Friday, February 12, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 16 Open Mic Introduction

Friday... I'm playing an open mic up in New Freedom, PA.  The Wagonshed, a small venue that has a pretty big following.  Should be fun.

Open mics were a big thing for me back in 2004... my good friend ellen cherry
ellen cherry in Dunkin Donuts
and I used to travel to at least two a night if we could make it work... it was fun... it was silly... I was sitting in my apartment on a Monday night and I was bored... and thought... "Man, I should be playing somewhere..." So, I called her up and said... let's hit some open mics..."  and she said... "Yes!" 

I did not anticipate the culture we'd encounter... I figured there would be different degrees of abilities... but nothing like what we stumbled into... 4 different type of players emerged...

1.  The host
2.  The first timer
3.  The hobbyist
4.  The veteran

Unfortunately, I don't have much time today to put this together this morning... however, look for updates over this weekend...  plus, I will send some notes from the North Carolina... I'm avoiding terms like, "The Road" or "#tourlife"  or "Road Dog"  or... any other label... You can classify it as a short tour... how about "Interstate Jaunt?"  One thing I'm trying to avoid is the selfie... thanks for looking! 

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens

William Carlos Williams

Grimm

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 15 The Day After a Day Off

What does it mean?  Really.  What does any of it mean?  Should there be some sort of pay off?  Of course there should be, but that doesn't mean it will be in the form that you would expect right?  Here's lyric I've been working on...

Rarely, what you earn
equals what you deserve

And the idea is that you can reverse it later in the song as the speaker's situation/attitude develops...

Until what you deserve
matches up to what you earn

and so on... keep an eye out for those lines in a song... maybe it'll happen this month.

This weekend, June Star is heading down to Raleigh and Carrboro to play a handful of shows... North Carolina... one of the Alt. Country meccas... When I first became interested in touring, nay obsessed, I focused much of my energy on getting a show down that way.  There were these tantalizing names... The Cave, The Pourhouse, The Local 506... These were places that I noticed bands like June Star seemed to play... and I set off on a quest of sorts to get a show down that way.

The first show we played in North Carolina was at the Cave... which was booked by Mr. Mouse.  I shit you not, Mr. Mouse!  Talk about getting involved in the rock and roll world... here's an owner and booker of a venue who doesn't go by Mitchell Albright... or Steve... it was Mr. Mouse.  Fabulous. And, you had to send a physical presskit then follow up in two weeks with a call to the venue on Tuesday or Thursday between the hours of 2-4pm. 

I followed the directions... as any literate person would... and after two weeks I called.  Two rings and the phone picks up... and the voice on the other end squeaks, "Cave." 

I'm not making this up... his voice sounded kind of mouse-y... a cool, masculine mouse-y in case he's reading this blog... Although he no longer owns the Cave, I have nothing but love and respect for Mr. Mouse... he was always helpful and kind to us and I was sad to hear that he moved on... June Star played off an on at the Cave since 2002.  I played the Pourhouse with ellen cherry on Easter Sunday 2005... and we played the Local 506 w/Birds and Arrows about two years ago.  Dreams do come true.

The entire time I was, and still am, signed up on the Guitartown email list.  The Triangle area email list was the go to place to find out about new records, upcoming concerts, and concert reviews... I signed up since I liked that stuff... but also to drum up some support when we came to town... I know... kind of shady and self serving... call me Mr. Rat.

One of the listserv members, Jonathan, has been super supportive of us... with the explosion of "social media," which BTW seems to really be a loose thread of memes questioning/challenging my faith, humanity, or patriotism when daring me to "like" or "share" images of U.S. soldiers or air brushed eagles crying, but now "social media" really wiped out email groups... and Guitartown suffered... they were putting on some shows... they communed at SXSW... a lot of that seemed to disappear.  But Jonathan, with many folks from the community, has been working to bring Guitartown back to the forefront or at least back into a larger awareness... it's pretty cool... I think all of their hard work down there has paid off. 
Both of our shows in this weekend are sponsored by Guitartown... currently I'm unable to post the images... of the posters... but will do later tonight... The recognition and thanks are well earned most richly deserved....


Gotta run...


Grimm



Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 12-13 Mig and the Principles of Rehearsal

I'm not sure what else I'd be doing: music and teaching.  I found myself, at the end of college in 1994, thinking about that next step, that unformed space waiting--a space composed of deep darkness, endless really, and a defining light. Like, for me, seriously, it seemed like anything could be possible, the same perspective held by one of my cats, Mig.


After I had moved back to Westminster, my first goal was get a couple of cats... enter Mig and Mouse.  They're littermates and all-around boys.  Katie Field, artist superstar had stopped by for something... we may have been rehearsing for the September Hopscotch opening party in Raleigh, anyhow, Mig was going through his "Look at me, I'm a cat!" phase and leaping here and there... and at one point, he stopped and started staring at the ceiling fan.  He was doing the math in his head.  Katie turned and said admiringly, "Look at that.  Anything is possible.  No limits."


