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07:43 p.m.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25th; LENEXA KS – Okay. This is officially RIDICULOUS:
I have killed yet another vehicle.
The Benchmark Records Dodge Ram Van that has been taking me around the country on and off again since April of this year decided a week ago today to retire its transmission to that great big engine block in the sky. In Minneapolis, of all places. It decided to do this as I was on my way to find an ATM machine. To withdraw cash so I could close my bank account. Because not an hour before said van committed said transmission to said ethereal resting place, I found out that I am the latest in a growing number of IDENTITY THEFT cases. Someone used my account to rent two vehicles at a location in California last week. Given the subsequent events following this discovery, one might wonder if this was just a psychic friend trying to do me a favor… you know, just getting a rental car ready for me seeing as how the van was about to kick off… but alas, not so. :(
It is here that I start crowing about Vicki Logan and Justin Roth. Justin I have mentioned before on the site; he’s an incredibly talented touring songwriter I met last year on the road, and he’s getting quite a bit of attention right now for his song “She Dances”. We’d talked about getting together if we were ever in the same city at the same time, and it happened that he had some time off the road as I was passing through the Twin Cities, so I showed up at a gig of his, and he was aweseome enough to let me sit in and do a couple songs of my own. This man has a heart of gold. Then he let me crash at his place, and we stayed up until three in the morning, drinking scotch and comparing notes on this nutty lifestyle we’ve both chosen. The next day is when the van died, and Justin was ready to let me camp out as long as I needed to sort things out…
…but luckily, I didn’t need to take him up on that just then, because Vicki Logan came to the rescue. Vicki is the Just Plain Folks Chapter Coordinator for the Twin Cities, and a seriously accomplished instrumental music artist in her own right, and she had booked me a couple shows on short notice just weeks before to help me break into the area. I was due to make the trip up to Chisago City on Monday night to stay with her family and do a gig there on Tuesday. Chisago City is about 45 minutes north of the Twin Cities, it should be noted, and when I let her know what had happened to the van, she didn’t bat an eye; her husband Karl came down and picked me up about an hour later. I spent Monday night, all day Tuesday, and most of Wednesday with the Logans, and I would like to nominate them all for sainthood for putting up with me for that long! Vicki was happy to cart me around, lend me her PA for my show (that she booked), feed me, and let me do laundry in her home… and then she drove me back down to Minneapolis, let me fill her brand new car with all the crap I had to salvage from the van, and drove me to Justin’s before taking me to the open mic feature she booked for me. Once back at Justin’s, I spent the night repacking everything I could in order to get within the airline baggage limits, slept for two hours, and then Justin drove me to MSP airport, where I flew to Indianapolis, rented a car, took a nap, and promptly went out for drinks with Nora Spitznogle, former manager of the now-defunct CATH Coffeehouse, and one of the few people I know that have cause to be as generally stressed as I am. :) After a slightly more restful evening of shut-eye, I woke up the next day and drove. To Wichita, Kansas. For roughly ten hours. And then I played a show at the Borders there. And THEN… I drove back to Kansas City. And then I slept for a good long while.
Saturday night I played at the Westport Coffeehouse in Kansas City, and that turned out to be a fun show, which I really needed for my mental well-being. Now I have a few days to take stock and regroup before I play my first-ever shows in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend, and then take my first stab at the state of Iowa next week.
The point, my friends, is that there’s NEVER a dull moment. Stay tuned for the next update… at this rate, there’s no telling what unlikely happenstance will come my way!
08:02 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15th; MILWAUKEE WI -- I can’t seem to get into a rhythm as far as updating this thing… it’s probably because I spend so much of my computer time doing booking… *sigh*.... So now, on the most unlikely of evenings for a musician to be sitting in a café updating his road journal; a Friday night, here I am.
I’m in Milwaukee. Last night I played a show as the opener at Linneman’s Tavern. I opened for… nobody. The club never booked a HEADLINER… I played to four people at best, and to one person at the slowest point.
But it was OKAY… you’d think that would crush me, but it really didn’t. I’ve always hypothesized that I would rather play to one person who’s actually listening than to a thousand people who couldn’t care less, and this proved it. This guy was supercool, and he was very appreciative, and I played for him like I’d play to a full room, and he told me how much he dug it, and that made the whole thing worthwhile. When I finished a tune, he didn’t just sit there and stare blankly, or try to fade into the furniture. He clapped like he was clapping along with an arena. And I gave right back to him.
Now of course I want to expand my audience here, and hopefully that’s what will happen tomorrow night when I play at the BBC… a downtown venue in the heart of the meat market bars where the front room is a sports bar, the rest of the downstairs is a dance floor, and they put the bands upstairs in a separate room where you have to pay a separate cover to get in. Ideally this eliminates people who aren’t there to listen to live music… we’ll see how it shapes up… fingers crossed.
The past month has been up and down as well… I’ve had some great shows in upstate NY, Northampton, Jersey, DC, Cincinnati, and at some colleges out here in the Midwest. The support I’ve seen at these shows has been amazing, and it’s what keeps me going… especially when other shows can be so heartbreaking…
…but I’m gonna focus on the positive, and to my mind, the best is yet to come. One person or one thousand, I will continue to put my best foot forward, and those of you that choose to come out and see a show won’t be disappointed.
06:19 p.m.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, 2004; SYRACUSE NY -- My first day off, and almost a week since the release of "Conduit". And I am spending my evening with some good friends in Syracuse at, of all events, a poetry reading. I haven't put my thoughts down as poetry (as opposed to lyrics) in YEARS, but I have a lot of affinity for careful and intelligent wordcraft. I mean, I played in a RAP band for two years; I walked away from Vertical Horizon; I have some small standard somewhere in there about the bare minimum of lyrical relevence and/or skillful delivery thereof. (My apologies to fans of Matt for that last statement, but he's even said himself that he prides himself on making his lyrics general and ambiguous so he can have a wider appeal...) Lyrics and verse in general are an artistic consideration I don't take lightly, and it's something I strive to constantly improve at in my own material; the quality of my communication.
But as I probably alluded to in that last statement, I am realizing here at this reading that I have a bias: though there is definitely a high level of talent here, it's not altogether what really reaches me... I think I've been spoiled over the past few years, in my travels, as I've gotten to experience some of the finest slam poetry I've ever heard by some people that, the more I take in, the more I realize are true geniuses, and deserve some recognition. You don't HAVE to deliver a poem in a slam style for it to be valid, and conversely, delivering an inappropriate work as a slam can sound really trite. I guess the slam scene as a whole attracts the cream of the poetic crop though, because anywhere in the country I've been, it's been the slam poets that have stopped me cold; transfixed me and made me forget about whatever I was reading, drinking, whatever... Even though they tend to deliver much faster than traditional poets (though not always), the best slam poets deliver the words like the best singer/songwriters; you hang off of EVERY WORD, and their delivery can be so intense that they can literally keep your body under their control.
My friend Josh Shear read a particularly poignant piece tonight concerning the anniversary of 9/11, and being a veteran of the old Northampton Fire And Water Cafe scene, he's influenced by that style, and moreso than the Featured Poet I'm listening to now, he had the room in the palm of his hand. Just a thought. You go, Josh.
In an hour I have to go find someplace quiet so I can do a phone interview with Blue Lou McCracken and Janitor Bob, hosts of The Show That Jane Likes on KWTS 91.1 in Canyon Texas at West Texas A&M University. These guys rock. I met them through my touring with Rodney Branigan back in 2002, and they are a breath of fresh air in the world of radio; college or otherwise. Irreverent and tasteful, if I had my way, they'd be heading up Infinity and Clear Channel and breaking down both companies from within. They're also both funny as hell, and I can't wait to talk to them. I don't know if they record or archive this sort of stuff, but here's their website!
