Day 200 - September 28th 2009
200 Days since I turned my life upside down so to speak. I’ll spare you the retracing of my steps from AV Tech to bang Camaro Vocalist to Full Time Musician.
On the way to Philly Rising I confirmed with Bryn that I’d be performing with Bang Camaro on October 15th at Santos Party House, the first place in NYC I Played with them. This’ll be a hoot especially considering I have to get back the next day to play a show at Lickety Split and the Boy Wonder Road Trip is the following week.
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my 200th Day than at Philly Rising. My anxieties were heightened a tad since the line was low. One could blame the rain, but the line didn’t used to be effected by that. When I was an open micer there I made sure I went when it rained to increase my chances of winning. Problem was a crap load of people were thinking the same thing. This was and still is the biggest open mic in town with people crawling to get in. I don’t want that to change on my watch. We were the thinnest we’ve been since I got back from tour. But as we started the open mic the list filled up.
As the night wore on I was sitting with someone that comes quite frequently. As they were leaving I made a crack about them leaving and they responded with this tirade about the rappers and about how they need to be more “original.” Original is a word that really gets under my skin.
The 90’s and 00’s have given way to a thought that things like “originality” and being unique are the most important thing when it comes to music. Giving something that they’ve never seen or heard before is the battle cry from the music snobs that I run into on a constant basis. Even industry people that I’ve run into put a premium on being “different” I hear it all the time. “I like this, it’s different” I’m quick to defend anyone on the stage with the guts to get up there and perform against someone who only seems to have the guts to talk smack while they’re performing. But as I listened I came to a realization and asked myself a question. Whatever happened to just being good/great? What happened to that being enough?
Nothing great I’ve ever seen is truly unique or original. Sure it might look a little different, it might sound a little different but you can track anything anybody’s playing back to something else if you look far enough. Pop music allows you to take some tried and true forms, put a little you in them and make them work. There are only so many notes in a scale, so many chords that fit, and so many words that sound good together, so to ask someone to be truly musically original is pretty much impossible. I think the focus should be on being good, someone honing their craft and being the best them they can be. You can basically come out singing and dancing Like Michael Jackson (Usher, Justin Timberlake) or playing like The Beatles (Oasis and Everyone else) or SRV (John Mayer) and if you’re good at it no one really cares because at the end of the day people really just want good music.
The originality is going to come from the artist themselves, their perspective, their personality coming through in the music. When I play No Such Thing it’s going to be different from when John Mayer plays it, I bring different tools to the table, my experiences will inform the lyrics in a different way. If I’m truly being myself my music will be my own. That’s all that needs to be done…period. We should worry about people being good and foster growth so people can be as good as they can be.
I will step off my soapbox for just one second and get back to Philly Rising. A slow night turned into a pretty good one in terms of talent. Our winners were The Dropout Plan from Jersey. A Great acoustic act that may do well at the monthly competition which is quite the mixed bag this time around. Apparently they’re friends with Rae, a girls who’s friends with Liat a young singer/songwriter I book.
I’m gonna be putting my head down and promoting Phiilly Rising even harder than normal. I want to get attendance back up to ridiculous levels.
I came home to some band news that I’m not really ready or sure I’m gonna blog about. It will keep me up tonight.
200 days gone. Living the dream? Not even close. I’m just getting started.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musiciain 200
Day 199 - September 27th 2009
Lazy Sunday
After all the fun I had this weekend I decided to kick back and spend some time at the crib. Mostly with Pop Dukes As mom had to go sing somewhere with the chorus. We watched The Eagles Kill Kansas City, then watched Cadillac Records and then I made Dinner.
I laughed so hard at The Clevland Show and Family Guy and slightly less harder at the Simpsons.
200 days tomorrow and a pretty crazy week ahead.
Lazy Sunday
After all the fun I had this weekend I decided to kick back and spend some time at the crib. Mostly with Pop Dukes As mom had to go sing somewhere with the chorus. We watched The Eagles Kill Kansas City, then watched Cadillac Records and then I made Dinner.
I laughed so hard at The Clevland Show and Family Guy and slightly less harder at the Simpsons.
200 days tomorrow and a pretty crazy week ahead.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 199
Day 198 - September 26th 2009
I had a great time tonight.
I started my evening at Comedy Sports. My buddy Casey had been taking lessons there and was giving his second performance. He’s very funny. So many of my high school friends were fellow aspiring actors, so it’s nice to see one of them actually act. I was mad entertained by what I saw and will be going to see it again as often as possible.
My night would continue with an Absolute Zeros show, they were awesome as always. I hung out for a little while after they were done and then I traveled over to Lickety to handle business. I was a bit concerned that the rain would keep attendance low tonight but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the party packed it was poppin. Well dressed people drinking booze and grinding on each other.
I got home at around 2 and hit the sack.
I had a great time tonight.
I started my evening at Comedy Sports. My buddy Casey had been taking lessons there and was giving his second performance. He’s very funny. So many of my high school friends were fellow aspiring actors, so it’s nice to see one of them actually act. I was mad entertained by what I saw and will be going to see it again as often as possible.
My night would continue with an Absolute Zeros show, they were awesome as always. I hung out for a little while after they were done and then I traveled over to Lickety to handle business. I was a bit concerned that the rain would keep attendance low tonight but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the party packed it was poppin. Well dressed people drinking booze and grinding on each other.
I got home at around 2 and hit the sack.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 198
Day 197 - September 25th 2009
Here’s how a day kinda completely falls through
My friends Wyldlyfe were playing a late night show tonight at 11 and I really wanted to go, that was the plan at least. I’d hang out here at the house all day then move on over to WCL and enjoy myself. I get a call from a band at noon telling me they were all set for tonight’s show, problem is I was pretty sure that I had them scheduled for tomorrow’s show. Luckily we had an opening from 8-10 tonight for them to play. I don’t know how stuff like this happens. What this means is that I’m going to have to go over to Lickety Split before I go to World Café Live, should be done by 10 I should be able to make it over there.
Then I get a text around 5:30, the person had obviously sent it earlier but because my cell phone was forged in the fires of hell by satan himself I didn’t get it until then. It said be at the Whole Foods on the parkway for a 5:45 set. I had completely forgotten about this gig not to mention I was already super late.
I got on the Train and got to the whole foods around 6, 6:15 in time enough to play a 30 minute set. My allergies are acting up thus making my voice not as good as normal.
Set List
Michelle
How Can This Be Love
Bed’s Too Big Without You
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Feels So Good
Supermarket shows are probably the weirdest. Mainly cause people have little to no interest in being there, let alone being there to see you. So you just kinda close your eyes and go, try to make eye contact if people look at you, and maybe they stop before and after they get their organic beet juice or their apple pecan pound cake (I had a sample…very good) maybe they ask you your name before they put their stuff in the car to go home.
After I was done I got a call and had to head over to Lickety Split. To get the band up and running. They played for a few hours and then Tommy wanted to talk to me about a corporate band show that he wants to put on in December by the time I got out it was a little after 10:30. My phone rings again my friends are in town and they want to hang out. I haven’t really hung out with them in a couple of weeks. So I decided to go and meet with them. By the time they scooped me it was around 11.
We got to Oscar’s and kicked it for a while and it was pretty clear that I wasn’t gonna make this show. I felt really bad about it as I wanted to go support them. It’s hard to balance supporting the local scene with your own personal life sometimes. I kicked back and relaxed and had a beer with my buds. Then I got a text letting me know the Menya Crew was at the Medusa Lounge so we went over there and danced the night away.
Tomorrow I just found out The Absolute Zeros are playing at Doc Watson’s opening for Bong hits for Jesus hopefully I will successfully make it over there. Hopefully the next time Wyldlyfe plays some place I’ll be able to go see them.
Here’s how a day kinda completely falls through
My friends Wyldlyfe were playing a late night show tonight at 11 and I really wanted to go, that was the plan at least. I’d hang out here at the house all day then move on over to WCL and enjoy myself. I get a call from a band at noon telling me they were all set for tonight’s show, problem is I was pretty sure that I had them scheduled for tomorrow’s show. Luckily we had an opening from 8-10 tonight for them to play. I don’t know how stuff like this happens. What this means is that I’m going to have to go over to Lickety Split before I go to World Café Live, should be done by 10 I should be able to make it over there.
Then I get a text around 5:30, the person had obviously sent it earlier but because my cell phone was forged in the fires of hell by satan himself I didn’t get it until then. It said be at the Whole Foods on the parkway for a 5:45 set. I had completely forgotten about this gig not to mention I was already super late.
I got on the Train and got to the whole foods around 6, 6:15 in time enough to play a 30 minute set. My allergies are acting up thus making my voice not as good as normal.
Set List
Michelle
How Can This Be Love
Bed’s Too Big Without You
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Feels So Good
Supermarket shows are probably the weirdest. Mainly cause people have little to no interest in being there, let alone being there to see you. So you just kinda close your eyes and go, try to make eye contact if people look at you, and maybe they stop before and after they get their organic beet juice or their apple pecan pound cake (I had a sample…very good) maybe they ask you your name before they put their stuff in the car to go home.
After I was done I got a call and had to head over to Lickety Split. To get the band up and running. They played for a few hours and then Tommy wanted to talk to me about a corporate band show that he wants to put on in December by the time I got out it was a little after 10:30. My phone rings again my friends are in town and they want to hang out. I haven’t really hung out with them in a couple of weeks. So I decided to go and meet with them. By the time they scooped me it was around 11.
We got to Oscar’s and kicked it for a while and it was pretty clear that I wasn’t gonna make this show. I felt really bad about it as I wanted to go support them. It’s hard to balance supporting the local scene with your own personal life sometimes. I kicked back and relaxed and had a beer with my buds. Then I got a text letting me know the Menya Crew was at the Medusa Lounge so we went over there and danced the night away.
Tomorrow I just found out The Absolute Zeros are playing at Doc Watson’s opening for Bong hits for Jesus hopefully I will successfully make it over there. Hopefully the next time Wyldlyfe plays some place I’ll be able to go see them.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 197
Day 196 - September 24th 2009
I wake up ferociously on days like this. This time a year ago I was practically begging for a show Downstairs at the World Famous World Café Live either opening for a major act or on a show with another local. Now this is show number four. I’ve gotten the opportunity to put on some really awesome shows and work with some of the city’s best.
I was hoping not to be late tonight but the TV Repair people would make that happen. I wasn’t able to get free from that until about 4:30. Which wouldn’t get me to World Café Live until about 5:30 half an hour before doors were slated to open. Great. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) none of the bands or fans had shown up…I’m shitting bricks at this point because usually there’s a flock of people outside the door waiting to get inside. Perhaps my luck had run out with these shows. I only had 3 weeks to put together a show and promote it…hardly enough time for something to become a massive success at the same time though, I want everything I do to be a massive success. I put more pressure on myself than probably the venue does. “Do the best you can” they said to me.
Fortunately around 7 people started to climb on inside and the room started to fill up and Mary Scholz kicked off the festivities. I’ve yet to find acoustic acts that can rally draw a substantial crowd in this town but they act as great buffers in between the bigger bands. The Infadolls would hit the stage next followed by Tophers Bossa Nova Brigade. They have a new fancy French name that I’m not gonna even bother with right now. Once they were done it was time for us to play. We played early, a rare occurrence but I was actually fine with it. One they were done me and the crew went to work.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Baby One More Time
Leavin
I don’t know what it was tonight. It’s like everything slowed down. I didn’t really feel a whole lot of nervous energy, I wasn’t so intimidated by the big stage, but it was more than that. I was like subconsciously I knew that I wasn’t gonna sing or play a bad note. The bands playing everything right. I don’t even have to look at Jake and Rob tonight. We’re super super super tight. I’m more concerned with the girls in on the dance floor, movin to the music. Might be something to this funk thing after all…lol. It was one of the more energetic shows. I’m movin around on stage a little bit more tonight since I’m super confident about my playing. It’s like the level on the video game got switched over to easy.
I left the stage quite pleased with myself. Often times I have no clue if it’s good or not. But tonight I knew. If I could hit it like that or better every time I’m in good shape. Lots of smile and waves from cute girls doesn’t hurt. I’ve finally felt that floating on air feeling that musicians talk about, I’ve felt similar feelings but they’ve always been negated by the dread that the show wasn’t good. Not tonight though. I feel like I could fly.
The rest of the night belonged to City Line, Phunkyman, Jason Min, and Phil Murphy who was releasing his CD tonight. It was an awesome feeling watching Phil have his moment. His album is great and you should pick it up if you don’t have it. There were so many people there from the good ol days. A lot of Outset fans, Laura Shay, Mark Rogers from WSTW (Who‘s been playing me quite a bit on his Hometown Heroes show), among others. Truly great night.
I went to sleep with nothing to do tomorrow but catch the Wyldlyfe show.
I wake up ferociously on days like this. This time a year ago I was practically begging for a show Downstairs at the World Famous World Café Live either opening for a major act or on a show with another local. Now this is show number four. I’ve gotten the opportunity to put on some really awesome shows and work with some of the city’s best.
I was hoping not to be late tonight but the TV Repair people would make that happen. I wasn’t able to get free from that until about 4:30. Which wouldn’t get me to World Café Live until about 5:30 half an hour before doors were slated to open. Great. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) none of the bands or fans had shown up…I’m shitting bricks at this point because usually there’s a flock of people outside the door waiting to get inside. Perhaps my luck had run out with these shows. I only had 3 weeks to put together a show and promote it…hardly enough time for something to become a massive success at the same time though, I want everything I do to be a massive success. I put more pressure on myself than probably the venue does. “Do the best you can” they said to me.
