MAYBE...

First performance in a while (hey, it was just a week, but I’ve gotten spoiled) was last night at the Wild Goose Tavern—my chance to practice on the drunks. They got “Milepost 43,” “Armadillo on the Interstate,” “Cuddle in the Darkness,” and (because the moderator asked for an encore) “I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas.” I’m not sure how well they liked the “Cuddle” song; as I told one fellow outside, it was supposed to make the chicks line up. If it didn’t, then it wasn’t doing its job. The crowd did like the other three, and I sold one CD and got a promise to buy another.

Based on their reaction, “Milepost 43” is probably a candidate for the next CD. I’ll try it out next on a less inebriated crowd and see if I get the same response. There actually is a milepost 43 on the freeway near here, and I took a photo of it. With underwear.

Elsewhere in Promotion Land:

(1) The area big-city newspaper, the Medford Mail-Tribune, wants to do a story on my music. (I’d given the reporter who covers this town a CD.)

(2) Another song—“Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?”—got covered, this time by The Fintons, a husb&wife duo that play live. Playing live is where the exposure’s at, I think.

(3) Mike Dunbar, who led the Pineyfest Demo Derby sessions, offered to re-do my vocals next time I come to Nashville (which might be in January or so, if there’s another Demo Derby scheduled). That was after a couple folks said I sounded better playing it live on stage. Frankly, I think the recording is great—but there’s no denying I do a better job on stage. I’d really like to find a girl singer willing to do it; the song (my opinion) is made for a female voice. What I don’t know is whether there’s anyone willing to risk their reputation on performing it.

(4) The songwriters’ association folks keep telling me about upcoming showcases, wanting to make sure I’m there. That’s a good thing, I think. It may mean I’m developing a reputation as a writer. I noticed I got the attention of two poets at the Wild Goose Sunday night (and one of them is a really good poet—I’d told him before that some of his works would sound good set to music).

And then there’s the studio. I checked out the guy’s Website, which is still in its infancy; he doesn’t have a lot of clients (but one of them is a formerly famous band). If he knows what he’s doing—which I’ll find out—this could be good: somebody who’s “on the make” is likely to give you more promotion than somebody that already has a lot of work.

One pushing-the-envelope thing I want to do, though, is record the next CD Patsy Cline style (live with the band), just like the last one. Studio Dude knows how it works (we talked about it), but I’m not sure he’s ever done it. (The same was true of the fellow at Listen Studios in La Grande 2 years ago. But he managed to do it just fine.)

Still working on the band…

Joe