I don’t know that I’m ready for the day. All signs point to “yes”, but my stomach says “no” and I use a hairdryer for the first time in my available memory simply so that I don’t look like a half-drowned (but sweet-smelling) rob rat, I reflect again on how fucking brutal the schedule here can be. Having been up and playing till nearly 3am before returning to the room and trying to settle in, by 8.15am alarm barely nudged me out of bed, and though I came out here with all intention of burning all my candles well-and-truly at both ends, I must admit I fell victim to the seductive non-song of the snooze button at least twice before rising.
At least the shower is WAY better than the resort that we did our LAST NERFA at.
Last night we attended about half of the DJ showcases before being given access to where I’ll be running my open mic today and deciding we could best use our time loading into “Atrium 3, Second Floor”. The room wasn’t as big as I was hoping, but larger than I feared, with a little raised portion that should be just large enough for duos and small enough to be dangerous for the larger acts I’ll have tomorrow. I’ll be actually setting up after breakfast and like any good improv soundman, I know that for as much as I’ve thought, rethought and overthought – the proof will be in the physicality of the set-up.
One of the first things we did was drop in on the room where I’ll be running the open mic tomorrow. Not bad, raised stage… but WAY smaller than I’d thought it was going to be… I guess 4 speakers and 2000w is going to be a touch overkill…
After that it was coming on time for us to start meandering around to the various Guerrilla showcases – probably my favourite aspect of these sorts of events. Just the ability to wander from room to room to room sampling all sorts of things.
This is our first year in the new facility – and though the prices are higher, it doesn’t hurt to point out that you definitely get what you pay for! The food’s better, the shower (as above) is better – I don’t have the urge to record the door because it’s NOT a creaking horror-movie monstrosity… the other place had it’s weird charm, but it also had it’s mold. Heather and I were chatting about it – it’s creaks and moans, old springs and aging machineries would’ve been perfect to host a foley artist convention, who could wander the sprawling facility recording everything right before the whole monstrosity was demolished – and then they could record that too.
This place, by comparison, is gorgeous. The rooms where the Guerrilla Showcases are held are much more spacious – and for a bonus, ALL ON THE SAME FLOOR! Previous Folk Alliance events have seen Heather and Kristen and I getting a REAL workout running up and down stairs to get from showcase to showcase – bad enough with a guitar in your hand, dodging between people and dangling bags – absolutely brutal when carrying even a small amplifier (or in the case of our friend Kala Farnham, a piano or a harp!).
There ARE minuses to this – because all of the showcases are on ONE floor, everyone gathers in ONE hallway. Because everyone’s gathered in ONE hallway they get to chatting and all the showcases close their doors. It means that strolling down the hallway is no longer a teaser taster of sounds to duck in and out of, but a series of mystery doors to open – unsubtly poking one’s head into with no graceful was of ducking back out. I wish there was a solid SILENCE IN THE HALL rule to allow open doors – but I guess everyone else is used to just popping in and out of other peoples’ hotel rooms, and I should just suck it up and get used to it too.
By the time we’ve played our multiple showcases and retreated to our room it’s well past 3am. I need to have practice by 9.30 so I can meet my other panelists in our room by 10am. I’m wired tired beat and buzzing all at one time and just hope I manage to get SOME sleep…
As above, groggily trying to operate a hair dryer this morning, I must’ve slept because I DID have to wake up. NERFA meals are always an exercise in finding a spare seat and trying to decide how much you can interact with your species. It took me a sec.
Seated with Jake Bush of Pesky J Nixon, greeting friends as they filter through – I’m realizing now I was pretty hazy and things only snapped into focus about halfway through my coffee – I remember Jake commenting on the sudden change in my behaviour as I obviously and unsubtly snapped into gear.
From there, running upstairs to set up a PA system for my first ever NERFA panel – I was speaking on the subject of small room sound reinforcement and then later running the NERFA open mic – I build up and then tear down once we receive the promised (but then undelivered) table – we thought we’d be operating without it, but when it shows up suddenly everything has to be pulled back apart again to accommodate it.
