Jeff's First US Tour of 2011 – blog #6 (End of Tour)
Final Driving Stats:
Miles Driven - 3751
Average Speed - 48 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 32.5
Alright; this is going to be a bit more condensed than the other entries for this tour. I've actually been at home in TN for two weeks now, but wanted to put the lid on this set of Tour Blogs.
We left off in Pittsburgh, after I had played on campus at Pitt. I had mentioned that it was snowing as I parked before the show. Well, by the end of the show, it was bright and sunny. I packed the car, and got ready to set off to Charlottesville, VA. Within a minute or two of starting my car, the weather situation had changed again, to a dreary, steady drizzle sort of rain. If I recall, a good portion of the first half of this drive was dreary and slightly rainy. But once I got into Virginia, the skies cleared up and stayed clear the rest of the day.
That evening, I would make my second visit to a wine bar in the walking mall in Charlottesville. About 30 miles outside of Charlottesville, my "low fuel" light went off. I have about 3 1/2 gallons of gas left when this happens, so I got to the venue without a problem. I did have to circle around the area a few times before finding a parking spot, though. I ended up getting a really good one. Parking is tricky in this area; because it's a walking mall, you can't park right in front of the shops or restaurants. Since I have a bunch of gear to set up, I am always looking for the best option, and it's not always easy. But I was relatively lucky.
The evening's show went well, and I sold a few cds. That night, while I was driving back to my hosts' home, I managed to run a stop sign. I didn't even see it. Unfortunately, there was a cop nearby who did see me, however. The first thing he said was "you ran through that stop sign like it wasn't there." I was hoping for a warning, but wasn't so lucky. As I got to the hosts' home, I relayed what had happened. My host said that the sign there is in a bad spot, and not that close to the street. Thanks, Charlottesville... ($91 ticket)
Things would get worse before they got better. On Saturday, April 2nd, I was scheduled to play my first show in Baltimore, MD. Right after lunch, I packed the car and left Charlottesville. As you might recall, my low fuel light had gone off the night before. By this time, I had driven about 60 miles. I put a local gas station that was on the route into my GPS. But did I make it to the gas station? Less than 2 miles before reaching the station, I ran out of gas... for the first time in my life. Someone was kind enough to help push my car to the side of the road. I put my flashers on, and located the closes gas station that I could walk to on my GPS. I felt stupid, but I wasn't that concerned, because I found a station that was a mile away, and I still had time to get to Baltimore (I plan to arrive pretty early before my shows start as often as I can).
I set off walking to the station, GPS in hand now. I figured that with a very brisk walk (I jogged when the route was downhill), I could get a can and a couple gallons of gas in less than 25 minutes. And as luck would have it, I came to a gas station that was en route to the station I had chosen (but not listed on the GPS). Unfortunately, though the pumps were on, the station's store was closed. I found this to be astounding - it was a Saturday, after all. I banged on the door, to no avail. A woman was filling her tank, and I asked her if she had a can that I might be able to buy, but no luck. She did, however, inform me of a store on the same road that would be open, and also sold gas cans. And this store was also on the way to the original station I had put into my GPS. So I bought the can, and went back to the station where I had just been. But immediately after leaving the store where I bought the can, it got very windy, and then started to hail. I had no option but to laugh at the whole situation. The precipitation also prompted me to move faster, as I didn't want to spend a three-hour drive in soaked clothes. So I was able to make up some more time. I pumped the gas into my brand new can, and continued to head back to where I had left my car.
The hail didn't last long, but instead turned into rain. But the rain tapered off rather quickly, as well. I wondered to myself if this was the same weather system that had gone through Pittsburgh the day prior. I was about to cross a street and make my final turn toward my car, when an older man in a whit pickup truck asked me if I needed a ride. I told him I was less than a 1/2 mile from my car, and that he should just go ahead. But he pulled off to the curb, and waited for me. As I got in the truck, I was greeted by his granddaughter and three of her middle-school-aged friends. There were on their way to hang out at the mall. The driver asked me where my car was, and we headed off. We passed where I thought I had left it, but there was no car there. At this point, I was wondering if I had just become disoriented or something. But since I had my GPS, I recreated the route that I had taken, and we got back to the last turn that I remembered making. We drove on the same stretch of road that we had just been on, and, sure enough, my car was gone. In the 15 to 20 minutes that it had taken me to get the can and the gas: the Charlottesville police had spotted the car and deemed it "abandoned" (even though my flashers were obviously on); called a wrecker to have it towed; the tow truck arrived to tow the car; and the car had gotten to the wrecker's lot. I was really thankful that the man had pulled over to pick me up. Thankfully, the wrecker was really close by, and the driver knew where it was (he actually knew the owner, and tried to talk them out of charging me any fees). We got to the wrecker, and there was my car, flashers still flashing. Thanks, Charlottesville... ($85 to get the car - $55 to the police, and $30 for the towing fee)
I emptied most of my can into the gas tank, filled the rest of the tank at a gas station, and then set out to Baltimore, much more delayed than I originally thought I might be. I called the venue while I was en route, and they were understanding. Unfortunately, they didn't let all of their staff know. I had several people who were coming out for the show who asked about my status, but weren't told that I was on my way. But thankfully, they stayed. I was supposed to play from 5 to 7 pm, but didn't get there until about 5:20 (this was, of course, a miracle). I frantically set up, and got started at about a quarter to 6. The venue paid me about half of what we agreed to, and I sold 8 cds, so it actually turned out to be a rather good ending to a horrible day.
