fans there, and whether they’d question why the Powers that Be didn’t want to hire me to play there.
I think city management as a career has about played itself out; I get interviews, but I also get rejected every time. (Another rejection this week.) I have one more interview coming up end of the month, and four more applications in the pipeline that I expect will result in rejection letters because they’re requiring the Degree Thing that I don’t have. It is time to do something else. Yes, there is probably a song in all that—but there have been a lot of songs written about rejection, and I wouldn’t want mine to be Just One More. I think I need to be apart from it a bit longer, so I can see the humor in it. Right now, that’s hard to do.
Another song to “musicate,” this one another Beth Williams tune (she’s become quite an accomplished lyricist, and I do enjoy working with her stuff). It’s got overtones of Reba McIntire, and even if I could sing, I couldn’t “do” Reba McIntire very effectively, being a guy and all. It did occur to me that I know somebody who could. I’ll have to ask her. Putting the song on the Tascam has to wait until I have the harmonica part for “Armadillo on the Interstate,” which is presently occupying the Tascam; I’ve asked Dick Ackerman if he could do it. There are four songs I want to put on the Five Dollar Album that could use harmonica leads; I have to record them one at a time, because of the one-song limitations of the Tascam. Dick could do them all, if he’s willing.
So--no band yet; no new equipment yet; no album yet; no new paying gigs yet; no job yet. I am as tired of writing “no [insert activity] yet” as I expect others are of reading it. If anything good is going to happen, I have to make it happen. There is no point in waiting for it. Do I know what to do? I do not.
And that shouldn’t stop me. One recalls Franklin Roosevelt, who got elected President in 1932 with promises to fix the Depression—without offering any specifics. He was subsequently asked by a reporter what he was going to do. “I’ll do something.” What? “Something.” And if that doesn’t work? “I’ll do something else.” Not a bad program to imitate.
Joe
No music this coming week except for the open mike in Bay City; they’re refinishing the Dance Floor at Garibaldi City Hall (can’t set foot on it for two whole weeks), and the Tillamook Library’s music room is booked by somebody else for next Saturday.
There are maybe more places to play. The music store in Tillamook has started having Wednesday night jam sessions, and I’ll go. And there’s a Monday Musical Club that’s been soliciting my membership for a couple of years; I thought they just booked performances by famous people, but I hear that in their spare time they arrange performances by each other. (One I heard about was “Doc” Wagner playing Puccini--on the harmonica.) I could maybe do that sort of thing (not the Puccini, of course). No money in it, but it’s a way to get better known. And I have to do it around here, because without a job and income, Around Here is what I’ve got.
In the same vein, I need to try to parlay my appearance at next Saturday’s open mike into a concert (a CD release party, maybe?) at the Bay City Arts Center. Some people are at least talking about the fact I’ll be at the open mike, and that’s good. Also in the same vein, I should visit—again—the Saturday Market at the Old Mill (it’s still going on, even after Christmas), and see if I have any fans there, and whether they’d question why the Powers that Be didn’t want to hire me to play there.
I think city management as a career has about played itself out; I get interviews, but I also get rejected every time. (Another rejection this week.) I have one more interview coming up end of the month, and four more applications in the pipeline that I expect will result in rejection letters because they’re requiring the Degree Thing that I don’t have. It is time to do something else. Yes, there is probably a song in all that—but there have been a lot of songs written about rejection, and I wouldn’t want mine to be Just One More. I think I need to be apart from it a bit longer, so I can see the humor in it. Right now, that’s hard to do.
Another song to “musicate,” this one another Beth Williams tune (she’s become quite an accomplished lyricist, and I do enjoy working with her stuff). It’s got overtones of Reba McIntire, and even if I could sing, I couldn’t “do” Reba McIntire very effectively, being a guy and all. It did occur to me that I know somebody who could. I’ll have to ask her. Putting the song on the Tascam has to wait until I have the harmonica part for “Armadillo on the Interstate,” which is presently occupying the Tascam; I’ve asked Dick Ackerman if he could do it. There are four songs I want to put on the Five Dollar Album that could use harmonica leads; I have to record them one at a time, because of the one-song limitations of the Tascam. Dick could do them all, if he’s willing.
