April has turned out to be a very busy month for us musically. We have played at Goshen Brewing Company, Elephant Bar, Brass Elk Brewing, and Hacienda. We are so thankful for all the support we have received in these shows and from the venues who gave us this opportunity. What I thought I would do here is to provide some insight into what all goes into a performance before you even show up.
First of all, you start out with trying to setup a date with the venue, then your working on trying to get your favorite musicians all in one place at one single time. As you know the good musicians are always busy. Once that is all figured out, you start thinking about setlists, what will keep my audience on their toes the entire show. You try to setup a few rehearsals to prepare for these shows in advance. Next how are you going to Market this show? Do you just show up and play and hope that by a draw of the lucky hat that your friends and family will show up? Nope… You create an event on your social media, then your done right? Nope… You start working on create a buzz about your show even a month in advance to it. Have posters drawn up and delivered the venue. Start visiting that venue in advance, make friends with the people who attend there. Especially the week before your show go there again and start telling people about the show you have coming up.
Days before the show you start hitting social media again, reminding everyone about the event and why they shouldn’t miss it. Even more importantly actually reaching out to specific friends and family with invites to your show. Still working on creating that buzz that will make your perfect evening.
Next is where the really hard work comes in. Making sure you pack all your items that you need for you show and loading into your car. I actually have an electronic list that I use to check over more than 25 things that I bring to my shows. It’s a nerve-wracking thing but thank goodness I have a list. Oh, and by the way don’t forget to remind your musicians that they have a gig that night. This is highly important. Now when you show up to the gig, you bring in all this gear into the venue and you spend the next hour or so just making things not only look right, but sound right. You are wandering if your settings from your last show are going to work this time around. You hope that all your equipment is going to power on and actually work. One of the important things that I have a hard time remembering is that you need to smile while you do all this. It gives your audience a feeling that you are so excited to be there and to perform for all of them. So, if you see me not smiling, give me a wink or something reminders are always helpful.
Now your about 5-10 minutes prior to playing your first note, you look up for the first time and see that your audience has the look, are you starting yet? Hahahahaha. This is where the magic comes in. Playing music for me is where I pour my heart out in every show that I play. Watching the reactions of my fans blows me away every time. It truly keeps me energized like an energizer bunny. Then during your breaks you try to mingle and make sure everyone is having a good time.
Then at the end of your evening guess what you get to do? Load all this stuff back into your car, hoping you don’t drop anything or lose anything in the process. What allows me to continue doing this is the support that I receive from the venues I play at. My job is to make it sound good; the venues job is to make it feel good. I always go out of my way to make sure I thank those folks involved for all the hard work they do. Next time you are in a bar make sure to thank the staff, the owners, for all that they do to make this just right. I will always be thankful for not only their support, but to my friends, fans, and family who support me at these shows. I couldn’t do this without you all. From the bottom of my heart Thank you so much!!
My next show is on May 21st in Warsaw for this huge bicycle event located right on the waterfront. I will provide more details soon. Stay tuned.
Love you all