Tour Diary: Day 4 Tour Posters/Tom Petty/The 48 Hour Rule

The forty-eight hour rule is set to expire by noon on both the Surfside 7 and Crescent Moon Coffee... in addition I haven't really heard anything from our man in Denver... which ultimately is not much of a problem... but still something that sits a bit uncomfortable.    But, you should bear in mind that peoples' lives are complicated and the laws of instant gratification should not necessarily apply... sure it'd be easier, but Petty said it best with "I won't back down..."  or one of those songs...

In the meantime... let's talk about poster art... there's a great documentary called Just Like Being There which investigates the subculture of poster art... fascinating... inspiring, although my reach exceeds my grasp on the visual art front... when I started playing out... I made some posters... in fact... the first show I ever played... in high school... I made a poster... here it is: 

$2.00 Shows since 1989!

You can probably see my personality in this artifact... I was obsessed with Lou Reed... the clown came from an old issue of Crazy.  Regardless... I was seventeen and I was really excited about playing and being... wait for it... included in the event.  I played bass... although this picture was not from the Teen Center...

Lewis and the Vampire Bitches(last time I wore shorts on stage)

So as the years have gone on, I have created horrifying posters... lacking symmetry... cohesive color schemes... any type of cool reference to anything... so I hooked up with Adam Miller... whose band is the Racket...  So, I started calling him and telling him my ideas about posters... and my very favorite one was the June Star 15th Anniversary Show:

 I love this poster... it's pretty hysterical!

So, why talk about posters... and touring... well... here's the thing:  As you book shows and you put forty hours into booking the shows, then there's an expectation that you will send posters which becomes another deal with money and resources... and timing!  Timing! 

But, let's touch on that slippery slope of poster art and paying for it... most graphic design friends I have, have always been gracious with their time and their art and I truly feel a sense of guilt that I've exploited that relationship.  Some folks would tell you that you should be downright Machiavellian in your maneuvers with the business part of being a musician... use this person... burn this person... steal that microphone cable... and so on.   After awhile though... it can weigh on you... so for that, "Graphic designers, I'm sorry." 

The Oatmeal

But part of the problem remains with money... it's expensive, and deservedly so--you get what you pay for.  To make things a bit more complicated is the fact that you have struggling, financially crippled artist types trying to pay other struggling, financially crippled artist types.  It's kind of comical... like Jon Nolan's lyric "robbing ringo to pay paul." 

However, to reduce costs I have worked on my poster making skills... cause... I kind of have to... I like the posters I'm putting together these days... finding Public Domain images and changing them to fit my purposes... here are some more:

Watch out Adam... I've got your number... I'm kidding... sort of... Pay your graphic design people what they are worth!  Also... check out Katie Feild... she has done a bunch of June Star art over the years!

Timeline wise, I'll get poster art together for the tour after it's all booked!  This time though... I think I'll do one tour poster rather than individual ones... but that's a way off and "waiting is the hardest part."

Grimm

Tour Diary: Day 3 Booking Contacts and Insect Porn (The Writing Process)

So, Ann Arbor will not work out this time around... but, Karl and I exchanged some emails and October may be a good time to get out there... I know I seemed a bit down on Karl, for that, Karl has proven me wrong, in this instance.  For that, I am happy.

What's next?  well... like some sort of multi-legged insect, my feelers swivel in search of a soft spot... a place with penetrable integrity to sink my proboscis... err... so, when I write this blog, right now, I'm kind of winging it... not much of a plan to follow.  My AP Lang students would rail against me now.  Suckers.  But you know, I'm looking at that ridiculous metaphor/imagery and it reads like insect porn... seriously... slowly he sinks the rigid tube into the yielding flesh, deep, deeper until...warm fluid rises...

hmmm... let me talk about that later... the importance of editing...

Let's talk about Ann Arbor. So, that's probably not going to happen, so I will turn my eyes back to Detroit.  Detroit is easy to book.  The ease is directly due to Don Duprie whose band Doop and the Inside Outlaws have put out a bunch of great records. 

Doop self reflecting on recent songwriting choices

Please... before reading the rest of this blog... click the link and listen to Doop in the background... his songs deal with hard scrabble blue collar voices trying to be heard...