Fortunately around 7 people started to climb on inside and the room started to fill up and Mary Scholz kicked off the festivities. I’ve yet to find acoustic acts that can rally draw a substantial crowd in this town but they act as great buffers in between the bigger bands. The Infadolls would hit the stage next followed by Tophers Bossa Nova Brigade. They have a new fancy French name that I’m not gonna even bother with right now. Once they were done it was time for us to play. We played early, a rare occurrence but I was actually fine with it. One they were done me and the crew went to work.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Baby One More Time
Leavin
I don’t know what it was tonight. It’s like everything slowed down. I didn’t really feel a whole lot of nervous energy, I wasn’t so intimidated by the big stage, but it was more than that. I was like subconsciously I knew that I wasn’t gonna sing or play a bad note. The bands playing everything right. I don’t even have to look at Jake and Rob tonight. We’re super super super tight. I’m more concerned with the girls in on the dance floor, movin to the music. Might be something to this funk thing after all…lol. It was one of the more energetic shows. I’m movin around on stage a little bit more tonight since I’m super confident about my playing. It’s like the level on the video game got switched over to easy.
I left the stage quite pleased with myself. Often times I have no clue if it’s good or not. But tonight I knew. If I could hit it like that or better every time I’m in good shape. Lots of smile and waves from cute girls doesn’t hurt. I’ve finally felt that floating on air feeling that musicians talk about, I’ve felt similar feelings but they’ve always been negated by the dread that the show wasn’t good. Not tonight though. I feel like I could fly.
The rest of the night belonged to City Line, Phunkyman, Jason Min, and Phil Murphy who was releasing his CD tonight. It was an awesome feeling watching Phil have his moment. His album is great and you should pick it up if you don’t have it. There were so many people there from the good ol days. A lot of Outset fans, Laura Shay, Mark Rogers from WSTW (Who‘s been playing me quite a bit on his Hometown Heroes show), among others. Truly great night.
I went to sleep with nothing to do tomorrow but catch the Wyldlyfe show.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 196
Day 195 - September 23rd 2009
Lickety was a bit strange tonight. One of the bartender was having her birthday party after the show was over. I was for cancelling it especially with the World Café Live show looming on the horizon. But they insisted it would be fine so we went ahead with it.
Only two of the four bands showed up. They both drew decent crowds and I’ll probably have them back on a better night.
After the bands were done I was there for the birthday party for bit before I left.
Big show tomorrow…the World Café live Shows always are.
Lickety was a bit strange tonight. One of the bartender was having her birthday party after the show was over. I was for cancelling it especially with the World Café Live show looming on the horizon. But they insisted it would be fine so we went ahead with it.
Only two of the four bands showed up. They both drew decent crowds and I’ll probably have them back on a better night.
After the bands were done I was there for the birthday party for bit before I left.
Big show tomorrow…the World Café live Shows always are.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 195
Day 194 - September 22nd 2009
All I had were guitar lessons today. Still tired, still hoarse, so it was good I didn’t have a whole lot to do.
My student had a bad week, she seemed to regress which wasn’t good. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get her back on track.
I went home and curled up on the couch and watched heroes…before falling asleep…at 8PM.
The downstairs show at World Café Live is 2 days away I hope that I’m ready and healthy for it.
All I had were guitar lessons today. Still tired, still hoarse, so it was good I didn’t have a whole lot to do.
My student had a bad week, she seemed to regress which wasn’t good. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get her back on track.
I went home and curled up on the couch and watched heroes…before falling asleep…at 8PM.
The downstairs show at World Café Live is 2 days away I hope that I’m ready and healthy for it.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 194
Day 193 - September 21st 2009
I think it’s safe to say that I’m pretty beat. Even with the amount of sleep I got last night (which truthfully wasn’t enough) I feel awful, and I probably look bad.
Philly Rising was a trip tonight. Only because I hosted the show basically running on fumes. I’m always able to conjure enough energy to get through, but I’m definitely not on top of my game. In my punchy state I try to say as little as possible because you never know when you might say something inappropriate.
There was definitely some great talent there last night. A lot of new faces and some returns, most notably Shon Penn who became our standout performer. He was a regular last year, tremendous songwriter and singer. It was great to see him and it was great to see him win.
We were done pretty early and it was time for me to go home and hit the sack.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m pretty beat. Even with the amount of sleep I got last night (which truthfully wasn’t enough) I feel awful, and I probably look bad.
Philly Rising was a trip tonight. Only because I hosted the show basically running on fumes. I’m always able to conjure enough energy to get through, but I’m definitely not on top of my game. In my punchy state I try to say as little as possible because you never know when you might say something inappropriate.
There was definitely some great talent there last night. A lot of new faces and some returns, most notably Shon Penn who became our standout performer. He was a regular last year, tremendous songwriter and singer. It was great to see him and it was great to see him win.
We were done pretty early and it was time for me to go home and hit the sack.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 193
Day 192 - September 20th 2009
My cell phone alarm has quickly turned from a cute little feature to my arch nemesis. This time this cruel beeping overlord wakes me up at 5 AM. Today’s the ING Distance Run. I’ve been running a half marathon of sorts these past four days and the finish line is in sight. 15 hours or so from this very moment I can come home and sleep some.
Jake’s on my couch and I would have to wake him up soon. I decided to use the time I had to grab some of the stuff from the van that we didn’t need like the Roland amp and the PA I used for the festival last night. Van has enough weight and I’d rather carry it now than later. As I exit my house I see two white folks come barreling down the street. Rob and Allison. They help with the unloading, load his drums in and we hit the car to get to the run. We get there at 6:15. The guys from Soulfatronic arrive 15 minutes later and we’re told of the new rule. Instead of one act playing from 8-10 and the other from 10-12, each act will play alternating 30 minute sets.
They had coffee and doughnuts this time around. Last year they had disposed of them, so it would be a happy race for all.
We would go first. My voice was pretty blown out from last week so I wanted to make sure that we eased into this thing. With two more sets ahead it seemed to make sense. And since only the Kenyans would be running by at this early stage we’d save the a material for later
Set 1
Hoochie Coochie Man
Electric Love
Michelle
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Daylight
When we were done Soulfatronic took the stage. Stlyez with microphone in hand is able to walk over to the edge of the stage and out inot the field and encourage the runners. They played a pretty nasty set. About half an hour later we hit the stage.
Set 2
What’s My Name
Demolition Man
Whiplash
Private School Girl
Sunshine of Your Love
Always Givin Me The Blues
Baby One More Time
Destiny
I figured we’d take things up a notch here since this would probably be the biggest volume of runners coming our way. It’s always cool to watch the runners give you the thumbs up as they come by. For many the musicians are their ipod keeping them going. Soulfatronic played another amazing set and then we hit the stage one more time
Set 3
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
(I Think We Should) Breakup
We left the stage and Soulfatronic jammed for a little bit then we left.
I fell asleep for a while as the Saints beat the crap out of the Eagles. After that I went to play at the first night of my church’s revival. Revivial is the time of year where most of the congregation comes back for the summer and recharges themselves for the upcoming year. It lasts about 4 days. I’m dead tired but I know I need to go. The sermon itself was interesting, about how God molds you, and how he has to put you in the fire to do that. How he uses hard times to make you into the kind of person that you need to be. We played well and the choir was okay.
I went home and hit the sack
My cell phone alarm has quickly turned from a cute little feature to my arch nemesis. This time this cruel beeping overlord wakes me up at 5 AM. Today’s the ING Distance Run. I’ve been running a half marathon of sorts these past four days and the finish line is in sight. 15 hours or so from this very moment I can come home and sleep some.
Jake’s on my couch and I would have to wake him up soon. I decided to use the time I had to grab some of the stuff from the van that we didn’t need like the Roland amp and the PA I used for the festival last night. Van has enough weight and I’d rather carry it now than later. As I exit my house I see two white folks come barreling down the street. Rob and Allison. They help with the unloading, load his drums in and we hit the car to get to the run. We get there at 6:15. The guys from Soulfatronic arrive 15 minutes later and we’re told of the new rule. Instead of one act playing from 8-10 and the other from 10-12, each act will play alternating 30 minute sets.
They had coffee and doughnuts this time around. Last year they had disposed of them, so it would be a happy race for all.
We would go first. My voice was pretty blown out from last week so I wanted to make sure that we eased into this thing. With two more sets ahead it seemed to make sense. And since only the Kenyans would be running by at this early stage we’d save the a material for later
Set 1
Hoochie Coochie Man
Electric Love
Michelle
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Daylight
When we were done Soulfatronic took the stage. Stlyez with microphone in hand is able to walk over to the edge of the stage and out inot the field and encourage the runners. They played a pretty nasty set. About half an hour later we hit the stage.
Set 2
What’s My Name
Demolition Man
Whiplash
Private School Girl
Sunshine of Your Love
Always Givin Me The Blues
Baby One More Time
Destiny
I figured we’d take things up a notch here since this would probably be the biggest volume of runners coming our way. It’s always cool to watch the runners give you the thumbs up as they come by. For many the musicians are their ipod keeping them going. Soulfatronic played another amazing set and then we hit the stage one more time
Set 3
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
(I Think We Should) Breakup
We left the stage and Soulfatronic jammed for a little bit then we left.
I fell asleep for a while as the Saints beat the crap out of the Eagles. After that I went to play at the first night of my church’s revival. Revivial is the time of year where most of the congregation comes back for the summer and recharges themselves for the upcoming year. It lasts about 4 days. I’m dead tired but I know I need to go. The sermon itself was interesting, about how God molds you, and how he has to put you in the fire to do that. How he uses hard times to make you into the kind of person that you need to be. We played well and the choir was okay.
I went home and hit the sack
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 192
Day 191 - September 19th 2009
I hear a soul crushing beeping noise as I lay in bed. It’s Saturday…What in the blue hell am I doing with my alarm clock on so early. I’d hit the snooze button but my cell’s downstairs. I wipe the crust from my es and mouth in on fell swoop and look at the time, it’s 7AM. Am I on crack? Then I remember. Today ‘s the day…the really BIG day.
The 1st (hopefully annual) Jefferson Square Music Festival was going to take place today in South Philly and boy did it take me less than 5 minutes to be excited about it. Ever since I started booking bands I’ve always wanted to put together a music festival. Just before I got the gig with Bang Camaro I was actually attempting to plan one for this summer, that was not to be unfortunately. But in June Steve Lamonica, Kelvin Cochrane (from The Absolute Zeros) and Mark Hurst, the entertainment director for Jefferson Square came to me and asked me for my help planning the festival. I helped them secure Dick Valentine as the Festval’s Headliner and then we took off from there. By the time we were done we had two stages, 21 acts, and 12 hours of entertainment and it was pretty much left up to me to run most of the procedural stuff. I was stoked. We had some great bands in store for the day and to boot it was being broadcasted on radio volta.
Phrequency.com said this about our festival; “The festival is being pretty ambitious with its 21 band line-up, but it is a nice way to get a taste of what’s being created in the city.”
Ambitious…Ambitious! I took this as an insult of sorts like they were saying that it was impossible for us to start on time and end on time with 21 acts. Of course it’s possible if people show up when they’re supposed to, set up quickly and don’t run over their time. This little write up was motivation to make sure things ran off without a hitch.
I got there about 9am with Steve and I was pretty tired right off the bat. 3 hours of sleep will do that. We kicked things off with our flea market/feel out bands The Parachuting Apostles and Wyldlyfe, two great young bands with a lot of energy and a great sound. There were some initial problems, The Apostles were a few minutes late and Wyldlyfe had some equipment issues but we started on time.
As the day wore on I realized that you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to do this. Weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Me running back and forth between stages making sure people know that they have to get the lead out. So many great acts over the course of the day, particular Highlights included The Parachuting Apostles, Wyldlyfe, Andrea Nardello, Victor Victor Ban Amy Regan, Lee Morgan, The Absolute Zeros, Menya, Chang Chang, Wes Mattheau and The New Way Down, and Allison Polans just to name a few. I was really inspired by so many different people doing such different music in one place.
By the time it was time for me to go on I was already spent and I hear a voice behind me I turn around and there he was…Dick Valentine of Electric Six right there shaking my hand, I can’t thank him enough for showing up and playing. Kelvin introduced me as the star of the show, with a guy who’s performed all over the world still to take the stage, no pressure right.
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
How Can This Be Love
The Way You Make Me Feel
Feels So Good
Hangover
Leavin
It was one of those gigs where it probably sounded a lot better than it felt at first. The sound guys were putting weird delays and what not on my vocals and it took me back a bit. My cable wasn’t working wither which also prevented me from enjoying the moment at first but then I realized what exactly was going on. I’m fulfilling a dream playing at a festival that I helped put together. This is my moment ad I was determined to step into it, pretend I was a superstar and finish the set in such a fashion. Hangover with the Zeros was a bit strange we probably need to rehearse it before we do it again. But all in all it was a good set.
Dick Valentine graced the stage and rocked the crowd and at 9:50 the festival was over…on time just like I said. I really had a lot of fun and thought the festival was a roaring success. Maybe not roaring but still a success.
We had some fun at the after party at Lickety Split and then I went home and hit the bed.
I hear a soul crushing beeping noise as I lay in bed. It’s Saturday…What in the blue hell am I doing with my alarm clock on so early. I’d hit the snooze button but my cell’s downstairs. I wipe the crust from my es and mouth in on fell swoop and look at the time, it’s 7AM. Am I on crack? Then I remember. Today ‘s the day…the really BIG day.
The 1st (hopefully annual) Jefferson Square Music Festival was going to take place today in South Philly and boy did it take me less than 5 minutes to be excited about it. Ever since I started booking bands I’ve always wanted to put together a music festival. Just before I got the gig with Bang Camaro I was actually attempting to plan one for this summer, that was not to be unfortunately. But in June Steve Lamonica, Kelvin Cochrane (from The Absolute Zeros) and Mark Hurst, the entertainment director for Jefferson Square came to me and asked me for my help planning the festival. I helped them secure Dick Valentine as the Festval’s Headliner and then we took off from there. By the time we were done we had two stages, 21 acts, and 12 hours of entertainment and it was pretty much left up to me to run most of the procedural stuff. I was stoked. We had some great bands in store for the day and to boot it was being broadcasted on radio volta.
