So I’ve gotten into the habit of doing these “Kristen’s Year In Review” things…figured I’d post this in the Journal like last year, as these pics have already been posted on Facebook – and maybe it’s good to draw some content away from the social media giants…
For me, 2022 seemed weirdly divided into time-pockets defined by the ever-shifting COVID landscape. Last winter and spring seem like FOREVER ago, and then fall has kinda flown by at super speed. rob went through some of these photos with me and had the same reaction: “holy shit, that was THIS year?” It was also a year of slowly trying to get back to whatever “normal” means now, with many “well I haven’t done THIS in 2+ years” instances. We started the year with the bad Omicron surge, and huddled up at home just doing livestreams from January through mid-March. In February, rob and I had to make a long and emotionally draining trip to Georgia to take care of my father after he recovered from hip replacement surgery. After that, we started slowly dipping a toe into the in-person gig world. We were pretty much saying yes to all bookings that started coming our way for later in the year – though as we got into really busy times in summer and fall, some of them definitely seemed like less of a good idea once they came around. In the latter half of the year, it seemed like we at least had the illusion that covid was becoming less of a concern. In reality it’s still very much with us – but outdoor gigs at least seemed to be pretty safe bets (once you accept the risk of cancellation for bad weather).
Spring, summer and fall were pretty busy with mostly outdoor local gigs: festivals, breweries, weddings and more. We traveled a little bit: first just up to Delaware, then a short trip to MA in August, then a quick overnight in Pittsburgh in October.
Planning a longer tour still seemed too daunting on many fronts: securing bookings when many venues we knew were now shuttered or had new bookers, the uncertainty of outdoor shows, still the fear of covid both infecting us on the road and/or cancelling shows, not really knowing which of our usual crash-pads would be open to houseguests again, and then super-high gas prices making even our 40 mpg touring vehicle not financially feasible for a long trip. But we stayed busy enough at home, and that seems to be a reality for a lot of musicians: touring’s just not as feasible as it used to be, and venues may do better to stay focused on booking local acts. That being said…we’re already working on booking an “actual tour” in 2023!!
We stuck with our weekly Wednesday livestreams. Our viewership and tips declined noticeably, but we still have a small dedicated group of regulars who tune in every week and makes us feel like it’s worth it. And I love that we’re reaching people as far flung as Scotland to California. And truly – what else are we doing on Wednesday nights? Might as well keep our chops up and keep playing. I’d still rather do a livestream to a small group of listeners for a few bucks in tips than drive through DC traffic to play a 3-hour bar gig where nobody cares, and get home at 1:30am.
We also started bringing in special guests to the Lair, which was a highlight for me. Getting to collaborate on other people’s songs is something I enjoy (and keeps me on my toes musically) – and it’s been super fun to have guests on ilyAIMY’s songs. I love that our songs can shift and change so much depending on who’s playing on them. Some of our guest highlights included (click on links to see the streams): The Honey Badgers from DE, Quiet the Mountain, Jon Patton, Jae Jin, Conor Brendan, SONiA Disappear Fear, and multiple visits from Jeff Miller of Nashville, Dave Benham on various flutes, beatboxer Chuck the MADD OX, Jillian Matundan, and woodwind wizard Seth Kibel. We had an emotional reunion with longtime friends The Honest Mistakes, and capped off the year with maybe my favorite livestream (if I had to pick) – with Mark H Rooney & friends on Taiko (plus Kota Mizutani also adding amazing saxophone to the mix).
Outside of ilyAIMY, I had a fair amount to keep me busy: about a dozen weddings plus other event jobs with Music By Anthem. I beefed up my solo wedding repertoire and feel more confident about doing those.
I did 10 recording jobs – some of them haven’t been released yet, but really excited in particular about projects coming out with Jillian Matundan, Tina Ross and Lynn Hollyfield.
I had one lonely Lulu’s Fate show at the Washington Folk Festival. Tom’s had a lot going on and has still been hermiting to some extent, but we’ve got at least one show booked for 2023.
And I did several church/synagogue gigs – mostly with Unitarians, and got to reunite with my Jewish rocker pal Michelle Citrin for a Selichot (pre-Rosh Hashannah) service in Baltimore. Plus, of course, part time work keeping the online wheels of House of Musical Traditions going…still almost entirely work-from-home now, which suits me well – I do not miss the Baltimore-Takoma Park commute!
Overall stats: 64 in-person gigs, 43 livestreams, 10 recordings. Fairly comparable to last year, with a few more in-persons. Favorite show of the year: probably ilyAIMY at Blues Alley in July. Legendary venue, impeccable sound, great performance.
Weirdest gig: playing at the annual “Objectivist Conference” of the Ayn Rand Institute, including a theatrical performance of Fountainhead!
Coolest venue: the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where we played our murder ballads program for their Haunted Museum After Dark program around Halloween.
Here’s some additional photos of memorable gigs this year:
