Mini-Procrastination

Old Crazy Eye. I call it mini-procrastination, and it is the most evil kind. Right now I probably should be packing, or going to Wal-Mart for provisions for the trek west or something (2 yoke, 4 oxen, and 14 pounds of butter). Except I am still staring at my inbox and my phone. I'm like the guy in Groundhog Day, where every morning I wake up freaked out that I am SO BEHIND because booking is like this: you book one gig, you do a little dance, then you look at the rest of the empty days on the calendar and you slump a little. So even though I just booked a gig for March 2011, and we are discussing plans as far out as May 2011, I am freaking out about July 2010. There is no prolonged joy in this job if you are a perfectionist mini-procrastinator. I say mini-procrastination because it's not like I put this stuff off for weeks or days. I chip away at it and that's what you're supposed to do. You make calls, you email people, you wait. I DID spend most of today thinking that I should be getting around to working (the joys of working at home, I guess). So as the day wore on I convinced myself I was soooo behind, that there were no more gigs ever to be had ever, and that I might as well apply at Starbucks. When I finally sat down, sorted emails, made some calls, checked up on things...I realized that I am where I am supposed to be, can't humanly do more, and am doing ok. But that didn't stop my little mini-procrastination fit from FREAKING ME OUT. Sigh. And I will wake up tomorrow morning and have the same freak out, even though I worked all afternoon, hence I am SO Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. But this is not a complaint blog, no. Because I looove the little fireworks of successes I get every day. And the connections I get to make in my brain between maps and miles and venues and dates. I know a lot of jobs don't give instant gratification like that, and I like me some instant and I like my instant NOW. I just thought I'd remind myself in blog form that IT WILL ALL WORK OUT like it always does so that when I wake up tomorrow I'll chill. Excited to head to Montana! It's hot here.

Find the Mojo

Sometimes, various self-help advice tells you to act the part of what you are trying to achieve, or visualize it, or do something to kind of make what you desire become tangible for you while you try to achieve it. I have to get tough when I'm booking, seeking out places and knowing I walk in to the situation with a winning hand, and treat people accordingly. Polite, but accordingly. So one day I dressed like a hood trainrobber. And then I had the gold rimmed aviators/black fedora look. Which is surprisingly handy for keeping things on your head when you have nowhere else to put them. Like an atlas. Those photos were about 2 weeks apart, I just happened to be wearing the same shirt, I swear. I don't have a lucky booking shirt. I also acquired a shiny gold cap gun to go with the 2nd look, just for effect. (None of this would have gone over well at my old government job, especially the fake gun, haha).

May May May

BLOGGING! Yes I still do it, just infrequently. What has been going on? - I have been booking in earnest to complete our June/July tour from Texas to Montana to South Dakota to back. I have never booked in South Dakota before, and while it is one of my home states, it's...big, and maybe not so hot on folk music. But the thing about a good singer-songwriter is they fit in anywhere, you just have to find a stage and some ears. I'm working on finding the stages at the moment. Look real close and you'll see a scar on Susan's arm. We didn't really know until earlier this month if Susan's arm would be out-of-state giggable by June, but she is doing SO GREAT with the playing. You would not even know that she had surgery to put in 2 plates and 11 pins and had her wrist put back together a mere 3 months ago. Bones are amazing, because clearly they will snap if you move them wrong...but they also seem to go back together and get back in the game pretty fast. Humans are hearty. - We are probably on mixing round...3? We sent our tracks to Phil in Dallas who mixed my last EP...he is great to work with and we just bounce back and forth...he sends a mix, we say, "MORE MANDOLIN!" and then he does that and we say, "GOOD!" He does an amazing job, as I liken sending a bunch of rough tracks (as many as 23 files for one tune) to sending someone a box of paint colors and telling them to have at it. Then they give you something using all the colors and you edit it. Fascinating. - The artwork is coming along, too - I can't wait to share it. Emily is working on it once again after she did a bang-up job with The Early Year. I will reveal that the title of EP 2 is...are you paying attention? THE TITLE OF EP 2 IS... For & Against Ta da! - What else? The first weekend of the Kerrville Folk Festival is coming up and we will be there...the line up is pretty amazing, with Producer Dan's band porterdavis, Sara Hickman, Terri Hendrix, and the Indigo Girls. Heck yes. I'll take pictures. And blog more.