So--no band yet; no new equipment yet; no album yet; no new paying gigs yet; no job yet. I am as tired of writing “no [insert activity] yet” as I expect others are of reading it. If anything good is going to happen, I have to make it happen. There is no point in waiting for it. Do I know what to do? I do not.
And that shouldn’t stop me. One recalls Franklin Roosevelt, who got elected President in 1932 with promises to fix the Depression—without offering any specifics. He was subsequently asked by a reporter what he was going to do. “I’ll do something.” What? “Something.” And if that doesn’t work? “I’ll do something else.” Not a bad program to imitate.
Joe
Thursday, January 8, 2009
THE RED ROOM--AND AN OPEN MIKE...
Went to the Red Room to check the place out (I always try to do this before a gig) and to drop off a CD and posters. It’s a pretty big place, with a decent-sized stage, and good speakers (though the sound system is primitive compared to what the Friday Night Group has). I’ll definitely want my own singing mike.
It’s on NORTHEAST 82nd, not Southeast as I originally reported (and if you go to the SE 82nd address—like I did—you will end up at a Chinese restaurant, which just happens to be painted red, and will get really confused). Show starts 9 P.M. FRIDAY, 13 FEBRUARY. I’ll be on first, followed by someone hight Gabe Salo, followed by Metropolitan Farms. M.F. is a band (3-piece, I think, from their photos); I don’t know if Gabe is playing solo or with a band—it appears he does both. I don’t know if I have a band for this gig. I’m trying. I think with the crowd they have there, a band would be good.
What to play depends on whether I’ve got a band or not, I think. With a band, we can do a couple of the rock ‘n’ roll and blues tunes—I expect “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep” would go over real good, as would “Test Tube Baby.” But I could never do those without a band. If I’m solo, it will be mostly country music, because country music sounds good whether performed solo or with a band.
The lesson there: Get out more. I wouldn’t be having the “no band” problem if I knew more people.
After about a 2-year hiatus, the Bay City Arts Center will be having another of Jim Nelson’s open mikes SAT., 18 JANUARY, and I’ll plan on being there. Three songs, I think—maybe four. And it’s a family crowd, with a lot of little kids. I can give ‘em “When They Die, I put Them in the Cookies” (which kids really like because they’re all sociopaths at heart), “Milepost 43” (what’s not to like about lost underwear?) and “Vampire Roumanian Babies,” none of which they’ll have heard before; in addition, I can announce the gig in Portland, peddle a few CDs, and solicit signatures for the joelist.
I can remind the folks, since they’re a mostly friendly audience, that I’ve written roughly one good song a month for the past two years, and they haven’t heard any of them because there haven’t been any open mikes (and they haven’t been coming to Garibaldi on Friday nights). I don’t know if there’s an opportunity for a Bay City concert in there or not. The Arts Center does like to book people way more famous than me—but on the other hand, I have fans in the area, and I don’t know to what extent those more famous people do.
I have all 16 tracks for the “BROKEN RECORD” CD—the last two were really professionally produced—and am sending them off to Albert for mastering. He may have a different idea for order than I did, and I’ve encouraged him to act on it if he does. The liner notes, now that they’re done, aren’t hard to rearrange. It’s like shuffling cookies on a plate—the hard part was baking them, and that’s done.
The Tillamook County Fair Board has my “Santa’s Fallen” CD (and Fair Manager Jerry Underwood did remember I’d played at the Fair one year), and we’ll see what they do. I don’t know if I need a band for the “Taste of Tillamook” gig (if I get it) or not; it’s probably best to assume I do. (I might be able to tap folks from the Friday Night Group if I give ‘em enough warning.)
I think one of the important facets of promotion is coming across like you’re professional, and important, and famous; that way, the people you’re talking to are encouraged to act like you’re important (&c.), so they won’t be embarrassed they didn’t realize it. Same thing I try to do on stage. When I (or we) play the Red Room, I want that crowd to be asking, “how come we never heard of these guys before?”
joe
It’s on NORTHEAST 82nd, not Southeast as I originally reported (and if you go to the SE 82nd address—like I did—you will end up at a Chinese restaurant, which just happens to be painted red, and will get really confused). Show starts 9 P.M. FRIDAY, 13 FEBRUARY. I’ll be on first, followed by someone hight Gabe Salo, followed by Metropolitan Farms. M.F. is a band (3-piece, I think, from their photos); I don’t know if Gabe is playing solo or with a band—it appears he does both. I don’t know if I have a band for this gig. I’m trying. I think with the crowd they have there, a band would be good.