Phrequency.com said this about our festival; “The festival is being pretty ambitious with its 21 band line-up, but it is a nice way to get a taste of what’s being created in the city.”
Ambitious…Ambitious! I took this as an insult of sorts like they were saying that it was impossible for us to start on time and end on time with 21 acts. Of course it’s possible if people show up when they’re supposed to, set up quickly and don’t run over their time. This little write up was motivation to make sure things ran off without a hitch.
I got there about 9am with Steve and I was pretty tired right off the bat. 3 hours of sleep will do that. We kicked things off with our flea market/feel out bands The Parachuting Apostles and Wyldlyfe, two great young bands with a lot of energy and a great sound. There were some initial problems, The Apostles were a few minutes late and Wyldlyfe had some equipment issues but we started on time.
As the day wore on I realized that you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to do this. Weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Me running back and forth between stages making sure people know that they have to get the lead out. So many great acts over the course of the day, particular Highlights included The Parachuting Apostles, Wyldlyfe, Andrea Nardello, Victor Victor Ban Amy Regan, Lee Morgan, The Absolute Zeros, Menya, Chang Chang, Wes Mattheau and The New Way Down, and Allison Polans just to name a few. I was really inspired by so many different people doing such different music in one place.
By the time it was time for me to go on I was already spent and I hear a voice behind me I turn around and there he was…Dick Valentine of Electric Six right there shaking my hand, I can’t thank him enough for showing up and playing. Kelvin introduced me as the star of the show, with a guy who’s performed all over the world still to take the stage, no pressure right.
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
How Can This Be Love
The Way You Make Me Feel
Feels So Good
Hangover
Leavin
It was one of those gigs where it probably sounded a lot better than it felt at first. The sound guys were putting weird delays and what not on my vocals and it took me back a bit. My cable wasn’t working wither which also prevented me from enjoying the moment at first but then I realized what exactly was going on. I’m fulfilling a dream playing at a festival that I helped put together. This is my moment ad I was determined to step into it, pretend I was a superstar and finish the set in such a fashion. Hangover with the Zeros was a bit strange we probably need to rehearse it before we do it again. But all in all it was a good set.
Dick Valentine graced the stage and rocked the crowd and at 9:50 the festival was over…on time just like I said. I really had a lot of fun and thought the festival was a roaring success. Maybe not roaring but still a success.
We had some fun at the after party at Lickety Split and then I went home and hit the bed.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Boy Wonder Professional Musician 191
Day 190 - September 18th 2009
Friday
For most it means the end of the week, for me it means the start of what will probably a pretty physical weekend for me and the crew. Tonight we have a show at Lickety Split, tomorrow the Jefferson Square Music Festival and Sunday, the ING Philadelphia Distance Run.
The afternoon was spent trying to solve an issue with the festivals second stage. Apparently we didn’t have a stage, apparently we didn’t have a sound system. So after a back and forth with the sound team, we decided that it would be best to use my PA, it’s small but it should be fine for the second stage acts most of whom are acoustic or track acts. I have to say I’m very excited about doing this festival tomorrow. Ever since I started booking shows I’ve always wanted to put a festival together. Small fire to put out but now that that’s solved I can focus on Lickety Split.
We had a very interesting lineup for tonight’s show, Sugar Hi, a smoking hot all girl band, Joe Zaz an acoustic singer/songwriter, The Inverse a Very talented Funk Jazz 5 Piece, and then me and my crew. I wondered exactly what was going to happen never working with these bands before. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived on the scene…the place was packed and Sugar Hi was playing really well. I met the singers dad as I sat in the back and watched the girls get down. Definitely looking forward to the next time we can have them here. I’m not sure if this is a band I can have there every month or not.
Joe Zaz did his thing no doubt. I jammed with him on Red House again. The Inverse were very, very, good and as I look for solid jazzy type bands for Saturday Nights they are definitely on the short list.
The time had come for us to start playing. As we were setting up I saw a liquid of some kind run across the front of the staging area and I joked that someone had peed themselves thinking there was a beer spill. Then Jake (Bass player extraordinaire) taps me on my shoulder.
Jake: That girl pissed herself
Me: What?
Jake: That girl over there.
Me: You’re playin with me.
Jake: Unfortunately nah.
Me: Great
Turns out someone did piss on the floor, a girl no less. I had to track someone down to clean the floor, the chair and to throw this girl out of here. That’s gross. I’ve officially seen it all now.
We started on time which has been a bit difficult when I’ve played there on Third Fridays and we were pretty much ready to get in and start playing.
Set 1
Ain’t No Sunshine
Godess
Michelle
El Train
Only You
Always Givn Me The Blues
Daylight
Destiny
I’ve always been a fan of really easing into a night light this, not to blow our top right away, with the Phillies game on no one’s paying that much attention anyway. It was surprisingly solid though. By the time we get to Always Givin Me The Blues we’re startin to get goin the place is still packed from the previous acts and new people are coming in all the time. It’s quickly turning into a place where it’s packed on a consistent basis. I really love this place and if I can share that with people that’s even better.
Set 2
Electric Love
What's My name
Dick in a Box
Whiplash
Private School Girl
Bitch
Demolition Man
Beautiful
We pick it up a notch here cause this is when the crowd changes over. We played Dick in a Box nice and early. It’s a tune we’re known for here, I’ll move it up to the first set before long. I’d like to get it out of the way so I don’t have to worry about people screaming for it while I’m playing. Once we past that we hit the heavy rock songs, trying to get them in before noise becomes an issue. It’s a nice trip down memory lane. Never have I had a band that has had such a mastery of the back catalogue. It’s also got me thinking about the future, which could be a power trio record.
Set 3
Hoochie Coochie Man
Stranger
Billie Jean
Love Affair
Body
Walking on The Moon
3000 Miles Away
(I Think We Should) Breakup
This is when we really start to open it up. Billie Jean really kicked ass tonight. This was probably the best set as the crowd peaked around this time. We were getting into the groove and the people were loving us. (I Think We Should) Breakup was extremely tight and still probably my favorite song.
Set 4
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
Walking on The Moon
Leavin
It’s 1am at this point. We’re all fatigued to some degree so the last break we take before the last set is crucial. This is the set we’ll most likely be playing for this 3 show road trip we’re doing in the Midwest so I wanted to work on getting that nice and tight. No better way to do that than in front of a crowd. These are the songs we play the most so it was probably the tightest overall, which I was really happy about. The crowd was still pretty sizeable at this point which I was also happy about. Around 1:30 a whole new crew of people came in to check the music out.
I got into the house at about 3AM. Long night and it’s gonna be even longer tomorrow.
Friday
For most it means the end of the week, for me it means the start of what will probably a pretty physical weekend for me and the crew. Tonight we have a show at Lickety Split, tomorrow the Jefferson Square Music Festival and Sunday, the ING Philadelphia Distance Run.
The afternoon was spent trying to solve an issue with the festivals second stage. Apparently we didn’t have a stage, apparently we didn’t have a sound system. So after a back and forth with the sound team, we decided that it would be best to use my PA, it’s small but it should be fine for the second stage acts most of whom are acoustic or track acts. I have to say I’m very excited about doing this festival tomorrow. Ever since I started booking shows I’ve always wanted to put a festival together. Small fire to put out but now that that’s solved I can focus on Lickety Split.
We had a very interesting lineup for tonight’s show, Sugar Hi, a smoking hot all girl band, Joe Zaz an acoustic singer/songwriter, The Inverse a Very talented Funk Jazz 5 Piece, and then me and my crew. I wondered exactly what was going to happen never working with these bands before. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived on the scene…the place was packed and Sugar Hi was playing really well. I met the singers dad as I sat in the back and watched the girls get down. Definitely looking forward to the next time we can have them here. I’m not sure if this is a band I can have there every month or not.
Joe Zaz did his thing no doubt. I jammed with him on Red House again. The Inverse were very, very, good and as I look for solid jazzy type bands for Saturday Nights they are definitely on the short list.
The time had come for us to start playing. As we were setting up I saw a liquid of some kind run across the front of the staging area and I joked that someone had peed themselves thinking there was a beer spill. Then Jake (Bass player extraordinaire) taps me on my shoulder.
Jake: That girl pissed herself
Me: What?
Jake: That girl over there.
Me: You’re playin with me.
Jake: Unfortunately nah.
Me: Great
Turns out someone did piss on the floor, a girl no less. I had to track someone down to clean the floor, the chair and to throw this girl out of here. That’s gross. I’ve officially seen it all now.
We started on time which has been a bit difficult when I’ve played there on Third Fridays and we were pretty much ready to get in and start playing.
Set 1
Ain’t No Sunshine
Godess
Michelle
El Train
Only You
Always Givn Me The Blues
Daylight
Destiny
I’ve always been a fan of really easing into a night light this, not to blow our top right away, with the Phillies game on no one’s paying that much attention anyway. It was surprisingly solid though. By the time we get to Always Givin Me The Blues we’re startin to get goin the place is still packed from the previous acts and new people are coming in all the time. It’s quickly turning into a place where it’s packed on a consistent basis. I really love this place and if I can share that with people that’s even better.
Set 2
Electric Love
What's My name
Dick in a Box
Whiplash
Private School Girl
Bitch
Demolition Man
Beautiful
We pick it up a notch here cause this is when the crowd changes over. We played Dick in a Box nice and early. It’s a tune we’re known for here, I’ll move it up to the first set before long. I’d like to get it out of the way so I don’t have to worry about people screaming for it while I’m playing. Once we past that we hit the heavy rock songs, trying to get them in before noise becomes an issue. It’s a nice trip down memory lane. Never have I had a band that has had such a mastery of the back catalogue. It’s also got me thinking about the future, which could be a power trio record.
Set 3
Hoochie Coochie Man
Stranger
Billie Jean
Love Affair
Body
Walking on The Moon
3000 Miles Away
(I Think We Should) Breakup
This is when we really start to open it up. Billie Jean really kicked ass tonight. This was probably the best set as the crowd peaked around this time. We were getting into the groove and the people were loving us. (I Think We Should) Breakup was extremely tight and still probably my favorite song.
Set 4
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
Walking on The Moon
Leavin
It’s 1am at this point. We’re all fatigued to some degree so the last break we take before the last set is crucial. This is the set we’ll most likely be playing for this 3 show road trip we’re doing in the Midwest so I wanted to work on getting that nice and tight. No better way to do that than in front of a crowd. These are the songs we play the most so it was probably the tightest overall, which I was really happy about. The crowd was still pretty sizeable at this point which I was also happy about. Around 1:30 a whole new crew of people came in to check the music out.
I got into the house at about 3AM. Long night and it’s gonna be even longer tomorrow.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 190
Day 189 - September 16th 2009
Spent most of the day working on lining up October for Lickety Split. I usually would have the next month done by the time I got into the middle of the month that I was in but with all the stuff I have lined up this weekend I‘ve been a bit preoccupied.
My student cancelled this morning so I had all day to get things done in reference to Lickety, The Festival, and The World Café Live Show. Bang Camaro has a show in New York and it looks like I’m making that. With a show at Lickety the next day I may have to leave that night or early that morning.
Tonight though would be the first of four packed nights of music. I would play my first show ever at Milkboy Coffee. I would again be the opening act this time solo acoustic, for Justin Barron, a good friend of mine who’s management reached out to me about playing the show in place of another band who couldn’t do it. After I said yes they started marketing the show “Justin Barron Live @ Milkboy Coffee with Special Guest Local Legend Boy Wonder.” Not sure how I feel about that lol. I’ve really only been on the scene real heavy for about 3 or 4 years hardly long enough to reach legendary status. But if it puts but in seats I guess I can’t complain.
I got there early. I had never played there before and didn’t know much about the setup. We waited till about 8:30 and the place was packed lots of college kids (including really hot looking girls) and I kicked off my set. I was a bit nervous actually, which is unusual when I’m playing by myself.
Bed’s to Big Without You
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
How Can This Be Love
Baby One More Time
Feels So Good
Wasted
Hangover
3000 Miles Away
(I Think We Should) Breakup
It was pretty well received. An Acoustic Tour is also something I should consider at some point down the road.
Watching Justin perform his music with his band fully realized did my heart good. He was just starting out when I met him playing songs on his piano and now to see him at the point where he is drawing good crowds and releasing an EP it was really cool to see. I gave him my congratulations, said my goodbyes and off I went.
Tomorrow continues a hellacious four day stretch where lots of musical things will be happening. Only a nutcase would be looking forward to something like this. Which explains why I can’t wait for Friday to start. It’s gonna be one helluva weekend.
Spent most of the day working on lining up October for Lickety Split. I usually would have the next month done by the time I got into the middle of the month that I was in but with all the stuff I have lined up this weekend I‘ve been a bit preoccupied.
My student cancelled this morning so I had all day to get things done in reference to Lickety, The Festival, and The World Café Live Show. Bang Camaro has a show in New York and it looks like I’m making that. With a show at Lickety the next day I may have to leave that night or early that morning.
Tonight though would be the first of four packed nights of music. I would play my first show ever at Milkboy Coffee. I would again be the opening act this time solo acoustic, for Justin Barron, a good friend of mine who’s management reached out to me about playing the show in place of another band who couldn’t do it. After I said yes they started marketing the show “Justin Barron Live @ Milkboy Coffee with Special Guest Local Legend Boy Wonder.” Not sure how I feel about that lol. I’ve really only been on the scene real heavy for about 3 or 4 years hardly long enough to reach legendary status. But if it puts but in seats I guess I can’t complain.
I got there early. I had never played there before and didn’t know much about the setup. We waited till about 8:30 and the place was packed lots of college kids (including really hot looking girls) and I kicked off my set. I was a bit nervous actually, which is unusual when I’m playing by myself.
