I have tried a couple of times to devote an issue of the blog to exploring what I think is the changing relationship between fans and performers—something Lorelei Loveridge, founder of Performing Songwriters (United Worldwide) devoted a legal paper to recently. The legal paper, though, raised questions, and I want answers. And I thought of some. But I haven’t been able thus far to express them in the space I allot myself for issues of the blog.
I treat these “bloggies” like songs—I have an arbitrary length I do not want to go over, and if I can’t express a complete thought in that space, I won’t. I will try again. It’s training in being economical with words, that is going to carry over into (among other places) songwriting.
The argument I was trying to make is that while the relations between the Big Boys and their fans can be expressed in contractual terms—the parties being remote from and isolated from each other, and their “interfaces” consisting of transactions involving the exchange of money—mine aren’t like that. My relations with my fans are a lot more personal; our communication is a lot more two-way—I listen as well as speak, and they know I do (I think)—and our transactions often do not involve money. I think a lot of (maybe most) small-timers are in similar boats.
I think that’s an opportunity for me (us). I (we) are delivering something the market (if we can apply such a crass term to a bunch of individual people) wants. In an increasingly encapsulated world, folks crave personal contact, and they also need to feel they’re important to somebody besides that small circle of family and friends they hang with. Point Two: I (we) can deliver that, and the Big Boys can’t. And every thing that I (we) can do that they can’t do needs to be looked at real carefully, because it’s an opportunity to level the playing field.
Now, I don’t have too much trouble satisfying the fans right now. The numbers are pretty small, as are the venues I play at, and while I don’t have money to let me travel around a lot, I sure do have time. But what if—by some wild stretch of the imagination—things get better? I’ve said repeatedly that in five years, I want to be making half my income off music. That means—since I do not and will not have access to what Joni Mitchell called “the Star-Maker machinery”—I’ll be playing more gigs, to bigger crowds, and staying in touch with a much larger number of people.
And therein lies a big challenge. I have to be able to hang onto those two important aspects of the relationship—(1) those folks feel I know them, and (2) those folks feel they’re important because I know them—and I accordingly can’t let myself get sucked into “the Star-Maker machinery” even if the chance happens because it will “remotify” me from my people, transforming our relationship from a personal into a contractual one, and I don’t want that. I would be jettisoning the very thing that enabled me to be successful in the first place. Instead, while I’m small-time, I need to figure out ways to be more efficient at the same time I’m continuing to be effective. (That is a lot easier to say than do.)
UPDATES: The music store in Tillamook got my last 5 CDs—and a poster to hang in the window. A bunch of people have asked for DVDs of the RVTV shows, and I’ll try to accommodate them (I need a DVD myself—I can’t receive Ashland public television here on the Coast). While I’m down in southern Oregon, there will NOT be a SOSA showcase at Johnny B.’s in Medford—it’s been postponed, to a date when I can’t be there. I “MySpaced” Johnny, asking if he needed an opening act for the band he’s got coming in, but I’ll probably have to call him—he’s usually too busy to answer messages.
And the reason I’m anxious is I’m looking for opportunities to perform the new song. “Always Pet the Dogs” got the nicest comments from fellow songwriters that I’ve seen in a long time, and it makes me wonder whether I might have something good there. The setlists for the next 3 shows are set, though; I’m not going to change them. But I do want to see how live audiences react to the song. I have a feeling I want it on the next album.
And it just occurred to me—I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to obsess about the job interview next week. That is cool.
Joe
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
UPDATES...
Dick, Carol and I will be in the talent show (tentatively dubbed “Garibldi’s Got Talent!”)—I really hadn’t expected otherwise, but today’s audition made it official. The music store in Tillamook called; they want to sell my CDs ($15 per, of which I get $10)—I may need to get more pressed. (Handing the things out like business cards does help. That’s how the music store got one.)
Rowan (the Craigslist banjo player) is interested in the banjo—we’ll try to connect while I’m in Portland. Sent the Garibaldi Museum owners the poster for the 1 August concert. And my audition for the burlesque show is confirmed, too—6 p.m. Sunday 7/19, in Portland. Means I’ll need to leave southern Oregon by around 10 a.m.
The burlesque show will get 6 songs, I think:
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes? (slow & sleazy Gospel)
Naked Space Hamsters in Love (fast bluegrass)
Sam & Melinda (slow traditional folk)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (Johnny Cash-style rock ‘n’ roll)
The Cat with the Strat (talking blues)
The Taboo Song (mod. slow two-step)
That’s under half an hour, because all the songs will be shorter when there’s no lead breaks. Enough shorter so I could fit in a seventh song? Maybe. My best candidate may be “The Termite Song”—it’s pretty short, too—inserted in between Sam & Melinda and the sheep. It’s not as suggestive as the rest of the setlist, but it does get people’s attention—and global warming is such a (shall we say) hot topic these days.
Script is done for the 7/18 RVTV shows, and e-mailed to host T-Poe and producer Sheral; I found “flex points” where I can reduce the length of my performance slightly to accommodate lengthier interviewing by T-Poe if necessary. Two of the songs in the “Serious Issues” set have extra choruses that can be eliminated, and two of the songs in the “Not Serious At All” set have lead breaks than can be cut back. Just need to know ahead of time that we need to do that.
