Post by Gene on Nov 30, 2010 14:36:48 GMT -5
Hi, all! I had just barely enough stuff to scrape together to justify an e-newsletter this month, so let’s do it! Here is my “anemic” schedule (but at least I HAVE one!) :
St. Ignace Christmas Musicale: Methodist Church, St. Ignace SUN, DEC 5, 7pm
Gateway Lanes & Fred's Pub, St. Ignace SAT, DEC 18, 8pm-12
Christmas Program: Straits Evangelical Free Church, St. Ignace SUN, DEC 19, 7pm
This is the time of year where I do a couple of Christmas programs in town. I do these mostly as a “give back” gesture for how my community helps me out with this music thing, along with the little bit of promo I get out of it. I also like to do it because it’s fun, and it allows me to present something a little different than what I usually do. I’m not collaborating with anyone this year, which is not typical, but it will still be a change of pace. The December 5 one is a huge event by St. Ignace standards, with lots of great performers, so come a bit early of you do come!
I’ve never played at the St. Ignace bowling alley before. Venues in this town are very fickle and inconsistent with offering live music, so I was lucky with good timing in my asking to play here. Lots of folks will be home for the early holiday weekend, so I’m sure it will be a blast!
I hope to hear from a couple of ski lodges in Gaylord soon, as I have in past years. The snow and cold has been so tricky in past years, so I think they are scheduling at closer to last-minute than in past years, since their crowds really pivot on this. Understandable, but I would really prefer to have a “bird in the hand”, as it were.
The Trout Lake Tavern gig during deer season was great, but had the crowds shifted much earlier than I expected, and I ended up quitting at 11. A peculiar thing happened in that some hours after I left, there was a fire in the upstairs, which has closed this bar since that day. Good thing I got out when I did. As I say, it’s always an adventure doing this!
My regular Jr.’s Tailgate Pub Saturday gigs got slower and slower, until the last one had many gaps with no one in the place at all. It was a fun run, and I got a good name for future gigs there, though, so I’m quite content with the experience.
I’m going to take a long trip to Florida between Christmas and New Year’s, so I scheduled no gigs for that time. I’m very much looking forward to the trip!
If you’re a regular follower of these e-newsletters, you may have heard me talk of getting my favorite guitar re-fretted at Great Lakes Guitar Company in Traverse City, and that I’d share with you my impression of the quality of work, in the event you are a guitar player that may need this done someday. I’ve gotta tell ya, the work was impeccable. Tim Miller CARES, man. Not a buzz on the whole fretboard and the frets are so slick and hard; My guitar is a DREAM to play, now. I also got a graphite nut installed (no more “tink” when tuning!), so the whole job ran a little over $400. Pricey, but this was a high-end Taylor with a tone that was very special to me, so I gladly paid it. Worth every penny, since it's BETTER than a new guitar!
Picking up my guitar, I decided to check out Chris Koury at the Noggin Room in Petoskey, since I’ve never seen his show for very long. Chris is a career musician of sorts: He teaches music theory and history at North Central Michigan college in Petoskey, and is involved with local theater, some. He looks to be in his 50's. He’s a good player and decent singer. He’s very typical of guys that do this, centering on early 1970's acoustic singer-songwriters on the mellower side, but this looked to be a good fit for the half grey-haired audience that was there. His guitar was a conversation piece, having an unusual kidney-shaped body, which was a looker, but the tone of it sounded really “cheap”. He played stripped down, with no electronic stuff like harmonizers or loopers, or even harmonica as a ride-on-top instrument. His crowd rapport and banter was minimal, but it did the trick. Chris is pretty dated and typical as far as guys like these go, and is nothing to alter your life’s schedule about to catch, but if you’re catching him by happenstance, I’m sure you’ll be sticking around and ordering another round.
I decided to walk over and see a bit of Pete Kehoe at Chandler’s on my way back to the truck. Pete’s the king of the Petoskey scene, so I can hardly say anything more than what’s already been said. Chandler’s is a high-end clientele place, where the crowd is wine-sipping and L.L.Bean wearing, so I never feel like I belong there, and hence I don’t have a great desire to play there since I don’t think I’d be a good fit. Pete is very ready for this, though, just providing background ambience by playing pop arrangements with choppy jazz chords and not really calling much attention to himself. I know this consummate pro has other sides, though, since I’ve seen him in other environments doing that chamaeleon thing he can do, just fine. I’m envious of his high vocal range for a man! He’s a nice guy, too, since he remembered my name and greeted me and said goodbye to me as I entered and left. Local musicians would do well to model themselves after Pete, for sure!
On local music news, it looks as if Jim Bishop, Jimmy Fitzpatrick and Dave Jasmund of St. Ignace formed a project called "Wolf Chili". Not sure how long it will go, since Bish will blow town quick for any good job, but it will be fun while it lasts. I see they're playing at the Driftwood Saturday, December 4, if you're as curious about this as I am!...
Open Mics are cranking away at St. Ignace’s Village Inn on Tuesdays. I went to the first one a bit after Halloween, and it was a great time. They start up earlier, at 8, which seems more comfortable for a weekday night. I’ll pop in there every so often, I’m certain, so maybe I’ll see you there!
