THE JOE GIG (ET AL.)...

Well, it doesn’t look like the St. Leif’s gig will happen at Johnny B.’s. He changed the date (to the 22nd), then booked a band for that night, too. I’ll have to go somewhere else. Left a CD with the lady who does the booking for Roscoe’s BBQ in Phoenix, and with Patrick, the new owner of the former Jefferson State Pub in Ashland. I have been insistent about wanting to do the Joe Gig before the end of March.

“Free-Range Person” is finished, I think. Performed it at the Wild Goose open mike Sunday, with Jack Fischer on bass and Gene Burnett doing harmony vocals, and solo at the open mike at NW Pizza in Ashland Tuesday night. Played it for the girls at City Hall Thursday. I think it’s a hit (reinforcing the contention that there’s a strong connection between Inspiration and Pain).

I’ve recorded the rhythm guitar and vocal tracks on the little Tascam, and hit up Dan Doshier to play mandolin (he agreed) and Darrin Wayne harmonica. If I can get that done this coming weekend, I can post it on Soundclick.

Since it is a “social justice” song (after a fashion), it’s a possible submission to the Woody Guthrie Song Competition this summer. It’ll need to be professionally recorded to do that, however. I’ve hit up Wayne (Screamin’ Gulch’s National Steel guitar player, who has some good recording equipment and knows how to use it) to do that with Screamin’ Gulch, and we’ll try to do that next week.

The other recording task for Screamin’ Gulch is “When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You,” which I want to send to American Idol’s 2008 song contest. Deadline for that is March 31, a lot earlier than last year—but A.I. may not be as interested in sifting through a huge pile of entries as they were last year.

I explained to the band the realities: American Idol’s contest does appear to be legitimate, but they’re going to get entries from professional songwriters who work for big record and publishing companies; they did last year. (And if I owned one of those companies, I would make sure my people entered. The exposure—having your song performed on national TV while millions of people are watching—is tremendous.) Those guys are good—it’s why they’re doing it for a living—and they have a lot of resources.

I don’t expect we’ll win either contest, really, but I do expect we’ll have fun at it. We’ll have rhythm guitar (me), National Steel lead, string bass, washtub bass, banjo, and percussion (snare drum, washboard, pennywhistle, and duck—remember, don’t ask about the duck).

Semi-gig last Friday night at Johnny B.’s; I was asked to open for their first Real Band of the evening, Lonesome Dove, a bluegrass group from Ashland, and did that with Dan Doshier on mandolin and David, the bass player from his band, Dandelion Jo. Got to do it a second time in between Dandelion Jo’s and Lonesome Dove’s second sets.

And the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night at Johnny B.’s also went off well. Had backup from Darrin on harmonica and Jack Fischer on electric bass. Tried out Beth Williams’ song “Syllables for Sale” on ‘em, and they were as appreciative as they usually are of my stuff (so it was good). We also did “Rotten Candy,” the song I sent to American Idol’s song contest last year (they rejected it). That song rocks with a full band. I was sure it would.

AND THE FUTURE? The late President Eisenhower summed it up best (he was prone to very Zen comments on occasion): “We should all be concerned about the future. It’s where we’re going to spend the rest of our lives.” I’m out of work after Friday. What do I do now? (We’re talking music here, not a job. I know I need a job.)

First priority, I think, is the Joe Gig. I’m pretty determined that if I’m leaving town, I’m doing it with a bang. I’m pretty sure of a paying gig at the Wild Goose in early April; I might end up with one at Patrick’s (he’ll hear some of my stuff at a Southern Oregon Songwriters “showcase” there Monday), and maybe one at Roscoe’s as well. That’d be three gigs, which would be cool. One of the things I can use my time off for is to make lots of CDs to sell.

Second, I know I want to go to Pineyfest this end-July. Last year’s visit to Nashville had an impact in some of the Appropriate Places, I think, and I’d like to follow up before people forget me again. It’d be nice to score an appearance at the famous Bluebird Café (now owned by the Nashville Songwriters Assn.). Last year’s week in Nashville cost about $2,000, and I should budget the same for 2008—even though I think I know how to shave some of the costs.

Third is The Album. I’ve got the material ready to record, and (mostly) the musicians to record it with. I’ll have to abandon all that if I move. MORAL: Don’t wait so long next time. Wherever I go, find the resources immediately and use them immediately. We are talking about only $500 to $1,000 here. It is better spent earlier than later.

(Actually, it didn’t take that long in southern Oregon—probably because this is such a culturally active area. Six months to make a name for myself, strike up with a band, and find some really professional-sounding musicians ain’t bad for effective use of time. Over in eastern Oregon, it took 15 months to do the same thing.)

And fourth, I guess, would be Concert Season. I want to do the Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival in July, the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival Labor Day weekend, Grassroots in August, and the Neskowin Harvest Festival in September or October. First two of those will entail traveling with a band. And all but “Moograss” will depend on whatever schedule I have from a new job.

Joe