Anyhow, back to how Doop figures into this blog.  About, five years ago Dave Hadley and I were booking a tour out to SXSW and it was the longest tour I had booked to date.  Rodney Henry... whom you will remember from the Glenmont Popes, Food Networks Next Star, and all around Dangerously Delicious Pie shops, he kept telling me, "Yo, Grimm! Doop says hi!" and I would say... "Cool! Tell 'em I said Hi back!"

I had no idea who the hell Doop was... but it was Rodney... so I just rolled with it... there are many idioms in the Henry lexicon that a person must accept and make peace with... "We're locked on," "We'll get you tightened up," these are the two most frequently uttered phrases from Rodney... and they can mean many many many different things... depending on:

1. context of the situation
2. time of day
3. audience
4. sobriety

So, when booking this tour, I asked Rodney about Doop, he gave me his contact info, and I was able to book a show at his Dangerously Delicious Pies franchise and we were all set.  When we got to Detroit and met Doop, we clarified that yes, indeed, we had never met and almost immediately became friends.  Now, here's where the props come in... Friendships like the one with Doop, and even if we were only acquaintances, allow for touring musicians to survive... he didn't know us--even though I am considered by Rodney as "Piestyle for Life," another idiom that means various things which, in this case, means that we won't stain your carpets if you let us stay at your house-- and Doop was gracious and giving in opening up his home to us... even after the show, he had to work another two hours and he gave us a key to his house and said, "Do whatever you want." 

A lot of times the touring part is exciting and tiring... however, staying in hotels can have a ironical kind of negative effect... you're never really comfortable, or at least I'm not.  Staying with someone like Doop gives you that sense of comfort... like you're home... you can open the fridge and eat or drink whatever you want, within reason... I will not take a man's last beer, but really it's one of the reasons I like touring; in my previous post, I talked about taking songs to people and the human connection.  Being invited and accepted into someone's house, being included, is just another strand of that connection... what is also important, though... is returning the favor. 

But is it a favor?  I guess it's a gesture?  Or proving you're human?  Or what is it?  I don't know... this blog is about to go off-road existential 4 wheeling.  Several times, I have opened my house to traveling musicians... some I didn't even know... "eat what you want, drink what you want... I know what it's like to be far from your own bed and things."  These arrangements are done without reservation because I do know what it feels like.

Empathy. That's what it really is.  I do believe that empathy separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom... except for my cat, Mig. 

Mig the Cat

Right now... he's trying to tell me something... then again, he's always helping me with my computer...  Before I shift to my next topic, thank you Doop and all the people who have opened their homes to me and other traveling musicians... it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it truly makes the experience of playing a lot better.  The experience becomes real... you remember more about the shows because you have communed with people and you your narrative is more about that connection rather then the unbearable funk that has transferred from the dented up SM 58 knock off mic grill to the bottom of your upper lip.  I mean... who used this mic last?  GG Allin?

Regardless... empathy.  That's the deal.  One of the filters in my songwriting process centers around whether or not the voice in the song is, "real."  Does this sound human? Or, is it just some dopey middle-aged white guy rambling about some Americana-esque archetypal clichés? 

Here we go.  The songwriting process.  There's this great line from Hemingway when asked what it takes to be a great writer he says that great writer's have to have "a built in shock proof shit detector."  Which, if you distill that down, really means that great writing doesn't just depend on creativity but the editing process.  Just because you wrote something doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually worth anything, and if this were an advice column... that's the advice I'd give to new songwriters.  Have a good self reflection session with a cup of coffee and what you're writing.  Look for clichés and either delete them or pull a "Paul Westerberg" and change a preposition.  These self-reflective sessions should also make you aware of inadvertent double meanings... like creating a metaphor for booking that somehow pupates into semi-pornographic descriptions...is that really something you want emote in front of people?  Probably not.. 

I bring these things up... because FAWM, February Album Writing Month, starts on Monday... and again this year I will exercise some writing muscles that may have been a bit dormant.  What does that mean... I'm going to write some songs... as I have time... I'll document in the blog how I do this... one the links on this blog... to the right... will take you to my FAWM page.  Which by the way... I was introduced to FAWM by Matt Hopper when he and Andrew Norsworthy stayed with me when I opened my apartment to them while they were on tour... I booked them two gigs, one was locked on at Dangerously Delicious Pies, while the other they played Mum's where Hopper got tightened up with several shots of Evel. 

