June 3rd, 2007

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Decided to drive all the way home from Atlanta today. We made it to rob’s mom’s house at 2 a.m. on the nose, fairly good time at 11-and-a-half hours.

So I’ve explained how Eddie’s works before: half the year the winners of every week’s open mics become finalists in the big Acoustic Shootout, where the prize is $1,000. Sometimes not everyone can make it. This time around there were 24 finalists, including us and the acts I’d been sweating a bit ahead of time, Adrianne and Stephanie’s Id. Adam Day exposed me to Adrianne years ago on mix cds of music he thought I would like. I’ve been trying to cover one of those songs. Other than those two, though, no one else was familiar, but a lot of the rap sheets are the same. Adrianne was a finalist in some big Coke Music Awards thing, another guy was one of six finalists in the Garrison Keillor/Prairie Home Companion songwriter contest, Kerrville, etc. Basically, if people got here, they don’t suck. Even if their music might not be your thing.

For example, I got every single first heat prediction wrong except for two, and those two were Adrianne and Stephanie’s Id. I think I was being more swayed by strong performances, and the judges seemed to be focusing distinctly on songwriting, and particularly a folk/country songwriting aesthetic. Unlike a lot of people who wound up playing their first and possibly only song against acts with vastly different sounds than theirs, we went up against a finger-style, Michael Hedges-esque instrumentalist named Shaun Hopper. He was amazing, and I made the mistake of thinking his song being instrumental and fairly low-key would work against him. We went up and did Choke Cherry since the night had been very flatline and we thought it might be good to really blow the roof off the place with something dynamic. We judged correctly for the crowd, which actually started hooting and hollering BEFORE we even closed the song up. It was very cool. But when the nine judges held up their cards …. I don’t think it was even close. I’m pretty sure it went 7-2 against us. Ouch.

But the great thing – I wasn’t as down as I thought I’d be, and I didn’t question what song would have been better the way I’ve done on other occasions. Frankly, I think we played well. We definitely wowed the audience. Just not those judges, which included more than a couple folk-elite songwriters (Kate Campbell and Pete Pettis). And our opponent was undeniably talented, not to mention friendly, warm and humble. The only thing … it’s kind of weird to lose a songwriter’s contest to a song with no lyrics, even though I would agree that as much arrangment and craft can go into those, and is something often glossed over in folk in the name of a lyric.

There was also a prize that no one knew about until we arrived, a cabin and a running gig on the “Folk Boat,” a music cruise with Patti Griffin and a host of other major folk/acoustic artists. The kind of thing that could pretty much make your career. I think the idea of having been even 23 people deep from an opportunity like that makes something in me ache a little. I know rob and I would need some kind of break like that to gain acceptance in the circles that could actually maintain a career for us. That, or scrape together the $650 it will take every year to buy our way into the National Association of College Activities and get ourselves in front of the people who would certainly like us if only they could just SEE us do our thing.

But I was in a good mood. I’d actually prepared myself pretty well emotionally. I felt this time, the unfamiliar confidence of someone who believed she deserved to be there. I didn’t feel like I had failed. Would have liked to have played one of my songs is about all, and what was cool … is I actually felt the unfamiliar feeling that MY songs might have actually fared better, at least among these judges. I listened to a lot of what was played that night … and I’m actually a decent songwriter when you hold me up against those people. I deserve the place I’ve managed to get among my peers.

What’s cool is you can take a little myspace parade and have a recreation of our night in music. Not to be missed: Tim Kelley and P.K. (an Iron and Wine sort of outfit), Hill Roberts (who had just a really cool laid back voice that caught my attention) Arum Rae (she looked like a kid but sang like an earnest blues woman), Emilia Dahlin, Eric Nassau with his crazy dueling beard dreads and Stephanie’s Id. The lead singer came up to me before the contest even started, said she’d heard our stuff on myspace and was really into it. We sat and chatted with them for a while. They were really great. She scatted a little … sounded like a jazzier version of the lead singer from Portishead. Listened to their CD today on the ride home and it’s pretty great. Amy and Rowan in particular will really like it. They made it through their first heat and lost their second.

They are playing at the 13th Floor in Baltimore on Thursday night, so I’m going to head over and see them post my solo show in Westminster, which will be over by 9:30.

In all honesty …. there was one advancing act that I frankly could not figure out, particularly with the very specific taste the judges seemed to be promoting. One of the locals said something to us about the judges letting one or two of those types through to ensure the advancement of their favorites from the early stages when they would meet up in the later heats. That seems a little bitter to me. It’s totaly possible the judges say something I just couldn’t see. Reminds me that I’m glad a handful of people don’t get to choose what we hear. I would knock something out of the running that would really touch someone else, and maybe we would be taken away from people who would dig us.

I said hi to Adrianne and asked if I could get a picture with her. I don’t know why it always surprises me to hear someone relatively famous like that warming up and think, “Wow, they sound just like themselves!” I said something to her about figuring a contest situation was not the place to make requests. When she asked and I told her what I wanted to hear, she told me she hadn’t even played the song in nearly five years.

It’ll be interesting when I finally get to the point where I can afford to forget good material I have. 🙂

She, as I suspected, advanced through every round into the final heat, as did – more surprisingly – the fingerstyle guitar player we’d lost to rounds before. Apparently no instrumentalist had ever come so far in the contest. I think we must be good luck. The last time we were in the contest, we lost in the second round to the people who went on to win.

So it was Shaun and Adrianne in the final heat, and THAT matchup was incredible. He really pulled out all the stops and we found ourselves all sort of gasping at how good he was. And Adrianne was just clean and professional and her voice was just so spot on. I often wonder if I will ever get THAT good.

Everyone was holding their breath to see who would win.

It was Adrianne, but the vote was CLOSE.

Our consolation prize was that, while our first trip through Eddie’s two years ago yielded no CD sales and had us shaking our heads in disbelief that we didn’t do better, this time we sold CDs, got approached by another venue owner and a local disc jockey.

And people kept passing us by with our name circled on their programs. I think that, more than anything, was something that made me feel good. One guy said he wanted to complain to the management that they could have denied advancement to anyone the audience so massively and obviously approved of. Again, I’m not bitter at all. I know how these things work. Management picked judges to do their job and they did it. And I’m actually okay with it in a way I’m usually not. I felt like I deserved to be among those people, which is a rarity for me. And moreover, I felt like I was bringing some of the only “different” stuff in there all night. Keeping it honest, in a way. Like, “Hey, you want to break unknowns and be this haven for the undiscovered and the folk envelope pushers … we’re here! Listen to that audience tell you what they are willing to accept.”

So yeah. I made some of my goals and not others. I left with just enough money for a couple tanks of gas. I’ve eaten well, made it home, and have about $40 to spare, so I figure it was well worth it. It didn’t hurt that two people also asked for pictures of me because they really liked my haircut and wanted a reference for their hairdressers.