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