At the Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase in Medford Sat. 7/18, I’ll do my three newest: “The Taboo Song,” “Me and Rufus, and Burnin’ Down the House,” and the finally-finished reincarnation song, “Always Pet the Dogs.” Yes, it’s done, I think (lyrics are getting peer review at Just Plain Folks, but I haven’t seen any nits yet). It’s just three verses (2 verses, chorus, last verse, chorus), but I really couldn’t think of anything that needed to be added. Some songs are just like that. Maybe I can record it this weekend.
On the not-good-news front, I did not get the city-manager job in Myrtle Point; I got the formal rejection letter in the mail (they even said which of the whippersnappers they hired, but I can’t remember which of the kids was which). I’ll send them a nice letter back, wishing ‘em the best of luck (they are nice people), but I still do have other fish to fry. No point in being discouraged about it. (And that’s the only bad news—today, anyway? That’s not too bad.)
Tasks for the weekend are to mow the lawn, finish the Garibaldi Days program, design and typeset the program for the 17 July SOSA concert in Central Point, script out the Garibaldi Days and Museum sets, apply for half a dozen more jobs, and pack for Road Trip #2. Music Friday night at City Hall and Saturday at the Tillamook Library.
Joe
Rowan (the Craigslist banjo player) is interested in the banjo—we’ll try to connect while I’m in Portland. Sent the Garibaldi Museum owners the poster for the 1 August concert. And my audition for the burlesque show is confirmed, too—6 p.m. Sunday 7/19, in Portland. Means I’ll need to leave southern Oregon by around 10 a.m.
The burlesque show will get 6 songs, I think:
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes? (slow & sleazy Gospel)
Naked Space Hamsters in Love (fast bluegrass)
Sam & Melinda (slow traditional folk)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (Johnny Cash-style rock ‘n’ roll)
The Cat with the Strat (talking blues)
The Taboo Song (mod. slow two-step)
That’s under half an hour, because all the songs will be shorter when there’s no lead breaks. Enough shorter so I could fit in a seventh song? Maybe. My best candidate may be “The Termite Song”—it’s pretty short, too—inserted in between Sam & Melinda and the sheep. It’s not as suggestive as the rest of the setlist, but it does get people’s attention—and global warming is such a (shall we say) hot topic these days.
Script is done for the 7/18 RVTV shows, and e-mailed to host T-Poe and producer Sheral; I found “flex points” where I can reduce the length of my performance slightly to accommodate lengthier interviewing by T-Poe if necessary. Two of the songs in the “Serious Issues” set have extra choruses that can be eliminated, and two of the songs in the “Not Serious At All” set have lead breaks than can be cut back. Just need to know ahead of time that we need to do that.
At the Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase in Medford Sat. 7/18, I’ll do my three newest: “The Taboo Song,” “Me and Rufus, and Burnin’ Down the House,” and the finally-finished reincarnation song, “Always Pet the Dogs.” Yes, it’s done, I think (lyrics are getting peer review at Just Plain Folks, but I haven’t seen any nits yet). It’s just three verses (2 verses, chorus, last verse, chorus), but I really couldn’t think of anything that needed to be added. Some songs are just like that. Maybe I can record it this weekend.
On the not-good-news front, I did not get the city-manager job in Myrtle Point; I got the formal rejection letter in the mail (they even said which of the whippersnappers they hired, but I can’t remember which of the kids was which). I’ll send them a nice letter back, wishing ‘em the best of luck (they are nice people), but I still do have other fish to fry. No point in being discouraged about it. (And that’s the only bad news—today, anyway? That’s not too bad.)
Tasks for the weekend are to mow the lawn, finish the Garibaldi Days program, design and typeset the program for the 17 July SOSA concert in Central Point, script out the Garibaldi Days and Museum sets, apply for half a dozen more jobs, and pack for Road Trip #2. Music Friday night at City Hall and Saturday at the Tillamook Library.
Joe
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
IT JUST GOT BUSY...
I think it just got busy. I was going to devote a blog to how I could get more gigs, and am going to be listing a schedule of gigs instead. Most of those happened all at once.
This THURSDAY, 9 JULY is the auditions for the Garibaldi Days Talent Show (we figured we’d have one, since the county fair won’t be—the Fair Board claimed there was no point, since there is no local talent, and we are of course going to prove them wrong). I’ll play ‘em my two “local color” songs, with Dick backing me up on blues harp, and Dick, his wife Carol (she of the beautiful voice) and I will do ‘em some Gospel songs (last time we did that was years ago). Some combination of us will be on stage at the Talent Show July 25.
SAT. 18 JULY is the RVTV television taping in Ashland (day) and a Southern Oregon Songwriters “showcase” at Johnny B.’s in Medford (evening). The two half-hour TV shows will air at different times, and I’ve scripted two different setlists, one tackling social issues and one, well, not. For the Johnny B.’s showcase, I’ll give the crowd my newest material. There is plenty they haven’t heard—I’ve been away for a while.
SUN. 19 JULY is my half-hour audition for the “Life’s Subtle Tease” burlesque show in Portland. I’ve asked for a late-afternoon/evening slot, so I can get back from southern Oregon (300 miles) without having to get up too early in the morning. For that one, I’ll give ‘em 6 or 7 of the songs that have been most popular at the Wild Goose. The actual burlesque show will take place in August (don’t know the date yet), and the organizers say they’ll be doing one a month. (And I don’t know if they’ll want me. All I have here is the chance to audition.)