A friend would later dub this the "I fought the law, and the law won Tour".
Those were the only real driving mishaps of the tour, and they occurred within 2 miles of each other, and within a 14-hour span of time.
The next day, I would have another 2-show day. It was rather exhausting. The longest show I usually do is 3 hours (divided into 3 sets, with two breaks). But there is a Vineyard that I play that has music for 4 hours in the afternoon. I did more looping/instrumental sections than usual, and got through the event unharmed. But I had only had breakfast (and maybe a banana or a granola bar or two during the day), and was very hungry after the gig. I would be playing in Washington, D.C. that evening, and part of my compensation there was a $25 food tab. I used it. Because of a scheduling mishap on my last tour, the guy who books the nights there paid me at least double what the usual pay was, and it was definitely worth fitting that show in on that busy day.
I slept deeply that evening, and had another long drive, to western PA for a show at a great little coffee shop in Beaver Falls. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the people who come out just to listen to music there. Mind you, this was a Monday night. The people who work there are very nice, too.
On Tuesday, I had another 2-show day. It started with a community college gig around lunch time. I've done enough of these to know that it's considered background music. But I usually don't have lunchtime shows, and they pay decently, so they are definitely worth doing. I think maybe 3 people clapped through the entire gig, on 2 or 3 songs total. That evening, I had my first show at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. I had several people come out for this show, and it was pretty decent. I hope to return to their campus for another show during my Fall Tour (which I am booking dates for now! Let me know if you want me to visit your town, or have a specific venue in mind, or would like to host a House Concert!).
Wednesday the 6th would bring yet another 2-show day. In the morning, I visited my high school Alma Mater in Upper St. Clair. I visited a few music classes, and talked with students about songwriting and life as a professional musician. I played a show during the lunch periods (we call them "mods"), too. Several teachers that I knew / had were still there, and picked up some cds. I was there for almost the entire school day, so it was a rather busy day. That evening, I had a gig in the Theatre District of Pittsburgh. I don't remember what I did after that gig, aside from eat dinner, but I'm sure that I was tired.
On Thursday, I had another community college lunchtime gig. That evening, I went out with my family for dinner for my birthday (which was in March). That was a good day to recuperate.
We are now to the final weekend of the Tour...
That Friday night, I performed at a restaurant owned by an Upper St. Clair couple. A student from USC came out for the show, as well as one of the audience members from the Monday night show in Beaver Falls, and a bunch of parents of some of the USC students. I sold about 10 cds thee, and it was a great last show in Pittsburgh. I hope to return there in the near future (the venue, that is; I'm sure I'll be in Pittsburgh in the near future).
On Saturday, I had my final 2-show day of the tour. I performed at two places in Ohio that I often play when traveling through. There were some familiar faces at each show, which is always a good thing. I sold 7 cds and a shirt, to bump up the cd sales record
Sunday night would bring me to my final show of the whole Tour - show # 30! It was a house concert in Louisville, KY. Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as the other house concerts (I haven't had a good show in KY yet). But there was one person in the audience who bought each of my albums, and tipped me on top of it. If he wasn't there, I would have only made 10 dollars.
After the show, I hit the road again, making it home around 11:15 that evening. What an adventure!
Thanks for following me on the road, and for coming out to the shows. Even with the mishaps in Charlottesville, this was the best tour that I've ever done. I've referenced CD sales a decent amount during this blog series. CD sales are maybe the best barometer for artists to figure out how shows are going, not only financially, but in terms of whether the audience is into what they are doing.
My previous record for CD sales in one tour was 86 CDs. During this tour, I wound up selling over 130 cds. This is more than a 50% increase! I credit all the great music-loving and musician-supporting audiences during the tour. Thank you again!
