Happy Anniversary Steve & Solid Grounds!

September 23, 2008 at 5:31 am (Playing Live) (, , , , )

Tonight – Solid Grounds Coffee House in Northville.

Well, I’ve managed to play out live three of the last four evenings. Lots of folks came out tonight to play. Maybe it was because tonight was the one year anniversary of Steve Kovich’s open mic night. Congratulations Steve!

I played It Ain’t Easy Being Me, Your Rocky Spine and my new one, Love Does the Rest. Big fun! Unfortunately it’s not gonna last. The next month is going to get pretty rough with some commitments that I have to take care of. I’ll keep playing in the basement and on the sidewalk at work on breaks as much as possible. Hoping to be able to concentrate on some writing as well.

Talked with Darwin a bunch tonight. We are talking about booking a show at Solid Grounds in October. I’ll post it on the schedule when we figure out what will work for both of us. Not sure I can do anything before the middle of the month so late October probably.

Out.
John

Permalink Leave a Comment

Bringin’ It at the Bean

September 22, 2008 at 5:32 am (Playing Live) (, , , )

Tonight – The Plymouth Coffee Bean open stage.

Earlier today Dar called me up to say he was going. So, I went. We sat and listened to some really talented younger musicians and then got to play back to back. We each stuck to original material tonight. I did Help Me Be Good and Nothin’ All Day. Maybe I’ll get out to Solid Grounds tomorrow and work on some of the brand new stuff at Steve’s open stage!

Out.
J

Permalink Leave a Comment

Two for the Show

September 21, 2008 at 5:33 am (Playing Live) (, , , )

Last night was the first show in the Baseline Folk Society’s 2008-2009 season. Just like last week at East River there was a full house. Lots of performers chomping at the bit to get some stage time. Darwin, Steve, Kenny, Rise Again, Kathy Nieman and Paul Murphy were all there. Lots of other familiar faces. And, just like last week, I was near the end. So I wouldn’t feel rushed I only played two songs. Did Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers and my newest offering, Love Does the Rest. And I still rushed them anyway. Ah well. Live and learn.

Last night was a LATE one. Didn’t even get done until after 10:30pm. I don’t really know how the organizers can help keep the shows a decent length other than limit us to two songs (which I hope they don’t do). Mike had asked all the performers to shorten it up and get right to the music, but some chose not to. It’s not bad if you go in the first half, but performers in the second half really feel the crunch of time.

Rise Again asked me to come out to eat with them again last night. Dave offered to pay but I didn’t take him seriously. To his credit, he came through! Thanks Dave! Had a great time of conversation and food to cap off a good evening of music. Thanks guys.

In other news, I’ve been kicking around the idea of putting together a Songwriter’s Workshop. Just an informal invite to a few of my friends to drop by the house or a local coffee shop to talk about the writing process and play some new songs off one another. It’s likely I won’t have time to consider this more until after the first week in October. Stay tuned!

I’m off to bed. Hope to see you at a show soon.

John

Permalink Leave a Comment

It’s Enough

September 19, 2008 at 5:34 am (General Entry) (, , , , , )

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the good fortune of coming across some fantastic artists and songs. Here’s a little bit about each one and how it’s affected my music and shows.

Billy Brandt – This guy has been a staple in the Michigan music scene for years, but I just recently took the time to really listen. After getting his “blessing” during one of his breaks at a show recently, I’ve been covering Mission Band pretty regularly.

Great Lake Swimmers – Tony Dekker is a very smart and creative man. GLS is his creative vehicle. This, in itself, gives me hope for Arlington Station. A friend of mine named Kent turned me on to this group. Since then I’ve been listening a lot. I added Your Rocky Spine to my set list as well. Hope they don’t mind. ;o)

Last Saturday evening at East River local singer/songwriter Bill Bynum performed a wonderful country song called It Ain’t Easy Being Me by Chris Knight. I’m always impressed with Bill’s sets. He always finds great songs to bring to his audiences. Needless to say, I rushed home and looked it up on YouTube and learned it. Added that one and Send a Boat to the set list. See a pattern here? ;o)

A few classic tunes have crept into my repertoire as well. Pure Prairie League’s Amie and The Weight by The Band (which I actually got inspired to do because of a video on Billy Brandt’s site).

