Posted on

the Get-Go’s Action Hour!

We’re back on the road this week, opening for the Indigo Girls again.

18 Feb – Wilmington, DE
Grand Opera House
19 Feb – Cleveland, OH
the Agora
21 Feb – Iowa City, IA
Univ of Iowa, Memorial Union (SOLO)

See that big winter storm? The one shutting down the east coast? Yeah, that’s where we’re driving today. We probably won’t try to go up the coast as far as we originally planned tomorrow (DC) and instead will try to get as close as we can before hitting the storm and then stop and hope for better weather Tuesday. This is the first big trip in the new (used) van so everything feels dicey. It’s certainly a trial by ice for the girl, so wish us luck.

Meanwhile, I promised a photo of the van before, but first a little back story… I’ve had the idea in the back of my head for some time about the cartoon alter-ego of our band (called the Get-Go’s). It’d be a typical Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the mid-seventies about a band that gets thrown into another dimension and we have to find our way back home. Of course, the van we travel in becomes anthropomorphic once we’re in the other dimension, that goes without saying, I suppose. Along the way we fight space criminals, help those in need, and in general run in place against a background that keeps repeating. Oh, and rock this strange new universe.

Sure, it’s a joke. But that doesn’t mean we don’t already have a theme song:

Just another band on the road
just trying to make our own way
don’t wanna hurt no one
Then we found some crazy machine
and now it takes us to the
strangest places we’ve ever seen

The Get-Go’s!
The Get-Go’s!
Helping out whoever we can
The Get-Go’s!
The Get-Go’s!
Now the bad guys chasing us
won’t stay far away from us
Will we ever get back home?

Of course, the whole idea was just a vague notion until we found Penny…

Now it all seems so perfect. Look at that paint job!

Anyone here work for Hanna-Barbera?

Posted on

5 Feb: Atlanta

5 Feb – Eddie’s Attic (Atlanta, GA)
w/ John Austin, Susan Enan, Martyn Joseph

The night was run by Paste Music. We aren’t actually represented by them but they did feature a song from my CD on the CD sampler that went out with the second issue of their magazine (which is actually quite good). They are doing monthly nights at Eddie’s now, booking out of town acts and local acts. This show featured John Austin, Susan Enan, and Martyn Joseph (and myself and the band).

We played a bit of a sloppy show. Well, I did, and everyone else seemed to feel they had as well, but I didn’t really notice. It was good to have been asked to do the show, and the crowd was, for the most part, made up of people who had not seen us before. But when we went on we lost about half the crowd. We were last and following Martyn and Susan who had just done sets of very impressive and subtle folk (John had a great set, too, but I’m trying to make a point). So I think we were a bit jarring, even though I tried to build a softer set. Well, not as if we’re very hard to begin with, but we’re definitely an electric band. So, while people came up and were complimentary after the show, no one signed up and the CDs I sold were to someone I know. So we gained no one new. We did debut a new song, the first one worked up by the band. It was a little rough but I think it’ll be a good one.

I did talk with Todd a little before the show about booking, though, and about the need to get AAA fans out to see bands they don’t know. I’m looking at a tentative opening slot for Michelle Malone in March. Which is exactly what I think you have to have to gain AAA fans… you have to open for the people they WILL go see. If I could score another opening slot similar to the Indigo Girls shows it would do wonders for us overall. I just need a way to find the people who like the sort of thing we do, a way to sneak in under their radar and win them over before they know what’s happening.

Posted on

updates

About two weeks ago I went by Daemon and just chatted. I asked questions about what was going on and how they felt about things. I found out that playing in the band makes my guitarist happy. I found out that the label feels like the CD did very well for them. They did have to repress it, after all, which is always a good thing.

Amy sent out a few packages last week. I don’t expect anything will come from it, but it’s a nice gesture if nothing else. She and Andrea talked a little about me at their last meeting and her advice, basically, was “make more records.” Which I also take to mean they want to put them out, that being sort of implied. One thing that IS certain is that if they put out the next one the budget will be very small. They couldn’t have afforded to pay for the recording on the most recent CD, and I can’t afford to do that again myself. So the next CD will need to be planned out in advance and recorded quickly and efficiently. I have a couple of options for recording, one of which I already know I could afford. But the other happens to be Rob who recorded my last two CDs and I really like what comes out of our relationship in the studio. But I don’t think he’ll be able to record the next CD with what I can afford to pay. The option that I know I can afford is also intriguing for the potentially different sound I would end up with there.

It’s all early right now, I don’t even have enough songs at the moment. I only have half of them written, and another 3 or 4 floating around in my head waiting to be written. I can’t imagine recording before late this year at the earliest. So there’s time to sort this all out.

Meanwhile, I remain unemployed. I made an attempt to talk about what happened with my last client which was received well but no conversation has taken place yet. So I’ll probably have to press the issue, because it’s leaving me hanging right now. My financial situation right now is not good and will come to a head within the next two weeks unless something miraculous happens. Basically, once I get back from the two dates opening for the Indigo Girls I will be in big trouble.