Okay... so, booking... tour diary... I'm going to text with Doop... I'll get all "Piestyle" for the Detroit show... Sunday 6/26. 

No word on Lincoln NE yet... but we'll see...

Grimm 

Tour Diary: Day 2 Apologies and Supplemental Points

To be clear!  Last night's entry is not intended as a cry for help.  For years and years I have booked shows and tours and will continue to do so... in an attempt to raise the awareness of my music, I'm sharing the process and just what goes on through my mind as I work through the process. 

I also find it funny and challenging

Thank you for the robust response from you guys... and I will address all of the comments people have left on the multiple platforms...

It's tough out there and it ain't getting easier... I am teaching high school full time... running several sound gigs at the Windup Space... and playing both June Star and cover gigs... so... I'm busy... more later... I will be talking about the Crescent Moon Coffee gig...

By the way... I'm running an Open Mic @ The Windup Space every third Tuesday of the month... it's called "Group Therapy Open Mic"

UPDATE

So, no real news on the booking thing... but we're still in that sweet forty-eight hour period before I start looking beyond those queries...

The response to my blogging is really encouraging, like in a way that I should be more consistent and continue with my thoughts... pretty cool... and I haven't even tried anything too whacky.  So, what might be a bit damning and controversial is what I'm going to reveal:  why I will not submit a video to the NPR Tiny Desk Concert Contest. 

Reasons why people want to enter:

1. the thrill of participating
2. the thrill of competition
3. the chance at a great opportunity for exposure
4. ethos by association
5. affirmation and acceptance by Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton

These are all reasonable motivators to enter the contest... and I'm going to be careful how I make my argument as I have friends who have or will be submitting their videos... and to them I wish good luck and, because they are my friends, I want them to win. 

Reasons why I won't enter:

1. the thrill of participating:  I already participate... every record I put out and every show I put together or perform is participation... the very core of this blog smacks of participation, so how much participation do I need to commit before I feel like I participate?
2. the thrill of competition: The creation of music or songwriting or performance should occur with the intent to speak to a listener, create a connection between musician, the song, and the listener... then, introspectively... a connection within the listener and his/her experiences or memories.  With that philosophy in mind... the only person I choose to compete with is myself... to do as Garrison Keillor suggests... "do good work."  Besides, competing, although in athletic competition it creates dynamics, only seems to foster jealousy and inadequacy within me... this stance is purely subjective ... I'll own that.
3. the chance a great opportunity for exposure:  Couldn't you do the same thing with youtube and some well chosen tags?  Plus, exposure?  I will get back to this one a little later...but I usually ignore any offer to play that includes that word.
4. ethos by association:  My ethos, my credentials are firmly centered around the writing process... the songs... not the distribution method.  Wouldn't a video featured on NPR be casting a wider net?  Yes.  But the validation of NPR, as coveted and thrilling as having Carl Castle's voice on my answering machine, but really...in the big picture, it should be my own approval and by the weight of my own talent that informs this ethos rather than public radio.
5. affirmation and acceptance by Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton:  Isn't this the same as winning a critic's approval?  I would rather have play show after show... and one of those guys wander in and see the show, by accident... or on purpose... but something more organic than the video.  Experiencing music is more like witnessing a confession, a conviction, or a conversion (or all three at the same time)... and that's what makes watching a tiny desk concert so thrilling and great and magical and great and great.  Making a tiny desk concert submission...not so much.
6. I'm not good at making videos.
7. I once said some negative things about the Black Keys...which I was mostly kidding...I did see the tiny desk concert for the Arcs... holy moly that's pretty cool... with this smooth quasi Mariachi band thing...

So there you go. 

Interestingly... Karl emailed me back and said he only has Aug 5 and 6 open... which means we could have booked something... but alas we have a commitment already for  Aug 6... in Gettysburg PA... but what is cool about that whole exchange is that now I have something to work with... Yay Karl! 

Nothing from Lincoln,yet.