SAT. 25 JULY, the band plays at Garibaldi Days, plus Dick, Carol and I will be in the Garibaldi Days Talent Show (both are in the afternoon, back to back). I’ve scripted out the 2-hour setlist for the band, and distributed CDs, and Dick, Carol and I picked out our material for the Talent Show today. The Friday Night Group is also on the Garibaldi Days schedule, FRI. 24 JULY, because I’m typesetting the schedule and I put them there (they’d be playing Friday night anyway).
SAT. 1 AUGUST is the new date for the Garibaldi Museum concert. 7 p.m., $3 cover. The band gets paid for this one. We’ll be on for an hour. Setlist is already done for this, and it should be easy to pull off—we’ll have played every one of the songs on stage at Garibaldi Days.
SAT. 22 AUGUST is the all-day SOSA concert in Central Point. I’m on at 11 a.m., playing (hopefully) with Dan Doshier’s band. I could use the same setlist as for the Museum concert—this show is an hour, too—just substituting something else for the two “local color” songs we’ll do at the Museum.
It’s not a bad schedule thus far. Sometime in September or October (don’t know the date for sure) will be the Neskowin Harvest Festival, the fundraiser for the little Neskowin Valley School that I’ve played at 3 of the last 4 years. This time, I’d like to do it with the band, if they’re willing, and do enough advance publicity so we draw a really good crowd.
Did I mention I don’t think I got the job in Myrtle Point? I didn’t get The Phone Call, and I think that means they hired one of the two younger guys. (Yes, I’ve been whippersnappered.) It’s all right. I have another interview in just one week, and more applications in the pipeline. And I obviously do not lack for things to do.
Joe
This THURSDAY, 9 JULY is the auditions for the Garibaldi Days Talent Show (we figured we’d have one, since the county fair won’t be—the Fair Board claimed there was no point, since there is no local talent, and we are of course going to prove them wrong). I’ll play ‘em my two “local color” songs, with Dick backing me up on blues harp, and Dick, his wife Carol (she of the beautiful voice) and I will do ‘em some Gospel songs (last time we did that was years ago). Some combination of us will be on stage at the Talent Show July 25.
SAT. 18 JULY is the RVTV television taping in Ashland (day) and a Southern Oregon Songwriters “showcase” at Johnny B.’s in Medford (evening). The two half-hour TV shows will air at different times, and I’ve scripted two different setlists, one tackling social issues and one, well, not. For the Johnny B.’s showcase, I’ll give the crowd my newest material. There is plenty they haven’t heard—I’ve been away for a while.
SUN. 19 JULY is my half-hour audition for the “Life’s Subtle Tease” burlesque show in Portland. I’ve asked for a late-afternoon/evening slot, so I can get back from southern Oregon (300 miles) without having to get up too early in the morning. For that one, I’ll give ‘em 6 or 7 of the songs that have been most popular at the Wild Goose. The actual burlesque show will take place in August (don’t know the date yet), and the organizers say they’ll be doing one a month. (And I don’t know if they’ll want me. All I have here is the chance to audition.)
SAT. 25 JULY, the band plays at Garibaldi Days, plus Dick, Carol and I will be in the Garibaldi Days Talent Show (both are in the afternoon, back to back). I’ve scripted out the 2-hour setlist for the band, and distributed CDs, and Dick, Carol and I picked out our material for the Talent Show today. The Friday Night Group is also on the Garibaldi Days schedule, FRI. 24 JULY, because I’m typesetting the schedule and I put them there (they’d be playing Friday night anyway).
SAT. 1 AUGUST is the new date for the Garibaldi Museum concert. 7 p.m., $3 cover. The band gets paid for this one. We’ll be on for an hour. Setlist is already done for this, and it should be easy to pull off—we’ll have played every one of the songs on stage at Garibaldi Days.
SAT. 22 AUGUST is the all-day SOSA concert in Central Point. I’m on at 11 a.m., playing (hopefully) with Dan Doshier’s band. I could use the same setlist as for the Museum concert—this show is an hour, too—just substituting something else for the two “local color” songs we’ll do at the Museum.
It’s not a bad schedule thus far. Sometime in September or October (don’t know the date for sure) will be the Neskowin Harvest Festival, the fundraiser for the little Neskowin Valley School that I’ve played at 3 of the last 4 years. This time, I’d like to do it with the band, if they’re willing, and do enough advance publicity so we draw a really good crowd.
Did I mention I don’t think I got the job in Myrtle Point? I didn’t get The Phone Call, and I think that means they hired one of the two younger guys. (Yes, I’ve been whippersnappered.) It’s all right. I have another interview in just one week, and more applications in the pipeline. And I obviously do not lack for things to do.
Joe
Monday, July 6, 2009
THOUGHTS WHILE WAITING...
As this is written, the Myrtle Point City Council is meeting to decide which of three city manager wannabes to hire. If it’s me, I’ll hear about it tomorrow. I shouldn’t be anxious—I have been disappointed an awful lot—but it was so exciting to be wanted by somebody that I hate to be dismissive of the idea.