Bed’s to Big Without You
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
How Can This Be Love
Baby One More Time
Feels So Good
Wasted
Hangover
3000 Miles Away
(I Think We Should) Breakup
It was pretty well received. An Acoustic Tour is also something I should consider at some point down the road.
Watching Justin perform his music with his band fully realized did my heart good. He was just starting out when I met him playing songs on his piano and now to see him at the point where he is drawing good crowds and releasing an EP it was really cool to see. I gave him my congratulations, said my goodbyes and off I went.
Tomorrow continues a hellacious four day stretch where lots of musical things will be happening. Only a nutcase would be looking forward to something like this. Which explains why I can’t wait for Friday to start. It’s gonna be one helluva weekend.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 189
Day 188 - September 15th 2009
With my lesson cancelled I decided that I’d stay in today, try to get some work done.
Ironed out some things for Saturday’s festival and Friday’s show watched a little TV worked out some stuff for Lickety Split and went to sleep.
The second open jam is gonna take place at Lickety tomorrow hopefully it’s gonna take off as the weeks progress
With my lesson cancelled I decided that I’d stay in today, try to get some work done.
Ironed out some things for Saturday’s festival and Friday’s show watched a little TV worked out some stuff for Lickety Split and went to sleep.
The second open jam is gonna take place at Lickety tomorrow hopefully it’s gonna take off as the weeks progress
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 188
Day 187 - September 14th 2009
Looks like I was right. Taylor Swift gone from lightweight hack to heroine overnight. It’s on every news station.
The info’s coming in for Dewey beach, which means I have to sit down and decide whether or not to take it and see if we can do something with it. I’m fairly busy that weekend but it’s probably ood we’re doing a fiar amount of tightening up before we leave for these shows in the Midwest.
I move on from the foolishness and get ready for Philly Rising. Bruce Torres (my predecessor) said it made him look forward to Monday nights, I never knew how right he was. I’m always blown away by the level of talent we see. Especially with a lot of the Singer/Songwriters comin back, we had a couple of kids from Baltimore and one of them played a whistle solo
It was another solid night with last year’s September winner Katherine Mundy coming through and being our standout. She’s a great piece of talent. This means she’ll go up against 9th Life and the rest of our September winners.
Looks like I’ll be doin the thang thang with Bang Camaro a month from tomorrow before I leave for tour. Be good to see the guys again.
Lessons tomorrow. I wonder if she’s made any progress.
Looks like I was right. Taylor Swift gone from lightweight hack to heroine overnight. It’s on every news station.
The info’s coming in for Dewey beach, which means I have to sit down and decide whether or not to take it and see if we can do something with it. I’m fairly busy that weekend but it’s probably ood we’re doing a fiar amount of tightening up before we leave for these shows in the Midwest.
I move on from the foolishness and get ready for Philly Rising. Bruce Torres (my predecessor) said it made him look forward to Monday nights, I never knew how right he was. I’m always blown away by the level of talent we see. Especially with a lot of the Singer/Songwriters comin back, we had a couple of kids from Baltimore and one of them played a whistle solo
It was another solid night with last year’s September winner Katherine Mundy coming through and being our standout. She’s a great piece of talent. This means she’ll go up against 9th Life and the rest of our September winners.
Looks like I’ll be doin the thang thang with Bang Camaro a month from tomorrow before I leave for tour. Be good to see the guys again.
Lessons tomorrow. I wonder if she’s made any progress.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 187
Day 186 - September 13th 2009
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES
The Eagles return today to rescue the city from the baseball hell that it’s been condemned to. Red will turn into green soon enough provided the Eagles don’t lose 16 games like the lions last season.
Worked on some new material, it’s been slow as all get out tryin to latch onto something. It’s like a hitter who for some reason doesn’t hit home runs for like half a season, he can get on base and stuff like that but just isn‘t knocking anything out of the park. I might be onto something but then again you never know.
I put my guitar down to watch the game, the Eagles would not disappoint blowing out the Panthers 38-10. 5 is hurt though which means Kevin Kolb’ll probably start this week, I’m not really a fan. Hopefully he’ll play well until McNabb comes back.
Then for some reason I watched the VMA’s. I remember watching them as a teenager with great anticipation. So I guess at this point I turn them on out of habit. I’m glad I did. The Michael Jackson tribute was cool and Beyonce and Jay-Z’s performances were pretty cool. The biggest disappointments of the night were Green Day and Muse (I actually kinda loathe muse and have felt that way for a very long time) who after being hyped up all night were the same boring band they always were. I’m not sure if I ever really liked Green Day now. Dookie’s an awesome album but I haven’t liked much since then.
The award for best moment has to go to Kanye West who jumps on stage and snatched Taylor Swift’s mic and proclaims Beyonce had the best video of all time. The crowd booed and I’m sure that he will face severe backlash for this act for at least a week. Personally I thought it was hilarious…bone crushingly wrong…but hilarious. I mean there are people who felt the same way Kanye did (That Beyonce probably should have won) but just weren’t crazy enough to say it. It was rude no doubt but something about it sits right with me in an odd sort of way.
The best part is that it will probably be that people will be distracted for a while from the fact that MTV perpetuates these singers and artists that have either a short shelf life or make music with no weight. Taylor Swift will certainly get sympathy votes (as most pretty blondes do when “attacked” by black men) but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s known more for what she wears and who’s she’s dating than her music.
Beyonce allowed her to give her acceptance speech when she won video of the year, pretty classy move.
The best part about the night was watching with my laptop and doing Facebook updates based on what I saw. People’s reactions to the things I said were astounding. If people were as passionate about The President being interrupted in a joint session of congress as they were about Taylor Swift the country might be in better shape.
Philly Rising tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what the open mic brings.
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES
The Eagles return today to rescue the city from the baseball hell that it’s been condemned to. Red will turn into green soon enough provided the Eagles don’t lose 16 games like the lions last season.
Worked on some new material, it’s been slow as all get out tryin to latch onto something. It’s like a hitter who for some reason doesn’t hit home runs for like half a season, he can get on base and stuff like that but just isn‘t knocking anything out of the park. I might be onto something but then again you never know.
I put my guitar down to watch the game, the Eagles would not disappoint blowing out the Panthers 38-10. 5 is hurt though which means Kevin Kolb’ll probably start this week, I’m not really a fan. Hopefully he’ll play well until McNabb comes back.
Then for some reason I watched the VMA’s. I remember watching them as a teenager with great anticipation. So I guess at this point I turn them on out of habit. I’m glad I did. The Michael Jackson tribute was cool and Beyonce and Jay-Z’s performances were pretty cool. The biggest disappointments of the night were Green Day and Muse (I actually kinda loathe muse and have felt that way for a very long time) who after being hyped up all night were the same boring band they always were. I’m not sure if I ever really liked Green Day now. Dookie’s an awesome album but I haven’t liked much since then.
The award for best moment has to go to Kanye West who jumps on stage and snatched Taylor Swift’s mic and proclaims Beyonce had the best video of all time. The crowd booed and I’m sure that he will face severe backlash for this act for at least a week. Personally I thought it was hilarious…bone crushingly wrong…but hilarious. I mean there are people who felt the same way Kanye did (That Beyonce probably should have won) but just weren’t crazy enough to say it. It was rude no doubt but something about it sits right with me in an odd sort of way.
The best part is that it will probably be that people will be distracted for a while from the fact that MTV perpetuates these singers and artists that have either a short shelf life or make music with no weight. Taylor Swift will certainly get sympathy votes (as most pretty blondes do when “attacked” by black men) but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s known more for what she wears and who’s she’s dating than her music.
Beyonce allowed her to give her acceptance speech when she won video of the year, pretty classy move.
The best part about the night was watching with my laptop and doing Facebook updates based on what I saw. People’s reactions to the things I said were astounding. If people were as passionate about The President being interrupted in a joint session of congress as they were about Taylor Swift the country might be in better shape.
Philly Rising tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what the open mic brings.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 186
Day 185 - September 12th 2009
The sun peaked through the glass door and hit me square in the face. It was an overcast day so that’s quite a feat. I’m on a living room floor MJ on the couch to my left, Jake on a couch to my right. It comes back to me in half a second. I’m in Ithaca New York still, we rocked Castaways last night to a crowd that was very receptive to the music and the band. I would like to thank Chris, The Rozatones, Castaways, and the people of Ithaca New York for making last night’s show the best show we’ve ever had outside of Philadelphia and one of the greatest nights of my life.
We left Ithaca early. I got everyone up at 7:30 so we could get to Philly by noon.
The car ride was considerably quieter than the ride up. Most of us were sleeping while I sat up front with MJ. I’m a bit slow, I partied a bit harder than I should have. He had a Sade cassette that he played on the way back…I didn’t know that people still owned them. The quiet was nice. It was nice to look out the window again and check out the scenery. I knew we were going home, but it was nice to be back at it, in a van with nothing but playing a show buzzing around in my head.
We stopped a few times and got home around 11:30 unloaded the car and went our separate ways. I’m pretty settled on that set list being the set list when we do our road trip. I’m beat and I need a shower. I’ve got to head to Lickety tonight. I’ve recently taken over the managing of the Dj Nights on Saturdays (Mrs. Bass was right the reward for work is more work) and have to make an appearance. I threw a little outfit together and stepped out.
These nights are different all I have to do is sit here, it’s the DJ’s and MC’s job to do the schmoozing and the like. I’m just here to lend some support and in case things go wrong.
It was a bit dead in the beginning of the night but as DJ Pressure and MC Showtime kept at it and the place started to fill up. We moved tables so people could dance. Not really my kind of party (I try not to dance under any circumstances) but people had a good time and in the end that’s all that matters.
The Eagles play tomorrow. Hopefully they don’t lose 16 games this season.
The sun peaked through the glass door and hit me square in the face. It was an overcast day so that’s quite a feat. I’m on a living room floor MJ on the couch to my left, Jake on a couch to my right. It comes back to me in half a second. I’m in Ithaca New York still, we rocked Castaways last night to a crowd that was very receptive to the music and the band. I would like to thank Chris, The Rozatones, Castaways, and the people of Ithaca New York for making last night’s show the best show we’ve ever had outside of Philadelphia and one of the greatest nights of my life.
We left Ithaca early. I got everyone up at 7:30 so we could get to Philly by noon.
The car ride was considerably quieter than the ride up. Most of us were sleeping while I sat up front with MJ. I’m a bit slow, I partied a bit harder than I should have. He had a Sade cassette that he played on the way back…I didn’t know that people still owned them. The quiet was nice. It was nice to look out the window again and check out the scenery. I knew we were going home, but it was nice to be back at it, in a van with nothing but playing a show buzzing around in my head.
We stopped a few times and got home around 11:30 unloaded the car and went our separate ways. I’m pretty settled on that set list being the set list when we do our road trip. I’m beat and I need a shower. I’ve got to head to Lickety tonight. I’ve recently taken over the managing of the Dj Nights on Saturdays (Mrs. Bass was right the reward for work is more work) and have to make an appearance. I threw a little outfit together and stepped out.
These nights are different all I have to do is sit here, it’s the DJ’s and MC’s job to do the schmoozing and the like. I’m just here to lend some support and in case things go wrong.
It was a bit dead in the beginning of the night but as DJ Pressure and MC Showtime kept at it and the place started to fill up. We moved tables so people could dance. Not really my kind of party (I try not to dance under any circumstances) but people had a good time and in the end that’s all that matters.
The Eagles play tomorrow. Hopefully they don’t lose 16 games this season.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 185
Day 184 - September 11th 2009
I wake up early to do what I’ve done every 9/11 for eight years.
I say a prayer for the victims, their families, the troops, and their families. A lot of people lost their lives that day and as a result of the things that have happened afterwards. They rebroadcast the NBC Boradcast from September 11th 2001 today on MSNBC. I remember seeing the events unfold live as they happened. All I could think that day was that this was some awful Michael Bay movie come to life. I remember walking out of my house the next knowing that world would be different from now on. I remember how everyone was so nice to each other in the days and weeks following.
I turn my focus to today’s task. We have a gig in Ithaca today, opening for local funk powerhouses The Rozatones. I got get everyone in the car and get them up in time enough to get a sound check. Not to mention pop dukes wants me to check the tire pressure and the oil before I go. I also noticed the rain outside. This wasn’t regular rain, it was like God was emptying his buckets or something. What a giant pain in the ass this was going to be. MJ (cousin/driver) arrived a little before 2 so we went over to Tommy’s Tires to take care of everything. Fortunately for me we went over there cause the car needed two quarts of oil.
We met up with Rob and Jake, loaded the car and bounced. We threw on some tunes and I can’t help but fill every quiet moment with conversation. I get really excited whenever we go someplace to play especially out of town. I could feel the pressure I was putting on myself, I wanted to be the very best I could be tonight. Especially since last Friday’s gig at World Café Live didn’t go as well as it probably should have. We stopped and got gas and I programmed Tom-Tom to tell us where we needed to go and how fast we were going to get there. Then we hit the road, we hit some traffic first but then it started to loosen up.
Something peaceful about the open road. Not a whole lot of BS, just people trying to get where they need to go. There were very few cars on the road once we really got going and the rain stopped, two things that really surprised me. It’s always fun riding with these guys. We laugh a lot. Hopefully that’s what touring with them is going to be like. I’m always taken a back at how much I love being out here, even if it’s just for short periods of time for now. I’m a patient man. I have to have faith in my strategy.
We arrived in Ithaca after about a 4 hour drive and there it was, Castaways, like an Oasis in the desert. Castaways was Bang Camaro’s Ithaca stop back in March, it was the first time my friends got to see me sing in this weird quirky band that I dropped everything to tour with. For everyone else it was just another night, for me it was a chance to talk to the right people about getting a gig here. Like Austin and Nashville Ithaca is a great music town. Where people just come out to see live bands, the local music scene is a great part of the community experience (to the point where the bartenders asked the Camaro guys why they didn’t have a local band on the show that night) and with an even better reputation for great Funk/Rock Bands I knew this was a scene that I wanted to take a peak at.
