A Day In The Life

I have been inspired by a cool post by Chuck Anderson over at MusicianWages.com...he describes his day in the life as a working musician. He's got a very different day than anything I typically do, so I figured doing my own would not result in me being accused of plagiarism. Today was a 12 hour day from when we hit the road to when we got back home. I woke up at about 8 AM. The gig was a private party, and it was 3 hours away, so we got some coffee and picked up a fellow musician and took the scenic route because most roads that are not I-35 are scenic around these parts. We spent most of the time talking and I did buy a Giddings newspaper whereupon the police blotter provided 15 minutes of entertainment because it consisted of things like, "A cow was reported wandering loose on CR 391. Deputy Durburger arrived on the scene and herded the cow into the pasture. It was all ok." I'm not lying. About 30 minutes from our destination we heard a weird rumble. Susan pulled over and we had a smoking and shredded trailer tire. Luckily, Susan is not only a kickass musician, but pretty handy with a jack. We were on the road in 15 minutes. We got to the gig, set up the PA, changed clothes, sound checked, and I handled some email stuff while I waited for the show to start because there was wifi! Yes that's Susan and Kevin Welch. Yes it was awesome. It was fun and easy and I watched a good show and afterwards we packed it all back up and headed back. No flat tires on the drive home, just caffeine consumption. I had an hour drive back to Austin and now I'm blogging. It's almost midnight. Zzzz. That's usually what a day is like when we leave home and return home in the same day. These days are rare, but appreciated. During the week a typical day for me involves waking up as early as I can stand depending on how late I was up the night before...the first half of my week is spent trying to normalize my body clock and the second half of the week is usually spent destroying it again. That's ok. I still try and get 7 hours a night regardless. Anyways, once I wake up an inject coffee into my veins, I'll handle email and do booking. I do best with booking if I have an expansive amount of time because while it is very analytic to map things and route things and put things on calendars, it is also a creative process and I like time to sit and think. I'll handle web site updates, blog, or do my own writing during the mornings, too. Sometimes it's erranding like mailing gig posters and the like...the post office is not my favorite place, but I like the do-it-yourself kiosk so I get out of there with as little human interaction as possible. Then depending on the day I'll either go work at the music school (Red Leaf School of Music) from afternoon into the evening or go work for Dan at Rubicon Recording. (A thorough Rubicon post is forthcoming. It's really cool). This past weekend we had a non-gig day, so Susan and I spent it registering for the Folk Alliance 2011 conference, arranging some travel plans for her, and making spreadsheets and plans for her new album release in February. Then we watched a Mae West movie because what else do you do after making spreadsheets? It's a varied week every week and I like it that way. Sometimes it drives me nuts, but I've done the monotonous job thing before and I wouldn't trade this for anything. And now...about that bed time thing...tomorrow is here.

H-Town!

We had a swell time in Houston this weekend. Susan played in Boerne (San Antonio) on Thursday and then we just hoofed it to our friends in Tomball (north Houston) so we could wake up where we needed to be instead of waking up somewhere we didn't need to be. Always a good rule of thumb. The Gene Simmons of folk. We caffeinated up and headed to KPFT for "Wide Open Spaces" with Roark, the coolest DJ on the planet. His show is named after that one song that Susan wrote you may have heard of it, so that's cool. If you check out their Facebook Fan Page you can see all the videos from the interview. The static and the blur: an interpretation. Photo by Melissa Noble! Then we killed some time in a park whereupon I laptopped on a picnic table and it was a lovely day. Then we headed over to the house of some fine friends who made us DINNER oh my that is always a perk. Thanks Nancy Jane, Leslie, and Jim! Nancy Jane, Susan, Leslie, and moi...songwriter girls unite! THEN we headed to an awesome concert series called Heights Live! right in the middle Houston. These folks have created a listening room in the fellowship hall of a church, and then in the set intermission they SERVE PIE. Um hello? Folk music and pie? The version of Susan's "Perfect World" that we did all Vaudeville style when Susan's arm was broken was requested, so I got my strum on. It's been so long since we have done it that was I was hoping I didn't forget it, but the I realized Susan has the hard part and all I have to do is...strum. So that was fun. I'm glad she has 2 arms again, though. And then we drove to Dallas. Thank you, Houston, for your kind hospitality! And check out Heights Live if you're in the area...great folks. And listen to KPFT, too.