Miles Driven - 3751
Average Speed - 48 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 32.5
Alright; this is going to be a bit more condensed than the other entries for this tour. I've actually been at home in TN for two weeks now, but wanted to put the lid on this set of Tour Blogs.
We left off in Pittsburgh, after I had played on campus at Pitt. I had mentioned that it was snowing as I parked before the show. Well, by the end of the show, it was bright and sunny. I packed the car, and got ready to set off to Charlottesville, VA. Within a minute or two of starting my car, the weather situation had changed again, to a dreary, steady drizzle sort of rain. If I recall, a good portion of the first half of this drive was dreary and slightly rainy. But once I got into Virginia, the skies cleared up and stayed clear the rest of the day.
That evening, I would make my second visit to a wine bar in the walking mall in Charlottesville. About 30 miles outside of Charlottesville, my "low fuel" light went off. I have about 3 1/2 gallons of gas left when this happens, so I got to the venue without a problem. I did have to circle around the area a few times before finding a parking spot, though. I ended up getting a really good one. Parking is tricky in this area; because it's a walking mall, you can't park right in front of the shops or restaurants. Since I have a bunch of gear to set up, I am always looking for the best option, and it's not always easy. But I was relatively lucky.
The evening's show went well, and I sold a few cds. That night, while I was driving back to my hosts' home, I managed to run a stop sign. I didn't even see it. Unfortunately, there was a cop nearby who did see me, however. The first thing he said was "you ran through that stop sign like it wasn't there." I was hoping for a warning, but wasn't so lucky. As I got to the hosts' home, I relayed what had happened. My host said that the sign there is in a bad spot, and not that close to the street. Thanks, Charlottesville... ($91 ticket)
Things would get worse before they got better. On Saturday, April 2nd, I was scheduled to play my first show in Baltimore, MD. Right after lunch, I packed the car and left Charlottesville. As you might recall, my low fuel light had gone off the night before. By this time, I had driven about 60 miles. I put a local gas station that was on the route into my GPS. But did I make it to the gas station? Less than 2 miles before reaching the station, I ran out of gas... for the first time in my life. Someone was kind enough to help push my car to the side of the road. I put my flashers on, and located the closes gas station that I could walk to on my GPS. I felt stupid, but I wasn't that concerned, because I found a station that was a mile away, and I still had time to get to Baltimore (I plan to arrive pretty early before my shows start as often as I can).
I set off walking to the station, GPS in hand now. I figured that with a very brisk walk (I jogged when the route was downhill), I could get a can and a couple gallons of gas in less than 25 minutes. And as luck would have it, I came to a gas station that was en route to the station I had chosen (but not listed on the GPS). Unfortunately, though the pumps were on, the station's store was closed. I found this to be astounding - it was a Saturday, after all. I banged on the door, to no avail. A woman was filling her tank, and I asked her if she had a can that I might be able to buy, but no luck. She did, however, inform me of a store on the same road that would be open, and also sold gas cans. And this store was also on the way to the original station I had put into my GPS. So I bought the can, and went back to the station where I had just been. But immediately after leaving the store where I bought the can, it got very windy, and then started to hail. I had no option but to laugh at the whole situation. The precipitation also prompted me to move faster, as I didn't want to spend a three-hour drive in soaked clothes. So I was able to make up some more time. I pumped the gas into my brand new can, and continued to head back to where I had left my car.
The hail didn't last long, but instead turned into rain. But the rain tapered off rather quickly, as well. I wondered to myself if this was the same weather system that had gone through Pittsburgh the day prior. I was about to cross a street and make my final turn toward my car, when an older man in a whit pickup truck asked me if I needed a ride. I told him I was less than a 1/2 mile from my car, and that he should just go ahead. But he pulled off to the curb, and waited for me. As I got in the truck, I was greeted by his granddaughter and three of her middle-school-aged friends. There were on their way to hang out at the mall. The driver asked me where my car was, and we headed off. We passed where I thought I had left it, but there was no car there. At this point, I was wondering if I had just become disoriented or something. But since I had my GPS, I recreated the route that I had taken, and we got back to the last turn that I remembered making. We drove on the same stretch of road that we had just been on, and, sure enough, my car was gone. In the 15 to 20 minutes that it had taken me to get the can and the gas: the Charlottesville police had spotted the car and deemed it "abandoned" (even though my flashers were obviously on); called a wrecker to have it towed; the tow truck arrived to tow the car; and the car had gotten to the wrecker's lot. I was really thankful that the man had pulled over to pick me up. Thankfully, the wrecker was really close by, and the driver knew where it was (he actually knew the owner, and tried to talk them out of charging me any fees). We got to the wrecker, and there was my car, flashers still flashing. Thanks, Charlottesville... ($85 to get the car - $55 to the police, and $30 for the towing fee)
I emptied most of my can into the gas tank, filled the rest of the tank at a gas station, and then set out to Baltimore, much more delayed than I originally thought I might be. I called the venue while I was en route, and they were understanding. Unfortunately, they didn't let all of their staff know. I had several people who were coming out for the show who asked about my status, but weren't told that I was on my way. But thankfully, they stayed. I was supposed to play from 5 to 7 pm, but didn't get there until about 5:20 (this was, of course, a miracle). I frantically set up, and got started at about a quarter to 6. The venue paid me about half of what we agreed to, and I sold 8 cds, so it actually turned out to be a rather good ending to a horrible day.
