Oh, the summer woe is upon us. The weather got a wee bit more delicious for a moment, but then the woe came back upon us. Labour Day is happening, people are away or hunkered down or attending parties rather than open mics and Live music – and the woe it is upon us.
Old Bowie Town Grille just canceled the September 1st open mic. I’m expecting a slow September 2nd. Betwixt the date and the difficulty that the Baltimore Grand Prix brings to town I’m expecting a weekend spent mostly playing to ourselves. It’s part of the job, sometimes.
I can’t imagine NOT worrying about draw every single night. It would be so nice NOT to be stressed about it. To have the law of averages on your side and to be surprised whenyou don’t sell out the night but we’ll probably never have that power. We struggle and push and maybe I prefer it that way. I can imagine it being wonderful if I could just show up and play… imagine how much more I’d get done if I didn’t have to put so much time into pushing and pushing and PUSHING! But I don’t know that I can imagine that Life being quite as rewarding. (or that’s some semblance of sour grapes – I don’t want that ANYways…)
Man show! Kristen and Heather didn’t come out to my open mic last Monday – and Sharif’s on baby-watch – but Rowan was there and we dragged mosno up on stage to join us. Testosterone powered up and we ripped through a very fun version of LooseN at my Teavolve open mic in Baltimore, MD.
This weekend has brought me a good mix of shows and open mics and wonderful people as PART of those open mics. Of particular note on the GOOD side would be Bat and his wife Brenda from New Mexico. Bat was my featured artist in Bowie on Sunday night and had the misfortune of having the least populated night at the venue EVER. Even people who swore they were coming ducked out to enjoy the amazing weather.
Bat took it in stride and gave his all. Visually he reminded me of ME crossed with Dave Grohl. I don’t know that anyone else would agree – but his energy was all grin and wonder and I really just LOVED watching him play. He has a back story similar to Heather and I. Working up the gumption and frustration and finally selling everything that didn’t fit in the car and just going on the road to wander…. He’s been doing it for about 2.5 years now – the halfway mark of how long Heather and I were homeless. But he was 50 when he started!
His wife is beautiful and smiling and he is beautiful and smiling and they were just wonderful to be around. Somehow this guy who’s about 15 years older than me reminds me of me from 10 years ago – and reminds me of some sense of wonder that I’ve lost.
I fear that the five years on the road kept me young, and the last five years sitting stagnant in one place has aged me. As the new CD comes out a lot of things are changing with all of our Lives – a vast turning point in our existence and Kristen and I are talking about changes too. Heather and I are celebrating 10 years since WE sold everything we owned and moved into our car, but it’s an anniversary of something past, and not the birthdate of something ongoing (unless you count the Journal, I guess – alas, this April we should have celebrated 10 years of Journal entries, but I didn’t even think about it!)
Just went back and read some Journal entries from 10 years ago. The one about “I’ll have to do all the driving because Heather hasn’t learned to drive stick yet” is kind of amaaaaazing.
A weird morning. As we were driving into the store this morning we saw something fairly typical. We turned onto Piney Branch Avenue and across the street there was a police cruiser pulled over onto the far side of the street. Then we saw the police officer walking along the road and peering into the kudzu and underbrush on the hill next to the world. And then as we were passing we saw she was walking with her handgun drawn. Fairly untypical at that point. And then once we were passed she aimed into the undergrowth and we heard her fire a round.
Definitely atypical.
There were a couple of cars pulled into the median. We’re assuming that someone hit an animal and the cop was finishing it off (there wasn’t enough vegetation to hide a person – and I’d assume that if there was something criminal going on she’d have been waiting for back up and / or seeking cover). Still, I think it’s the first time in a LONG time that I’ve seen a police officer fire their sidearm. Just sort of an interesting way to start the day.
Oh – and to the person who posted jokingly “was it a hoodie bush?” That wasn’t funny.
Man – actually, who fucking knows! That block was reported burned later in the day and was completely blocked off by police when we tried to go through on our way back home….
Amazing food that made me believe in OLIVES at Firestone’s Culinary Tavern in Frederick, MD Heather performing at Firestone’s Culinary Tavern in Frederick, MD. Heather peering into the wonderful Frederick bar Firestone’s Culinary Tavern before we stormed the place and rocked it heartily. The food was delicious. And so were we. They liked us so much we’ll be the first Thursday artist starting in October!y. Setting up to be the last musical act ever at Magnolia’s At the Mill in Purcellville, VA. I was sad to hear they were dropping Live music, glad to hear they’d kept our last show on the books…