http://www.tstjl.8m.com/
So... I guess I'm supposed to continue my update... I've played five Borders stores so far, and I think I've hit my rhythm. Victor was cool; my friend Sarah drove up from Keuka to say hey, and she was the only person I knew in the audience, but it seemed the people who just happened to be there were enjoying it, and that's a good feeling. The staff there was also, quite possibly, the nicest I've ever met. :]
Afterwards, Sarah and I went back to the Paradigm Cafe to catch the tail end of Open Mic. My purpose for attending was to catch Adrian, one of the cafe's managers, performing some of his original material. I'm glad I did, as he sounded fantastic. He did, however, guilt me into doing two songs to close out the night. I will confess, much to the chagrin of some fans out there, I'm sure... that I closed the night with "Ripening Time", that elusive track that didn't make it onto "Conduit". I did it because Adrian is an even bigger Prince fan than I am (he broke into Paisley Park to meet him. Shoot; I can't top that!) ...and it is becoming a greater and greater inevitability that said song will appear on an EP sometime in 2005... ;)
FLASHBACK! I left Louisville, which took far longer than I'd originally anticipated (thanks for dinner, Heidi and Neal!) and drove quietly and politely across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and a third of Colorado before arriving west of Denver in Lakewood. There I met up with Tim and Milton from Sol'Jibe, who I was to play a show with at the Ironworks Brew Pub. It was a fun night, largely due to the celebrity appearance of Rodney and Erin Branigan, in town early for two important reasons: Rodney was due to play there in a few days, and The Branigans were being nice enough to loan their Ford Focus to Sol'Jibe, who's RV had just blown a rod (huh huhuh huh huh huh... I just said bl- Never mind...) Anyway, despite a hot and cold reception from a hot and cold crowd, we decided to enjoy ourselves, and we did, no matter the temperature we were subjected to. Highlights were the tunes Sol'Jibe and I played together.... I'm just gonna say it: we grooved like motherfuckers. :)
-Seth
06:02 a.m.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, 2004; ROCHESTER NY -- Day two back out on the road… yesterday I arrived in Henrietta (just south of Rochester) to play two gigs: one at the Borders store and one later at the newly opened Paradigm Café, located about six minutes away. The Borders show was alright; I played to a café full of people meeting for some kind of magic tricks club, as well as a few casual listeners, and one old school fan who couldn’t make it out to the Paradigm show because of work the next day. All things considered, the gig was pleasant enough, but nobody seemed too too interested…
Which is why it was nice to get to the Paradigm and play for an hour and a half to a small but attentive room full of great friends and fans. The Paradigm Café used to be called the Blue Sunday Coffeehouse, and it was run by the same family. When it closed a few years ago, I still made it pretty faithfully to Rochester via R.I.T. and Nazareth College, and it was nice to see people from both of those contingencies tonight, especially since I’m not playing either of those schools this semester…
…but I digress; when Blue Sunday closed, the collective “Agggh!!” let out by scores of musicians and faithful music afficianados was so loud I actually heard it all the way in Buffalo. The place is truly remarkable, and seeing it go was totally depressing. So when I heard it was re-opening under a new name this fall, I hurried to try and set something up, and it worked out. The new design and feel of the place reminds me a lot of the old café, but it’s even better. Once they get their beer and wine license the place is gonna be out of control. I’m excited for them. :)
So yeah; it was a good mix of old and new audience members, so I played a good mix of old and new material… 2 from “…this is the session.” ,4 from Notwithstanding, 5 from Conduit… some requests in there as well. I’m making a concerted effort to keep a good mix of the catalog in the set every night, and I’m switching out songs more and more often… There are only two cuts from Conduit that are definites in the set every night; all the other songs come and go… it keeps it more interesting for me, and I can play to the rooms I’m dealing with as they come.
Okay; flashback number one… to ONE and a half months ago. Not TWO, as was pointed out to me. Okay… I’m a bass player; obviously nobody said I could count.
Who knew I’d like hanging out in Nashville so much? I was there for the Summer NAMM show, and reconnected with a lot of friends (notably the Animators, who I ended up playing a song of theirs with at a midnight recording session, Brad Passons, Kara Langer, and Rodney Branigan)… also got to hang with Chris from Korg, who is always a gentleman, a scholar, and a hell of a computer repair technician… (so where ma new logo at, man??)
The last day I spent in Nashville was probably my busiest; I played the Bluebird Café open mic (which I found out you can WATCH my performance from… details below), then went and got on a list at the Sutler open mic, but couldn’t stay long enough to play, because I had a showcase slot down at 12th & Porter in downtown Nash-vegas.