Some good and some bad news on the music front. The guitar teacher from the music store isn’t interested in playing with the band—he wants to be paid. So the band still doesn’t have a lead guitarist (bad.) The “Portland Concert Coop” is finally going to do their podcast of my Thirsty Lion performance (good), and they sent me a nice, professional release form (which suggests they know what they’re doing). I got a phone call from a fellow wanting to know the Garibaldi Days schedule—he said he read about it in my blog (surprise) and wants to make sure he gets to hear the band (also good). I told Sara the librarian if she could get me about five minutes of film of Rufus doing bulldog things, I’d make her a music video of “Me and Rufus, and Burnin’ Down the House,” and she thinks she can do that (good).
Still working on a Garibaldi Days setlist. Because of the shortage of time—just a little over two weeks until the gig—we will need to concentrate as much as possible on tunes we’re familiar with. For Chris the drummer, that means songs from the Failed Economy Show—only seven of which were mine. (John the bass player also did the Bay City concert, which was all my material, and Dick (blues harp) and I have played together for so many years he probably knows almost everything I’ve written.)
Played “The Taboo Song” for the Friday Night Group, but Sara the librarian was the only one who liked it, I think. Nonetheless, the song continues to get a favorable response from people on line, and from (shall we say) less sedate audiences. This may be one of those songs that’s just not playable everywhere. That means it can’t be album material—but there’s definitely a performance niche that it just fits. Like “Sam and Melinda,” my 1920s-style tale of VD, auto accidents, and killing your lover, and “Electronic Love,” the look at the brighter side of Internet porn. I just have to make sure I don’t play it outside that niche. And I still want to make the music video.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the stage where I have enough material for a plain-brown-wrapper album (and I’m not sure I want to)—but I did see, and answered, an ad (Craigslist, again) soliciting entertainment for a burlesque show in Portland, and I could see me doing that. (I am good at fantasizing myself in performance situations. It helps me script out what I’m going to say and do, and pacifies the butterflies that always seem to attack in crowd situations. I do the same with jobs, and job interviews. They, too, are performances.)
What I’d envision is no fancy costume, no dancing, just Me The Deadpan Writer, solo on an otherwise empty stage, with Those Lyrics. It could be a potentially entertaining contrast to everything else likely to be in the show. The organizers say they want half an hour’s worth of material, and I definitely have that.
Second and final day of auditions for the thing is Sunday, 19 July, the day I’d be heading back from the TV taping in Ashland. I could just make it. I asked them to listen to “Electronic Love,” “Naked Space Hamsters in Love,” “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” and “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” and let me know what they think.
Music this week Friday and Saturday. And maybe the band will finally get to practice, too.
Joe
Some good and some bad news on the music front. The guitar teacher from the music store isn’t interested in playing with the band—he wants to be paid. So the band still doesn’t have a lead guitarist (bad.) The “Portland Concert Coop” is finally going to do their podcast of my Thirsty Lion performance (good), and they sent me a nice, professional release form (which suggests they know what they’re doing). I got a phone call from a fellow wanting to know the Garibaldi Days schedule—he said he read about it in my blog (surprise) and wants to make sure he gets to hear the band (also good). I told Sara the librarian if she could get me about five minutes of film of Rufus doing bulldog things, I’d make her a music video of “Me and Rufus, and Burnin’ Down the House,” and she thinks she can do that (good).
Still working on a Garibaldi Days setlist. Because of the shortage of time—just a little over two weeks until the gig—we will need to concentrate as much as possible on tunes we’re familiar with. For Chris the drummer, that means songs from the Failed Economy Show—only seven of which were mine. (John the bass player also did the Bay City concert, which was all my material, and Dick (blues harp) and I have played together for so many years he probably knows almost everything I’ve written.)
Played “The Taboo Song” for the Friday Night Group, but Sara the librarian was the only one who liked it, I think. Nonetheless, the song continues to get a favorable response from people on line, and from (shall we say) less sedate audiences. This may be one of those songs that’s just not playable everywhere. That means it can’t be album material—but there’s definitely a performance niche that it just fits. Like “Sam and Melinda,” my 1920s-style tale of VD, auto accidents, and killing your lover, and “Electronic Love,” the look at the brighter side of Internet porn. I just have to make sure I don’t play it outside that niche. And I still want to make the music video.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the stage where I have enough material for a plain-brown-wrapper album (and I’m not sure I want to)—but I did see, and answered, an ad (Craigslist, again) soliciting entertainment for a burlesque show in Portland, and I could see me doing that. (I am good at fantasizing myself in performance situations. It helps me script out what I’m going to say and do, and pacifies the butterflies that always seem to attack in crowd situations. I do the same with jobs, and job interviews. They, too, are performances.)
What I’d envision is no fancy costume, no dancing, just Me The Deadpan Writer, solo on an otherwise empty stage, with Those Lyrics. It could be a potentially entertaining contrast to everything else likely to be in the show. The organizers say they want half an hour’s worth of material, and I definitely have that.
Second and final day of auditions for the thing is Sunday, 19 July, the day I’d be heading back from the TV taping in Ashland. I could just make it. I asked them to listen to “Electronic Love,” “Naked Space Hamsters in Love,” “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” and “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” and let me know what they think.
Music this week Friday and Saturday. And maybe the band will finally get to practice, too.
Joe
Saturday, July 4, 2009
INDEPENDENCE DAY...
Independence Day. Being unemployed and penniless, I don’t feel particularly independent, but it’s the principle of the thing, I guess. Here in Garibaldi, Oregon, we are also celebrating Giuseppe Garibaldi’s birthday (he was born on July 4); there won’t be fireworks—we save that for Garibaldi Days, late in July (I started that, while I was city manager here)—but we will be going to a goat roast, and there will be music.
