An afternoon off and pasta for dinner... ahh!
I am feeling so mellow right now, as I went to work early today and got out at three, was able to come back and get a couple things done, take a nap, make food for dinner (amazing), and now I can sit here and plunk these keys while listening to the Garden State soundtrack. Currently playing is the song that was playing during the big getting-high scene. Anyone remember that? I'm rarely tempted by drugs but somehow that scene had me a little interested in a mind-bending experience. Not to worry, however... I'll stay clean. (You, my still non-existent readership... don't worry. :)
Tomorrow I'm headed to an open mike in Brooklyn. The moderate goal I've so far set for myself regarding the music career in NY is to play at least one open mic per week. I've already "broken" that resolution but getting back on the wagon is essential. No regrets, just get out there when you can! Hopefully joining me will be a new friend I made a week and a half ago, who is also a singer-songwriter and just recently moved to the city.
Okay, so here's the exciting thing coming up in a week. I'm going to a Sam Phillips concert at Carnegie Hall. For people who don't know Sam Phillips, she used to be a CCM artist under the name "Leslie Phillips." Quite a while ago she left CCM, having some major issues with it, in regards to artistic restrictions and image restrictions, and some ideological differences (imagine that). She's a Christian, and she talks about her faith in her music, just not in the neat, tidy way in which a lot of CCM industry children are kind of forced to do in order to fill the market niche.
(My feelings about CCM belong in another blog at another time. It's too big to address within a tangent.)
SO, getting back on topic... a couple weeks ago I emailed a concert-promoter mentor-friend of mine who booked a Sam Phillips concert this fall, because I was trying to get contact info for someone at Nonesuch Records, which is Sam's record label home and also home to the likes of Wilco, Emmylou Harris, k.d. lang, and a variety of other artists in lots of different genres - world beat, jazz, classical, folk rock, etc. It is a goal of mine to get listened to by Nonesuch, because from what I've read and seen, I love the way they operate and I feel like I would have a chance for a home there, as my music is uncategorizable to a certain extent. ohhh, big dreams of record labels... (I make my exposition fairly nonchalant but if anything were to come of this story I'm in the middle of telling, I would be cautiously perched on cloud nine).
The mentor-friend did more for me than I expected. He not only gave me the email address of his contact at Nonesuch; he reminded me that I have met Sam Phillip's manager and gave me that email address.
That's right; when I did a songwriting semester program at Martha's Vineyard three years ago, I met Dan Russell, Sam's manager, who at the time was busy promoting an up-and-coming goth emo-ish rock group signed to Virgn Records: The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Dan is cool! Armed with this connection, I emailed Dan to reintroduce myself and ask him if he'd be willing to listen to my demo. After a series of emails back and forth, I again got more than I expected: the encouragement to attend Sam's show at Carnegie Hall on October 19, and the offer of aftershow passes to be able to meet up with Dan as well as Tom Willett, his old friend and one of my instructors from the program at Martha's Vineyard, whom I haven't seen since Fall 2001.
Oh, and Dan will listen to my demo. That's the first thing he said in our email exchange.
So, getting to see Sam in concert at Carnegie and meet up with these guys is definitely to be a highlight for my month. Now, I don't know what Dan is busying himself with these days. This girl (I!) could definitely benefit from some managerial guidance, particularly from someone who has been in the business as long as he (who, in their early days, served as U2's financial manager).
We'll see what comes of it! Gotta get my best recordings together on a cd, gotta get something promo-kittish together that projects some professionalism. I'll definitely be checking back in after October 19, if not earlier.
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