What to play depends on whether I’ve got a band or not, I think. With a band, we can do a couple of the rock ‘n’ roll and blues tunes—I expect “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep” would go over real good, as would “Test Tube Baby.” But I could never do those without a band. If I’m solo, it will be mostly country music, because country music sounds good whether performed solo or with a band.
The lesson there: Get out more. I wouldn’t be having the “no band” problem if I knew more people.
After about a 2-year hiatus, the Bay City Arts Center will be having another of Jim Nelson’s open mikes SAT., 18 JANUARY, and I’ll plan on being there. Three songs, I think—maybe four. And it’s a family crowd, with a lot of little kids. I can give ‘em “When They Die, I put Them in the Cookies” (which kids really like because they’re all sociopaths at heart), “Milepost 43” (what’s not to like about lost underwear?) and “Vampire Roumanian Babies,” none of which they’ll have heard before; in addition, I can announce the gig in Portland, peddle a few CDs, and solicit signatures for the joelist.
I can remind the folks, since they’re a mostly friendly audience, that I’ve written roughly one good song a month for the past two years, and they haven’t heard any of them because there haven’t been any open mikes (and they haven’t been coming to Garibaldi on Friday nights). I don’t know if there’s an opportunity for a Bay City concert in there or not. The Arts Center does like to book people way more famous than me—but on the other hand, I have fans in the area, and I don’t know to what extent those more famous people do.
I have all 16 tracks for the “BROKEN RECORD” CD—the last two were really professionally produced—and am sending them off to Albert for mastering. He may have a different idea for order than I did, and I’ve encouraged him to act on it if he does. The liner notes, now that they’re done, aren’t hard to rearrange. It’s like shuffling cookies on a plate—the hard part was baking them, and that’s done.
The Tillamook County Fair Board has my “Santa’s Fallen” CD (and Fair Manager Jerry Underwood did remember I’d played at the Fair one year), and we’ll see what they do. I don’t know if I need a band for the “Taste of Tillamook” gig (if I get it) or not; it’s probably best to assume I do. (I might be able to tap folks from the Friday Night Group if I give ‘em enough warning.)
I think one of the important facets of promotion is coming across like you’re professional, and important, and famous; that way, the people you’re talking to are encouraged to act like you’re important (&c.), so they won’t be embarrassed they didn’t realize it. Same thing I try to do on stage. When I (or we) play the Red Room, I want that crowd to be asking, “how come we never heard of these guys before?”
joe
Monday, January 5, 2009
A PAYING GIG!
Well, I have a gig. FRIDAY, 13 FEBRUARY at THE RED ROOM in Portland (2530 SE 82nd), a bar that showcases a lot of new live music, and also a bunch of comedy acts (I have a feeling I’m one of the latter). I do not know at this point if it’s important to do this with a band; I’ve put out feelers in Portland to see if there are musicians interested in being “Joe’s band” for the occasion, but it’s too early at this writing to tell if I’ll snag anybody. A lot depends on what the other “acts” are like, and I don’t know that yet, either.
What to play? Well, it’s a tavern, and bar crowds tend to go for the sleazier stuff—you can also Be Adult at ‘em, too. No serious stuff. (That’s easy. I don’t have much serious stuff.) 45-minute set—that’s 9 songs with a band, maybe 10 or 11 if it’s solo.
Poster’s done (it’s a stock format, so it was easy); I’ll drop some off along with a CD when I visit the joint Tuesday or Wednesday en route through Portland to or from my job interview in Jefferson. Press releases for the newspapers—and there may be a couple of Portland entertainment Websites I can tap, too. I should have CDs to sell—do I have to get a fifth pressing of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD?
And the gig pays. Not a lot, but it doesn’t matter. It’s just plumb exciting to be wanted, y’know?
The gig was the result of answering an ad on Craigslist a few weeks ago, so Craigslist may not be a total loss. I’ll keep paying attention, and keep answering the occasional ad that looks interesting. I don’t know if there’s any point in continuing to run a “band wanted” ad of my own, though. I may have better luck approaching people personally.