There has been, or is, or will be music all of this three-day weekend (which is a holiday weekend for those folks who still have jobs). Dick Ackerman and I performed at the City of Rockaway Beach’s 100th birthday celebration Friday, and went from there to play two hours more music with the Friday Night Group. Today, several folks from the Friday Night Group have been tapped to play at an afternoon something at the Old Mill, plus there will be musicians at the goat roast. And Sunday is the monthly bluegrass jam at the Forestry Center.
I responded to an ad on Portland Craigslist (I still watch Craigslist, despite a poor track record of people responding to my e-mails) from a restaurant-bar in Portland looking for live, original music and offering to pay $100 a night. It’d be solo for that kind of price (and they said the place was small, anyway). I gave Eric from the Portland Songwriters Showcase as a reference; he hasn’t responded to me, but he may them. I think he liked my stuff—and I did play to a sizable crowd at the Thirsty Lion Pub, even if they weren’t there precisely to see me (they’d been there to watch the LA-Orlando playoff game on big-screen TV, and I was the first act on after they put the big TV away).
Reviewing the e-mail I sent these “Jade Lounge” people, I do come across as mildly impressive. I told them I couldn’t do a gig on July 18 because I was taping a couple of public television shows of my material, couldn’t do July 25 because me and the band were performing at Garibaldi Days, and couldn’t do August 22 because I was performing in Central Point. I warned them that some of the material on Soundclick and MySpace was off the album (thereby letting them know I have an album out). Dang, I look good. So when (or if) they hire me, I can stand up in front of a crowd (probably a small one), not one of whom I know—because very few people on the “joelist” are actually in the Portland area.
Reminds me of a comment I heard azbout someone in Texas: “Big hat. No cattle.” Yes, but is it possible the hat will enable you to get some cattle? We may find out.
I keep tweaking setlists, and wonder whether there’s any point in doing so. I have a 2-hour family show (from the Bay City concert), and a couple one-hour shows (the one I’d spec’d out for the Museum, and the one Dick and I did in Rockaway), and some half-hour shows, too (the RVTV shows, and the Thirsty Lion); is that enough? I could probably treat them as set pieces if they work—I just don’t want to repeat myself in front of an audience that’s already heard the stuff before. I need to take a 1-hour setlist with me (printed out, and on CD) when I go down to southern Oregon in mid-July, to give to Dan Doshier for the band for the 22 August concert in Central Point.
It does look like the southern Oregon trip will be a busy one. Interview in Gold Beach on the 16th (Thursday), I’ll help put together (since I’ll be there) the Southern Oregon Songwriters concert that’ll be on the 17th (Friday), I have the RVTV taping on the 18th (Saturday), plus there’s a SOSA event at Johnny B.’s in Medford Saturday night. Thursday night (the 16th) is probably the only chance to practice in advance of the TV taping. Should I happen by some wild chance to have been offered the city-manager job in Myrtle Point, I’ll be lining myself up an apartment there on my trip, getting utilities connected, &c.
There are a lot of things that are uncertain. I have not heard a word from Eric about whether I might get picked for a paying gig at the Thirsty Lion. I have not heard a word from the West Linn Library or the Airway Café in Portland (in both cases, that probably means no). I have a pile of jobs, too, that I’ve applied for that I haven’t received rejection letters from yet. I have nonetheless managed to make myself very busy. There is room for employment in the schedule (thankfully), but it means I will once again be going on automatic pilot—I won’t have time to think about things, only to do them. I nonetheless think I’d enjoy that.
Joe
There has been, or is, or will be music all of this three-day weekend (which is a holiday weekend for those folks who still have jobs). Dick Ackerman and I performed at the City of Rockaway Beach’s 100th birthday celebration Friday, and went from there to play two hours more music with the Friday Night Group. Today, several folks from the Friday Night Group have been tapped to play at an afternoon something at the Old Mill, plus there will be musicians at the goat roast. And Sunday is the monthly bluegrass jam at the Forestry Center.
I responded to an ad on Portland Craigslist (I still watch Craigslist, despite a poor track record of people responding to my e-mails) from a restaurant-bar in Portland looking for live, original music and offering to pay $100 a night. It’d be solo for that kind of price (and they said the place was small, anyway). I gave Eric from the Portland Songwriters Showcase as a reference; he hasn’t responded to me, but he may them. I think he liked my stuff—and I did play to a sizable crowd at the Thirsty Lion Pub, even if they weren’t there precisely to see me (they’d been there to watch the LA-Orlando playoff game on big-screen TV, and I was the first act on after they put the big TV away).
Reviewing the e-mail I sent these “Jade Lounge” people, I do come across as mildly impressive. I told them I couldn’t do a gig on July 18 because I was taping a couple of public television shows of my material, couldn’t do July 25 because me and the band were performing at Garibaldi Days, and couldn’t do August 22 because I was performing in Central Point. I warned them that some of the material on Soundclick and MySpace was off the album (thereby letting them know I have an album out). Dang, I look good. So when (or if) they hire me, I can stand up in front of a crowd (probably a small one), not one of whom I know—because very few people on the “joelist” are actually in the Portland area.