Many times we limit ourselves... we tell ourselves:  "There's not enough money."  OR "I don't think I'm cut out for that."  OR  "I thought I had pulled the emergency brake."  OR "I thought booking a show on Super Bowl Sunday would be okay."


Okay... I started this entry yesterday... and I didn't finish... for various reasons... I don't think I will finish. 

From time to time I am reminded, sometimes gently and sometimes mockingly, the only person who truly cares about your songs is you. 

Grimm


Sunday, February 07, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 11 Wounded on Tour

Super Bowl Sunday!  Back in 2011?  2012?  When did the Black Eyed Peas played the Super Bowl?  It doesn't really matter much... but being the ever hopeful musician... I booked a show at Eric Ambel's super cool, but now defunct club, The Lakeside Lounge.  I really miss that place.  Anyhow... as you could imagine, not many people were there for the show... but no matter, Dave and I played a good set and we hung out for a little bit... watched the half time show... then we loaded out. 

Here's where it gets good.

So, it had snowed in NYC and the sidewalks were a bit slippery.  I was coming down with a cold, my itchy throat getting itchier, my sinuses blockaded with gunk.  Anyhow, Dave is loading his steel into the Fit and slips and hits his head on the corner of the door.  It hurt, apparently, but didn't seem to be that bad... I was sitting at the bar... he walks in and the bartender's face morphs from mild amusement at Slash selling his soul to the contorted countenance of someone who has just walked in on a murder scene. 

There was some blood. Okay, by some... I mean a lot.

Humans can communicate a lot without saying a word: disappointment with a flash of the eyes or attraction with a slight smirk.   Silently, Dave acknowledged the bartender's alarm-face, eyes widening and brow raised beyond comfort, and immediately went to the bathroom where, 25 paper towels later, he staunched the pulse of blood.

It was a long drive home that night.

So, really... I guess anything can happen...

So booking the June tour is going to take a break for a couple days until we can determine Colorado... that's kind of the deal... Since, that's what will pay for the tour...

I did write the music for one song for FAWM...  will not get to the rest of it until later... sometimes... when I start this process... I get bored... or just lose interest.  It's weird how that cycle goes from that circle to an awkward ellipse. 

So what.

Grimm







Saturday, February 06, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 10 No on Surfside Seven/Treading Water

Okay... another quick note... I don't want to lose the momentum I've started... although I've been pretty tired...

Thanks to the folks reading the blog! I will continue to be as entertaining as I know how...

Tour Update:

Surfside Seven sent this: 

"Sorry. Just seeing this.
And sorry to say that's bad timing.
We power down a bit in summer too. Lots of folks leave. Slow times. Less show. And bad timing"

Also... the house concert in Denver is now starting to shift... sigh.  I  am sometimes reminded of how difficult music really is.   There are all of these details and distractions.  FAWM, teaching, running sound, and the 20 different hats I wear in the band, and then playing in someone else's band... throw in a couple of cats...

My vision of how this is supposed to unfold becomes murkier and farther away.  So...  we'll see how it goes, right?  I'll put together a better post for tomorrow... if there is something that readers want to hear about... have at it.  Leave a comment or question.  I think I'll talk a bit about running sound... that sounds pretty hot.  Right? 

Tommow,

Grimm


Friday, February 05, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 9 Descriptivist Grammarians Unite

It's good to know that people are reading the blog... even better is the fact that some people are reading closely enough to assess my grammar... and, no doubt, my over use of the ellipsis.  It's true... I'm... guilty... some math teachers in Cleveland may be curious as to how an English teacher seems to be ignoring grammatical rules...

Some foolish inconsistencies are slip-ups I'm not really noticing because... who really sees all of the hobgoblins this early in the morning?  Right?  I'm also just hitting my stride.  I started writing this blog right before the change of a semester and right when I'm readjusting other priorities in my life.  So, in some ways, grammar is not my immediate concern.

These entries, to me at least, read as drafts... it ain't no "pro" blog that rakes in any money... I am raising awareness for my music and for issues with music... and we're having fun... sort of.  So, take that Cleveland! :) 

To illustrate my point... yesterday's schedule:

4am wake up
5am arrive at school
4:30 pm leave school
5pm meet friend at local bar (2 O'Douls!)
5:30pm making dinner
6pm gather equipment to play Myth and Moonshine in Canton
6:45 head out to Myth and Moonshine
7:50 set up and play
12am leave Myth and Moonshine
1 am sleep!
4:10 am cats break lamp
4:40 (after shower and lamp clean up) make breakfast/start blog
5:20... need to get to school.

As I go along I will work on self editing the grammer and speling.

