What Cheer, Netop?

I was feeling crummy tonight -- I think the result of some bad pizza at lunch -- so I decided to go to an open mike tonight.

This is possibly not quite as dumb as it sounds. Before the Bad Pizza Incident I had plans with cgoldfish, but she fell prey to the same pizza I did, so the plans got cancelled. So I settled in for an evening of watching Lost and eating candy, when it occurred to me that (a) maybe I should eat something more healthy than candy and (b) Chris Monti had mentioned he was going to the open mike at Tazza and that the Tazza open mike was pretty good. So I figured I'd head over there, have a sandwich, and play my set.

Last time I ate at Tazza, which was maybe a year and a half ago, it was pretty disappointing -- the food took a long time to arrive, then was cold and not very good, even though the place wasn't busy at all -- but tonight it was much more satisfying. I got a pesto chicken sandwich and it was good.

I signed up to be the first performer, which for whatever reason most people avoid. Performers got two songs each (most open mikes give you three, but it's somewhat variable), and I ended up playing two covers: Tommy Johnson's Big Road Blues and Blind Willie McTell's That'll Never Happen No More. The woman who organizes the open mike, Becky Chace encouraged me to return and asked if I had brought any CDs to sell, which I had not, because I still have trouble remembering that I am a semi-professional musician.

The way it works at this open mike is that there are a few open slots at the beginning of the night (starting around quarter to 9), then there's a featured artist, then Becky Chace herself plays for a little while, then there are some more open slots. Chris had the second slot in the second group of open slots, and I had planned/hoped to stay to hear him play. In the event I ended up wimping out in the middle of the set before him and took off, because I was feeling pretty crummy. But I was there long enough to hear a bunch of the performers (including the featured artist, whose name I forget, and Becky), and they were generally good -- there was one performer I didn't care for but I liked everyone else (and one consequence of the ten-minute rule is that the performances go by pretty quick, so there's always something new to hear).

Becky asked if I was going to return and I think I will in a couple of weeks. (Next week I'll be in DC.) Chris Monti suggested that if I play there a few times I might be able to get a featured artist slot, which I think might be a good alternative to the other venues I was posting about the other week -- among other things it would be free. So we'll see how that goes. (Also, next time I will try to play some original songs and to remember to bring some CDs to sell.)

So, yeah, I will probably go back to the Tazza open mike in a couple of weeks, which is to say Wednesday the 17th. If anyone's interested in accompanying me let me know.

Maybe I should go to bed now.

Here is an annotated message from West Side Arts.

Hey Jake, Liz and Eric!

(Liz is Liz Stahler and Eric is Eric Fontana They are the other two artists performing on Monday.)

This is to let you know that we are going to have you play "in the round" on Monday. Just in case you are not familiar with the concept, (and I am sure you are, just covering all the bases) you will all be on stage at once, taking turns doing a song a piece.

(I've never played a show like this before and I am not sure how to prepare for it, so this freaks me out a little.)

I personally love watching artists perform this way, it adds such a dynamic to everyone's performance! You will have a full hour to perform from 9:00-10:00.

(This translates to 3-4 songs each, I think. The big question: do I bring the accordion, or should I just do all guitar pieces?)

Get there early (preferably 8) for a sound check and set-up. We have a band after your performance so this will be a great evening packed with music!! 

(The fact that they don't say who the band is, and don't have anything on their website about it, makes me wonder if they've booked the band yet. Update: It turns out I was wrong about this -- Steve says that it's 'Derek Wagner's Band' which I think is this one.)

I also want to invite you to a film showing happening before the show. It is called Invisible Children. It is a story of a war in Ugnada that has lasted for 20 years. Children are being recruited and forced to do battle with other children. This film is to raise awareness and resources to help end this. It starts at 6:30, it would gbe great if you could attend!

(I might do this, although I should probably eat dinner instead.)

See you soon!
Steve

(It will be fine, this is just me being nervous.)

because as predicted I am starting to crash. Tiiiired!

I think there were a total of about 20 or 21 people there (including me and the other performers), a mixture of friends of mine, friends of djswifty's, relatives of one or the other of ours, and some other miscellaneous people (my downstairs neighbor, etc.). I think that this is quite likely the most people who have ever been in my apartment at the same time!

I went on first and did about a dozen songs, mostly originals (or songs where someone else wrote the lyrics which I then set to music). Watching Killer Robots Eat Your Head was a big favorite, and "Pumpkin, Mrs Farnsworth" also got a nice reaction. The set list was something like this:

1. Waterbugs
2. Kitten Knitting Blues
3. Ezra's Song
4. Watching Killer Robots Eat Your Head
5. Tear My Stillhouse Down (with Chris Monti on backing vocals)
6. Hybrid Car (with Chris Monti on harmonica)
7. Molesting Yarn
8. I'm A Guy
9. Pickle Postcards
10. "Pumpkin, Mrs Farnsworth"
11. Walking Stick Making

There was a little break, and then Chris Monti played a set for 45 minutes or so; he had me come up to play the piano on a few songs ('Me and Curby', 'The Local Expatriate', and 'Leaving In The Morning'). Then it was MC Copulation time. His parents were among those attending, so he was entertainingly embarassed about singing about his penis with them there.