Reminds me of a comment I heard azbout someone in Texas: “Big hat. No cattle.” Yes, but is it possible the hat will enable you to get some cattle? We may find out.
I keep tweaking setlists, and wonder whether there’s any point in doing so. I have a 2-hour family show (from the Bay City concert), and a couple one-hour shows (the one I’d spec’d out for the Museum, and the one Dick and I did in Rockaway), and some half-hour shows, too (the RVTV shows, and the Thirsty Lion); is that enough? I could probably treat them as set pieces if they work—I just don’t want to repeat myself in front of an audience that’s already heard the stuff before. I need to take a 1-hour setlist with me (printed out, and on CD) when I go down to southern Oregon in mid-July, to give to Dan Doshier for the band for the 22 August concert in Central Point.
It does look like the southern Oregon trip will be a busy one. Interview in Gold Beach on the 16th (Thursday), I’ll help put together (since I’ll be there) the Southern Oregon Songwriters concert that’ll be on the 17th (Friday), I have the RVTV taping on the 18th (Saturday), plus there’s a SOSA event at Johnny B.’s in Medford Saturday night. Thursday night (the 16th) is probably the only chance to practice in advance of the TV taping. Should I happen by some wild chance to have been offered the city-manager job in Myrtle Point, I’ll be lining myself up an apartment there on my trip, getting utilities connected, &c.
There are a lot of things that are uncertain. I have not heard a word from Eric about whether I might get picked for a paying gig at the Thirsty Lion. I have not heard a word from the West Linn Library or the Airway Café in Portland (in both cases, that probably means no). I have a pile of jobs, too, that I’ve applied for that I haven’t received rejection letters from yet. I have nonetheless managed to make myself very busy. There is room for employment in the schedule (thankfully), but it means I will once again be going on automatic pilot—I won’t have time to think about things, only to do them. I nonetheless think I’d enjoy that.
Joe
Thursday, July 2, 2009
6-MONTH GOAL REVIEW...
It’s July—six months since we set those 2009 goals. How are we doing?
At the beginning of the year, I said 2009 would be the Year of Exposure. By the beginning of 2010, I wanted to (1) be better known, (2) be a music publisher with somebody besides myself as a client, (3) have another CD out, for sale in stores and on.line, (4) have played some writers’ nights in Nashville, (5) have more sophisticated recording equipment, and (6) be doing video. And I had a work list intended to achieve those goals. In addition to writing an average of one good song a month, and having a round dozen of other people’s songs musicated, too.
Am I getting better known (1)? I noticed I wasn’t forgotten in southern Oregon when I visited last week, and I’m definitely not forgotten on the Coast—I’m playing somewhere at least twice a week. I’ve had some gigs in Portland, too (and one still coming up), and some of them have been paid (they just haven’t paid much). I’ve put together two bands, and the one on the Coast is going to make it, I think; we’ve done two shows, got two more coming up, and I want to use them for the album. The “joelist,” which keeps growing (slowly), is a big help; so has been the strategic and timely placement of posters.
I haven’t pushed the publishing company (2), after getting advice from a music publisher I know how to pay co-writers and such without having to have a publishing company. As long as I’m penniless, I’ll avoid the expense. I did register as a writer with BMI—that was free. And Outside Services Ltd. will take out a local business license, as soon as I figure out where “local” is going to be.
I have made some progress on the CD (3). What I’ve done is mostly setup work; I have the band, I have the studio, and I have picked out the songs. There is no recording studio here on the Coast, so it’s been necessary to create our own. I will have it professionally mastered, and this time around I’ll invest in shrink-wrapping and barcoding so the CD can be sold through CDBaby. The intent is to have it done in time for Christmas.
I keep getting asked about the Southern Pigfish album, too—which is kind of a surprise. (Those guys are popular? How’d THAT happen?) I know how and where I could get a Pigfish CD done, I think; I just need to let a few more people in on the secret. It would be a hoot if the thing sold. My album first, though.
A trip to Nashville (4) is out this year because of money. Even if I were to be offered a job right away, it’d still be this time next year before I could take the vacation time to go. Money, or the shortage thereof, is also why I’ve done almost nothing about upgrading recording equipment (5). I have acquired a few additional things—a couple of decent instrument mikes, for instance—but it’s all been free or cheap. I do have a wish list of things I’d like, but I’m using what I’ve got as long as it keeps working.
Video (6) was kind of a surprise. I did do a music video—“The 30-Second Resume,” in response to a solicitation by a Portland TV station. I don’t have video equipment; I gave daughter Kimberly my cheap little Webcam over a year ago, and while I’ve bought a tripod and power adapter for the big Fisher camcorder, I still haven’t managed to make it work. I did “The 30-Second Resume” in what I think of as “French style” (because French teenagers do it), as a fast-moving slide show with soundtrack and printed comments on screen. It didn’t come out bad—and the TV station in Portland did air it. I have another one to do now, for that Performing Songwriters (United Worldwide) organization Lorelei Loveridge formed, and I’ll do that video the same way. I’ll use “The Taboo Song” for the soundtrack, and I’ve scripted out some printed comments on the present and future of the music industry (which is what Lorelei wanted the video to be about). I just need to find—or take—more photos.