Next up... I'm working on Colorado... Denver and Fort Collins... one of the cooler things that has happened over the years is my networking with other musicians... since I book shows in Baltimore... and have been doing so since 2004... which the persons to thank for that are Andrew Norsworthy and Matt Hopper... I'll tell that story later... but in the 12 years since then... from time to time... I will get emails that say... "someone told me you are the guy to set up a show..." and I am... mostly. 

So over the summer we played at the tree bar in Columbus OH... and one of the guys on the bill was Matt Charette... he had cool set and we chatted for a bit... and he's from Boston... and although I've played Boston a bunch it's always good to have someone new there... anyhow we've swapped shows and I have him coming down to Baltimore on March 13th... and he was reading my posts online and suggested I contact one of the guys from Drag the River... I had played a show with Drag the River a decade ago... and I think they were friends with Icanlickanysonofabitchinthehouse... I think?  I could be wrong... and my memory-repression therapy session isn't until next week... but that's whole other post...

So... now I've contacted him and we'll see what happens with Fort Collins... man, it's a lot to take in... I guess. Which I almost forgot... Got to figure something out for Michigan.  Detroit?  Indianapolis?   I don't know... We played in Bloomington IN on a Sunday in July... thankful to have the gig, although a Bloomington is pretty dead in the summer.

Grimm

Tour Diary: Day 1 Booking Obstacles

So... here's the thing.  Third time around. Making and taking music seriously.  It's a tough thing... many considerations to, well, consider.  I just finished watching the Austin to Boston documentary... which the only reason I wanted to watch in the first place was to see what other musicians are doing, what they're playing. 

One should keep an eye out for disingenuous non-fiction narrative which purports authenticity.

Hearing Gill Landry's deep, dry voice... equal parts cool and Steven Wright, drawl out the premise of the film and the tour it documented, felt a bit overly slick... the video tour diary of four hard working artists traveling from SXSW to Boston in three VW micro buses... cue the hijinks and comradery that must be what happens on every tour. 

Maybe I'm bitter with my own experiences and the limited success or talent is what burns the broth. 

Maybe.

But I just don't buy it. The performances are good... they sound great and I really liked the musical parts... that's not the point.  The point is that there is the narrative equivalent of fourteen pounds of Vaseline slathered on the lens of truth here.  It's cool that these folks played the shows and bonded... but who the hell booked it?  The production company must have been expensive too... and the venues looked really packed... which again, is great... but not really representative of touring?  Or maybe it is and I've been doing something really wrong. 

That got me to thinking about the whole tour diary thing... I'm pretty bad at it, but I'd like to try something new... guiding you, or whoever will actually read these posts, through the process of booking a tour.  So, this tour diary will include the booking of the tour...

Booking shows/gigs is one of the most challenging and  humiliating experiences I tend to repeat time and time again... because, I want to play my songs to people... I want to meet them, I want to travel, I want see my country and the people who live here.  Also... I need to make a little money.  Let me emphasize "little."  Break even... fingers crossed.

First things first.  You may say to yourself, "Why don't you just get a booking agent?"  The harsh reality is that we're nobody and no booking agent would ever come close to working with us... we do not command an audience... we haven't sold many records... and we're not very photogenic... so... we're really kind of the underdog just to start with... So get it out of your heads that this is going to be easy at all... some bookings are easier than others...

In March 2016 June Star will be releasing a 7" single, "You're Still Here," on Future Oak Records, a small record company out of Pittsburgh.  Fredrick, who owns and runs the deal, has a wonderful manner about him... thoughtful and quick... he will be hand cranking some sort of vinyl lathe machine to produce the records... pretty neat.  His girlfriend?  Katie will develop the artwork... snazzy.   

So this stuff will hit the streets in March, Andy Bopp and I will be going out from 3/21-3/26 to support this record... but we are also booking a much longer tour 6/20-6/29 heading farther out to places I have yet to book... trying to expand our reach.  Andy is also releasing his new solo record in late April... I think...

So... here's the preliminary itinerary:
6/20  Columbus, OH
6/21  St. Louis, MO
6/22  Denver, CO
6/23  Fort Collins, CO
6/24  TBD Lincoln, NE
6/25  House Concert, Chicago IL
6/26  TBD, Detroit/Ann Arbor MI
6/27  TBD, Cleveland OH
6/28  Purple Fiddle, Thomas WV (Confirmed)
6/29  Home?

