- 48 Dollar Sunday
- Chip Not Bet Yet
- I Work Royal Street
$4.00 Vodka
$2.00 Coffee
$5.43 Batteries
$8.00 Briquettes
$5.00 Herb
$5.00 Misc. Stuff
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I started out $29.43 in the hole, Sunday.
I had realized, after "Saturday In The Dark," that I would have to shop for AAA batteries, and was able to buy a 4 pack and get 4 free at Walgreens.
I was headed towards the Lilly spot, when, at Rouses Market, Doreens Jazz Band was just packing up.
Paul offered me the spot. "There you go, Daniel, wide open...you should play right there," he said, pointing to the spot across the street where Matt from The Hokum Highrollers did well the previous night, with his suitcase drum, tambourine and service counter bell and his resonator guitar which is twice as loud as mine.
Well, I did set up there, and did my best to entertain Doreen and her band (maybe inflate my stock with them) as they broke down their stuff.
After about 15 minutes, I hadn't gotten a dollar. But, I hadn't actually seeded my case or put up any of my "stage."
"I usually do pretty well here, playing solo," Paul said before he rode off on his bike.
This encouraged me to persist for at least another song, and, after I seeded my case with 3 of my own dollars, I had another 5 or 6 thrown to me (and felt like I could have gotten more had the particular harmonica which I had on my neck not been one of the worst clogged of all the ones I have) by the fickle Royal Street tourists; and I considered the "gig" a success.
Then, after a run to The Unique Boutique, I ran into Christina Friis on the corner of Royal and Saint Louis Street. She asked me if I would watch that "Boardwalk/Park Place" spot while she ran to Rouses Market and back.
I watched the spot and made 3 dollars playing during the 10 minutes that she was gone.Then, I arrived at the Lilly Spot, finished off the pint of vodka which I had, and somehow made another 40 dollars, along with too many free drinks to finish, under my brightly lit spotlight hung in the vines overhead.
I was wadding up the money and shoving it in my back pocket.
At one point, some water came from under the gate from Lillys estate and before I realized it, my whole back side had been drenched.
I ended the night with a sodden wad of bills which felt like a hockey puck in my back pocket which wound up being about 80 bucks after it was unfurled.
I went an bought the 8 dollar bag of instant light charcoal; found some food to go with the pasta which I planned upon cooking under the dock, then found a syringe laying in the alley behind Hotel Monteleone, and a few feet from it, about 25 dollars worth of weed. It was just one one those days...
I like how you basically document everything; your internet access is much better there I must admit.
ReplyDeleteI feel I need to prove myself here in "da silly-con" valley first, there are *so* many uncontested places to play and a bunch of free blues/jazz jams too. Then sure I'd like to come out there for a week or two and try it out there. Ideally I'd come out on Amtrak because that would be fun, and have a place to stay lined up, maybe at Lilly's? $30/day's not bad for having a known place that's cool.
Last year, I made, averaging for the whole year, just a hair under $20 a day. The wages of sin, where sin == high tech. If I can make that much with my horn, I can basically save the "real" money and live on the horn-playing money and start thinking about better options.
My understanding is that rooms can be rented out there for $300 a month or so, all over the place. Although, such things exist out here too and for now (and for forseeable future, the next few years) I'm only paying $60 a month. Because it's so high-tech and expensive out here. I'm sure I could find something in the $300-$400 range on "da east side" which is supposedly crime-ridden, because well, it is, but no one bothers me there.
Right now the main concern is what I'd call sheer "lip time" practicing and playing. It's a very physical instrument I'm playing and I'm actually selling my bicycle so I'm forced to walk more, to firm up my midsection - bike riding makes for strong legs and a flabby gut. I also do breathing exercises, and need to start doing shit like running.