Well, things went as usual this week in Hipsterville, though I got there exceedingly late. We swiftly moved through the final three songs, so everything is sort of sketched out now. It’s funny how this has come together, we simply came up with the songs in the order they’ll appear on the record. For the concept of it (without going into too much detail, it’s in the form of a conversation of sorts) the fact that we did it this way works really well, because in the earlier songs our styles are more distinct, but gradually they become less so, you can hear them merging into something else. Starting next week we’ll actually demo them out, which I assume will include working on the lyrics.
5 Jul: Atlanta
the Earl (Atlanta, GA)
w/ Nillah, What The?!
This weekend brought an all new musically experience into my life.
I locked myself out of the van before the show.
Which serves as a fine microcosm for the show. I had actually been offered a show on this night at 10 High (where we’re playing next week, the show date I eventually took) but turned it down because immediately after holidays this town is dead. I suppose it has to do with Atlanta being such a city of non-natives, so they’re all out of town for the big days. At any rate, recently Lyle, my bass player who has his own band called What The?! asked if I could fill a slot on the bill at the Earl on the 5th. Being Lyle I agreed. All expectations about turnout proved to be true and we played to a crowd of about 20. Worse, the crowd actually diminished during the set, which (I feel lucky to say) hasn’t happened in a while. I played a spectacularly sloppy show, fueled by the lack of a crowd and the lack of an open van.
Anyway, it could have been worse, there could have still been equipment in the van when I locked myself out. Frankly, this story is the most interesting thing about the show. Someone at the club pulled aside one of the two guys watching the parking lot, who also happened to have recently been released from prison for stealing a car, to see if he could get in. But apparently Penny is impervious to even the skilled and retained her secrets. I tipped him anyway, though, needless to say. Eventually AAA came while I was playing the show, and Sarah dangled the keys at me from the crowd to let me know all was once again well.
20, 22 Jun: Atlanta
Friday, June 20 – Eddie’s Attic (Atlanta, GA)
Sunday, June 22 – Sweet Melissa’s (Atlanta, GA)
w/ Matthew Kahler, et al.
So, on Wednesday I got an email from Eddie’s Attic, asking for a phone number Todd (the owner) could use to get in touch with me about playing a show. I had sort of been hipped to the fact that they might call about a last minute fill-in by another employee there who was at the benefit show. She has been doing extensive work plying my name around the club, and I’d mention her by name but I hesitate to when she doesn’t know she’s being mentioned. Booking names and owners are a matter of public record, so that doesn’t seem such a big deal.
Anyway, I gave them a number and later he called. The show was the early show on Friday. On the weekend Eddie’s has two shows, an early one, with one act, all ages, and then a second show usually with two acts. So, I was going to be playing a show with no other act on the bill on 48 hours notice. He knew what a weird spot it was to be in and also booked a July show at the same time as a sort of ‘thank you.’ So, I put the word out, hoping if I could draw some sort of crowd when they were expecting none, that’d look exceptionally good.
Fifty people came. On 48 hours notice. I know most of you won’t know whether that’s good, relatively speaking, so I assure you it was great. It filled the tables and the riser in back. Todd seemed very happy with the turn out and said he could see me headlining there soon, he could see me heading that way. It may seem like faint praise, but it was a nice thing to say.
As far as the show goes, for an hour and a half show solo it went surprisingly well. Chris played a stripped down drum kit for a little over half the set, which was good. We didn’t practice it at all… you sort of figure, you know, you’re in a band, you know the songs, and then halfway through one suddenly it would occur to me I had no idea how we’d end it, or what we’d do during the bridge, or something similar. But Chris was great about jumping into whatever I threw at him. I was a little phlegmy the first few songs, having broken my usual rule not to eat for a couple of hours beforehand (I ate one fry. I was starving. And I paid for it). There was great crowd response and good banter between myself and them. It was probably looser than it should have been, but with an hour and a half to play I sort of preferred it that way.
After the show Blake Guthrie, who was working the door, asked if I could come play a benefit show on Sunday for the lead singer of a local band called Rosa Believe. We’ve actually played a show with them before and I had heard about the benefit just a few days beforehand, so I agreed. It was also in Decatur at some new restaurant on the square. There isn’t much to tell about it, I was only there to play a couple of songs. The main thing was that Matthew Kahler was there and after I finished he came up and was really nice about my songs. He went on next and played a few and before I left I went up to talk to hi a little and he complemented me again and said he really wanted to try to do something somehow, together… book a tour or something, that we could really make people feel something. So I told him to email me and that I’d be up for anything. The one thing he said that I thought was really nice was, “You could go anywhere with what you do.”