As I walked inside I remembered everything about the last time I was there. Every nuance, every smell, where the bathroom was. I went to pee and saw a poster for tonight’s show. The Rozatones w/Boy Wonder. It was kinda cool to see, I saw us on the calendar as well. I went back to handle the business and came back to load in the gear, through the same door we loaded in last March. The green room, minus all the stuff on Camaro’s rider complete with a Leslie sticker on the wall. It brought back a lot of memories of sweaty t-shirts and dry hand towels. But I’m here tonight to forge my own memories. Hopefully leave something behind tonight for the residents of Ithaca to remember me by.
I briefly met the Rozatones and we discussed gear. I had been waiting to meet them for so long I was actually kind of nervous. Tonight I’m not the great and powerful Oz, I’m just an artist who’s grateful that such an amazing band would let me and my boys breathe the same air as them. It’s funny how that just changes your demeanor. All I have to worry about is putting my band on stage. We decided that we’d share amps but our drummers would use their own kits. We hopped on stage and got a great sound check. I was able to get what we needed sound wise without being made to feel like a diva. Kenny’s monitor mix was like butter.
After hearing we wouldn’t be going on till after ten I went to this place down the street with Chris. I wanted to run down there when I was here with Camaro but I was still scared to go too far off the beaten path. I went and got a prime rib which was tasty. Rob, Jake and MJ met me later. Rob found 85 dollars in the restaurant and returned it to the owner to see if the rightful owner would be able to reclaim it. He’s a good kid, and honest kid, comes from good strong upbringing. I looked at my watch and it was about 9:40 and I was like “Well we better get over there.”
I got to warm up in the green room, change my shirt, tie my tie and then we waited. Whenever we go someplace other than Philly my thought is always, no one’s gonna show up for us. As the opening band, no one’s heard of us, no one cares, they would show up for the Rozatones the band they came to see. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong, there were more people there before we started than for the Camaro Show, and by the time we started the place was packed. The plan here is to hit em hard and fast. I’ve got a great Power Trio and I’m supremely confident with Jake and Rob backing me up.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Destiny
Wasted
Hit Me Baby One More Time
Leavin
The crowd kind of looked at us with their arms folded at first. But about midway through the crowd really started showing up, we got a lot of people coming up to the stage, they were dancin, groovin, some of the girls were just being sexy for no reason. We did our best to keep em movin. We played pretty great although I do think it would have been better to replace Destiny and Wasted with some tunes that are more groove oriented they seemed to like us nice and funky. But I have to slow it down until my ankles back at 100% and I can really get back into shape. We ended to the biggest ovation I think we’ve ever gotten out of town.
We sold a bunch of CD’s and I had people grabbing me by my arm to tell me how much they liked what we did. It was truly an amazing experience to play for them. We may bring some horns up next time we’re here, just to add to the awesomeness.
The Rozatones hit the stage and it was literally the fastest changeover I’d ever seen. That’s one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live. They had it in all phases, musicianship (the keyboard player in particular was spazzin out) tightness, stage presence, not to mention Revy is probably one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen, and when you add her presence and sick rhythm guitar skills I dare any man to watch her for more than 30 seconds and not fall in love. That band is nasty (R. Kelly sex tape nasty) and they are going to be large. They make me wanna go home and write, yet quit music altogether at the same time.
We hit a party after the show was over, but a noise complaint got us all kicked out early. We ended up at Chris’ house kicking back with a few brews talkin smack with some of his peeps. At about 3 I was all partied out and hit the sack. I can’t get over how amazing the night has been, dreams of bigger and better things dance in my head for the first time in a long time as I close my eyes and drift away.
I wake up early to do what I’ve done every 9/11 for eight years.
I say a prayer for the victims, their families, the troops, and their families. A lot of people lost their lives that day and as a result of the things that have happened afterwards. They rebroadcast the NBC Boradcast from September 11th 2001 today on MSNBC. I remember seeing the events unfold live as they happened. All I could think that day was that this was some awful Michael Bay movie come to life. I remember walking out of my house the next knowing that world would be different from now on. I remember how everyone was so nice to each other in the days and weeks following.
I turn my focus to today’s task. We have a gig in Ithaca today, opening for local funk powerhouses The Rozatones. I got get everyone in the car and get them up in time enough to get a sound check. Not to mention pop dukes wants me to check the tire pressure and the oil before I go. I also noticed the rain outside. This wasn’t regular rain, it was like God was emptying his buckets or something. What a giant pain in the ass this was going to be. MJ (cousin/driver) arrived a little before 2 so we went over to Tommy’s Tires to take care of everything. Fortunately for me we went over there cause the car needed two quarts of oil.
We met up with Rob and Jake, loaded the car and bounced. We threw on some tunes and I can’t help but fill every quiet moment with conversation. I get really excited whenever we go someplace to play especially out of town. I could feel the pressure I was putting on myself, I wanted to be the very best I could be tonight. Especially since last Friday’s gig at World Café Live didn’t go as well as it probably should have. We stopped and got gas and I programmed Tom-Tom to tell us where we needed to go and how fast we were going to get there. Then we hit the road, we hit some traffic first but then it started to loosen up.
Something peaceful about the open road. Not a whole lot of BS, just people trying to get where they need to go. There were very few cars on the road once we really got going and the rain stopped, two things that really surprised me. It’s always fun riding with these guys. We laugh a lot. Hopefully that’s what touring with them is going to be like. I’m always taken a back at how much I love being out here, even if it’s just for short periods of time for now. I’m a patient man. I have to have faith in my strategy.
We arrived in Ithaca after about a 4 hour drive and there it was, Castaways, like an Oasis in the desert. Castaways was Bang Camaro’s Ithaca stop back in March, it was the first time my friends got to see me sing in this weird quirky band that I dropped everything to tour with. For everyone else it was just another night, for me it was a chance to talk to the right people about getting a gig here. Like Austin and Nashville Ithaca is a great music town. Where people just come out to see live bands, the local music scene is a great part of the community experience (to the point where the bartenders asked the Camaro guys why they didn’t have a local band on the show that night) and with an even better reputation for great Funk/Rock Bands I knew this was a scene that I wanted to take a peak at.
As I walked inside I remembered everything about the last time I was there. Every nuance, every smell, where the bathroom was. I went to pee and saw a poster for tonight’s show. The Rozatones w/Boy Wonder. It was kinda cool to see, I saw us on the calendar as well. I went back to handle the business and came back to load in the gear, through the same door we loaded in last March. The green room, minus all the stuff on Camaro’s rider complete with a Leslie sticker on the wall. It brought back a lot of memories of sweaty t-shirts and dry hand towels. But I’m here tonight to forge my own memories. Hopefully leave something behind tonight for the residents of Ithaca to remember me by.
I briefly met the Rozatones and we discussed gear. I had been waiting to meet them for so long I was actually kind of nervous. Tonight I’m not the great and powerful Oz, I’m just an artist who’s grateful that such an amazing band would let me and my boys breathe the same air as them. It’s funny how that just changes your demeanor. All I have to worry about is putting my band on stage. We decided that we’d share amps but our drummers would use their own kits. We hopped on stage and got a great sound check. I was able to get what we needed sound wise without being made to feel like a diva. Kenny’s monitor mix was like butter.
After hearing we wouldn’t be going on till after ten I went to this place down the street with Chris. I wanted to run down there when I was here with Camaro but I was still scared to go too far off the beaten path. I went and got a prime rib which was tasty. Rob, Jake and MJ met me later. Rob found 85 dollars in the restaurant and returned it to the owner to see if the rightful owner would be able to reclaim it. He’s a good kid, and honest kid, comes from good strong upbringing. I looked at my watch and it was about 9:40 and I was like “Well we better get over there.”
I got to warm up in the green room, change my shirt, tie my tie and then we waited. Whenever we go someplace other than Philly my thought is always, no one’s gonna show up for us. As the opening band, no one’s heard of us, no one cares, they would show up for the Rozatones the band they came to see. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong, there were more people there before we started than for the Camaro Show, and by the time we started the place was packed. The plan here is to hit em hard and fast. I’ve got a great Power Trio and I’m supremely confident with Jake and Rob backing me up.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Destiny
Wasted
Hit Me Baby One More Time
Leavin
The crowd kind of looked at us with their arms folded at first. But about midway through the crowd really started showing up, we got a lot of people coming up to the stage, they were dancin, groovin, some of the girls were just being sexy for no reason. We did our best to keep em movin. We played pretty great although I do think it would have been better to replace Destiny and Wasted with some tunes that are more groove oriented they seemed to like us nice and funky. But I have to slow it down until my ankles back at 100% and I can really get back into shape. We ended to the biggest ovation I think we’ve ever gotten out of town.
We sold a bunch of CD’s and I had people grabbing me by my arm to tell me how much they liked what we did. It was truly an amazing experience to play for them. We may bring some horns up next time we’re here, just to add to the awesomeness.
The Rozatones hit the stage and it was literally the fastest changeover I’d ever seen. That’s one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live. They had it in all phases, musicianship (the keyboard player in particular was spazzin out) tightness, stage presence, not to mention Revy is probably one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen, and when you add her presence and sick rhythm guitar skills I dare any man to watch her for more than 30 seconds and not fall in love. That band is nasty (R. Kelly sex tape nasty) and they are going to be large. They make me wanna go home and write, yet quit music altogether at the same time.
We hit a party after the show was over, but a noise complaint got us all kicked out early. We ended up at Chris’ house kicking back with a few brews talkin smack with some of his peeps. At about 3 I was all partied out and hit the sack. I can’t get over how amazing the night has been, dreams of bigger and better things dance in my head for the first time in a long time as I close my eyes and drift away.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 184
Day 183 - September 10th 2009
I was up all night excited about the process of Weds at Lickety rebounding with the help of the Jam Session. I talked to Lloyd for a few hours about it and he thinks that it’s gonna put his band in a good position. Hopefully we can keep this thing afloat. I didn’t go to bed till about 7AM. Other than following a lead for a show in Detroit, it was a pretty uneventful day. I try to make sure that most days before travel days are so that I can get everything together, at least until I get used to everything.
I’m pretty amped up for the trip to Ithaca tomorrow. I can’t believe we’re gonna get to play Castaways with the Rozatones, it’s gonna be nasty. I have a set list in mind but I don’t wanna marry myself to it just yet. I wanna make sure that we do something musically that fits in with the night and the sound of the band we’re supporting. I also wanna make sure that it’s something that’s gonna reflect what we do properly.
I need to be good tomorrow, we need to be good tomorrow, Ithaca is an extremely important market to me and I dare not stink up the same stage I played on with Bang Camaro only months earlier.
Casey was slated to be the van driver tomorrow but unfortunately he found out he has job interviews to go to so I spent the majority of the day trying to find a new guy. After several no’s I finally got a hold of cousin MJ who said he’d be happy to do it. A huge load off my shoulders.
As of today I am truly on my own. My management agreement has run out so I’m looking for the next thing, be it a new manager or me officially taking over my affairs. I try not to let these things stress me out. There’s so much to do and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.
I need to get some rest big day tomorrow and I don’t want my face to look puffy.
I was up all night excited about the process of Weds at Lickety rebounding with the help of the Jam Session. I talked to Lloyd for a few hours about it and he thinks that it’s gonna put his band in a good position. Hopefully we can keep this thing afloat. I didn’t go to bed till about 7AM. Other than following a lead for a show in Detroit, it was a pretty uneventful day. I try to make sure that most days before travel days are so that I can get everything together, at least until I get used to everything.
I’m pretty amped up for the trip to Ithaca tomorrow. I can’t believe we’re gonna get to play Castaways with the Rozatones, it’s gonna be nasty. I have a set list in mind but I don’t wanna marry myself to it just yet. I wanna make sure that we do something musically that fits in with the night and the sound of the band we’re supporting. I also wanna make sure that it’s something that’s gonna reflect what we do properly.
I need to be good tomorrow, we need to be good tomorrow, Ithaca is an extremely important market to me and I dare not stink up the same stage I played on with Bang Camaro only months earlier.
Casey was slated to be the van driver tomorrow but unfortunately he found out he has job interviews to go to so I spent the majority of the day trying to find a new guy. After several no’s I finally got a hold of cousin MJ who said he’d be happy to do it. A huge load off my shoulders.
As of today I am truly on my own. My management agreement has run out so I’m looking for the next thing, be it a new manager or me officially taking over my affairs. I try not to let these things stress me out. There’s so much to do and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.
I need to get some rest big day tomorrow and I don’t want my face to look puffy.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 183
Day 182 - September 9th 2009
Lickety started off slow. We had one act pullout and an another act that after carefully looking at my email records that I had forgotten to email beyond confirming the date. So we really only had three acts that were able to promote the gig and for that they did a good job.
The Sobriquets were probably my favorite of the night. I chatted with their drummer about the best way for them to progress. I barely know anything, but I’ve learned a thing or two from all the bands I’ve worked with in the past. So we chewed the fat about a little bit, I tend to talk a whole lot so I hope he was able to grab a few sentences of what I said and put it to good use. I got to get more people out to see this band.
After the show was over we had our very first Wednesday Jam Session hosted by Aphillyation. It was an amazing thing, all these top flight musicians, even a girl playing an electric saxophone. I even jumped on and sang butterflies with them. I had such a great time.
I came home so excited about what had happened, that we may have found a way to keep people inside of Lickety Split till 2AM on a Wednesday Night. I hop on my computer and there it was. Someone’s Facebook status was a nasty comment about me. I won’t say who it is, and will not give the comment anymore credence than is absolutely necessary by quoting this person. To paraphrase he basically said I was the biggest asshole on the planet, I had nothing to offer, and if this is what “Philly” had to offer than Philly’s crap, not to mention that my act makes him want to blow his brains out.