Where I've Been

Last weekend we found ourselve with a day off in Taos, where we started writing a song in the park before a high school "sophtmore" sat down at our tree and started reading us his novel. He had 2 chapters done. It made for an interesting afternoon. The next day Susan played the Larry Joe Taylor festival in Red River, NM, where I stuck my toes in the very very very cold river. Then it was up to South Fork, CO for the Rhythms on the Rio Festival. If I had my druthers for a 5th job it would be live concert photography. I bet that pays even less than playing the live concerts. THEN it was off to one of my favorite places on the planet, Centennial, Wyoming. Susan's cousins own the Friendly Store/Cafe/Bar/Motel there and they have this cool stage off in the aspen trees. It was magique, to be French about it. I highly suggest if you are around Laramie you divert for a trip to Centennial. Tell them we sent you! Have an omelet. The omelets are the best. Tomorrow we finally get to Montana! A drive through Yellowstone is on the list.

Tour Tour Tour

Oh hi. We left home last Friday and it's Friday already and here we are in Taos, NM. We have quite a bit of road ahead of us still, so it's been a good little jaunt up here. Taos is, as I have stated, where I will live when I retire if not before. Today we sat in the park in the shade and it was considerably cooler in the shade than the sun. This does not happen in Texas. Sorry, Texas. We spent a day in Amarillo with Susan's niece and nephew and went to the Discovery Center, one of those science museums where you can touch everything and learn stuff. I learned that black holes do something to you called "spaghettification." It just made me hungry. Inside a giant bubble! The Old Blinking Light in Taos is one of my favorite venues to visit because the people are great, the food is awesome, the view is stellar...too much good stuff all together. I bought an OBL hoodie even though it's not really hoodie weather yet. But we're going to Montana and I'm ready. Susan had quite a few adoring fans at the show, and something that doesn't happen very often...a percentage of them were under the age of 5. These kids had a great time. This little guy even brought his guitar to jam with Susan. He did great and will probably be headlining before we know it. Just remember us when we need backstage passes, dude. Today we go to Red River and then north to Colorado. The longer drives begin!

Competition and Such

Busy! Wild and Crazy! Ok, maybe just busy. Here's a fun tale: After we had done our deal at the Hallettsville Songwriter Serenade and then watched some incredibly talented fiddlers...fiddle, we decided to head back to the fairgrounds because there was a CARNIVAL set up next door. And maybe catch some of the closing band's set in the hall that night. So we roll up and get in the hall and the band was just...packing up. So we headed over to the carnival and found the ticket booth...closed. And so then we headed to the cotton candy booth and they said...they weren't selling any more. Those are the kind of wild and crazy times we have. So the songwriting contest was fun, and I brought in a bunker bomb of a lead guitar player and background vocalist, hehheh. We practiced on the tailgate a lot. It adds to our cred, or something. That and the sunglasses. It was super fun and I hydrated beyond what even Celine Dion does and I warmed up in the parking lot by wandering through the cars singing "Eee eee eee zzz zzz zzz" and making people think perhaps they should call the cops to collect me. I wouldn't have changed a thing about our performance, except maybe I would have won it haha. Which is fine to feel, because as my wise friend pointed out, you don't enter those competitions to not win. But 7th place out of 25 is not bad at all, and the hang time with the other great songwriters over the weekend was awesome. Time to go practice some more on a tailgate.

Feelin' the Love

Last night we had a benefit to raise some funds for Susan's broken arm bills at Gruene Hall, one of my most favorite places to be, and now luckily, to play. When we knew we had it billed as "Susan and Friends," we'd thought we'd shoot some emails out to a bunch of people we'd like to see and hear, and hope that a couple of them were in town and free to come play the show with us. Turns out, everyone one of Susan's amazing peers that we asked...said yes. Hence we had quite the amazing bill with Patrice Pike, Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros, Tina Mitchell Wilkins, Michael O'Connor, Shelley King, Mark Jungers, Elizabeth Wills, and Carolyn Wonderland. For those of you who are not in the Texas music loop...these people are Texas music GOLD. All of them. The show was amazing. And we had to cram them all into half hour sets, and the amazing thing is after 8 acts over a 4 hour period, we were only running 10 minutes behind schedule. Not only are Susan's people talented, but PUNCTUAL. Be still my task manager heart. Here are some photos...thanks to every one of you all who came, threw some cash in the tip jar, and had a good time. Patrice Walt, Tina, Brian, John, and Bill Michael O! Did I mention it was PACKED? Shelley, Elizabeth, and Suz harmonize... Mark! Shelley and Carolyn and a full house. And now Carolyn has made me want a lapsteel. I need to pick an instrument and stick to it.