So, you notice that the Purple Fiddle has already been confirmed... which is great... because it's a cool venue, June Star has played there a bunch over the years and John, the owner and booker is pretty great... musicians love to play there and the sound is always great... so that was kind of an easy show to nab... Columbus will probably not be a huge problem either... we have made some good friends there and people seem to like us!

St. Louis has always been weird.

Andy Bopp is responsible for the Colorado shows... so we'll see how that goes, he has some good contacts and that should fall into place... and the house concert in Chicago is with a June Star super fan... seriously... she knows songs I've stopped playing in 2000.  That's all good... but the areas I will direct your attention to are Lincoln and Ann Arbor... Detroit I can get, but we want to expand outside the Motor City limits...

When I book a show I usually do an initial search at Indie on the Move... they have a great database that you can search by state, by city, by capacity... anything over 100-150 I get a bit nervous... need I remind you that we're really nobody... and playing a venue with a fifty person capacity looks good when only 15 people wander in... but what are you going to do?  So, when searching Lincoln two places looked interesting--meaning viable-- Duffy's (250 capacity) and Crescent Moon Coffee (50 capacity).  We can see where this is going... so I reached out to the coffee place...

Meanwhile, with the search for a venue in Ann Arbor... there used to be the Blind Pig... but I think that is way way gone... I played there with Timmy Bracken and Dave Hadley in 2011... it was about -1,000,000 degrees... I didn't have to comfort of crying for my tears froze in my eyes before they met my cheek.  However, there was an all night diner that had a hell of cheese steak sub after the show... but I digress... So I found a venue called the Yellow Barn... intimate acoustic music... sounds pretty good.  I sent my usual affable, humble booking email... side note:

I know bookers and venues get all sorts of stupid emails from people whom must be delusional about their death metal klezmer band,  Jewdicial Steel, playing for an small crowd of folks in a Midwestern Folksy venue... but let be known... that I research carefully before I suggest that June Star should be booked at a venue... I don't want to waste their time nor mine. 

That being said, Karl got back to me pretty quickly and said that venue was booked for a theater partnership and that there is no music there from May through June.  Fair enough... but you know... working as an English teacher for twenty years... you pick up on some subtleties... and something kind of said, "we're not interested..." and of course... I'd rather someone just say, "No... we don't think you're very good... or just not a good fit for us..." I countered in my email saying... well... we'd like to keep our options open for the fall... if that is something we can work out... I haven't heard back just yet... which brings me to another side note:

Wait time.  Oh... that's a tough one, isn't it?  Instant gratification be damned... I usually wait forty-eight hours before I start to feel that slight edge... you know... you've imagined that they get their email on their phones... or in their back manager office/closet...  so why haven't they gotten back to you already?  I try not to let it bug me too much...

But there... there it is... that's the impetus behind this post and effort to talk about these things... my insecurity... the completely contrived and self constructed conversation/scenarios I create in my mind that says, "You're just not good enough..."  debilitating and just the worst type of self torture I can administer to my heart.  Inside, twisting and untwisting, a nervous knot convulses at the imagined judgment... and my unfailingly puritanical self-judgment confirms what probably isn't true... I'm a hack... or worse... the English teacher cliché... can't make it on talent so that he teaches during the day then leads a sad farce on stage at night, thinking he is more than what he is... maybe so.

I'm looking at that paragraph... and man, I have some issues...

But that's just part of the process... the reality is this... writing is the fundamental expression of being a human... the finer points what ever spiritual or cosmic presence that forms our souls or our auras or our energy or our love or our shame... the writing is human evidence.  To that, I feel my most human when I'm writing and when I'm performing for another human being... there I dig deep... so deep that I'm afraid that if I make eye contact I will melt and slip between the floorboards that barely hold me up to begin with.  Whether or not it's good... it is not clichéd or romanticized... it's real.

Then again, a close friend of mine once said, "Bad music is like bad sex... sure it's bad but it's real to the people doing it."

I'll let you know what's happening with the booking junk... Lincoln and Ann Arbor... those are my goals...

Grimm