Jeff's First US Tour of 2011 – blog #4 (day 18)
Miles Driven - 2892
Average Speed - 48 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 33
It has been 5 days since I've been able to check in. Too much driving, too many shows, too much other stuff for me to get a good chunk of time to sit down for another post. Please don't hate me.
We left off at the end of the first week of this current tour, in Fredericksburg, VA, on Thursday the 24th of March. I had been looking forward to this second weekend of the tour....and it didn't disappoint.
On Friday, I made a return trip to the small town of Keedysville, MD, for the Salem United Methodist Church Coffee House series. After a stop at a Subway near the church, and some misdirection from my GPS, which took me on some pretty sketchy roads, one of which was a dead end, I made it there in time to eat my sub and catch up with a few people. I would like to have arrived about 30 minutes earlier, but everything went fine after all. The people who run the series are great, and it was good to be back to perform (it had been at least a year and a half). The attendance was a tad on the slim side, but it was still a great show, full of some Q&A with the audience and ample time to get to talk to people who had come out. There were also several people in attendance who had come out the first time I performed there. As I said before leaving, I'd rather play a show for 20 people who are really paying attention, that to play for 100 who are being so loud that I can't hear myself. Hopefully a return for their series will happen before another year and a half.
The Show on Saturday would be my first official House Concert of this tour. This one was hosted in the Annapolis area. If you haven't been reading my blog or Newsletter for a while, then you might not know that House Concerts are becoming my favorite type of show to do. They are just what they sound like: Concerts in people's homes. Sometimes they include food and drink; they always include live music, and a listening room environment.
If you'd like to learn more about (and potentially host) house concerts, please feel free to check out my profile at this popular House Concert Website:
--->CIYH SITE<---
A local singer/songwriter named David Glaser opened up the show. He was quite good. About 20 people came out for the show, and I finished the evening with 17 cds sold, and a couple t-shirts sold, too. It's an overwhelmingly-good feeling to have almost every audience member leave with a cd. When I play louder bar gigs, I am wondering what I need to do to try to get just a few people to pay attention enough to see if they even like the music. At the house concerts, people are they because they love live music, so it's not so much of a chore for the artist to get people's attention - people are there to pay attention. And if they like the artists, they are supportive. I wish every concert I did could be a house concert.
On Sunday night, I performed on the other side of DC, for another house concert. People arrived early for this one, which I took as a good sign for the night. The was another local opener that evening - a jazz trio that sang songs about animals.
People weren't paying much attention to them, so my heart was sinking a bit as I listened to their set. But as I was getting ready to start my set, the host announced who I was and that I was about to start, and the room got quiet. Oh, the relief. House Concerts can become house parties if they aren't presented properly. Thankfully, my set was introduced well - I sold another 12-15 cds, and a few more t-shirts. Not too shabby for a Sunday night. The hosts had a cool separate studio/guest room behind their house, where I stayed and posted the second blog entry of this tour.
On Monday, after posting that blog entry, I headed out to Frederick, MD, where I have been performing for the past year or year and a half. There is a weekly songwriter showcase show that is done at a restaurant/brewery in town. It's another great listening room setting. I was the featured performer for the evening. Aside from one table of people (who got Shhhhhh'd a few times during my set), the room remained a great listening room environment. People tipped well, and I sold a few cds... all in all, a great show for a Monday.
Unfortunately, I would be driving all the way to Pittsburgh after the show. I didn't arrive until about a quarter to 4 in the morning, thanks to some oversized load trucks, and a weird situation involving road crew workers who went 15 mph in both lanes for about 25 minutes. I'm still not sure that I have recovered from that drive.
There might be some typos in this bloggggg - I'm typing on my netbook right now, at the coffee shop where I will be performing in about an hour. I'll do my best to get back to it and correct any errors, and add some photos. Thanks for following my adventures - I hope you're enjoying the ride.
Average Speed - 48 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 33
It has been 5 days since I've been able to check in. Too much driving, too many shows, too much other stuff for me to get a good chunk of time to sit down for another post. Please don't hate me.
We left off at the end of the first week of this current tour, in Fredericksburg, VA, on Thursday the 24th of March. I had been looking forward to this second weekend of the tour....and it didn't disappoint.
On Friday, I made a return trip to the small town of Keedysville, MD, for the Salem United Methodist Church Coffee House series. After a stop at a Subway near the church, and some misdirection from my GPS, which took me on some pretty sketchy roads, one of which was a dead end, I made it there in time to eat my sub and catch up with a few people. I would like to have arrived about 30 minutes earlier, but everything went fine after all. The people who run the series are great, and it was good to be back to perform (it had been at least a year and a half). The attendance was a tad on the slim side, but it was still a great show, full of some Q&A with the audience and ample time to get to talk to people who had come out. There were also several people in attendance who had come out the first time I performed there. As I said before leaving, I'd rather play a show for 20 people who are really paying attention, that to play for 100 who are being so loud that I can't hear myself. Hopefully a return for their series will happen before another year and a half.
The Show on Saturday would be my first official House Concert of this tour. This one was hosted in the Annapolis area. If you haven't been reading my blog or Newsletter for a while, then you might not know that House Concerts are becoming my favorite type of show to do. They are just what they sound like: Concerts in people's homes. Sometimes they include food and drink; they always include live music, and a listening room environment.
If you'd like to learn more about (and potentially host) house concerts, please feel free to check out my profile at this popular House Concert Website:
--->CIYH SITE<---
A local singer/songwriter named David Glaser opened up the show. He was quite good. About 20 people came out for the show, and I finished the evening with 17 cds sold, and a couple t-shirts sold, too. It's an overwhelmingly-good feeling to have almost every audience member leave with a cd. When I play louder bar gigs, I am wondering what I need to do to try to get just a few people to pay attention enough to see if they even like the music. At the house concerts, people are they because they love live music, so it's not so much of a chore for the artist to get people's attention - people are there to pay attention. And if they like the artists, they are supportive. I wish every concert I did could be a house concert.
On Sunday night, I performed on the other side of DC, for another house concert. People arrived early for this one, which I took as a good sign for the night. The was another local opener that evening - a jazz trio that sang songs about animals.
People weren't paying much attention to them, so my heart was sinking a bit as I listened to their set. But as I was getting ready to start my set, the host announced who I was and that I was about to start, and the room got quiet. Oh, the relief. House Concerts can become house parties if they aren't presented properly. Thankfully, my set was introduced well - I sold another 12-15 cds, and a few more t-shirts. Not too shabby for a Sunday night. The hosts had a cool separate studio/guest room behind their house, where I stayed and posted the second blog entry of this tour.
On Monday, after posting that blog entry, I headed out to Frederick, MD, where I have been performing for the past year or year and a half. There is a weekly songwriter showcase show that is done at a restaurant/brewery in town. It's another great listening room setting. I was the featured performer for the evening. Aside from one table of people (who got Shhhhhh'd a few times during my set), the room remained a great listening room environment. People tipped well, and I sold a few cds... all in all, a great show for a Monday.
Unfortunately, I would be driving all the way to Pittsburgh after the show. I didn't arrive until about a quarter to 4 in the morning, thanks to some oversized load trucks, and a weird situation involving road crew workers who went 15 mph in both lanes for about 25 minutes. I'm still not sure that I have recovered from that drive.
There might be some typos in this bloggggg - I'm typing on my netbook right now, at the coffee shop where I will be performing in about an hour. I'll do my best to get back to it and correct any errors, and add some photos. Thanks for following my adventures - I hope you're enjoying the ride.
posted by Jeff Miller at 6:21 PM
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