There is a Portland Songwriters Association, and I probably should join; not easy to be active when I live 90 miles away and have no money, but that’s one of the places where I could potentially get the musicians to play on the album. (They do regular showcases, too.) There’s a Portland Folklore Society, too—and it was in the N.E. Oregon Folklore Society in La Grande where I met the bluegrass musicians who both played on the “Santa’s Fallen” CD and were “Joe’s band” for a couple of big concerts. It’s tempting to join both—the songwriters group for exposure, and the folklore society for musicians (since those are likely to be bluegrass folks).
Other opportunities? There appear to be plenty; there are other bars and coffeehouses in Portland now that cater to independent music, and I could potentially parlay the gig at the Red Room into gigs there—I notice other Portland musicians have done that. Virtually none of it is country music, near as I can tell—Portland has never been a big venue for country music (that might be a result of the town’s historic pretentiousness). The Medford area wasn’t big on country music when I got there, either, but I seemed to do okay. I think it’s an untapped market.
There’s a “Sunday Market” in Astoria (60 miles away, in a different direction) that’s looking for music for every weekend this summer, starting Mother’s Day; bands are paid, but solo musicians are not. (Dang. No band.) If I have a job in this area, I could do it and not worry about the cost; if the job is somewhere else, it’d be a big pain of a commitment.
“BROKEN RECORD” project is waiting on just the last two songs (of 16). I have photos for everybody, and have done the liner notes (so the order of songs is fixed, whatever they end up sounding like). Still not certain what should go on the FIVE-DOLLAR ALBUM. It’s been suggested I should do a Joe Benefit Concert (since I have no money); a good excuse for bringing people in would be a CD release party—but I need to have the CD done. “Armadillo on the Interstate” is still on the Tascam, waiting for me to connect with “Doc” Wagner—which hasn’t happened yet. If he’s willing, I’ve got a couple more songs I would really like to have his blues harp lead on. His is the sort of talent that could sell records.
Sizable crowd of musicians at the Library on Saturday, but only two of us made it to the Forestry Center Sunday (it snowed)—Fred (who sings) and myself. It did give us a chance to practice. We.both told the Forestry Center staff they’d have a bigger and more consistent crowd if they did the music more often than once a month. Also gave them a few ideas for promotion. As isolated as the Forestry Center is, they need to take direct action to make themselves a community center—it’s not going to happen automatically.
Joe
What to play? Well, it’s a tavern, and bar crowds tend to go for the sleazier stuff—you can also Be Adult at ‘em, too. No serious stuff. (That’s easy. I don’t have much serious stuff.) 45-minute set—that’s 9 songs with a band, maybe 10 or 11 if it’s solo.
Poster’s done (it’s a stock format, so it was easy); I’ll drop some off along with a CD when I visit the joint Tuesday or Wednesday en route through Portland to or from my job interview in Jefferson. Press releases for the newspapers—and there may be a couple of Portland entertainment Websites I can tap, too. I should have CDs to sell—do I have to get a fifth pressing of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD?
And the gig pays. Not a lot, but it doesn’t matter. It’s just plumb exciting to be wanted, y’know?
The gig was the result of answering an ad on Craigslist a few weeks ago, so Craigslist may not be a total loss. I’ll keep paying attention, and keep answering the occasional ad that looks interesting. I don’t know if there’s any point in continuing to run a “band wanted” ad of my own, though. I may have better luck approaching people personally.
There is a Portland Songwriters Association, and I probably should join; not easy to be active when I live 90 miles away and have no money, but that’s one of the places where I could potentially get the musicians to play on the album. (They do regular showcases, too.) There’s a Portland Folklore Society, too—and it was in the N.E. Oregon Folklore Society in La Grande where I met the bluegrass musicians who both played on the “Santa’s Fallen” CD and were “Joe’s band” for a couple of big concerts. It’s tempting to join both—the songwriters group for exposure, and the folklore society for musicians (since those are likely to be bluegrass folks).
Other opportunities? There appear to be plenty; there are other bars and coffeehouses in Portland now that cater to independent music, and I could potentially parlay the gig at the Red Room into gigs there—I notice other Portland musicians have done that. Virtually none of it is country music, near as I can tell—Portland has never been a big venue for country music (that might be a result of the town’s historic pretentiousness). The Medford area wasn’t big on country music when I got there, either, but I seemed to do okay. I think it’s an untapped market.
