Post by Gene on Aug 31, 2011 10:11:00 GMT -5
It sure was a busy summer by my standards, but things are starting to slow down, as you can see:
SAT, SEP 10, Dixie Saloon, Mackinaw City, 9:30pm-12:30
SUN, SEP 18, Dixie Saloon, Mackinaw City, 9:30pm-12:30
It’s a good sign that Dixie is having me back, since getting a first chance there was very hard since they usually prefer to hire just a couple of solo entertainers on a regular frequency for less complicated scheduling. These gigs are clearly an “earn your job for next year” try-out, and I will do my best to do just that, since I like playing at this prestigious place, and it’s very nearby for me. Fall and winter there will be thin or non-existent, but it’s more about building name there for next year, and that’s still good, too.
This is the time of year when it starts getting lean for venue-night slots, and those hungrier career musicians hustle hard and stretch long to get those rarer gigs to keep their schedules decently full. I have a few leads which may land on short notice, but I would prefer to be a little busier than this, right now. If I could play three times a month in the off-season, that would be adequate, and I usually reach this amount or better, but this month doesn’t look very good. I may not have put in the necessary sales effort to have September be decent because of personal busyness and unexpected events of August (more on this later). It usually comes back around, but you never can know...
Past gigs were mostly good. Hoppie’s has been very good to me, and the great crowds have made it one of my favorite places to play. The busking street gig for St. Ignace’s Fab Friday was good, playing for passers-by, and the tip jar was very generous. My marina gig there also had a very nice tip jar, but that’s about the only good thing about it: I snapped two strings, and it started to rain, making me quit a half hour early. (I’ll never try to milk a third gig from the same set of strings in humid August ever again!...) The music festival at the Elkwood Campground in Wolverine had equally bad weather, but this event is really catching on in popularity, and there was a canopy with seats, so it was a really fun affair! I had left a weekend open for me and my wife to go on a 25th wedding anniversary trip, but she had to fly to Colorado because her mom was very sick, but just then, Kewadin Casinos called for me to fill in for two nights that weekend in Manistique. It was a far gig, 90 miles away, but I had nothing going anyway, and it worked out for me to give it a try. It ended up being a blast, and I hope I can play there a FEW more times, but not TOO much, since it is pretty hard to take on.
This month was littered with many unexpected events that messed up my plans quite a bit. As I mentioned earlier, my wife’s mother in Colorado went into kidney failure from years of congestive heart failure, so Deb had to fly to Colorado for almost 3 weeks to oversee her surgeries, treatments, financial matters, and getting her moved to a long-term care facility. While she was gone, my contractor decided to start the project of replacing 6 windows in my house, my daughter smashed a side mirror on my truck backing out of the garage, my garage door’s torsion spring broke, and I had to move my older daughter into the NMU dorms all by myself. Both my daughters were working, and needed rides to their summer jobs often, throughout it all, and I only had one vehicle (and sometimes NO vehicle), not to mention the extra household chores required of me. It was zany, and I have a new appreciation for single parents, that’s for sure!... It’s no wonder that I had no time to do sales stuff to get gig dates arranged for September. Deb is back now, with the second vehicle, and all the stuff I mentioned is done and fixed (except for Deb’s mom, who is terminal and does not have much longer to live), so things are much more settled, now. I have to work the Labor Day Bridge Walk, so I normally don’t gig that weekend, but it is a 12-hour day of double-and-a-half pay, and I definitely could use this extra cash. And, maybe a slow September would be a better thing, anyway!...
I got to see a couple local acts at St. Ignace’s Locals On The Bay, walking my dog on a couple Wednesday evenings. I wish I could give some rave reviews, but I really saw a couple clunkers this particular time. I saw Claudia Schiffer again, kind of folky, story-telling, corny act. She had some audience appeal to most of the older demographic, but I’m one of those that just doesn’t personally “get it”, I guess. It’s the kind of act you find at rootsy festivals and family settings, done by a bold, crazy old bohemian lady, doing children’s songs, acapella songs, storytelling banter, and playing unusual acoustic and percussion instruments. It’s different, but as I say, not my thing... I finally got a chance to see Toast And Jam, a Karaoke-style duo act with Bruce Kapla, out of Cheboygan. I’ve met Bruce and talked with him on a few occasions, in my travels, so I was hoping that I’d like this new project of his. It was basically him strumming and singing to a fully-produced recording, and another lady appearing to sing into a mic and holding some kind of unusual percussive instrument, not doing anything sonically detectable (since the recording really took over most of the mix). The chording guitar was hardly heard, too, and great singing could have maybe have carried this act, but it was nothing extra special. Putting it tactlessly, I suppose, judging it as a live act (as opposed to a DJ thing), I personally thought it was terrible, but they had many gigs performing at Mackinaw Crossings this year, so what do I know? Maybe this is just another act that I don’t personally “get” again, I guess!...
On the night of the rain-out of my marina gig, I decided to pack up and catch Will Springsteen down at Timmy Lee’s, this project being a duo with his sister, Kate, who sings. Just to show I’m not a “Piers Morgan / Simon Cowell” critic toward everything, I can happily say that this act was really good! Let it be known to all: Kate Springsteen has PIPES! Will was great, too, of course. Their selections were fresh and hip, they clearly enjoyed what they were doing, and the crowd loved them, too. This was Kate’s last gig before going back to college, Will told me on his break, so that’s unfortunate for us. Will and Nick Roberts will still be knocking around, though, apart and as Cedar Straits.
I hope I have enough to talk about next month, but we’ll see. Thanks for all that have come to my shows to make it a great summer season, and hope to see you soon!
