Tuesday, April 5, 2011

How Much Further, Though

Crazy For Trying?
Last night, I went to the Garage open mic, even though I had less than 5 bucks on me.
Nobody tipped me 5 bucks this time.
I played a song with the band, the "Snoopy" song from the peanuts, and then the guy told me to do a couple solo acoustic songs.
I was pretty sure he meant the originals that I had been doing on previous occasions. I did "Crazy About A Crazy Girl," and then, breaking from the program, I unwittingly did a Patsy Cline song.
I had heard a lady ask the band if they knew any Patsy Cline, which they didn't. I launched into "Sweet Dreams," a song that I knew because Elvis Costello did it on his "Almost Blue" album, and could immediately sense the air go out of the room, as they were probably hoping for "The Carcass Song," or "The Man Who Couldn't Decide What Flavor He Wanted."
The lady who had asked for Patsy Cline came up and asked me if I knew "Crazy;" Patsy's song which was written by Willie Nelson. It was apparent that she wanted to sing, not listen to, a Patsy Cline song; oops.
I never really recovered from that. Nobody tipped me 5 dollars, or offered me a beer or a cigarette.
I learned another lesson about what works and what doesn't, though.
I also noticed that the band had one particularly talented member, who sang and played acoustic guitar and harmonica.
The electric guitarist sounded awesome in spots, mostly due to a barrage of electronica which he employed heavily, making his guitar sound like everything from an elephant, to an uninspired, out of tune elephant...
This further emphasized the point that there are a lot of bands and musicians out there, with more joining their ranks daily, and a very good band can easily be relegated to jamming at The Garage for free, or for a few beers, only.
Carcass Song! Carcass Song! Carcass Song!!!
Once again, it seemed like the pieces of the puzzle are all there, but are just not falling into place on their own. The bass, drums, acoustic and myself on electric could probably make it a lot further than the lineup that played. The question is: How much "further," though...
The Wanee Music Festival (above)
Meanwhile, the music festival in Live Oak is a week away.

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