mending the gaps

Yow!

An expression of delight, surprise, and a healthy dose of sassy. I'm feeling it right now.

This past week was what I considered, going into it, the biggest week of my musical career thus far. Now that the milestones have passed and I am coasting into the weekend, I sense that I was perhaps building it up a little too much in my anticipation. The two events that made it so "monumental" were as follows:

~On Tuesday, a concert at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, at which I was the opening act for Dave Bazan and for Over the Rhine. I took two days off my day job and drove a total of 13 hours to do it.

~On Thursday, the opening show for my four-month residency at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village in NYC. For this residency, I invested in hiring stellar graphic designers and printing 1,000 promotional postcards that look like this:



Okay, so now that all this hulabaloo has passed, I'm thinking to myself, that was nice. My life isn't really different than it was three days ago. Certainly, besides the adventures in themselves, the lasting values of these experiences are:

-some new fans in western PA
-the "resume builder" (aka music bio builder) of having opened for a couple of national acts
-a couple new fans in NYC
-the "what works, what doesn't" and "learn, tweak, and relaunch" aspects to a starting show in a series of shows.

Regarding disappointment: I confess I was minorly dismayed that more people did not turn out for the Sidewalk gig. I was really thankful for the friends and acquaintances who came and supported; at this point however I am itching not to have to rely on loyal friends to fill seats (which makes it sound like I'm eschewing loyal friends, which is absurd and untrue, but hopefully you get my gist). I would love to be able to draw a roomful of strangers (that sounds so sketchy). I am encouraged though that audience turnout IS something that can be improved upon via a new, or perhaps just heavier, promotional approach. So, just putting this in my backpocket for the next show (May 31!).

Alright, but here's the pleasant realization: after coming home last night, I popped in the CD recording of the show and gave it a listen. The recording sounds good! Since getting the comment in September that I could benefit from some voice lessons, I have been working on the ol' voice. Though I never got lessons (I pursued one potential teacher - it feel through), I have been listening to a lot of recordings of performances since then, hearing the "bad habits" and the different qualities that my voice has and deciding which ones I want to bring out most often. Mostly since, I'm just working on keeping my vocals consistent, controlled, properly supported. And I do believe they has improved. It helps of course, having those beautiful strings winding in and out of songs... (Burning Down Rome definitely did their part last night).

There is a little more news - more than a little, but better to watch my head about it and keep it little in my heart. :) PD and I had another meeting a couple weeks ago, after he had listened to the recording of a live performance from February. He told me, "You are ready to go; all you need is a really good demo." He proceeded to tell me/show me the webiste of a friend of his with whom we may be able to work to get a simple 5-song demo recorded, and he advised me to pick and practice 5 of my best songs. I do not know the timeline on this, just that there seemed more of a sense of immediacy to this meeting and to this assignment than there was to our initial meeting in September. So this is incredibly encouraging to me, as I look down the track at the next several hurdles. I'm still running...