Fare Thee Well, Sprinter

Last month we cleaned out the Sprinter van, as it was also a casualty in Susan's accident that broke her arm (which a splint on now and is doing well). Unfortunately, as Susan put it...while the arm is fixable the van isn't. Sigh. I only had about a year and a half as full-on van passenger (and even graduated to driver sometimes), but I saw a lot of the country from its giant windows, and dropped a lot of stuff in the wheel well that I had to contort myself to claim (evidence here). Susan had quite a few years with it, and it was big enough in personality that the only name it needed was "The Van." Everyone knew when we had arrived at the gig, and many times people even knew when we were en route to the gig. The Van was hard to miss. People are always curious about that type of vehicle when you pull up in it and pile out with 3 dogs, 3 girls, a PA system, 2 - 4 guitars, a banjo, merch...and makeup. "Do you all LIVE in that?" No. "Do you all sleep in it?" No, just Susan and her dogs. "Is that a couch?" Yes. "What kind of gas mileage?" 26. Booyah! The next touring vehicle option? For now it's an Element, but it doesn't hold both gear and dogs. So I'm sure Susan will know it when she sees it. And it will become just as big a part of her road life as this Sprinter has been. And the miles put on the next one will be filled with just as much laughter, music, talk radio, dog water spills, dashboard knickknack collections, and teeth-clenching to get to the gig on time as The Van had. And very time I see a Fed-Ex van, I'll feel a little nostalgic.

South Plains College

We had the honor of going to South Plains College in Levelland, TX at the start of the month so Susan could talk to some of their classes and so we could perform on Thursday Night Live, their monthly student-produced TV show (a la Austin City Limits). This school has the coolest music program ever...it produces working musicians who have studied everything from sound, lighting, arranging, and performing. You can get a degree in BANJO. Heck yes. Our good friend Kate Hearne goes to South Plains, so we hung out with her all day and saw some classes. Susan talked to a couple of class sessions, we played some and then talked about everything from writing to booking gigs to owning your own business. Kate plays on Thursday Night Live like a rock star. We snuck a peek at the backstage dressing rooms for the student performers... This is the girls' room. And this was the boys'. We thought this was funny. Then we had a grand old time playing and afterwards, I snapped this photo of a million little Susans everywhere. I wonder if they could sing in harmony with each other. I don't regret my life path one bit, though if I had known about South Plains when I was college hunting, I might have ended up there. Trade school for musicians, much like my "folk music grad school" at Red Leaf -- gives you such an advantage when you start trying to make a living.

Lately

Photography by Maurice Ok, it's been forever. Part of it is that Blogger changed their publishing ways and my blog is messed up. Hence you are reading this at the non-normal location. Anyone who is any good at Wordpress design or whatever, or knows how the heck I can publish to jpo.com through this new Blogger ruledom, let me know. Blah. I'll fix it, I will. But! Things have been fun. The Boss is recovering and also playing some slick electric guitar. I have gotten pretty comfy with all the tunes I have learned, which means I don't have a mini-panic attack every time we start playing one to make sure I am doing it right. I am a perfectionist. It causes mini-panic attacks. We played a cool event in Yorktown, which as far as I can tell, is in the middle of nowhere...called Yorkstock. They made awesome t-shirts and we played on a flatbed trailer, which made a great stage. We should just haul one everywhere. The Golden Light Cantina in Amarillo was one of my favorite shows lately, because I had finally hit my stride with all the material and John Lerma, drummer with the mostest, was so fun to play with. And because there's stuff to read on the walls when you're setting up. We had quite a long row of songswappers at the Blue Light in Lubbock...there's Red down at the end, and then Brandon, and then Rode, and then Susan...who brought the lead guitar cred to the stage. Very fun. It is weird to songswap with 4 artists so you're playing only 25% of the time. I tried not to do anything distracting like picking my nose while we waited. It's wildflower season in Texas, so the drives have been, as I like to say, disgustingly beautiful. I hope it's legal to pick one for the car, because I did.