Having the show in my apartment worked pretty well. MC Copulation was in danger of colliding with one of the light fixtures (because he's over six feet tall), but he didn't, so that was OK. I sort of made a mess of distributing the chairs, but people figured out their own solutions to this problem.

Also, I made some CDs this morning of random recordings I've made over the past couple of years and sold five of them for $5 each. I have a couple left over.

My wrists feel totally fine right now for some reason. Who knows?

At the end of the night djswifty carted away all my old MST3K tapes, so that's one less thing I have to find room for!

Anyway, it seemed like everyone had a good time. I certainly did!

Sleep time now. Good night!

Thanks to everyone who showed up and especially to djswifty and Chris Monti for performing and for helping make it all happen.

I've been up since 5 AM and I'm so wired I might not be able to get to sleep for a while yet! (On the other hand once the adrenaline rush goes down I may suddenly feel an urgent need to sleep. Which reminds me that I should clear all the stuff off my bed.)

Woohoot!

West Side Arts informs me and one of the other performers tomorrow:

Hi Andrea and John[sic],

I am sorry to say that we are going to have to postpone the show for tomorrow. We are no longer able to use the columbus theater. You will be the first to be notified and rescheduled when we regroup and find a new location. Again my sincere apologies. It is out of our control. I feel terrible about this decision, but we have no other choice.

But to hell with it, I'm going to do a show anyway.

Right now I think it will be at my apartment, which isn't too much smaller than the place at the Columbus Theater that we'd be performing in anyway. I will arrange to get a soundman and sound system, etc. (If any of you know of another place we could have the show that might be better let me know.) My apartment's at 561 Public Street in Providence; I'll post directions later if we determine that it will be here.

I am not sure whether to keep the show at 9 pm or move it up an hour until 8 pm. If any of you are (or were) planning to come and have an opinion on the matter, please let me know.

I have not talked to anyone about this yet, but I expect that djswifty (aka MC Copulation) will also be performing; I'm not sure if anyone else will be.

I will post again later when things are a bit more settled.

Sorry for the confusion and any inconvenience.

First, the reminder:

Chris Monti and I will be playing at the Providence Street Painting Festival on Saturday September 24 (postponed from last weekend), weather permitting.

Assuming the lineup is the same as it was supposed to be last week, Chris will be playing a short solo set at 1:30 pm and then he and I will play together for an hour starting at 5 pm. It will be at the Bank of America Skating Arena downtown (the same place as roller derby). The festival seems like a neat idea and worth checking out.

Next, the bad news:

I had booked my cousin David to play on October 1 (along with me and Andrea Lafazia) at West Side Arts. Unfortunately, he won't be able to make it.

Finally, the good news:

djswifty a.k.a. Stephen Swift a.k.a. MC Copulation has agreed to step in and play that night. West Side Arts hasn't given their signoff on this substitution yet, but if all goes well (and I am crossing my fingers, which makes it difficult to type) he'll be making his Providence debut, which will be really awesome if it happens. Watch this space for updates!

Also, I need a haircut.

I heard back from West Side Arts just now. They have booked me for October 1 at 9 pm.

After some correspondence with the westsideARTS folks, it turns out that the show will start at 9 pm (not 8:30 pm as I had thought) and that I should show up around 8 pm or so to set up and do a soundcheck.

Anyone want to go for dinner at 6:30 or so? (This is tomorrow, Saturday September 3.) Maybe the Red Fez or someplace West End-y?

It's almost upon us!

Where: West Side Arts in the Columbus Theater. [directions]

When: Saturday September 3 at 8:30 pm.

Who: Me

I haven't succeeded in finding anyone to split the bill with me, so it will just be me. I've actually played a three-hour show by myself before so this should work out OK, although I would have preferred to only play an hour or so. (If anyone knows of any musicians who would want to play part of the show please put them in touch with me.)

I'm hoping to concentrate on stuff I've written or collaborated on, so I'll do Pickle Postcards (written for margo_virago), Kitten Knitting Blues, and other songs along those lines. I'll also do some cover songs. I hope you all can make it!

Does anyone in Providence want to go out for a drink tonight? This heat is killing me.

Oh, for the rest of the evening: I went to Fall Rivers to the open mike at the Narrows Center for the Arts. Chris Monti played first, I played second, and then the featured act, a guitar/fiddle duo who were quite good, performed. Then I went home because I was feeling a little ill from the heat and there was no air conditioning.

Chris played a couple of originals -- 'cats' and 'King Solomon and Zen Master Nam Cheon' -- and a Dylan tune, sounding good as usual. I played a Blind Willie McTell song ('That'll Never Happen No More'), an original ('Lady Luck'), and a Chris Monti tune ('Thorn In Your Side'). I kind of screwed up the last tune and felt acutely self-conscious during all three songs, but overall I think it went pretty OK -- as I was leaving some dude said I sounded good and asked me about the McTell song.

I gotta practice up if I'm going to play at westsideARTS next month!

Anyway. Drink! Tonight! Anyone?

Update: I'm gonna pick up cgoldfish and head to Trinity Brewhouse. Join us if you dare!

Update #2: I'm back home. Ah, air conditioning.