There’s a “Sunday Market” in Astoria (60 miles away, in a different direction) that’s looking for music for every weekend this summer, starting Mother’s Day; bands are paid, but solo musicians are not. (Dang. No band.) If I have a job in this area, I could do it and not worry about the cost; if the job is somewhere else, it’d be a big pain of a commitment.
“BROKEN RECORD” project is waiting on just the last two songs (of 16). I have photos for everybody, and have done the liner notes (so the order of songs is fixed, whatever they end up sounding like). Still not certain what should go on the FIVE-DOLLAR ALBUM. It’s been suggested I should do a Joe Benefit Concert (since I have no money); a good excuse for bringing people in would be a CD release party—but I need to have the CD done. “Armadillo on the Interstate” is still on the Tascam, waiting for me to connect with “Doc” Wagner—which hasn’t happened yet. If he’s willing, I’ve got a couple more songs I would really like to have his blues harp lead on. His is the sort of talent that could sell records.
Sizable crowd of musicians at the Library on Saturday, but only two of us made it to the Forestry Center Sunday (it snowed)—Fred (who sings) and myself. It did give us a chance to practice. We.both told the Forestry Center staff they’d have a bigger and more consistent crowd if they did the music more often than once a month. Also gave them a few ideas for promotion. As isolated as the Forestry Center is, they need to take direct action to make themselves a community center—it’s not going to happen automatically.
Joe
Saturday, January 3, 2009
BEING INTERACTIVE...
Over two million extra people voted in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, most of them voting for the first time even though a lot of them had been eligible to vote for years. Nearly all of them were young, and nearly all of them voted for Barack Obama, and that’s one of the reasons he won. (Not the only reason, of course—but we’re not discussing politics here.)
Those two million extra votes happened in large part because somebody on Obama’s staff ran a very interactive campaign. There was an Obama blog, regular YouTube videos, an Obama Website where you could sign up for a mailing list, to do volunteer stuff, or just leave comments or maybe even ideas. You could even get Obama text messages on your cell phone. I heard some radio interviews with some of those voters. Did he ever answer them back when they left messages? Well, no—but it didn’t matter. What was important was he was communicating with those kids in ways they were used to being communicated with by their peers. He understood, in other words. And they voted for him because he understood.
Is there a lesson in all that applicable to the music business? I think so. There’s a solo musician back East who’s doing the Obama Thing. (Actually, he was doing it before Obama.) I thought the guy was an Urban Legend until I found one of his Websites (he has several). Another fascinating statistic: roughly half the population of the United States has high-speed Internet now. (Not many years ago, half the population of the U.S. wasn’t even connected.)
So how do I start being interactive? I could start with a PROJECT.
Some months back, there was a band that got hundreds of ideas for a new logo by soliciting submissions on MySpace. I probably have too much confidence in my abilities as a graphic designer to do that. I already have a logo (designed by my daughter), and the last two times I thought about asking for help with an album cover, I had an acceptable design for the cover myself within hours. I really am more comfortable with my own graphic work than anybody else’s, even though my tools are primitive.
I’d have the same trouble asking people what songs ought to go on an album. I think I already know. I see people’s reactions when I’m performing, and which songs get requested the most. And I already do hear from some folks saying such-and-such song has got to be on the next album. I probably don’t need to ask.
What about SOUTHERN PIGFISH, though? I need to finish their album this year, and they are a little short on material. They’ve got three songs I wrote for them, and maybe a couple more of mine that would be really appropriate, and that’s it. Oh, the album could be all my songs in a pinch—most of my material is cross-genre capable—but would this be the opportunity to ask for outside input? I do know rather a lot of writers—on four continents, in fact.
Could I send out a call to all those people, asking for original material for the band to record? Might get a lot of submissions, but I’d duly sift through all of them. Have to make it clear to everybody that Southern Pigfish are not big-time: the best one might get (besides a few bucks in copyright fees) is being able to tell people one of your songs got on the latest album by Southern Pigfish (and if you say that in the right tone of voice, you will impress people—trust me).