On the WRITING front, I have not managed that song-a-month quota I set for myself; I’ve had only three new songs since the beginning of the year (the two oldest have been played in public, and are definitely “keepers,” and I think the third will be, too). I have done a lot of musicating of other people’s stuff, though—one by Beth Williams, one by Betty Holt, three by Stan Good, plus I had to figure out music for two obscure Woody Guthrie songs we wanted to do in the Failed Economy Show. Maybe it evens out.
Better than last year this time? Maybe. I don’t have time to worry about it—next gig (Rockaway Beach’s 100th anniversary celebration—Dick and I will do it as a duo) is tomorrow.
Joe
At the beginning of the year, I said 2009 would be the Year of Exposure. By the beginning of 2010, I wanted to (1) be better known, (2) be a music publisher with somebody besides myself as a client, (3) have another CD out, for sale in stores and on.line, (4) have played some writers’ nights in Nashville, (5) have more sophisticated recording equipment, and (6) be doing video. And I had a work list intended to achieve those goals. In addition to writing an average of one good song a month, and having a round dozen of other people’s songs musicated, too.
Am I getting better known (1)? I noticed I wasn’t forgotten in southern Oregon when I visited last week, and I’m definitely not forgotten on the Coast—I’m playing somewhere at least twice a week. I’ve had some gigs in Portland, too (and one still coming up), and some of them have been paid (they just haven’t paid much). I’ve put together two bands, and the one on the Coast is going to make it, I think; we’ve done two shows, got two more coming up, and I want to use them for the album. The “joelist,” which keeps growing (slowly), is a big help; so has been the strategic and timely placement of posters.
I haven’t pushed the publishing company (2), after getting advice from a music publisher I know how to pay co-writers and such without having to have a publishing company. As long as I’m penniless, I’ll avoid the expense. I did register as a writer with BMI—that was free. And Outside Services Ltd. will take out a local business license, as soon as I figure out where “local” is going to be.
I have made some progress on the CD (3). What I’ve done is mostly setup work; I have the band, I have the studio, and I have picked out the songs. There is no recording studio here on the Coast, so it’s been necessary to create our own. I will have it professionally mastered, and this time around I’ll invest in shrink-wrapping and barcoding so the CD can be sold through CDBaby. The intent is to have it done in time for Christmas.
I keep getting asked about the Southern Pigfish album, too—which is kind of a surprise. (Those guys are popular? How’d THAT happen?) I know how and where I could get a Pigfish CD done, I think; I just need to let a few more people in on the secret. It would be a hoot if the thing sold. My album first, though.
A trip to Nashville (4) is out this year because of money. Even if I were to be offered a job right away, it’d still be this time next year before I could take the vacation time to go. Money, or the shortage thereof, is also why I’ve done almost nothing about upgrading recording equipment (5). I have acquired a few additional things—a couple of decent instrument mikes, for instance—but it’s all been free or cheap. I do have a wish list of things I’d like, but I’m using what I’ve got as long as it keeps working.
Video (6) was kind of a surprise. I did do a music video—“The 30-Second Resume,” in response to a solicitation by a Portland TV station. I don’t have video equipment; I gave daughter Kimberly my cheap little Webcam over a year ago, and while I’ve bought a tripod and power adapter for the big Fisher camcorder, I still haven’t managed to make it work. I did “The 30-Second Resume” in what I think of as “French style” (because French teenagers do it), as a fast-moving slide show with soundtrack and printed comments on screen. It didn’t come out bad—and the TV station in Portland did air it. I have another one to do now, for that Performing Songwriters (United Worldwide) organization Lorelei Loveridge formed, and I’ll do that video the same way. I’ll use “The Taboo Song” for the soundtrack, and I’ve scripted out some printed comments on the present and future of the music industry (which is what Lorelei wanted the video to be about). I just need to find—or take—more photos.
On the WRITING front, I have not managed that song-a-month quota I set for myself; I’ve had only three new songs since the beginning of the year (the two oldest have been played in public, and are definitely “keepers,” and I think the third will be, too). I have done a lot of musicating of other people’s stuff, though—one by Beth Williams, one by Betty Holt, three by Stan Good, plus I had to figure out music for two obscure Woody Guthrie songs we wanted to do in the Failed Economy Show. Maybe it evens out.
Better than last year this time? Maybe. I don’t have time to worry about it—next gig (Rockaway Beach’s 100th anniversary celebration—Dick and I will do it as a duo) is tomorrow.
Joe
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
THE ROAD TRIP...
The Southern Oregon Road Trip was a good adventure—the job interview went well (I think—I’ll find out for sure in a week), I got to see a lot of the people I know, both in city government and in music, got to play music, and got a good new set of strings for the guitar (finally). Even the bartender at the Wild Goose in Ashland remembered me, after my whole year’s absence (and apparently there had been rumors circulating that I’d be coming by). The Wild Goose crowd got 4 songs—“The Taboo Song,” “50 Ways to Cure the Depression,” Stan Good’s “Un-Easy Street,” and for an encore, “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues.” (Nice to get an encore.)
“The Taboo Song” did go over well, but it’s hard to tell whether that means it’s a “keeper” or not. The crowd at the Wild Goose—it being a songwriters’ bar, and all—tend to appreciate the sleazier stuff. At the risk of damaging what reputation I may have left, I could try it out on the Friday Night Group and see how they react.