Folk Alliance

We leave on Tuesday for Folk Alliance...the alliance of Folk. A big time conference in Memphis where everybody goes to schmooze and jam. We hope to meet a lot of venues and charm them. We made postcards. We are so ready.

Goodness.

Oh yeah, this whole blog thing I've been doing for 3 years. I haven't forgotten! 2010 has been interesting to say the least. Some life things just require that you take some time off from your own self-imposed pressures and that is what I am doing. But I am back, blogging, and things are reaching full steam ahead momentum again. And I learned "Happy Birthday" on the ukelele for Susan. Happy Birthday, Boss! The gigs are starting to pick up with me as merch girl/tour manager/merch manager/tour monkey/whatever...I need an encompassing title. Monkey fits, as long as people think kindly of monkeys. This weekend I opened for Susan in Austin (it's been a while since I played my own town, weird), and Susan played an awesome house concert in Kerrville last night. Here we are with our host, Paula, after the show when we had already put on our cold weather hoodies and I had donned my drive-home-hat, haha. As for the rest of 2010, which I deem really starts in February because January never counts, there promises to be tons of good stuff happening. If I can keep all my plates spinning at once, that is. - I'm going to be booking a couple more artists, starting soon, and I'll say more soon. That makes me a "booking agent." That means I am closer to actually "paying bills" reliably haha. - My long-time co-conspirator Josh and I are finishing up some projects under our newly founded 20Something Media company; our first physical release of a documentary made by Josh comes soon! - Susan's tour schedule is filling...first up out of state is Folk Alliance in Memphis and Nashville in February. I'm excited about New York in March and Virginia in April, too...still working on those dates. - MY OWN RECORD, yeah that one, is getting there! Dan and I will get some background vocals by the fabulous Katie this week and mix away. It's sounding good. It's sounding like growth, which is what I asked for. So there it is...much happening. I didn't chart this path for myself when I moved to Texas, but I love everything about it so far. Forward motion breeds opportunity. Perseverance breeds success. Happy to be blogging.

Rules of Engagement: Booking

I've spent exactly one year now in some sort of official booking capacity for Susan. We do it the homegrown way by doing it together, combining her years of touring and networking with my OCD emailing skills. It is a good mix, and I have learned a LOT. Firstly, I learned that I enjoy it. I like the hunt, the follow ups, the satisfaction of inking something in on the calendar. It's like jumping your opponent twice and getting kinged in a game of checkers; that type of satisfying. I've learned it's not easy. Sometimes I wish my brain worked like they do in the movies, when all of the sudden the special effects team takes us on a trip through some genius mind that has all kinds of neurons connecting to different areas at once and we see how a brilliant thought forms. Some days I feel that powerful, when I can coincide maps and calendars and money and mileage. Some days I need to check everything 4 times to make sure it all makes sense, and correct as I go. I've learned how to steep in a town's music culture in a very short time from very far away. I think it really takes two years or so when you live in a place to really get the ins and outs of a community where you live. Unfortunately, touring musicians don't have that luxury, and a lot of the time, I'm educating myself on a region's culture from my desk in Wimberley. Where's the best place to play for our type of music? What's the best night? Can we do an off night in that town? When are the tourists there? Who else is in town that night? You learn short cuts and ways around things, so that sometimes it feels like I've been somewhere before even when I roll into town for the first time. I've learned that booking requires backbone. This is my boss's JOB, at which she does exceptionally well. I would argue she has honed her craft into the top 1% of people in her field (meet me in the parking lot if you'd like to argue, but I don't think you do). Sure it's all about music and art and joy, but it's also about being compensated well for a unique craft. So I walk into a negotiation knowing this, and it helps. Booking also requires give and take. Venue owners are in business, too. We're all here to make a living, and there's a delicate balance to the relationship between the artist and the owner. We have met so many good people who want live music in their establishments, and on the good days everyone walks out happy. This is why it's important to support live music...it's small business, culture, musicians, and your community all wrapped up into a little ecosystem. We do our best and I love working with venues that do their best. Lastly I've learned, being a songwriter myself, that this stuff has nothing to do with working on your music. But someone has to do it if you're the type who wants to get your music out there. The business brain and the time it takes to back and forth and plan and schedule is actually a huge detriment to working on one's art. I haven't really mastered the separation between the two yet, but it is possible. For now, my constant email checking will continue. And now, I have some shows to book. 2010 is 12 months long!