I need to do a few things before I can reasonably pull that off. Southern Pigfish will need a MySpace “page” (that seems to be sufficient for a lot of bands), with a couple photos and one professionally-recorded track, so people have an idea what they’d be writing for. Y’know, this could be a lot of fun…
I need to make myself interactive at the same time. My name needs to be out front, both as producer (and publisher), and as a member of the band—it’s me most of those writers are going to know, not the band. I have started arranging the Joe Website, and I should get another cheap webcam like the $12 one I gave my daughter last year so I can try my hand at video. I, too, can “Obamanate”—anybody can. And the only way to find out if it works for me is to try it.
UPDATES: I did find a recording studio in Portland—that’s what triggered all this—the guy has decent rates, and was interested in recording a country band because he’d never done that before. My kind of situation. The weather—heavy rains, and landslides in all directions—cut down the attendance at the Friday Night Group, but we still had seven musicians and people in the audience dancing. Somebody requested “Valvoline” again; that was a Dodson Drifters hit, back in 1980, and it’s surprising (and gratifying) that some people still remember it. Got more people saying they want to buy the next CD when it comes out.
Joe
Those two million extra votes happened in large part because somebody on Obama’s staff ran a very interactive campaign. There was an Obama blog, regular YouTube videos, an Obama Website where you could sign up for a mailing list, to do volunteer stuff, or just leave comments or maybe even ideas. You could even get Obama text messages on your cell phone. I heard some radio interviews with some of those voters. Did he ever answer them back when they left messages? Well, no—but it didn’t matter. What was important was he was communicating with those kids in ways they were used to being communicated with by their peers. He understood, in other words. And they voted for him because he understood.
Is there a lesson in all that applicable to the music business? I think so. There’s a solo musician back East who’s doing the Obama Thing. (Actually, he was doing it before Obama.) I thought the guy was an Urban Legend until I found one of his Websites (he has several). Another fascinating statistic: roughly half the population of the United States has high-speed Internet now. (Not many years ago, half the population of the U.S. wasn’t even connected.)
So how do I start being interactive? I could start with a PROJECT.
Some months back, there was a band that got hundreds of ideas for a new logo by soliciting submissions on MySpace. I probably have too much confidence in my abilities as a graphic designer to do that. I already have a logo (designed by my daughter), and the last two times I thought about asking for help with an album cover, I had an acceptable design for the cover myself within hours. I really am more comfortable with my own graphic work than anybody else’s, even though my tools are primitive.
I’d have the same trouble asking people what songs ought to go on an album. I think I already know. I see people’s reactions when I’m performing, and which songs get requested the most. And I already do hear from some folks saying such-and-such song has got to be on the next album. I probably don’t need to ask.
What about SOUTHERN PIGFISH, though? I need to finish their album this year, and they are a little short on material. They’ve got three songs I wrote for them, and maybe a couple more of mine that would be really appropriate, and that’s it. Oh, the album could be all my songs in a pinch—most of my material is cross-genre capable—but would this be the opportunity to ask for outside input? I do know rather a lot of writers—on four continents, in fact.
Could I send out a call to all those people, asking for original material for the band to record? Might get a lot of submissions, but I’d duly sift through all of them. Have to make it clear to everybody that Southern Pigfish are not big-time: the best one might get (besides a few bucks in copyright fees) is being able to tell people one of your songs got on the latest album by Southern Pigfish (and if you say that in the right tone of voice, you will impress people—trust me).
I need to do a few things before I can reasonably pull that off. Southern Pigfish will need a MySpace “page” (that seems to be sufficient for a lot of bands), with a couple photos and one professionally-recorded track, so people have an idea what they’d be writing for. Y’know, this could be a lot of fun…
I need to make myself interactive at the same time. My name needs to be out front, both as producer (and publisher), and as a member of the band—it’s me most of those writers are going to know, not the band. I have started arranging the Joe Website, and I should get another cheap webcam like the $12 one I gave my daughter last year so I can try my hand at video. I, too, can “Obamanate”—anybody can. And the only way to find out if it works for me is to try it.
UPDATES: I did find a recording studio in Portland—that’s what triggered all this—the guy has decent rates, and was interested in recording a country band because he’d never done that before. My kind of situation. The weather—heavy rains, and landslides in all directions—cut down the attendance at the Friday Night Group, but we still had seven musicians and people in the audience dancing. Somebody requested “Valvoline” again; that was a Dodson Drifters hit, back in 1980, and it’s surprising (and gratifying) that some people still remember it. Got more people saying they want to buy the next CD when it comes out.
Joe
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