Grimm

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 8 Short Update

So... this is just an update... I've got a bunch of stuff to do in the morning.  I might get a chance to update the blog with something lengthier...

1.  The artwork for "You're Still Here" is projected to be finished on Feb 12th
2.  Time for the follow-up on Surfside Seven
3.  Aligning money
4.  House concert in Chicago looks to be firmed up
5.  Nothing on FAWM, yet.
6.  My oatmeal is ready
7.  Looking at my "Radio Contact" list

So on and so forth...

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 7 Apocalyptic Indiana, Tour Update

As I've gotten older, time has gotten shorter.  I don't mean, the walls are closing in and I now desperately regret my choices in life; it just seems to me that time has become more, "compact."  Part of the compacting stems directly from routine...  right now my routine revolves around school and sitting in front the computer trying to book as much as I can. 

The irony is that not much music happens during the routine. 

I do listen to a lot of NPR and BBC world news... and of course, now I write this blog.  But there's a push... with this blog.  The expansion of writing skills, in the prose style, that have long lain dormant, needs an awakening of sorts.  Right? Write.

Funny, the music thing was first inspired by a sense of "I can do that too..." and then "I want to contribute" which of course morphed into, "I've got something to say" which transitioned into "Oh, I really made some mistakes, look at them..."  to, for now, "I don't think I'm alone in feeling this way."  And for certain, songwriting and performing helps therapeutically; however, that's why I keep a journal... talk about therapeutic.  woof.

But that's not important here. 

This is a tour diary... so you have to talk about touring and booking and the craziness of the road.  Funny thing.  I'm older... the guys in the band are older... not much craziness happens... more like a comedy of errors, usually.  Here's a funny story:

Last July, I had booked a tour out to St. Louis and back and one of our shows was in Bloomington, Indiana.  A college town.  My close friend J. went to IU and that was a big deal for him, I don't watch much sports but isn't there some sort of Big 10 thing or something?... and my impression of college towns of the like display packed stadiums cheering in frigid weather, student unions, local bars jammed with hard working bar bands, the college students--living on the edge, knowing what's progressive or not--listening to music and drinking beer... you know, clichés. 

Anyhow, the place we played was Player's Pub.  This was one of those deals where I emailed the booker and never really heard anything back... the tour was coming up and it looked like we had a day off... and kind of irks me... I like to play every day out... so, I was getting nervous... then... like an email bolt form the cyberweb blue: 

"Hey Andrew,
I was cleaning up some e-mails I ignored. Sorry.  Noticed you don't have July 12th filled.  Nor do we."


There you have it... so I'm excited... I got a gig... filled the spot and now we're ready to go... (if you have time... read into that email and leave a comment...)

I want you to think about a pristine wildlife preserve, absent non-snack packing militia meat men.  Imagine the small clearing from dense woods to a soft clearing... a silent anticipating lake... the only movement is the sound from chirping insects, the lilt of a songbird... solace and solitude... you are truly alone with your thoughts... lost in nature.

I want you to think about the opening scene of any apocalyptic film... the main character staggers on his/her way out of a building... perhaps just becoming conscious and aware that something is wrong... massive man made structures, impressive ornaments adorning an urban dream.  To the left and to the right... automobiles that once sped families and friends to their destinations... their futures... sit unused, decomposing into rubble and rust.  The only sound is the frightened echo of that hero's voice calling with hope that he or she will be answered in familiar and similar tones.

Now... put those two together and you have Bloomington IN on a Sunday in July.

Seriously... but that's not even the funny part... that's just a minor inconvenience... while waiting for our set time, we were playing some pool and there was some transient looking fellow hanging out too... and he started talking with us... I can't remember the conversation... but, you know... me, Kurt, Andy, and Dave are easy going guys... also... we're all pretty funny and affable and all that... I think it was either Kurt or Andy was cutting the guy short, in a conversational manner to deliver a witty remark and the guy says... quite seriously and with attempted authority:

"I'm talking now."

To which, sensing the tension suddenly spike... like 0-180mph, the band made eye contact with each other... silently communicating, "wtf?" simultaneously with "meh."  This was our audience?  I don't think Kurt tried to make it right... he has a good sense of, "Oh, you're crazy... I will entertain this for another minute... but then will remove myself from the situation."  Which he did... the transient guy kind of wanders off and we don't see him again... but funny... nonetheless...

The remainder of the time out on the tour... you couldn't say three words without someone in the band interrupting you to declare that "he is talking now."

Anyhow...

Tour Update:

Crescent Moon Coffee from Lincoln NE emailed back that they are an acoustic venue and they need acoustic examples... so I grabbed some youtube acoustic performances... here's what I sent:




Grimm
































Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 6 Toes and Tunes

All I am saying is that dipping your toes in the water doesn't do the same thing as submerging your whole self all the way.  Some of it...maybe.  The coolness--or is it the dryness, which do you feel more.  Is it just the contrast of cool/warm, wet/dry, happy/sad, awake/tired, Republican/Democrat that allows us understanding?