I’m basically a sensitive guy who spent most of his life trying to be a people pleaser so my first instinct was for my feelings to be hurt, not gonna lie. I mean this guys fury was so strong he wrote his status and then responded to it…twice. His anger was pretty red hot.
My second instinct was to look in the mirror and ask myself what could I have done to offend this man? Could this guy be that mad about a couple of Facebook invites he may have gotten today? It had to be something else. I deal with a lot of musicians, somewhere around 40 acts a week, I’m bound to do or say something that rubs someone the wrong way. I don’t intend to, but I admittedly can be a little testy sometimes and tend to speak without a filter when frustration sets in. Maybe this person caught me on a bad day at Philly Rising, Maybe he wanted a gig at Lickety and I never got back to him, this is a small community, maybe he’s friends with someone I’ve wronged in the past.
My third instinct was to feel sorry for myself. That maybe he’s right, maybe I am a dick. I don’t feel like one but maybe what he’s saying has some merit. Maybe I am one and don’t know it. I’ve never heard someone say that my act made them wanna blow their heads off. Every once in a while someone who doesn’t know me will brand me as cocky or arrogant, kinda makes me angry sometimes because I’ve never seen myself as some big important guy that people should waste their time being angry at I am very well aware of who and where I am in the grand scheme of things. Maybe I ought to re-think this whole thing and go back to working in AV, at least no one posted nasty things about me there. I was pretty bummed out at this point in the night, like I was losing sleep over it.
Finally after talking to a friend I came to a realization. Opinions are like assholes everybody’s got one and if I want to be in the public eye I’ve got to learn to deal with strangers thinking that they know you and spouting a negative opinion. That’s not gonna stop me from promoting myself, my shows or my records, and it sure as hell shouldn’t stop me from being excited about the things that I’m doing. My life’s not perfect but I’m happy. So love me or hate me, I am determined to find a way to get over the hump and to the next level.
Tomorrow’s an off day as I finalize everything for Friday’s Ithaca show. I think it’s gonna be an amazing experience and one helluva party.
Lickety started off slow. We had one act pullout and an another act that after carefully looking at my email records that I had forgotten to email beyond confirming the date. So we really only had three acts that were able to promote the gig and for that they did a good job.
The Sobriquets were probably my favorite of the night. I chatted with their drummer about the best way for them to progress. I barely know anything, but I’ve learned a thing or two from all the bands I’ve worked with in the past. So we chewed the fat about a little bit, I tend to talk a whole lot so I hope he was able to grab a few sentences of what I said and put it to good use. I got to get more people out to see this band.
After the show was over we had our very first Wednesday Jam Session hosted by Aphillyation. It was an amazing thing, all these top flight musicians, even a girl playing an electric saxophone. I even jumped on and sang butterflies with them. I had such a great time.
I came home so excited about what had happened, that we may have found a way to keep people inside of Lickety Split till 2AM on a Wednesday Night. I hop on my computer and there it was. Someone’s Facebook status was a nasty comment about me. I won’t say who it is, and will not give the comment anymore credence than is absolutely necessary by quoting this person. To paraphrase he basically said I was the biggest asshole on the planet, I had nothing to offer, and if this is what “Philly” had to offer than Philly’s crap, not to mention that my act makes him want to blow his brains out.
I’m basically a sensitive guy who spent most of his life trying to be a people pleaser so my first instinct was for my feelings to be hurt, not gonna lie. I mean this guys fury was so strong he wrote his status and then responded to it…twice. His anger was pretty red hot.
My second instinct was to look in the mirror and ask myself what could I have done to offend this man? Could this guy be that mad about a couple of Facebook invites he may have gotten today? It had to be something else. I deal with a lot of musicians, somewhere around 40 acts a week, I’m bound to do or say something that rubs someone the wrong way. I don’t intend to, but I admittedly can be a little testy sometimes and tend to speak without a filter when frustration sets in. Maybe this person caught me on a bad day at Philly Rising, Maybe he wanted a gig at Lickety and I never got back to him, this is a small community, maybe he’s friends with someone I’ve wronged in the past.
My third instinct was to feel sorry for myself. That maybe he’s right, maybe I am a dick. I don’t feel like one but maybe what he’s saying has some merit. Maybe I am one and don’t know it. I’ve never heard someone say that my act made them wanna blow their heads off. Every once in a while someone who doesn’t know me will brand me as cocky or arrogant, kinda makes me angry sometimes because I’ve never seen myself as some big important guy that people should waste their time being angry at I am very well aware of who and where I am in the grand scheme of things. Maybe I ought to re-think this whole thing and go back to working in AV, at least no one posted nasty things about me there. I was pretty bummed out at this point in the night, like I was losing sleep over it.
Finally after talking to a friend I came to a realization. Opinions are like assholes everybody’s got one and if I want to be in the public eye I’ve got to learn to deal with strangers thinking that they know you and spouting a negative opinion. That’s not gonna stop me from promoting myself, my shows or my records, and it sure as hell shouldn’t stop me from being excited about the things that I’m doing. My life’s not perfect but I’m happy. So love me or hate me, I am determined to find a way to get over the hump and to the next level.
Tomorrow’s an off day as I finalize everything for Friday’s Ithaca show. I think it’s gonna be an amazing experience and one helluva party.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 182
Day 181 - September 8th 2009
Not much today. I had a lesson with my one student and saw her jump a few rungs in terms of her mastery of the assigned songs. She’s proven to be quite adept when she memorizes songs so we may work on going that route with her in the future. Playing guitar has brought so much joy to my life so it’s really cool to share that with someone else.
After we were done we went to Mcgillin’s Tavern one of the oldest bars in Philly, I went there a few weeks ago and they were doing an authors spotlight on Duane Swierczynski a crime fiction writer that was currently working as a writer on The Punisher. Tonight it was Lew Losoncy author of a book c Early Poppers, not quite sure what that is, I believe it’s someone who finds their passion early in life. He talked about a lot of things, the thing that stood out most to me was “It’s not your circumstances that make you who you are but how you view them“ , that’s something I intend to take with me as I move through the rest of my days.
I left and went by the Tritone but the guys weren’t there and I found myself walking around Broad Street with my ipod blasting carrying my guitar. It was pretty serene, I felt like I was back in college…those were simpler days. I got a chance to breathe deep which is always awesome. I bought a notebook and headed back to the Tritone
I sang a few songs and hung out for a while and went ahead home.
We got Lickety tomorrow, hopefully it will be better than last week, we start our open jam tomorrow so that should help.
Not much today. I had a lesson with my one student and saw her jump a few rungs in terms of her mastery of the assigned songs. She’s proven to be quite adept when she memorizes songs so we may work on going that route with her in the future. Playing guitar has brought so much joy to my life so it’s really cool to share that with someone else.
After we were done we went to Mcgillin’s Tavern one of the oldest bars in Philly, I went there a few weeks ago and they were doing an authors spotlight on Duane Swierczynski a crime fiction writer that was currently working as a writer on The Punisher. Tonight it was Lew Losoncy author of a book c Early Poppers, not quite sure what that is, I believe it’s someone who finds their passion early in life. He talked about a lot of things, the thing that stood out most to me was “It’s not your circumstances that make you who you are but how you view them“ , that’s something I intend to take with me as I move through the rest of my days.
I left and went by the Tritone but the guys weren’t there and I found myself walking around Broad Street with my ipod blasting carrying my guitar. It was pretty serene, I felt like I was back in college…those were simpler days. I got a chance to breathe deep which is always awesome. I bought a notebook and headed back to the Tritone
I sang a few songs and hung out for a while and went ahead home.
We got Lickety tomorrow, hopefully it will be better than last week, we start our open jam tomorrow so that should help.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 181
Day 180 - September 7th 2009
No Philly Rising today, it’s Labor Day. Today would be reserved for another significant event. Today would be the day my buddy Leah would tie the knot with Tim. This would be the first time one of my friends would be getting married. I wonder if it’s a sign of old age.
It’s common knowledge that I don’t plan on ever getting married…ever. It works for some people but for me the very idea is pure insanity. But I got choked up a little bit when I saw them stand under the canapé and say their vows. It’s really a beautiful thing. Two people that committed to each other kinda makes me all emotional and stuff.
Anyways we sampled the potato martini bar, and I ducked out before the dancing and the throwing of the g garter and bouquet and what not. I got home pretty early and I couldn’t help but wondering if I should re-think this whole staying single forever thing and find myself a wife…nah.
With not a whole lot on the agenda tomorrow except for my one lesson I sat down and tried to write to no avail so I went to bed
No Philly Rising today, it’s Labor Day. Today would be reserved for another significant event. Today would be the day my buddy Leah would tie the knot with Tim. This would be the first time one of my friends would be getting married. I wonder if it’s a sign of old age.
It’s common knowledge that I don’t plan on ever getting married…ever. It works for some people but for me the very idea is pure insanity. But I got choked up a little bit when I saw them stand under the canapé and say their vows. It’s really a beautiful thing. Two people that committed to each other kinda makes me all emotional and stuff.
Anyways we sampled the potato martini bar, and I ducked out before the dancing and the throwing of the g garter and bouquet and what not. I got home pretty early and I couldn’t help but wondering if I should re-think this whole staying single forever thing and find myself a wife…nah.
With not a whole lot on the agenda tomorrow except for my one lesson I sat down and tried to write to no avail so I went to bed
Monday, September 7, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 180
Day 179 - September 6th 2009
Just another laid back Sunday
I hit the sack around midnight last night and didn’t wake up till 1:30 this afternoon. I must have been tired.
We hit a couple of Barbeques one that doubled as a housewarming party for my cousins Kim and Jasmine, then we went to my sisters house for more food and I invented a new drink called the BK (named by Nichole Lynn) it’s got Bacardi and Kool Aid (we used Grape) it’s kinda the shit. We threw a couple of those back tonight and I started talkin about Eva Mendes’ breasts in Ghost Rider, cause they were the true stars of the movie.
We ate some ribs and some wings, I chased the kids around and then we went home.
I have a wedding to go to tomorrow…yay
Just another laid back Sunday
I hit the sack around midnight last night and didn’t wake up till 1:30 this afternoon. I must have been tired.
We hit a couple of Barbeques one that doubled as a housewarming party for my cousins Kim and Jasmine, then we went to my sisters house for more food and I invented a new drink called the BK (named by Nichole Lynn) it’s got Bacardi and Kool Aid (we used Grape) it’s kinda the shit. We threw a couple of those back tonight and I started talkin about Eva Mendes’ breasts in Ghost Rider, cause they were the true stars of the movie.
We ate some ribs and some wings, I chased the kids around and then we went home.
I have a wedding to go to tomorrow…yay
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 179
Day 178 - September 5th 2009
I can’t help it I was giddy. I’m always giddy when we go outside the city to play a show. Today it would be Baltimore at Six Flags America. The usual suspects Rob, Brian, Allison and I piled into big blue and went to get the Jakester, he got in the car and we stopped at Wawa before hitting the road.
The rides are always pleasant. I’m not generally a fan of girlfriends traveling with us, but Allison doesn’t get on my nerves in fact she’s a day of free entertainment. She always manages to make me chuckle so we let her go a long for the ride. Brian has also folded himself nicely into the proceedings, he’s gonna be the driver for the Midwest jaunt so I’m looking forward to that. My mom also said that Dad’s gonna get this van checked out to see if we can get it fixed for that trip instead of me renting a van. Double good news.
In about three hours we were there, a cute blonde met us at the gate and showed us where to go. She walks me over to the stage, it looks like an actual theme park show with the staging and the seats. What we were lacking was a canapé to shield us from the sun, and a halfway decent sound system, I’ll get to that later. The cute blonde went to find a hand truck for our equipment and wasn’t seen again for like half an hour. We ended up carrying the gear across the park to the stage.
Once we got there I saw that there was no sound man just a manager that turned the stuff on, meaning I had to run sound. I miced Rob’s bass and snare and ran a line from Jake and I’s amps and we were forced to make due with what we had.
Set 1
The Way You Make Me Feel
Michelle
Daylight
Only You
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Stranger
Set 2
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
Love Affair
Hoochie Coochie Man
How Can This Be Love
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Set 3
Feels So Good
Child of God
Walking On The Moon
Godess
Billie Jean
Destiny
3000 Miles Away
Leavin
We played 3 sets first two were about 30 minutes the third about an hour. The sound system always seemed to know when I was at an important part in the tune because it would basically just cut out and cut back in when I was done. I was sweating bullets because the sun seemed to shine directly on me that God’s spotlight. I was feeling very well by the time we were done so when Jake asked to go an hour early I had no problems wrapping it up. By the time we were done the little area had more than a few people sitting in it.
I think these Six Flags gigs are excellent things to supplement tour dates. Even in the heat with a bad sound system I’m able to get people to sit and watch us and I’m able to move Merchandise, you can’t buy that kind of exposure, maybe you can even get people to come to your show that night or the next day. If you’re going to another market and the Six Flags show is your date then it probably doesn’t work as well.
We left there and wanted to find something to eat so we hit a Denny’s right outside of Baltimore, never my first choice but I was pretty much starving at that point. We had a meal, got some gas and were on our way home. We discussed some really dirty nasty things on the way back to the point that I don’t even wanna recall them…lol
We got back around 11. Another successful outing, depending on how you look at it. We got Ithica next week.
I can’t help it I was giddy. I’m always giddy when we go outside the city to play a show. Today it would be Baltimore at Six Flags America. The usual suspects Rob, Brian, Allison and I piled into big blue and went to get the Jakester, he got in the car and we stopped at Wawa before hitting the road.
The rides are always pleasant. I’m not generally a fan of girlfriends traveling with us, but Allison doesn’t get on my nerves in fact she’s a day of free entertainment. She always manages to make me chuckle so we let her go a long for the ride. Brian has also folded himself nicely into the proceedings, he’s gonna be the driver for the Midwest jaunt so I’m looking forward to that. My mom also said that Dad’s gonna get this van checked out to see if we can get it fixed for that trip instead of me renting a van. Double good news.