A friend would later dub this the "I fought the law, and the law won Tour".
Those were the only real driving mishaps of the tour, and they occurred within 2 miles of each other, and within a 14-hour span of time.
The next day, I would have another 2-show day. It was rather exhausting. The longest show I usually do is 3 hours (divided into 3 sets, with two breaks). But there is a Vineyard that I play that has music for 4 hours in the afternoon. I did more looping/instrumental sections than usual, and got through the event unharmed. But I had only had breakfast (and maybe a banana or a granola bar or two during the day), and was very hungry after the gig. I would be playing in Washington, D.C. that evening, and part of my compensation there was a $25 food tab. I used it. Because of a scheduling mishap on my last tour, the guy who books the nights there paid me at least double what the usual pay was, and it was definitely worth fitting that show in on that busy day.
I slept deeply that evening, and had another long drive, to western PA for a show at a great little coffee shop in Beaver Falls. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the people who come out just to listen to music there. Mind you, this was a Monday night. The people who work there are very nice, too.
On Tuesday, I had another 2-show day. It started with a community college gig around lunch time. I've done enough of these to know that it's considered background music. But I usually don't have lunchtime shows, and they pay decently, so they are definitely worth doing. I think maybe 3 people clapped through the entire gig, on 2 or 3 songs total. That evening, I had my first show at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. I had several people come out for this show, and it was pretty decent. I hope to return to their campus for another show during my Fall Tour (which I am booking dates for now! Let me know if you want me to visit your town, or have a specific venue in mind, or would like to host a House Concert!).
Wednesday the 6th would bring yet another 2-show day. In the morning, I visited my high school Alma Mater in Upper St. Clair. I visited a few music classes, and talked with students about songwriting and life as a professional musician. I played a show during the lunch periods (we call them "mods"), too. Several teachers that I knew / had were still there, and picked up some cds. I was there for almost the entire school day, so it was a rather busy day. That evening, I had a gig in the Theatre District of Pittsburgh. I don't remember what I did after that gig, aside from eat dinner, but I'm sure that I was tired.
On Thursday, I had another community college lunchtime gig. That evening, I went out with my family for dinner for my birthday (which was in March). That was a good day to recuperate.
We are now to the final weekend of the Tour...
That Friday night, I performed at a restaurant owned by an Upper St. Clair couple. A student from USC came out for the show, as well as one of the audience members from the Monday night show in Beaver Falls, and a bunch of parents of some of the USC students. I sold about 10 cds thee, and it was a great last show in Pittsburgh. I hope to return there in the near future (the venue, that is; I'm sure I'll be in Pittsburgh in the near future).
On Saturday, I had my final 2-show day of the tour. I performed at two places in Ohio that I often play when traveling through. There were some familiar faces at each show, which is always a good thing. I sold 7 cds and a shirt, to bump up the cd sales record
Sunday night would bring me to my final show of the whole Tour - show # 30! It was a house concert in Louisville, KY. Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as the other house concerts (I haven't had a good show in KY yet). But there was one person in the audience who bought each of my albums, and tipped me on top of it. If he wasn't there, I would have only made 10 dollars.
After the show, I hit the road again, making it home around 11:15 that evening. What an adventure!
Thanks for following me on the road, and for coming out to the shows. Even with the mishaps in Charlottesville, this was the best tour that I've ever done. I've referenced CD sales a decent amount during this blog series. CD sales are maybe the best barometer for artists to figure out how shows are going, not only financially, but in terms of whether the audience is into what they are doing.
My previous record for CD sales in one tour was 86 CDs. During this tour, I wound up selling over 130 cds. This is more than a 50% increase! I credit all the great music-loving and musician-supporting audiences during the tour. Thank you again!
posted by Jeff Miller at 2:06 PM
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