Ninety-Nine
This is the ninety-ninth posting on this blog. I haven't decided what to do for the 100th posting yet. It will probably be nothing... or I'll do some creative editing on a picture in photoshop and post that or something. But, it will probably be nothing.
What is also exciting is that in two weeks, 6/12, I'll play at Caffe Lena's open mic (as usual) and it will be the five-year (to the day) anniversary of the first time I played at the open mic. Which is to say, that it is the five-year anniversary of the first time that I ever played for strangers. And that is a pretty cool five-year anniversary to have, I think.
It's pretty amazing to see how far I've come in five-years. I have a video taken from my first ever performance. I'll never show it to anyone, though. It's that bad.
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This past Thursday, there was no open mic at Lena's and so I didn't get to record another interview/performance for Inside the Open Mic. I'll do it this coming Thursday for sure.
I did play at another open mic, however, and I played at one on Wednesday too.
Wednesday night was Jitters Cafe in Saratoga. Mostly, I attended to see Casey and Dave from Almost Awake who were married on the Sunday before. They are such awesomely wonderful people and have such an excellent songwriting style and a generally great taste in music. I played Phila St. Serenade and Red Shift, which is an Almost Awake song. They requested that I play it and Casey was particularly moved to hear my version of it.
(a slightly interesting aside: Casey's first ever Caffe Lena open mic performance was on 6/12, as well. We both debuted on the same night. She was much better than me...)
Thursday was the Daily Grind in Troy. It was hosted by my good friend Maurizio who is one half of S I M P L E Theory. He has an incredible sound system, which includes a sub woofer. I played Passenger, Road to Nowhere, and Endless. Road to Nowhere came out really well and I am slowly realizing that I need to write more songs along that same vein. I play them well and I enjoy playing and singing them.
At the Daily Grind, I witnessed the end of a chess game that started over two years ago and was unfinished then due to the closing of the store; and due to conflicting schedules was unable to be resumed until now. It was quite entertaining, but it was difficult to stand watch and not intervene. I had to bite my tongue an awful lot.
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Yesterday, which was Saturday, was an incredibly awesome and fulfilling day. It started with me getting up way to early, however. I played at the Gloversville Farmer's Market and it was a rainy dreary day at first. The sun came out at times, but mostly it was cold and, as stated, dreary. Even so, people came and went and checked out the goods. I sold some CDs and received some nice tips. I also received a large loaf of bread as a show of appreciation. (I can't wait to dig into that today!)
I played for about 2 and a half hours, which is a long time and I'm tired today because of it. But, I had a great time and I played a bunch of cover songs that I don't usually play. Stephanie said I sounded really good. She also took some pictures:
As you can see, the market's pavilion is still under construction and they plan on having some trees and benches about and a Victorian style lamp post right behind where I am playing.
Bill Ackerbauer, my neighbor, lended me his battery powered amp because they don't have power at the market's pavilion yet. They will, though, and then I'll be able to use my own sound set up. (I'm playing there again in July and in August)
Later in the day, I went to Saratoga with my brother and his wife, who live in New Hampshire, and their friends. We had an incredibly awesome time, as we often do when we get together like that. They are fun people and we laughed A LOT.
First, we went to dinner at the Stadium Cafe. Then, we went to Cold Stone for ice cream. And that is really all we did and doesn't sound too exciting... But, the walking to places and standing outside talking and driving from here to there was just so much fun. And it all went way to fast and we all would have stayed out longer if days could be endless when you wanted them to be.
What is also exciting is that in two weeks, 6/12, I'll play at Caffe Lena's open mic (as usual) and it will be the five-year (to the day) anniversary of the first time I played at the open mic. Which is to say, that it is the five-year anniversary of the first time that I ever played for strangers. And that is a pretty cool five-year anniversary to have, I think.
It's pretty amazing to see how far I've come in five-years. I have a video taken from my first ever performance. I'll never show it to anyone, though. It's that bad.
-----
This past Thursday, there was no open mic at Lena's and so I didn't get to record another interview/performance for Inside the Open Mic. I'll do it this coming Thursday for sure.
I did play at another open mic, however, and I played at one on Wednesday too.
Wednesday night was Jitters Cafe in Saratoga. Mostly, I attended to see Casey and Dave from Almost Awake who were married on the Sunday before. They are such awesomely wonderful people and have such an excellent songwriting style and a generally great taste in music. I played Phila St. Serenade and Red Shift, which is an Almost Awake song. They requested that I play it and Casey was particularly moved to hear my version of it.
(a slightly interesting aside: Casey's first ever Caffe Lena open mic performance was on 6/12, as well. We both debuted on the same night. She was much better than me...)
Thursday was the Daily Grind in Troy. It was hosted by my good friend Maurizio who is one half of S I M P L E Theory. He has an incredible sound system, which includes a sub woofer. I played Passenger, Road to Nowhere, and Endless. Road to Nowhere came out really well and I am slowly realizing that I need to write more songs along that same vein. I play them well and I enjoy playing and singing them.
At the Daily Grind, I witnessed the end of a chess game that started over two years ago and was unfinished then due to the closing of the store; and due to conflicting schedules was unable to be resumed until now. It was quite entertaining, but it was difficult to stand watch and not intervene. I had to bite my tongue an awful lot.
-----
Yesterday, which was Saturday, was an incredibly awesome and fulfilling day. It started with me getting up way to early, however. I played at the Gloversville Farmer's Market and it was a rainy dreary day at first. The sun came out at times, but mostly it was cold and, as stated, dreary. Even so, people came and went and checked out the goods. I sold some CDs and received some nice tips. I also received a large loaf of bread as a show of appreciation. (I can't wait to dig into that today!)
I played for about 2 and a half hours, which is a long time and I'm tired today because of it. But, I had a great time and I played a bunch of cover songs that I don't usually play. Stephanie said I sounded really good. She also took some pictures:
As you can see, the market's pavilion is still under construction and they plan on having some trees and benches about and a Victorian style lamp post right behind where I am playing.
Bill Ackerbauer, my neighbor, lended me his battery powered amp because they don't have power at the market's pavilion yet. They will, though, and then I'll be able to use my own sound set up. (I'm playing there again in July and in August)
Later in the day, I went to Saratoga with my brother and his wife, who live in New Hampshire, and their friends. We had an incredibly awesome time, as we often do when we get together like that. They are fun people and we laughed A LOT.
First, we went to dinner at the Stadium Cafe. Then, we went to Cold Stone for ice cream. And that is really all we did and doesn't sound too exciting... But, the walking to places and standing outside talking and driving from here to there was just so much fun. And it all went way to fast and we all would have stayed out longer if days could be endless when you wanted them to be.