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.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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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