In about three hours we were there, a cute blonde met us at the gate and showed us where to go. She walks me over to the stage, it looks like an actual theme park show with the staging and the seats. What we were lacking was a canapé to shield us from the sun, and a halfway decent sound system, I’ll get to that later. The cute blonde went to find a hand truck for our equipment and wasn’t seen again for like half an hour. We ended up carrying the gear across the park to the stage.
Once we got there I saw that there was no sound man just a manager that turned the stuff on, meaning I had to run sound. I miced Rob’s bass and snare and ran a line from Jake and I’s amps and we were forced to make due with what we had.
Set 1
The Way You Make Me Feel
Michelle
Daylight
Only You
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Stranger
Set 2
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
Love Affair
Hoochie Coochie Man
How Can This Be Love
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Set 3
Feels So Good
Child of God
Walking On The Moon
Godess
Billie Jean
Destiny
3000 Miles Away
Leavin
We played 3 sets first two were about 30 minutes the third about an hour. The sound system always seemed to know when I was at an important part in the tune because it would basically just cut out and cut back in when I was done. I was sweating bullets because the sun seemed to shine directly on me that God’s spotlight. I was feeling very well by the time we were done so when Jake asked to go an hour early I had no problems wrapping it up. By the time we were done the little area had more than a few people sitting in it.
I think these Six Flags gigs are excellent things to supplement tour dates. Even in the heat with a bad sound system I’m able to get people to sit and watch us and I’m able to move Merchandise, you can’t buy that kind of exposure, maybe you can even get people to come to your show that night or the next day. If you’re going to another market and the Six Flags show is your date then it probably doesn’t work as well.
We left there and wanted to find something to eat so we hit a Denny’s right outside of Baltimore, never my first choice but I was pretty much starving at that point. We had a meal, got some gas and were on our way home. We discussed some really dirty nasty things on the way back to the point that I don’t even wanna recall them…lol
We got back around 11. Another successful outing, depending on how you look at it. We got Ithica next week.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 178
Day 177 - September 4th 2009
I was up at 7 like usual and my Dad was in a half hurry to get where we needed to go. Today we were going to Lincoln Financial Field to meet Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb.
For those of you who read this that aren’t from the area, Philadelphia is a sports town, a Football town and the Eagles are kings. You may run into an occasional person that is butt crazy in love with the Phillies, but while attendance at Citizens Bank Park has skyrocketed because the Phillies are god now, the football games are generally sold out no matter how good (or bad) the team is. So to meet the Quarterback is a pretty big deal. He was doing a talk with kids about Diabetes, a disease his father has as well as my father and brother. So my dad took my nieces and my sister and I tug along as chaperones.
We got to the field in the morning and there were a few other kids there. Someone came to get us and took us down to the locker room and there it was, it was pretty huge with all the jerseys hung up nice and neat with the names on the lockers for each player including Brian Westbrook, Asante Samuel and Michael Vick. We stood around for a while, I found some free (in the form of Gatorade) and after a while there he was….5 as they call him around these parts. He was smaller than I imagined which makes some of his feats of strength on the field even more impressive. He talked to the kids for a while about diabetes and football, he signed some autographs and then he peaced out. I liked how he seemed the same in person as he does on TV and the press conferences. He’s cool as a fan and doesn’t seem to let the craziness get to him.
After he left they took us on a tour of the stadium, we walked past Temple’s locker room and I yelled at it cause some of my tuition money probably went towards funding that poor excuse of a football program. Then we got to walk on the field which was pretty cool. The stadium itself is pretty impressive, I haven’t been to an Eagles game since they played at the Vet (which is a whole other thing) but hopefully I’ll make it out this season before it gets too cold.
We dropped the kids off and I went home to lay down. I turned my attention towards the next task at hand. We were opening for Bojibian tonight upstairs at World Café Live and I wanted to make sure we were ready and good.
I got there around 6 to drop off equipment. Then I ran over to Lickety to give them the set times for the bands tonight and ran back over to World Café Live to settle in. 3 fifths played as the crew arrived. I was using the horns tonight which I figured would be fun.
There’s a certain fun to being the opening act. My only focus was on myself, I didn’t have the burden of promoting an entire show, MCing making sure the flow was good. All I had to do was worry about playing and putting asses in seats. It’s rare in Philly (especially at World Café Live) that I have a no pressure gig so I was gonna enjoy every minute of it.
Set List
Little Red Corvette/Highway to hell (Acoustic)
Superhero
(Oh) I wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
It was like Quicksand. There was barely a monitor mix on stage, he kept fiddling with my amp, I couldn’t hear anything, we had a glitch with the horns, and it threw everything else off. All of a sudden you’re in a hole that you can’t dig yourself out of. I couldn’t tell you if it sounded bad or not because I couldn’t hear anything on stage. I haven’t had problems with sound there since I first started playing there. I didn’t feel very good leaving the stage and it showed.
Bojibian hit the stage and rocked it like it was 1999. Their fans are super loyal and really danced and sung all the tunes. They got their start at Philly Rising and in a little more than a year they have a headlining show upstairs at World Café Live, they are tearing up the Mid Atlantic region and people love them. You can’t beat that.
We hung out a little on South Street I went past Lickety Split to see how the night went (went pretty well) and I went home shortly after closing time.
Big day tomorrow so I hit the sack
I was up at 7 like usual and my Dad was in a half hurry to get where we needed to go. Today we were going to Lincoln Financial Field to meet Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb.
For those of you who read this that aren’t from the area, Philadelphia is a sports town, a Football town and the Eagles are kings. You may run into an occasional person that is butt crazy in love with the Phillies, but while attendance at Citizens Bank Park has skyrocketed because the Phillies are god now, the football games are generally sold out no matter how good (or bad) the team is. So to meet the Quarterback is a pretty big deal. He was doing a talk with kids about Diabetes, a disease his father has as well as my father and brother. So my dad took my nieces and my sister and I tug along as chaperones.
We got to the field in the morning and there were a few other kids there. Someone came to get us and took us down to the locker room and there it was, it was pretty huge with all the jerseys hung up nice and neat with the names on the lockers for each player including Brian Westbrook, Asante Samuel and Michael Vick. We stood around for a while, I found some free (in the form of Gatorade) and after a while there he was….5 as they call him around these parts. He was smaller than I imagined which makes some of his feats of strength on the field even more impressive. He talked to the kids for a while about diabetes and football, he signed some autographs and then he peaced out. I liked how he seemed the same in person as he does on TV and the press conferences. He’s cool as a fan and doesn’t seem to let the craziness get to him.
After he left they took us on a tour of the stadium, we walked past Temple’s locker room and I yelled at it cause some of my tuition money probably went towards funding that poor excuse of a football program. Then we got to walk on the field which was pretty cool. The stadium itself is pretty impressive, I haven’t been to an Eagles game since they played at the Vet (which is a whole other thing) but hopefully I’ll make it out this season before it gets too cold.
We dropped the kids off and I went home to lay down. I turned my attention towards the next task at hand. We were opening for Bojibian tonight upstairs at World Café Live and I wanted to make sure we were ready and good.
I got there around 6 to drop off equipment. Then I ran over to Lickety to give them the set times for the bands tonight and ran back over to World Café Live to settle in. 3 fifths played as the crew arrived. I was using the horns tonight which I figured would be fun.
There’s a certain fun to being the opening act. My only focus was on myself, I didn’t have the burden of promoting an entire show, MCing making sure the flow was good. All I had to do was worry about playing and putting asses in seats. It’s rare in Philly (especially at World Café Live) that I have a no pressure gig so I was gonna enjoy every minute of it.
Set List
Little Red Corvette/Highway to hell (Acoustic)
Superhero
(Oh) I wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
It was like Quicksand. There was barely a monitor mix on stage, he kept fiddling with my amp, I couldn’t hear anything, we had a glitch with the horns, and it threw everything else off. All of a sudden you’re in a hole that you can’t dig yourself out of. I couldn’t tell you if it sounded bad or not because I couldn’t hear anything on stage. I haven’t had problems with sound there since I first started playing there. I didn’t feel very good leaving the stage and it showed.
Bojibian hit the stage and rocked it like it was 1999. Their fans are super loyal and really danced and sung all the tunes. They got their start at Philly Rising and in a little more than a year they have a headlining show upstairs at World Café Live, they are tearing up the Mid Atlantic region and people love them. You can’t beat that.
We hung out a little on South Street I went past Lickety Split to see how the night went (went pretty well) and I went home shortly after closing time.
Big day tomorrow so I hit the sack
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 177
Day 176 - September 3rd 2009
Last night was rough all the way around. Attendance was low at Lickety and I’ve been feeling like schlub lately because I haven’t been working out. Went with mom dukes to see about getting her an exercise bike which I would also be able to use. With my ankle getting better I’ve been thinking of getting a jump rope for the upcoming fall season. I want to look and feel good for these upcoming shows. I’ve got a bit of anxiety about paying for everything…lol mainly cause I’m one of the cheapest dudes in history.
Tomorrow I get to go to the Lincoln Financial Field to meet Donovan McNabb and then I get to Rock out at World Café Live with Bojibian. It’s gonna be an awesome show.
Last night was rough all the way around. Attendance was low at Lickety and I’ve been feeling like schlub lately because I haven’t been working out. Went with mom dukes to see about getting her an exercise bike which I would also be able to use. With my ankle getting better I’ve been thinking of getting a jump rope for the upcoming fall season. I want to look and feel good for these upcoming shows. I’ve got a bit of anxiety about paying for everything…lol mainly cause I’m one of the cheapest dudes in history.
Tomorrow I get to go to the Lincoln Financial Field to meet Donovan McNabb and then I get to Rock out at World Café Live with Bojibian. It’s gonna be an awesome show.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 176
Day 175 - September 2nd 2009
The week before Labor Day is always a weird one for promoters. Residents are filing out of the city to get their last bit of summer college kids are coming back to town but are extremely busy readjusting to being in college or being back so they’re not really out and about. It’s even tougher to get a decent band this time of year. So I wasn’t expecting to do that well over at Lickety tonight. For better or worse this would be a night that would rely more on the artists ability to promote and draw than the work that the venue does on the street, frankly South Street (along with the rest of the city) is dead.
At the beginning of the night it was just as dead inside of Lickety as it was outside on the street. I wasn’t too happy about that (considering it was packed last week) . I know we’re not gonna do awesome every week but when you’ve got 4 acts playing music on any given night that place should be backed given its size. But like I said, it’s pretty dead all over. You had four really strong acts that are long on talent but might not necessarily be good and getting people to see them.
Most would counter my statements by saying “It should be about how good the music is” and in a perfect world that would be the case. But because I’m a performer myself I can’t for the life of me figure out why someone would be satisfied playing to an empty room. I’ve slaved over these songs, my band is rehearsed, I like this music. Why on Earth would I not tell everyone I knew to come see me play?
It started to fill up a little more as the night dragged on and it turned into a respectable night especially given the circumstances.
I got a pick up around 11:30 thoroughly expecting next week to be better.
The week before Labor Day is always a weird one for promoters. Residents are filing out of the city to get their last bit of summer college kids are coming back to town but are extremely busy readjusting to being in college or being back so they’re not really out and about. It’s even tougher to get a decent band this time of year. So I wasn’t expecting to do that well over at Lickety tonight. For better or worse this would be a night that would rely more on the artists ability to promote and draw than the work that the venue does on the street, frankly South Street (along with the rest of the city) is dead.
At the beginning of the night it was just as dead inside of Lickety as it was outside on the street. I wasn’t too happy about that (considering it was packed last week) . I know we’re not gonna do awesome every week but when you’ve got 4 acts playing music on any given night that place should be backed given its size. But like I said, it’s pretty dead all over. You had four really strong acts that are long on talent but might not necessarily be good and getting people to see them.
Most would counter my statements by saying “It should be about how good the music is” and in a perfect world that would be the case. But because I’m a performer myself I can’t for the life of me figure out why someone would be satisfied playing to an empty room. I’ve slaved over these songs, my band is rehearsed, I like this music. Why on Earth would I not tell everyone I knew to come see me play?
It started to fill up a little more as the night dragged on and it turned into a respectable night especially given the circumstances.
I got a pick up around 11:30 thoroughly expecting next week to be better.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 175
Day 174 - September 1st 2009
What happened to the summer. Sometimes it seems like it went by so fast other times it seemed to be never ending. Soon the weather will cool and the kids will be back in school and I won’t have to hear racket all day.
First stop was my guitar lesson. I’m down to one student at the moment (should pick up in the fall) and I have to say that I am pleased with her progress. Once she gets her rhythm together (which is the hardest part in my opinion) she’s got a couple of songs she wants to learn so I have her on a time table to get them finished. She has about two weeks left. Hopefully she practices.
Next stop was World Café Live for Cream: The Best of Philly Rising. Tonight we had to crown monthly winners for June, July, and August. We’ve got to pick between some of the best acts we’ve ever seen come through the open mic. For those of you who read this that have never been to Philly Rising it’s definitely worth checking out and if you’ve never been to a Cream Event it’s DEFINITELY worth seeing. The competitive atmosphere makes for an entertaining experience.
First up was June, we only had two winners in June because of various cancellations so it was gonna be a grudge match between the smooth soul of Damon and the Electro Hip Hop/Pop of the Kowabunga Rage Crew. Two distinctly different acts One relying on bright lights, high energy, a fog machine, songs about sexting, and hot half naked dancers, the other on a laid back vibe, vocal harmonies, no drums, sexy lighting, and love songs. It was a hard choice as it should have been.
When it was all said and done Damon Hamilton emerged the Standout for June. Although I think The Rage Crew will are gonna make a million dollars sometime down the road it was good to see Damon go through to the next round. Often people like him that appear at the Open Mic regularly are often passed over when it comes to getting votes from the pannel. Damon’s extremely talented and I think he’s gonna make a strong case for himself when the yearly competition rolls around.
