Tour 2011, Wrap-up
Where did I leave you readers? About to be train-bound to Cleveland, almost two weeks ago? Wow, how time flies.
So on the way to Union Station in DC, I managed to drop by the DC Occupation, and played three songs. It was lovely to see the heartening impact of music. I guess I'm truly *qualified* as a Folk Musician, now, having played seditious songs at a public demonstration.
DC, and its traffic, still give me the willies. I wish folks could get the notion in their head that driving could be an opportunity to prove their lovability. DC's Union Station also has the same "flickering light" problem which Chicago's does, just not as bad. Did not play on the train to Cleveland; I was indeed sick. And stayed so, mostly throughout the rest of the tour; and although I was already on the mend by the time I hit Chicago, it's been almost a week now in Boulder at altitude, and my breathing is finally now clear and hearty and healthy. I hope to go busking tomorrow, if the weatherman's predictions are correct.
Arriving in Cleveland, my friend David picked me up, and hosted me (and drove me around) for several days. He's in debt because of college loans, and is only a year or so older than I am. They keep working him on the interest, and it'll be years before he can even really touch the capital payments... this system is broken, and is breaking people, and I want to fix it, but all I really see is that humans TEACH - it's something we do - and when I speak to people about a society which doesn't use money, and has no "Profit Motive", they say, "but what would people do?" - the answer is that people would teach. We'd teach everything we'd ever learned, we'd learn everything we could find which interested us, and we'd be better off because teaching and learning would be viewed as something which simply IS the highest expression of human good. Just one example of why folks are out there camping in downtowns.
I played for friends old and new at the Slovenian Home in Euclid, on the 26th. Well-attended, and a lot of fun. Two dear friends, whose Union I played many, many years ago, with limited skill, got up and waltzed during my performance of the "Lokkerin Waltz", and I felt a certain redemption which only time and experience bring.
The evening of the 26th I headed down to Kent, and helped friends set up for their Halloween Party. This has become a tradition, that I help, and like to help, and take a day off other than this, and catch up. Kent, Ohio is probably my "Zombie Apocolypse Day" Destination - where I'll be looking to either drag myself to, or drag folks from to where I am. My "bug-out bag", or such. Played a bit on the 28th for various beloved folks, and then crashed late (but was not the last up). In the morning, pulled myself together, packed up again, and headed off to play Dewey's Coffee - which was, again, lovely. This performance is more like "busking indoors", and was a true delight. Caught a few people well by surprise, and was able to please some folks that couldn't make it to the other performances in the area. The 30th, I played at Quarrytown Estates, for a friend I haven't seen in nearly 19 years, and the audience primarily consisted of her, folks from her building, and three dear ladies I don't get enough chance to interact with, including Elise, a dear friend who credits me with having kept her from giving up on the SCA (she was sitting at the back of the room, with her son, at a meeting; she'd been to three and no-one had spoken kindly with her; I asked her to dance. Four years later, she was Laurelled, got her Pelican two years after that, and has now been Queen once. At one point, I was her Apprentice-Protege, but I'm horrible at writing reports (as you, dear reader, have witnessed!).
Had another day off before the train (mostly, I slept and tried to breathe), and then caught the train into Chicago, and from there, to Kate's in Westmont, well West of the Loop. This year's House Concert at Kate's was happily attended by many; it was good to see everyone there, and it was just about the right number of folks. This proves the notion that investment one year brings useful results the next, and supports my shred of hope that I can make this sort of thing work in the first place.
I dearly love having the stop in Westmont; Kate has known me almost as long as I have (only one friend of mine, Priscilla the Hun, has known me *longer* than I have). Keeping up to date in our mutual existences is always enlightening, for Kate is a "fixer", like my boss at TRW was - she looks for places where there is corruption or bad policies and practices, and goes in and works to fix these problems. It's refreshing to spend a few days with someone whose work generates that sort of energy - in the same way that working with Kharmin (who is working with words and wording) gets me looking at my phraseology, and reinstills positive feedback loops.
Kate dropped me at Union Station in Chicago directly, and again I didn't play on the train; I was still feeling pretty rough, and there was a Bluegrass Jam taking place in the Club Car already; good kids, doing grand work. Gave them Folk Alliance infomation, and retired to my seat, to try and breathe until I got to where I could breathe. All smooth from there - the train dropped me in Denver at a time when the buses STOP at the stop near Amtrak, and I got off the B Bus just in time to catch Roberto, on the Hop Bus (the little loop around Boulder), and get dropped two blocks away from my apartment.