Having a Blast, Kids

Thanks to Winker for the photo! My callouses are AWESOME right now. Thought I would share. I've been cramming and Susan and I have been rehearsing over the past few weeks so that I can play a full gig of her tunes and make them sound decent. So far, it's working. Now, Gibson over there throws in a lot of nuanced little tricks that deceive the casual observer but when you try and play them yourself you realize...Susan is a really awesome guitarist. So I've been picking up some tricks and some I'm just leaving there to lay in the road until her arm is back to strumming because, she does crazy cool stuff and only she can do it. So bow down to the guitarista in a blue cast, please. You can't keep a guitar nerd down, so Suz has been fingerpicking on a Gibson hollowbody electric and it's been super fun. We're all going to come out of this with a lot more music theory in our heads. I love it. My car is now officially the FolkMobile. So over the past few weeks I've gotten to be the right arm on a ton of cool stages with a ton of cool players. When you'd ask what are the venerable venues here in Texas to play, no doubt the names Gruene Hall, Luckenbach, and Saxon Pub would come up. We've played them all this week. When you ask who are some of the coolest, most reputable musicians in Texas these days, you'd probably see Terri Hendrix, Michael O'Connor, Adam Carroll, Mark Jungers, David Carroll, and The Mystiqueros on the list. We've played with them all over the past few weeks, too. Hot dang. Everyone's been so cool and supportive, the gigs have flown by. Except the last half hour in Marble Falls when the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and we all started shivering. But that was fun, too. Thanks to my buddy Havilah for playing with us and selling the merch, too. I haven't figured out how to strum and sell a CD yet. With The Mystiqueros at the Saxon. Terri soundchecking for the Sunday afternoon songswap at Luckenbach. Susan picks with Adam Carroll and Mark Jungers at Gruene Hall. And with all of that, Dan and I still managed to meet to mix some of EP 2. Which is coming along quite nicely and probably in the 80% done zone, not to jinx myself. So fun! That's that...we have a week off or so. I have more songs to learn. The weather is nice. Something called SXSW is happening this week. I might just nap.

Hope Diamond

UniTunes in Houston

Ok, so I've been in a cave prepping for the big gig on Saturday night, whereupon it was Susan's return to the stage, cast in tow, and I was playing guitar for her. Which is a big deal because she is one of my favorite musicians on the planet. We shared the show with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. Who, as most of you know, are two of my other favorite musicians on the planet. Eek. Except by the time we were driving to the gig we had prepared up the wazoo and I wasn't nervous because when you do your homework you don't have to be. So there was that. We started off with our musical theater number, a 3 handed, 2 personed, 1 guitarred version of "Perfect World." After that we sailed through the set. Susan is a champ and picked up some harmonica prowess and also got good with a shaker. I imagine by the time she gets her cast off she'll be proficient at about 14 new instruments because she's good like that. Terri joined us for "Lovely When You Cry" and my own "For and Against" which was NIFTY... and then Lloyd came onstage too and we had a grand time finishing out the set. And then we got up to sing with Terri on her set for "Hole In My Pocket" and "Wind Me Up." And then it was over. And I was glad I did my homework. Thanks to Susan for the shot as her guitar player. Dang. Dan the Producer once told me about a basketball coach who would make his team run laps after they won games, because the best reward for a job done well is to keep working on what you do. So it's back to the geetar and charts today. More shows this weekend! Tomball, Marble Falls, and Luckenbach oh my!

Good from the Other

Um, ok. So to lighten up the mood from that last post, I gotta say...whoa. When I was a spunky bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 23-year-old...a whole 4 years ago, I packed up and moved to Austin to see about the music business based on a few things, but one of the main ones being that both Susan Gibson and Terri Hendrix hung around the Central Texas area and used it as their home base. I figured there was good stuff in the water if those two chose to be here. And here we are, 2010 and the next show on the books for me is playing guitar for Susan while she gives her broken arm a rest, and she happens to be sharing the bill with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. So I'm going to stop blogging now and go practice guitar. Lucky for me, I've been playing a bunch of these Susan tunes for a while, and I picked up a big chunk of my strumming style from her. Luck = Preparation + Opportunity. Life is weird and wonderful.