The other fun thing I got to do “down South” is record a lead guitar track on one of Scott Garriott’s songs. He’s recording an album (yay), and says it’s going to be a country album (also yay), and asked me to play lead guitar on it (really yay). The one song I got to work on, “Merrilee,” is classic Scott—compelling melody with very strange lyrics—but it has a great beat. Very danceable two-step. I asked him to e-mail me “base” tracks for the songs, and I can record lead parts at my leisure on the Tascam, and send them back. My little Tascam allows my acoustic guitar to “emulate” 40 different electric guitars, something a lot of professional studio equipment doesn’t seem able to do. Might try an electric banjo lead on “Merrilee,” too, and see how that sounds.
I got back to Garibaldi to find another call for a job interview waiting for me, this one from the City of Gold Beach, also in southern Oregon. I scheduled that one for July 16, so I could do the interview and the RVTV television taping in the same trip.
Some setlists to organize, now; me and The Band have two hours’ worth to play at Garibaldi Days (twice as long as we were going to be playing at the Museum), and I have another 60 to 75 minutes of my songs to organize for the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. concert in Central Point August 22. Both those will be family crowds, so I need to concentrate on things little kids will appreciate—cannibalism, missing underwear, and lots of dead animals.
With luck, I can enlist Dan Doshier and his band to help in Central Point, like I did last year. We will need to do mostly familiar stuff, but I have plenty of that. I’ll repeat the tactic—it’s worked out well—of giving everybody a CD with draft recordings of the songs ahead of time. I can do that when I go down for the RVTV taping in July.
It is shaping up to be a potentially busy Concert Season. Besides Garibaldi Days, the RVTV taping, and the Central Point concert, there’s three I haven’t heard from yet; the Museum wants to re-schedule but hasn’t said when (I’ll find out the new date after the middle of July), and no word yet from either the West Linn Library or the Thirsty Lion Pub in Portland. All three, if they happen, will be paying gigs.
I got most of a song out of the trip, too (I’d been hoping that would happen). The reincarnation song—tentatively titled “Always Pet the Dogs”—has three verses now, to go with the chorus I had over a year ago; it could probably use one more, for length’s sake (it just feels short), but the three verses I have just might say everything that needs to be said, and I might leave it at that. Same pattern as the missing-underwear song, “Milepost 43,” which is a fairly short song, too—2 verses, chorus, break, last verse, last chorus. One could of course keep repeating the chorus ad infinitum, if people are dancing. It does have a catchy melody.
And I have another job to apply for. There’s a Chamber of Commerce hereabouts—within commuting distance—looking for an executive director, and I want to tell them it should be me.
Joe
“The Taboo Song” did go over well, but it’s hard to tell whether that means it’s a “keeper” or not. The crowd at the Wild Goose—it being a songwriters’ bar, and all—tend to appreciate the sleazier stuff. At the risk of damaging what reputation I may have left, I could try it out on the Friday Night Group and see how they react.
The other fun thing I got to do “down South” is record a lead guitar track on one of Scott Garriott’s songs. He’s recording an album (yay), and says it’s going to be a country album (also yay), and asked me to play lead guitar on it (really yay). The one song I got to work on, “Merrilee,” is classic Scott—compelling melody with very strange lyrics—but it has a great beat. Very danceable two-step. I asked him to e-mail me “base” tracks for the songs, and I can record lead parts at my leisure on the Tascam, and send them back. My little Tascam allows my acoustic guitar to “emulate” 40 different electric guitars, something a lot of professional studio equipment doesn’t seem able to do. Might try an electric banjo lead on “Merrilee,” too, and see how that sounds.
I got back to Garibaldi to find another call for a job interview waiting for me, this one from the City of Gold Beach, also in southern Oregon. I scheduled that one for July 16, so I could do the interview and the RVTV television taping in the same trip.
Some setlists to organize, now; me and The Band have two hours’ worth to play at Garibaldi Days (twice as long as we were going to be playing at the Museum), and I have another 60 to 75 minutes of my songs to organize for the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. concert in Central Point August 22. Both those will be family crowds, so I need to concentrate on things little kids will appreciate—cannibalism, missing underwear, and lots of dead animals.
With luck, I can enlist Dan Doshier and his band to help in Central Point, like I did last year. We will need to do mostly familiar stuff, but I have plenty of that. I’ll repeat the tactic—it’s worked out well—of giving everybody a CD with draft recordings of the songs ahead of time. I can do that when I go down for the RVTV taping in July.
It is shaping up to be a potentially busy Concert Season. Besides Garibaldi Days, the RVTV taping, and the Central Point concert, there’s three I haven’t heard from yet; the Museum wants to re-schedule but hasn’t said when (I’ll find out the new date after the middle of July), and no word yet from either the West Linn Library or the Thirsty Lion Pub in Portland. All three, if they happen, will be paying gigs.
I got most of a song out of the trip, too (I’d been hoping that would happen). The reincarnation song—tentatively titled “Always Pet the Dogs”—has three verses now, to go with the chorus I had over a year ago; it could probably use one more, for length’s sake (it just feels short), but the three verses I have just might say everything that needs to be said, and I might leave it at that. Same pattern as the missing-underwear song, “Milepost 43,” which is a fairly short song, too—2 verses, chorus, break, last verse, last chorus. One could of course keep repeating the chorus ad infinitum, if people are dancing. It does have a catchy melody.
And I have another job to apply for. There’s a Chamber of Commerce hereabouts—within commuting distance—looking for an executive director, and I want to tell them it should be me.
Joe
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