Take Care,
–Gene.
St. Ignace Christmas Musicale: Methodist Church, St. Ignace SUN, DEC 5, 7pm
Gateway Lanes & Fred's Pub, St. Ignace SAT, DEC 18, 8pm-12
Christmas Program: Straits Evangelical Free Church, St. Ignace SUN, DEC 19, 7pm
This is the time of year where I do a couple of Christmas programs in town. I do these mostly as a “give back” gesture for how my community helps me out with this music thing, along with the little bit of promo I get out of it. I also like to do it because it’s fun, and it allows me to present something a little different than what I usually do. I’m not collaborating with anyone this year, which is not typical, but it will still be a change of pace. The December 5 one is a huge event by St. Ignace standards, with lots of great performers, so come a bit early of you do come!
I’ve never played at the St. Ignace bowling alley before. Venues in this town are very fickle and inconsistent with offering live music, so I was lucky with good timing in my asking to play here. Lots of folks will be home for the early holiday weekend, so I’m sure it will be a blast!
I hope to hear from a couple of ski lodges in Gaylord soon, as I have in past years. The snow and cold has been so tricky in past years, so I think they are scheduling at closer to last-minute than in past years, since their crowds really pivot on this. Understandable, but I would really prefer to have a “bird in the hand”, as it were.
The Trout Lake Tavern gig during deer season was great, but had the crowds shifted much earlier than I expected, and I ended up quitting at 11. A peculiar thing happened in that some hours after I left, there was a fire in the upstairs, which has closed this bar since that day. Good thing I got out when I did. As I say, it’s always an adventure doing this!
My regular Jr.’s Tailgate Pub Saturday gigs got slower and slower, until the last one had many gaps with no one in the place at all. It was a fun run, and I got a good name for future gigs there, though, so I’m quite content with the experience.
I’m going to take a long trip to Florida between Christmas and New Year’s, so I scheduled no gigs for that time. I’m very much looking forward to the trip!
If you’re a regular follower of these e-newsletters, you may have heard me talk of getting my favorite guitar re-fretted at Great Lakes Guitar Company in Traverse City, and that I’d share with you my impression of the quality of work, in the event you are a guitar player that may need this done someday. I’ve gotta tell ya, the work was impeccable. Tim Miller CARES, man. Not a buzz on the whole fretboard and the frets are so slick and hard; My guitar is a DREAM to play, now. I also got a graphite nut installed (no more “tink” when tuning!), so the whole job ran a little over $400. Pricey, but this was a high-end Taylor with a tone that was very special to me, so I gladly paid it. Worth every penny, since it's BETTER than a new guitar!
Picking up my guitar, I decided to check out Chris Koury at the Noggin Room in Petoskey, since I’ve never seen his show for very long. Chris is a career musician of sorts: He teaches music theory and history at North Central Michigan college in Petoskey, and is involved with local theater, some. He looks to be in his 50's. He’s a good player and decent singer. He’s very typical of guys that do this, centering on early 1970's acoustic singer-songwriters on the mellower side, but this looked to be a good fit for the half grey-haired audience that was there. His guitar was a conversation piece, having an unusual kidney-shaped body, which was a looker, but the tone of it sounded really “cheap”. He played stripped down, with no electronic stuff like harmonizers or loopers, or even harmonica as a ride-on-top instrument. His crowd rapport and banter was minimal, but it did the trick. Chris is pretty dated and typical as far as guys like these go, and is nothing to alter your life’s schedule about to catch, but if you’re catching him by happenstance, I’m sure you’ll be sticking around and ordering another round.
I decided to walk over and see a bit of Pete Kehoe at Chandler’s on my way back to the truck. Pete’s the king of the Petoskey scene, so I can hardly say anything more than what’s already been said. Chandler’s is a high-end clientele place, where the crowd is wine-sipping and L.L.Bean wearing, so I never feel like I belong there, and hence I don’t have a great desire to play there since I don’t think I’d be a good fit. Pete is very ready for this, though, just providing background ambience by playing pop arrangements with choppy jazz chords and not really calling much attention to himself. I know this consummate pro has other sides, though, since I’ve seen him in other environments doing that chamaeleon thing he can do, just fine. I’m envious of his high vocal range for a man! He’s a nice guy, too, since he remembered my name and greeted me and said goodbye to me as I entered and left. Local musicians would do well to model themselves after Pete, for sure!
On local music news, it looks as if Jim Bishop, Jimmy Fitzpatrick and Dave Jasmund of St. Ignace formed a project called "Wolf Chili". Not sure how long it will go, since Bish will blow town quick for any good job, but it will be fun while it lasts. I see they're playing at the Driftwood Saturday, December 4, if you're as curious about this as I am!...
Open Mics are cranking away at St. Ignace’s Village Inn on Tuesdays. I went to the first one a bit after Halloween, and it was a great time. They start up earlier, at 8, which seems more comfortable for a weekday night. I’ll pop in there every so often, I’m certain, so maybe I’ll see you there!
Take Care,
–Gene.
