Today my dad would’ve been 73 I believe. As always, I think about him a lot as the Perseids light the night time sky and friends have car trouble. A friend was last heard from broken down in New Jersey and her dad was coming to get her to get the old stick shift Saturn back home to Connecticut on a busted clutch. A situation that sounds desperately familiar. For as frustrated as my father would be when I couldn’t deal with my own car issues, I think he’d have appreciated an opportunity to ride to the rescue like that.
This morning I’m sitting in Sterling, VA at my friend Justin’s house, thinking that his is the Life that my Dad probably dreamed for me when I was younger – nice house with central AC, a decently-maintained yard and a decently-paying job from which I was currently on vacation.
But the reality is I’m just visiting. I’ll get home to my rental townhouse with my wife tonight after I get paid from my freelance position as a self-employed musician. It’s been a discouraging week even without the strange reminders of my father this week.
Plenty of frustrations with how we’re simply not adapting fast enough to the modern musical-business paradigms – hitting an area where we really need to step it up to get ahead or maybe even maintain where we’re at – but are simply too exhausted to do it.
This week’s been rough, but it started off GREAT – hanging out with friends at JV’s in Falls Church, VA. 
Heather playing Mike P Ryan’s inaugural singer/songwriter showcase at JVs. Mike P Ryan. It’s the dream…. Okay, do YOU know the significance of this car?!? Bloody Hell – how I left the house with only one finger pick I have NO idea… but here’s a pro-tip. When you don’t have your favourite finger picks spend some time with some shears and a Baskin Robins spoon and you’re ready to rock!
I don’t mean to sound defeatist. It’s the post Falcon Ridge slump. Not that I even WENT this year, but Heather’s fresh back from Falcon Ridge and with that comes a higher amount of recognition for the band, people asking about me, et cetera – then to be smacked back into the hard reality of a struggling independent folk act / bar band that generally plays more bars than is good for them.
Wednesday especially was rough – a spectacular CAMPUS with a central stage that’s built for much larger acts than us. It seems bizarre that they book solo singer/songwriters on a regular basis (Heather brought me along because it’s a four hour gig on a big stage and she felt kind of … small… for it! – plus she thought I’d get a kick out of the space). It’s a magnificent thing. It’s also a stage set up into the glare of the afternoon sun (the soundguy tried to keep our spirits up, drenched and dripping in sweat, letting us know that the shadow of the building will shield the stage about two hours into the show) – on a day with a 105 degree heat index. They keep us well watered, encourage us to take lots of breaks, etc. We’re well-fed and once we’re past the first set, it gets progressively easier. Few audience members brave the heat to sit and watch us in the central yard, but we’re apparently piped all throughout the complex.
Well, should I bother going into details? We’re apparently too boring to come back. Cicada! I hadn’t intended to give Heather a halo… Good pizza though – at The Yard at Two Silos in Manassas VA.
So – of course that means that the only audience we can gauge off of is the dozen or so people lolling in the late afternoon haze. We can see dozens more off in the glassed-in buildings in the surroundings, we can see filled tables under the shaded and fanned portions off around the corner, but immediately around us is relatively chill. We play what we play. We simply can’t get TOO relaxed and for every “Fire and Rain” Heather throws down with I’ve got an “Allergy” to reply with.
And so it’s a very very unwelcome surprise – a surprise tinged with no small amount of injustice – that the next morning we’ve received an email that says they’re not going to book us again because we’re too sedate.
Well, this little guy is helping to lift our spirits… Playing a friend’s open mic in Leesburg, VA. Uh… what now? Open mic night at the King’s Tavern and Wine Bar in Leesburg, VA.