….or rather, I THOUGHT I had a slot at 12th & Porter. It seems setting up the night with the BMI representative over a month and a half in advance doesn’t mean that person will still WORK for BMI by the time the show occurs, and subsequently does not mean anyone will call the venue to tell them you’re coming to the BMI-sponsored showcase… Yeah… I was the victim of a corporate job-flopper. Anyway, I freaked out. I had the most people I’ve ever brought to a show of mine in Nashville at this club, and they were just like “Sorry man; you’re not on the list; nobody told us anything.” Luckily, the host seemed to take pity on my plight, and I got to go dead LAST. And though every other act that night had taken between fifteen and twenty minutes to do two songs apiece, the soundmen moaned and complained when I decided to plug in my loop pedal for some extended “Saturate” action. What a bunch of dicks. Aside from the host, I mean… who I don’t think actually worked at the club. Come to think of it, the waitress was a bitch too… What a lot to put people through just to play two songs for them! So indeed: a big thank you to everyone who stayed to see me play… that meant a lot. :]
Louisville was at Clifton’s Pizza for one of Heidi Howe’s legendary One Night Stands. I BARELY made it to this gig on time. In fact, I didn’t. It never fails to surprise me when Nashville and Indianapolis are sometimes in the same time zone, that Louisville (between them on I-65) is in the EASTERN time zone… one… hour… later. Yeah. So I hauled ASS. And made it for 95% of the show, and we had fun. No artificially processed meat products were employed at any point during the show though… for those who read my emailer… ;) I’ll continue my story shortly…
TO SEE ME PLAY "ANONYMITY" LIVE AT THE BLUEBIRD CAFE, GO TO http://www.eyecentric.com CLICK ON "BLUEBIRD CAFE", SELECT OPEN MIC JULY 26th, AND WHEN REAL PLAYER OPENS, SKIP AHEAD TO ABOUT 49 MINUTES IN. IT'S PRETTY GOOD, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF! ;)
11:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th; BUFFALO NY -- That might be a record, folks... Two and a half MONTHS between journal entries. NOT COOL!! I am so sorry to those that look forward to checking this page... that's a total drag, and I will attempt to make it better...
Okay. Can we talk about something? Please? Like maybe the fact that
MY BRAND NEW RECORD CAME OUT IN STORES NATIONWIDE YESTERDAY??
Whoooo! What a great feeling! I mean, when Notwithstanding was re-released, it got into stores... slooooooowwwwwly. ...sometimes months later than we planned. But ever since Benchmark has been working with RED distribution, the world of record retail is a far less frustrating place, and I played my album release show this past evening at Borders Books and Music in my old hometown of Buffalo New York. And they HAD my CDs in stock. And people bought 'em! Oh my God! The system really DOES work! =D
So thank you to the family, friends, and family friends that came out to see me... I hope you enjoy the record! (and a note to the family friends -- don't listen to "Family" and get the wrong idea... maybe check the lyrics page for that one... ;)
I'm looking forward to this string of Borders stores I'll be playing all this week and part of next week... if it goes well, we'll be trying to intersperse in-store appearances like that at other stores around the country, so fingers are crossed...
I am going to provide an overview of what's been going on these past two months, from Nashville back in June to Nashville just this past weekend, but for fear of falling behind again on current events, I will give the Reader's Digest version of some things here:
-Nashville is cool; I'm now a big fan.
-Sol'Jibe is looking for an RV, if anyone's selling...
-The Arizona-and-beyond Tour with Justin Simison was great...
-Albuquerque is frickin'HOT this time of year...
-The Midwest Music Summit was the Bomb with Fins
-Utica still loves me :)
-New York City for the first time in over two years, and it was better than I could have dreamed... and then the van got towed.
-Ed Toth and I (aka "the best rhythm section in Massachussetts when we both happen to be there") laid down tracks for Justin Simison's upcoming record in Beantown.
...and so much more... but first, on to Rochester, and to play at the Paradigm Cafe, which used to be the Blue Sunday Coffeehouse, which used to be so cool it was downright COLD, and is apparently that way again.
-Seth
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