There were some heavy hitters in the room, venue owners, house concert bookers – you know “small venues” that talk about their 200 person capacities. And there was a fair amount talk about how a sound system shouldn’t ever distract from a performance (I agree) with a fair peppering of the very folk sensibility of how it can only do this if people don’t even notice the amplification (heartily DISAGREE). Once we got past some of the philosophical discussions, I think we had a pretty good conversation on some sound basics, a great drill down on to some sound strategies, and a kind of fun (if geeky) (scratch that – fun BECAUSE it was geeky) discussion of individual sound systems with their pros and cons…
Of course, with my big-ass 4 Mackie system and QSC Touchmix 16 I was the gigantic elephant in the room, but I a) think I made my case for its tonal superiority but b) wish everyone there had popped back into the open mic where I could REALLY make my case with the fluidity with which I was able to roll from performer to performer, getting them on stage, sounding good and moving forward, rolling with punches like missing piano stands, glitching pickup systems and surprise musical additions.
The open mic itself was as great as any of the showcases I’ve gotten to view – and I’ll proudly include last night’s DJ Showcases in that pile. Some of the performers this afternoon really really thrilled me and I was very proud to be able to give them a stage. Unfortunately, I did have to turn away a couple of people who’d not heard about the pre-signup thing going on (the NERFA mailing list, Facebook and Instagram were telling people to email me about a week ago – I mean – we TRIED!) and didn’t have the patience to hang out to the end to see if we had space to squeeze them in (by the end of the hour and a half I’d squozen 12 performers into what I’d guesstimated was going to be solely 9 slots – only running over by 8 minutes)… some people dealt with this gracefully (and I fit everyone who was willing to hang out on the stage) and one person didn’t (and I was fine with not fitting them on the stage)… all-in-all I’d argue I was as hosty as host-rob gets and everyone seemed to have a good time.
No list survives first contact with the enemy. Let’s get this thing started. First artist – and a great one – Glenn Roth kicks the show off well with absolutely stunning guitar chops*. I do Love smiles at my open mic! One half of Acoustic Apple. Nick and Luke are Baltimore and NY based (or perhaps that’s the other way around?)** Luke joins one of our hometown friends, Jerry Bresee. This woman turned out to be one of my favourite performers of the entire conference – Rhonda Schuster. As above… smiles at my open mics… We sat with this woman at dinner last night – or maybe she sat with us? Not sure. She turned out to be the daughter of folk royalty, and she comes by her charisma and musicality by lineage – but her pop sensibility, passion and incredible voice and piano chops are probably 100% her. Juliana Parker. Gonna be big.
*Glenn Roth was a rarity – an instrumentalist. Before coming out here my friend Jimmy Stewart had caught wind of NERFA and was playing with the idea of coming up. I discouraged him from making a snap decision because it’s kind of an expensive thing to do on a whim…. plus, I wasn’t sure that it was as useful for someone who’s mostly instrumental. I’ve got to get these two guys together.
**Nick and Luke are stunning. Complete control of their instruments and voices, they showed up at my Teavolve open mic a number of months ago and when they found out we’d see one another next at NERFA, we promised to make sure we crossed paths. Very very proud to give these first-timers just about their ONLY stage for the weekend.
From there it was down to dinner for a quick meal, greeting Matt Nakoa as he whirlwinded in, coincidentally sitting down with Low Lily for the first time in person (I’ve worked with them peripherally through Institute of Musical Traditions) and hanging with a couple of friends before racing back upstairs for a video shoot.
Matt Nakoa!
The video shoot… it took a little bit. At this point I was absolutely beat. Exhaustion makes for a great rob voice, but Heather and I had trouble synching and locking and I was eventually just getting sloppy. After a two hour struggle, I HOPE we got about four songs recorded well – and then we came back up to the room where I’ve taken a swift nap and both of us just took some down time.
Who am I kidding? I’m typing to you! I’m STILL taking down time. I think I might continue to take some downtime. I’m a little paranoid that I might get sick while I’m hear if I’m not a little bit gentler with myself. Beyond any cliches about “not getting any younger” (which I really don’t get to use here as, even in my 40s the vast majority of people at NERFA surpass my age by a decade) I think very realistically I’ve been running myself pretty ragged and I best get a little caution (and rest) in before my head get’s befouled by someone else’s bugs.
The good news? I’ve got time for downtime… right NOW!
The bad news? We’re performing at 2.15am. It’s that kind of thing.
Stumbled across this guy shredding on accordion – Rob Curto of “Fish Harmonics”. Joe Jencks. Zoe Mulford. In this round, left to right – Brad Yoder, Aaron Nathans, Joe Jencks, Zoe Mulford and barely seen Pat Wictor! Cheryl Kagan introducing Heather, Suzie Vinnick and Meghan Cary. The stunning guitar stylins of Suzie Vinnick. There were children’s bones being chewed in this song! Meghan Carey wrapping up the round. Catching a glimpse of my last act for tomorrow’s open mic session : Sister Funk.