Toes in the water, the foot's sole and heel, used to the rough sturdiness of the ground, the grass, the gravel; or itchy, damp socks, worn in-soles now feel a sudden coolness yielding to its entirety.  Oh my sole!  Finally, a perfect fit.  The nerves connecting skin and brain, at first shocked with sensation, become more comfortable, relaxed. The wet and dry line inches up and a small tickle of electricity slips its way around the calf and up the leg... to your spine long before the water meets the waist. 

All this feeling is perceived and anticipated.  It is also all contrast. I don't know if it's a bad thing or not.  But, the difference is what helps us categorize and those categorizations push organization which becomes a vehicle for understanding.  This new understanding brings us to another contrast: love and loss.

For years, I've said, "This is a song about love" and that's always been true, but that's only true because I have experienced loss.  Worse, I have created loss.  Reality.

When I started teaching I was really into the American romantic writers... people like Hawthorne and the transcendentalists:  Emerson and Thoreau.  And like a gang of thugs, the realist/naturalists came in and called "bullshit" on the "justice of nature" or the supernatural "everything will resolve itself" quasi hopefulness of humans that seem to permeate the romantic gospel.  It was true rock-n-roll.  Pretty cool.  London and Crane in particular... what made it different was because they lived it. They experienced the stories they told... I know Thoreau went out to the woods, I read that memo... but London and Crane were searching for something different and perhaps brutal.  Experience. 

Where is this going?  FAWM.  I have yet to start on the FAWM just yet... I may get to it by Saturday... that will be the first time that I'll have a chance to get there... but I think this year will be more fruitful than past few years.

When I sit down to write... especially for FAWM... I usually start with chords and drum beats.  I try to fashion something that sounds sing-able and at a minimum... not annoying.  There is a period of layering guitars and keyboard sounds... then the last layer is the lyrics.  Which start with rough/rude word associations and melody construction... listening for the contrasts... for the combinations that shoot sparks... tickle their way up... and I feel submerged.

Okay... I gotta run... update on the 7":  Songs have been mixed.. now waiting on the masters... artwork has been started...

Track Listing:

You're Still Here
Almost Home
Way Off  (digital release)
Nothing Else  (digital release)
Swerve (digital release)

Grimm



Monday, February 01, 2016

Tour Diary: Day 5 Ultimate Total Access

After the forty-eight hour rule... do you start bugging people? 

I used bug the poor people at the 930 club when they also booked Fletcher's on Bond Street.  Remember that place?  To me... and at the time I running the band Factory Horse, it was the goal... I had several benchmarks in booking and Fletcher's was basically the ultimate goal.  Look at the people who had played there:  Miracle Legion, the Silos, Whiskeytown... If we could get in there... well.  We would have made it.

Ah, the dreams of the narrow sighted. But it was cool... we finally got a show there opening for Todd Thibaud.  He was from Boston, I think... and the sound check was cool because we had never had an actual monitor mix... then we had access to the mystical upstairs green room.  And there... the magic faded pretty quick... it was just a room... with a refrigerator, all the power amps, and some couches that, without any doubt, had probably been wiped down several times with bleach... or at least one would have hoped.  That was it... dingy and fluorescent light lit.  Feel the magic. Still, it was cool.

Cool because of access... one of the things I like about performing on stage is the fact that it is your stage for forty minutes.  This is the place... no matter how large... for your band, or you, to share. It has limited access and therefore you are special... to break it down in elementary terms like that, it seems a bit silly... but that would be over simplifying the situation.  It's not that much different than going to see a film... you sit in one direction and you watch a presentation... same deal. Sort of. 

The point of all this blather?  Perseverance.  You have to be willing to follow up, follow up, follow up, and then follow up a little more.  Almost every success in my life has been due to being myself and following up... That's where the forty-eight hour rule comes into play... it's not to throw my hands up in the air and say, I might have guessed... it's to say... "Okay... let me go back again and see my correspondence... maybe they're more active on Facebook?  Should I call... (which btw, never really happens much... in fact, I get a small kick out of some places that require a hardcopy press kit... the internet may have destroyed parts of the music industry... but one plus is the ease at which you can book shows...)

Okay... so this post feels a bit lame... but I didn't have much time to write it today... back to school and I have a mixing session with J Robbins at Magpie Cage... but I'll leave you with a small story about access... June Star opened for the Silos at Fletcher's, Drew Glackin (whom passed some years ago) gave us a warm applause after our set... as we climbed those mystical steps to the green room... he was laying on of the, hopefully sanitized sofas, and climbing his hands and he said, "Well done boys, welcome to the club."

Grimm