The July competition featured two white girls with brown hair…and that’s where the similarities end. Melissa Clampffer a CAPA alum for vocal, sat down at her piano with her two friends (Michael West on acoustic guitar and congo and another background vocals) and delivered a stripped down, heartfelt, set with a little humor injected. Right behind her was Gabrielle Christine, a drop dead R&B Powerhouse with a black, all female band (a helluva concept) when her drummer hit that church roll I knew it was on. She banged through a set of cover tunes, her stage presentation was strong, and vocally she was in fine form, extremely entertaining. This was going to be a tough choice.
Melissa Clampffer would be our standout for July, I don’t think the pannel could ignore the person who wrote and performed their own material. Gabrielle has fine future and once she develops some original material she‘s going to be hard to ignore in this or any other forum.
If the night was spectacular enough we still had yet to get to August which featured probably four of the best bands I’ve ever seen share a stage. We opened up with Mike Short and Downtime, a young college aged country band. We don’t get much country music at Philly Rising so it was exciting to have them. Mike flew up from Nashville to perform and his solo album is spectacular. They played great. Damien Anthony would follow and he would drop a funk rock explosion that I rarely see unless I’m looking in a mirror ;-) leading the crowd in sing a longs more than once, truly incredible. The Good News would follow with their own blend of Jazz, Soul, and Blues. A relatively young band compared to the rest in the pool but they held their own, they have a really amazing energy that’s going to carry them pretty far. We ended the August competition with City Line who delivered a potent combination of pop and rock. Singer Mike Mitchell’s voice is so soulful that it will eventually distinguish the band from others that sound similar.
In the stiffest monthly competition to date City Line were our Standout Performers, standing out amongst acts like these is no easy feat so I take my hat off to them.
All in all it was a pretty unbelievable night. All the acts really raised their level of performance and are gonna have no problems establishing themselves in the Philly Music Scene or anyplace else.
Lickety’s tomorrow, hopefully the Dog Days of August don’t trun into the Dog Days of September.
What happened to the summer. Sometimes it seems like it went by so fast other times it seemed to be never ending. Soon the weather will cool and the kids will be back in school and I won’t have to hear racket all day.
First stop was my guitar lesson. I’m down to one student at the moment (should pick up in the fall) and I have to say that I am pleased with her progress. Once she gets her rhythm together (which is the hardest part in my opinion) she’s got a couple of songs she wants to learn so I have her on a time table to get them finished. She has about two weeks left. Hopefully she practices.
Next stop was World Café Live for Cream: The Best of Philly Rising. Tonight we had to crown monthly winners for June, July, and August. We’ve got to pick between some of the best acts we’ve ever seen come through the open mic. For those of you who read this that have never been to Philly Rising it’s definitely worth checking out and if you’ve never been to a Cream Event it’s DEFINITELY worth seeing. The competitive atmosphere makes for an entertaining experience.
First up was June, we only had two winners in June because of various cancellations so it was gonna be a grudge match between the smooth soul of Damon and the Electro Hip Hop/Pop of the Kowabunga Rage Crew. Two distinctly different acts One relying on bright lights, high energy, a fog machine, songs about sexting, and hot half naked dancers, the other on a laid back vibe, vocal harmonies, no drums, sexy lighting, and love songs. It was a hard choice as it should have been.
When it was all said and done Damon Hamilton emerged the Standout for June. Although I think The Rage Crew will are gonna make a million dollars sometime down the road it was good to see Damon go through to the next round. Often people like him that appear at the Open Mic regularly are often passed over when it comes to getting votes from the pannel. Damon’s extremely talented and I think he’s gonna make a strong case for himself when the yearly competition rolls around.
The July competition featured two white girls with brown hair…and that’s where the similarities end. Melissa Clampffer a CAPA alum for vocal, sat down at her piano with her two friends (Michael West on acoustic guitar and congo and another background vocals) and delivered a stripped down, heartfelt, set with a little humor injected. Right behind her was Gabrielle Christine, a drop dead R&B Powerhouse with a black, all female band (a helluva concept) when her drummer hit that church roll I knew it was on. She banged through a set of cover tunes, her stage presentation was strong, and vocally she was in fine form, extremely entertaining. This was going to be a tough choice.
Melissa Clampffer would be our standout for July, I don’t think the pannel could ignore the person who wrote and performed their own material. Gabrielle has fine future and once she develops some original material she‘s going to be hard to ignore in this or any other forum.
If the night was spectacular enough we still had yet to get to August which featured probably four of the best bands I’ve ever seen share a stage. We opened up with Mike Short and Downtime, a young college aged country band. We don’t get much country music at Philly Rising so it was exciting to have them. Mike flew up from Nashville to perform and his solo album is spectacular. They played great. Damien Anthony would follow and he would drop a funk rock explosion that I rarely see unless I’m looking in a mirror ;-) leading the crowd in sing a longs more than once, truly incredible. The Good News would follow with their own blend of Jazz, Soul, and Blues. A relatively young band compared to the rest in the pool but they held their own, they have a really amazing energy that’s going to carry them pretty far. We ended the August competition with City Line who delivered a potent combination of pop and rock. Singer Mike Mitchell’s voice is so soulful that it will eventually distinguish the band from others that sound similar.
In the stiffest monthly competition to date City Line were our Standout Performers, standing out amongst acts like these is no easy feat so I take my hat off to them.
All in all it was a pretty unbelievable night. All the acts really raised their level of performance and are gonna have no problems establishing themselves in the Philly Music Scene or anyplace else.
Lickety’s tomorrow, hopefully the Dog Days of August don’t trun into the Dog Days of September.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 174
Day 173 - August 31st 2009
My leg feels stronger today. Not ready to take the brace off just yet but I have a feeling I’ll be walking around without the brace in no time. Mom and I may go half on a recumbent bike this week she can get some exercise with her bad knees and I can get in shape for these dates I have coming up I look terrible…lol.
The open mic was lighter than usual with the list not filling up till we were a quarter of the way through. The Dog Days of August I guess, hopefully the whole week won’t be like this. Not short on talent though. 9th Life were our winners. They were apart of our open mic last week and were liked very much by our pannel. It was the first time we finished behind schedule in the two years I’ve been there. I’m a real tight ass about time but for some reason I took my eye off the ball.
We’ve got the monthly competitions for June, July, and August tomorrow night. It’s gonna be quite the show.
My leg feels stronger today. Not ready to take the brace off just yet but I have a feeling I’ll be walking around without the brace in no time. Mom and I may go half on a recumbent bike this week she can get some exercise with her bad knees and I can get in shape for these dates I have coming up I look terrible…lol.
The open mic was lighter than usual with the list not filling up till we were a quarter of the way through. The Dog Days of August I guess, hopefully the whole week won’t be like this. Not short on talent though. 9th Life were our winners. They were apart of our open mic last week and were liked very much by our pannel. It was the first time we finished behind schedule in the two years I’ve been there. I’m a real tight ass about time but for some reason I took my eye off the ball.
We’ve got the monthly competitions for June, July, and August tomorrow night. It’s gonna be quite the show.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 173
Day 172 - August 30th 2009
Church…Finally
I haven’t been all month. With all the weekend gigs sometimes I can’t bring myself to get up on Sunday mornings to go. Being tired is a poor excuse so since I was home I decided to go. The service was good the sermon about the story of the Prodigal Son. I had to exit the Sanctuary a bit early because of the heat and the people I’m not good packed into a large crowd. I tend to freak out.
After Church we headed to Jersey to hang out with My sister and the rest of the fam. My mom took the women to target and my Dad and I stayed at the house and I played guitar for three hours.
When I got home I couldn’t really sleep so I threw on Sara Barellies Live at the Fillmore (one of the better Concert DVD’s they do this really cool thing on a few songs where they switch from the arena to an intimate acoustic rooftop jam on a few tunes) and started writing. I had all these ideas for bridges I’ve never worked off of bridges before so it should be interesting, sort of like staring a movie from the middle and working out the beginning and end parts later.
Church…Finally
I haven’t been all month. With all the weekend gigs sometimes I can’t bring myself to get up on Sunday mornings to go. Being tired is a poor excuse so since I was home I decided to go. The service was good the sermon about the story of the Prodigal Son. I had to exit the Sanctuary a bit early because of the heat and the people I’m not good packed into a large crowd. I tend to freak out.
After Church we headed to Jersey to hang out with My sister and the rest of the fam. My mom took the women to target and my Dad and I stayed at the house and I played guitar for three hours.
When I got home I couldn’t really sleep so I threw on Sara Barellies Live at the Fillmore (one of the better Concert DVD’s they do this really cool thing on a few songs where they switch from the arena to an intimate acoustic rooftop jam on a few tunes) and started writing. I had all these ideas for bridges I’ve never worked off of bridges before so it should be interesting, sort of like staring a movie from the middle and working out the beginning and end parts later.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 172
Day 171 - August 29th 2009
Laying even lower
Doing my best to set up for the future, wishing my ankle didn’t hurt so bad. I felt so much better when I was running everyday. Now I have to figure out some stuff to do that doesn’t require me to put a great deal of weight on my ankle. I feel like such a schlub since the injury. I don’t wanna feel that way once these shows start.
I was gonna go check out some stuff at Doc Watson’s but I’m way to tired to do anything. Tryin to get this festival together, not to mention all the other stuff.
Mom made dinner which made the decision fo staying home today a lot easier. I tore some food up, watched some TV and went to bed.
Laying even lower
Doing my best to set up for the future, wishing my ankle didn’t hurt so bad. I felt so much better when I was running everyday. Now I have to figure out some stuff to do that doesn’t require me to put a great deal of weight on my ankle. I feel like such a schlub since the injury. I don’t wanna feel that way once these shows start.
I was gonna go check out some stuff at Doc Watson’s but I’m way to tired to do anything. Tryin to get this festival together, not to mention all the other stuff.
Mom made dinner which made the decision fo staying home today a lot easier. I tore some food up, watched some TV and went to bed.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 171
Day 170 - August 28th 2009
Laying Low.
I think I took one call today. Casey wants to see Inglorious Basterds tonight.
I’m not a Quentin Tarantino fan, frankly he hasn’t made anything that I haven’t loathed since Pulp Fiction, he hasn’t made anything I’ve loved since Reservoir (I don‘t count Four Rooms (one of my favorite films) because he‘s only responsible for ¼ of it and Robert Rodriguez‘s story‘s the best one). For those of you who might still be reading this blog and are Tarantino fans, I apologize if this offends you. There were plenty of my film school buddies that would argue with me that he was God. So I generally go into Tarantino movies expecting the worst.
Inglorious Basterds managed to be even worse than I thought. It was long, for the most part it was boring, I didn’t care about what happened to any of the characters in it, I was pretty stunned. I haven’t hated something that much in quite some time.
Luckily for me there was a party afterwards at a frat house. Not usually my style but Chris Wilson was there. Chris is who booked me at Castaways in Ithaca next week. He’s an awesome guy and told me of the massive after party they’re planning once the show is over. I can’t wait to go up there and open for the Rozatones, they are pretty sweet.
We hung out for a while and Casey dropped me off at home at like 4AM.
Laying Low.
I think I took one call today. Casey wants to see Inglorious Basterds tonight.
I’m not a Quentin Tarantino fan, frankly he hasn’t made anything that I haven’t loathed since Pulp Fiction, he hasn’t made anything I’ve loved since Reservoir (I don‘t count Four Rooms (one of my favorite films) because he‘s only responsible for ¼ of it and Robert Rodriguez‘s story‘s the best one). For those of you who might still be reading this blog and are Tarantino fans, I apologize if this offends you. There were plenty of my film school buddies that would argue with me that he was God. So I generally go into Tarantino movies expecting the worst.
Inglorious Basterds managed to be even worse than I thought. It was long, for the most part it was boring, I didn’t care about what happened to any of the characters in it, I was pretty stunned. I haven’t hated something that much in quite some time.
Luckily for me there was a party afterwards at a frat house. Not usually my style but Chris Wilson was there. Chris is who booked me at Castaways in Ithaca next week. He’s an awesome guy and told me of the massive after party they’re planning once the show is over. I can’t wait to go up there and open for the Rozatones, they are pretty sweet.
We hung out for a while and Casey dropped me off at home at like 4AM.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 170
Day 169 - August 27th 2009
Spent most of today trying to piece things together for this Midwest jaunt. Trying to figure out what kind of van to rent for the trip, who’s essential personnel, how many rooms do I need, working the budget, etc. I haven’t even gotten to the Set List yet. T-shirts also still need to be ordered. I know all of this will wash away once we hit the road I just don’t think people have a real idea about what goes into planning any kind of musical excursion. I don’t know where to start in terms of any of this stuff. I’m still waiting to see if that third date is going to come through.
Wanted to rest my leg a bit. People were trying to get me to come outside tonight but I basically told them no. I ended up going ot get a new TV with pop dukes instead. We got it home in time for the Eagles Game.
I don’t have to be at Lickety tomorrow it’s 4th Friday. I may go anyway depending on how I’m feeling and what the squad feels like getting into.
Spent most of today trying to piece things together for this Midwest jaunt. Trying to figure out what kind of van to rent for the trip, who’s essential personnel, how many rooms do I need, working the budget, etc. I haven’t even gotten to the Set List yet. T-shirts also still need to be ordered. I know all of this will wash away once we hit the road I just don’t think people have a real idea about what goes into planning any kind of musical excursion. I don’t know where to start in terms of any of this stuff. I’m still waiting to see if that third date is going to come through.
Wanted to rest my leg a bit. People were trying to get me to come outside tonight but I basically told them no. I ended up going ot get a new TV with pop dukes instead. We got it home in time for the Eagles Game.
I don’t have to be at Lickety tomorrow it’s 4th Friday. I may go anyway depending on how I’m feeling and what the squad feels like getting into.
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