Thanks to Ann at work for getting me fired up about a Canadian band called Crash Parallel (as well as Big Wreck!). Their song Rain Delays was a project for me last Saturday at work. Yes, I play my guitar and sing at work. Had some great acoustics last weekend. It was raining really hard outside so I went in the back and played. I had to deal with a few “scalded cat” comments from the guys, but, hey, I’m an artist!

Still hoping to record a CD in the near future. Have a couple of obstacles to overcome there. First, choosing a studio. Have a few options there that I’ve begun to explore. Second, I must decide on what kind of band I’d like to put together for the project. Have a few ideas along these lines as well. Time will tell.

Each day is bringing new ground to till. Every week and month are new discoveries waiting to happen. Around every corner are wonderfully creative people who inform me as to how to better ply my trade. In the words of Great Lake Swimmers, “I am part of a large family, and it’s enough”.

It’s enough…

Permalink Leave a Comment

Back in Business

September 14, 2008 at 5:34 am (Playing Live) (, , , , , , )

Folk society open mic season is upon us! East River began its 20th season last night. The show, hosted by Kenny Lang, was a great one. I played dead last to a smaller crowd than that enjoyed by earlier performers, but all was good! Due to time, I decided to play two songs, rather than the usual three. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided (after changing my mind about 20 times during the show) to debut my new song, Love Does the Rest (tentative title). Not sure it’s done yet, but it seemed to be received well. Finished up with Nothin’ All Day.

The members of Rise Again invited me out to eat with them afterwards and we enjoyed good food and good company until the late hours. They are doing the WHFR show in October! Wishing them much luck. During the conversation, Cliff asked me if I was ever going to write a song for them to do. Turns out that I may have one for them already. We (Arlington Station) were going to do one of my songs called All We Need Is Some Love. I think Rise Again could do a great job on this if they choose to. Going to meet with them tonight to work on it a bit with them. Thanks to the East River folks for hosting a great show each month! Can’t wait to see you all again soon.

John

Permalink Leave a Comment

Changing the Station

September 6, 2008 at 5:35 am (Arlington Station) (, )

Been doing a lot of thinking over the past few weeks. Things happened so quickly with Arlington Station since October of 2007. We all had a great time, but it’s time to move on. For those of you who don’t know, Arlington Station is down to just me. Without getting into details, it’s just really hard to keep a band together. Much harder than it looks like from the outside. So many variables and emotions.

Met with Dave and Lisa for dinner the other night. Lisa is excited about trying to go for it on her own as a front person for her own band. We left dinner that night looking forward to playing music together again. I’m sure it will happen. Ron and I have also talked a bit recently. And while we won’t be doing anything with AST, we have agreed that we’d love the chance to play music together again as our schedules will allow. He’s got quite a few projects in front of him as one would expect someone that talented to have!

Meanwhile, I’m playing and writing. Nothing’s changed there. In the next few weeks and months I hope to do a couple of things. First, I’d like to keep getting gigs. It will be harder now as a solo performer and the crowds will be very small compared to the AST shows, but that’s cool. I spent a year and a half playing to small crowds pre-AST and was happy. I’ll just do it all over again.

Second, on the advice of a few people, including Billy Brandt, I’m going to do what I have to do to get a CD recorded. Even if it’s only 4-6 songs. I’ll need that CD to makes some money and get some gigs. Looking forward to the process.

Third, I have begun to enter a few of my songs in songwriting contests. I have no idea how this will go, but it’s fun to think about. Any recognition will be appreciated and motivating.

Finally, I’d just like to say thanks to Dave, Lisa, Ron and everyone who showed up for the shows or supported Arlington Station in any way. It’s been a great, fun ride. Hope to see you out soon.

John

Permalink Leave a Comment