–Gene.
SAT, SEP 10, Dixie Saloon, Mackinaw City, 9:30pm-12:30
SUN, SEP 18, Dixie Saloon, Mackinaw City, 9:30pm-12:30
It’s a good sign that Dixie is having me back, since getting a first chance there was very hard since they usually prefer to hire just a couple of solo entertainers on a regular frequency for less complicated scheduling. These gigs are clearly an “earn your job for next year” try-out, and I will do my best to do just that, since I like playing at this prestigious place, and it’s very nearby for me. Fall and winter there will be thin or non-existent, but it’s more about building name there for next year, and that’s still good, too.
This is the time of year when it starts getting lean for venue-night slots, and those hungrier career musicians hustle hard and stretch long to get those rarer gigs to keep their schedules decently full. I have a few leads which may land on short notice, but I would prefer to be a little busier than this, right now. If I could play three times a month in the off-season, that would be adequate, and I usually reach this amount or better, but this month doesn’t look very good. I may not have put in the necessary sales effort to have September be decent because of personal busyness and unexpected events of August (more on this later). It usually comes back around, but you never can know...
Past gigs were mostly good. Hoppie’s has been very good to me, and the great crowds have made it one of my favorite places to play. The busking street gig for St. Ignace’s Fab Friday was good, playing for passers-by, and the tip jar was very generous. My marina gig there also had a very nice tip jar, but that’s about the only good thing about it: I snapped two strings, and it started to rain, making me quit a half hour early. (I’ll never try to milk a third gig from the same set of strings in humid August ever again!...) The music festival at the Elkwood Campground in Wolverine had equally bad weather, but this event is really catching on in popularity, and there was a canopy with seats, so it was a really fun affair! I had left a weekend open for me and my wife to go on a 25th wedding anniversary trip, but she had to fly to Colorado because her mom was very sick, but just then, Kewadin Casinos called for me to fill in for two nights that weekend in Manistique. It was a far gig, 90 miles away, but I had nothing going anyway, and it worked out for me to give it a try. It ended up being a blast, and I hope I can play there a FEW more times, but not TOO much, since it is pretty hard to take on.
This month was littered with many unexpected events that messed up my plans quite a bit. As I mentioned earlier, my wife’s mother in Colorado went into kidney failure from years of congestive heart failure, so Deb had to fly to Colorado for almost 3 weeks to oversee her surgeries, treatments, financial matters, and getting her moved to a long-term care facility. While she was gone, my contractor decided to start the project of replacing 6 windows in my house, my daughter smashed a side mirror on my truck backing out of the garage, my garage door’s torsion spring broke, and I had to move my older daughter into the NMU dorms all by myself. Both my daughters were working, and needed rides to their summer jobs often, throughout it all, and I only had one vehicle (and sometimes NO vehicle), not to mention the extra household chores required of me. It was zany, and I have a new appreciation for single parents, that’s for sure!... It’s no wonder that I had no time to do sales stuff to get gig dates arranged for September. Deb is back now, with the second vehicle, and all the stuff I mentioned is done and fixed (except for Deb’s mom, who is terminal and does not have much longer to live), so things are much more settled, now. I have to work the Labor Day Bridge Walk, so I normally don’t gig that weekend, but it is a 12-hour day of double-and-a-half pay, and I definitely could use this extra cash. And, maybe a slow September would be a better thing, anyway!...
I got to see a couple local acts at St. Ignace’s Locals On The Bay, walking my dog on a couple Wednesday evenings. I wish I could give some rave reviews, but I really saw a couple clunkers this particular time. I saw Claudia Schiffer again, kind of folky, story-telling, corny act. She had some audience appeal to most of the older demographic, but I’m one of those that just doesn’t personally “get it”, I guess. It’s the kind of act you find at rootsy festivals and family settings, done by a bold, crazy old bohemian lady, doing children’s songs, acapella songs, storytelling banter, and playing unusual acoustic and percussion instruments. It’s different, but as I say, not my thing... I finally got a chance to see Toast And Jam, a Karaoke-style duo act with Bruce Kapla, out of Cheboygan. I’ve met Bruce and talked with him on a few occasions, in my travels, so I was hoping that I’d like this new project of his. It was basically him strumming and singing to a fully-produced recording, and another lady appearing to sing into a mic and holding some kind of unusual percussive instrument, not doing anything sonically detectable (since the recording really took over most of the mix). The chording guitar was hardly heard, too, and great singing could have maybe have carried this act, but it was nothing extra special. Putting it tactlessly, I suppose, judging it as a live act (as opposed to a DJ thing), I personally thought it was terrible, but they had many gigs performing at Mackinaw Crossings this year, so what do I know? Maybe this is just another act that I don’t personally “get” again, I guess!...
On the night of the rain-out of my marina gig, I decided to pack up and catch Will Springsteen down at Timmy Lee’s, this project being a duo with his sister, Kate, who sings. Just to show I’m not a “Piers Morgan / Simon Cowell” critic toward everything, I can happily say that this act was really good! Let it be known to all: Kate Springsteen has PIPES! Will was great, too, of course. Their selections were fresh and hip, they clearly enjoyed what they were doing, and the crowd loved them, too. This was Kate’s last gig before going back to college, Will told me on his break, so that’s unfortunate for us. Will and Nick Roberts will still be knocking around, though, apart and as Cedar Straits.
I hope I have enough to talk about next month, but we’ll see. Thanks for all that have come to my shows to make it a great summer season, and hope to see you soon!
–Gene.