It is, still, an apartment, and not home. "Home" is a very loaded word, and I'd like to find it again, but it has only some connotations of physical location for me, and is much more a state of mind. The specific state of mind is associated, for me, with deeply-felt snuggling, and I miss it.
So, I'm back. My expenses for this tour are about 3 times what my income was, but a lot of that can be fixed for the next go-'round, especially with prior planning. Also, now that folks know what they're getting, they're a little more interested in associating it with the notion of helping it be *continuable*.
It was mostly fun. It whupped me, though. If I'd known, I'd have broken the NorthEastern Loop from the SouthEastern Loop, and allowed three weeks in Boulder in between... which is, therefor, the *beginning* of the plan for the 2012 tours.
So, if you're interested in helping me (and there are perks), I'll need venue contacts in places, and they should be someone you know or a business you frequent which has hosted live music before. The venues themselves should not be the sort which make the majority of their profits from the sale of alcohol, and the afternoons and early evenings are better for my product than a late-evening show. I need the folks who live in an area to go out and make the contacts. If you get me the gig, and sit the CD table for me, it's worth at least 15% of the door or donations net to me. I'd like to fill in the spaces in my Touring Calendars as soon as possible (Make a plan, Virgo, and then step back, with the firm knowledge that the Universe WILL mess with it, and that it is up to you to invoke the Piscean lesson of "flow" to deal with the changes which will be manifested in that process).
There are so many little details that escape from these writings; the look on little Karen's face while twirling to the Waltzes in Richmond; the joy of surprising the kids in the Metal Band who were to play after me at the Broad Avenue Art Walk - "We'd never have thought harp could be that... 'strong'." - and others. I've wished I'd had a videographer through the whole thing (a snuggly one, Universe? With a nice, big shoulder for those long train rides?), so that more of the beauty could be caught than I manage in words.
But I'll be doing this again, whuppin' or no; and with a *plan*, at least, of having it be gentler on me than this one was. Fuller, yes, but gentler. Again, wish me luck, Internets. I'll see you soon.
So on the way to Union Station in DC, I managed to drop by the DC Occupation, and played three songs. It was lovely to see the heartening impact of music. I guess I'm truly *qualified* as a Folk Musician, now, having played seditious songs at a public demonstration.
DC, and its traffic, still give me the willies. I wish folks could get the notion in their head that driving could be an opportunity to prove their lovability. DC's Union Station also has the same "flickering light" problem which Chicago's does, just not as bad. Did not play on the train to Cleveland; I was indeed sick. And stayed so, mostly throughout the rest of the tour; and although I was already on the mend by the time I hit Chicago, it's been almost a week now in Boulder at altitude, and my breathing is finally now clear and hearty and healthy. I hope to go busking tomorrow, if the weatherman's predictions are correct.
Arriving in Cleveland, my friend David picked me up, and hosted me (and drove me around) for several days. He's in debt because of college loans, and is only a year or so older than I am. They keep working him on the interest, and it'll be years before he can even really touch the capital payments... this system is broken, and is breaking people, and I want to fix it, but all I really see is that humans TEACH - it's something we do - and when I speak to people about a society which doesn't use money, and has no "Profit Motive", they say, "but what would people do?" - the answer is that people would teach. We'd teach everything we'd ever learned, we'd learn everything we could find which interested us, and we'd be better off because teaching and learning would be viewed as something which simply IS the highest expression of human good. Just one example of why folks are out there camping in downtowns.
I played for friends old and new at the Slovenian Home in Euclid, on the 26th. Well-attended, and a lot of fun. Two dear friends, whose Union I played many, many years ago, with limited skill, got up and waltzed during my performance of the "Lokkerin Waltz", and I felt a certain redemption which only time and experience bring.
The evening of the 26th I headed down to Kent, and helped friends set up for their Halloween Party. This has become a tradition, that I help, and like to help, and take a day off other than this, and catch up. Kent, Ohio is probably my "Zombie Apocolypse Day" Destination - where I'll be looking to either drag myself to, or drag folks from to where I am. My "bug-out bag", or such. Played a bit on the 28th for various beloved folks, and then crashed late (but was not the last up). In the morning, pulled myself together, packed up again, and headed off to play Dewey's Coffee - which was, again, lovely. This performance is more like "busking indoors", and was a true delight. Caught a few people well by surprise, and was able to please some folks that couldn't make it to the other performances in the area. The 30th, I played at Quarrytown Estates, for a friend I haven't seen in nearly 19 years, and the audience primarily consisted of her, folks from her building, and three dear ladies I don't get enough chance to interact with, including Elise, a dear friend who credits me with having kept her from giving up on the SCA (she was sitting at the back of the room, with her son, at a meeting; she'd been to three and no-one had spoken kindly with her; I asked her to dance. Four years later, she was Laurelled, got her Pelican two years after that, and has now been Queen once. At one point, I was her Apprentice-Protege, but I'm horrible at writing reports (as you, dear reader, have witnessed!).
Had another day off before the train (mostly, I slept and tried to breathe), and then caught the train into Chicago, and from there, to Kate's in Westmont, well West of the Loop. This year's House Concert at Kate's was happily attended by many; it was good to see everyone there, and it was just about the right number of folks. This proves the notion that investment one year brings useful results the next, and supports my shred of hope that I can make this sort of thing work in the first place.
I dearly love having the stop in Westmont; Kate has known me almost as long as I have (only one friend of mine, Priscilla the Hun, has known me *longer* than I have). Keeping up to date in our mutual existences is always enlightening, for Kate is a "fixer", like my boss at TRW was - she looks for places where there is corruption or bad policies and practices, and goes in and works to fix these problems. It's refreshing to spend a few days with someone whose work generates that sort of energy - in the same way that working with Kharmin (who is working with words and wording) gets me looking at my phraseology, and reinstills positive feedback loops.
Kate dropped me at Union Station in Chicago directly, and again I didn't play on the train; I was still feeling pretty rough, and there was a Bluegrass Jam taking place in the Club Car already; good kids, doing grand work. Gave them Folk Alliance infomation, and retired to my seat, to try and breathe until I got to where I could breathe. All smooth from there - the train dropped me in Denver at a time when the buses STOP at the stop near Amtrak, and I got off the B Bus just in time to catch Roberto, on the Hop Bus (the little loop around Boulder), and get dropped two blocks away from my apartment.
It is, still, an apartment, and not home. "Home" is a very loaded word, and I'd like to find it again, but it has only some connotations of physical location for me, and is much more a state of mind. The specific state of mind is associated, for me, with deeply-felt snuggling, and I miss it.
So, I'm back. My expenses for this tour are about 3 times what my income was, but a lot of that can be fixed for the next go-'round, especially with prior planning. Also, now that folks know what they're getting, they're a little more interested in associating it with the notion of helping it be *continuable*.
It was mostly fun. It whupped me, though. If I'd known, I'd have broken the NorthEastern Loop from the SouthEastern Loop, and allowed three weeks in Boulder in between... which is, therefor, the *beginning* of the plan for the 2012 tours.
So, if you're interested in helping me (and there are perks), I'll need venue contacts in places, and they should be someone you know or a business you frequent which has hosted live music before. The venues themselves should not be the sort which make the majority of their profits from the sale of alcohol, and the afternoons and early evenings are better for my product than a late-evening show. I need the folks who live in an area to go out and make the contacts. If you get me the gig, and sit the CD table for me, it's worth at least 15% of the door or donations net to me. I'd like to fill in the spaces in my Touring Calendars as soon as possible (Make a plan, Virgo, and then step back, with the firm knowledge that the Universe WILL mess with it, and that it is up to you to invoke the Piscean lesson of "flow" to deal with the changes which will be manifested in that process).
There are so many little details that escape from these writings; the look on little Karen's face while twirling to the Waltzes in Richmond; the joy of surprising the kids in the Metal Band who were to play after me at the Broad Avenue Art Walk - "We'd never have thought harp could be that... 'strong'." - and others. I've wished I'd had a videographer through the whole thing (a snuggly one, Universe? With a nice, big shoulder for those long train rides?), so that more of the beauty could be caught than I manage in words.
But I'll be doing this again, whuppin' or no; and with a *plan*, at least, of having it be gentler on me than this one was. Fuller, yes, but gentler. Again, wish me luck, Internets. I'll see you soon.