Jeff's First US Tour of 2011 – blog #5 (day 22)
Miles Driven - 3089
Average Speed - 49 mph (I think that's what my car display said last...)
Miles Per Gallon - 32.5
We left off after the really long drive on Monday night / Tuesday morning (the 29th of March). I'll try to cover the first of 2 sets of shows in western PA, land of my hometown of Pittsburgh.
On Tuesday night, I would return to one of my favorite bars to play at - North Country Brewing Co. in Slippery Rock, PA. The great thing about this place is that people actually listen to music there, and appreciate original music. I rarely have to deal with anyone making requests or heckling from the crowd. Neither of these things occurred on Tuesday night, but it was unfortunately not a very music-listening audience that I played to. Usually, there is a good mix of townspeople and college students, but it was overrun with college students on this particular evening. And for the first set, there was one girl who was unbelievably loud. She was probably about 20 feet away from where I was playing, but I could here much of what she was saying loud and clear. I guess it's because they have higher-pitched voices, but it always seems like it's drunk girls that cause the most noise at these less-than-ideal show settings. The rest of the night didn't get any better, and this was easily the worst visit to North Country that I have ever made. Ah well... you can't win them all, I guess.
On Wednesday, it was rather cold in Pittsburgh, and the precipitation vacillated (is that the right word?) throughout the day, from drizzly rain to snow. This evening would bring my least-stressful gig of the tour, I think: Rock n' Bowl at Arsenal Bowling Lanes in Pittsburgh. That's right - live music at a bowling alley. It happens every Wednesday night there. $8 for shoe rentals + all you can bowl from 9 pm to midnight. I play 2 30-minute sets, and bowl before, between, and/or after if I want to. The venue splits the cover with the performers, and I realize that people are there to bowl, so I just play without any expectations. I think I sell a cd or two each time that I play there. But the weather apparently kept people away this evening. There were maybe 18 people out. Several of them actually clapped after songs, and it was probably the most attentive bowling audience that I've ever played for. And at the end of the night, the woman who collects and gives out the shoes behind the counter, who I had thought seemed like an old, crabby lady, made a point to tell me that she always loves it when I come to play. I guess you can't always tell a book by its cover.
The last 2 western PA shows of this first visit would redeem the first two. On Thursday, I played at another one of my favorite bars to perform original music: The Map Room in the Regent Square area of Pittsburgh. Attendance was decent, and I sold 9 cds by the end of the night, including one to someone who heard me play the last time I played here, but had only just walked in as I was packing up and saying goodnight to the staff.
On Friday, I performed a noon show on campus at Pitt, for a series run by a songwriting organization in Pittsburgh, called Calliope. The shows are held in the University's library, which I find a little bit ironic. I was warned about parking, and left with ample time to circle around a time or two to find a spot. Luckily, I was able to snag the last spot on the same street that the library was on. I didn't see any other spots that were conveniently close, so I was thankful to find the spot. It was snowing as I unpacked things from my car. By the time that I had finished the show and hit the road for that evening's show, it was sunny. In the time between, I performed a set in the library. From what I could tell, people come out regularly to catch music for this series, and it was a good listening audience, some of whom weren't even reading books or using laptops. I sold 5 cds after the hour-long set, including one to a fan who I hadn't seen in over 2 years.
Alright; I've got to get on the road to my last Pittsburgh show of the second western PA visit (which you'll hopefully read about later), but come back soon to read about last weekend's shows, and some unfortunate driving circumstances that would befall me.
Average Speed - 49 mph (I think that's what my car display said last...)
Miles Per Gallon - 32.5
We left off after the really long drive on Monday night / Tuesday morning (the 29th of March). I'll try to cover the first of 2 sets of shows in western PA, land of my hometown of Pittsburgh.
On Tuesday night, I would return to one of my favorite bars to play at - North Country Brewing Co. in Slippery Rock, PA. The great thing about this place is that people actually listen to music there, and appreciate original music. I rarely have to deal with anyone making requests or heckling from the crowd. Neither of these things occurred on Tuesday night, but it was unfortunately not a very music-listening audience that I played to. Usually, there is a good mix of townspeople and college students, but it was overrun with college students on this particular evening. And for the first set, there was one girl who was unbelievably loud. She was probably about 20 feet away from where I was playing, but I could here much of what she was saying loud and clear. I guess it's because they have higher-pitched voices, but it always seems like it's drunk girls that cause the most noise at these less-than-ideal show settings. The rest of the night didn't get any better, and this was easily the worst visit to North Country that I have ever made. Ah well... you can't win them all, I guess.
On Wednesday, it was rather cold in Pittsburgh, and the precipitation vacillated (is that the right word?) throughout the day, from drizzly rain to snow. This evening would bring my least-stressful gig of the tour, I think: Rock n' Bowl at Arsenal Bowling Lanes in Pittsburgh. That's right - live music at a bowling alley. It happens every Wednesday night there. $8 for shoe rentals + all you can bowl from 9 pm to midnight. I play 2 30-minute sets, and bowl before, between, and/or after if I want to. The venue splits the cover with the performers, and I realize that people are there to bowl, so I just play without any expectations. I think I sell a cd or two each time that I play there. But the weather apparently kept people away this evening. There were maybe 18 people out. Several of them actually clapped after songs, and it was probably the most attentive bowling audience that I've ever played for. And at the end of the night, the woman who collects and gives out the shoes behind the counter, who I had thought seemed like an old, crabby lady, made a point to tell me that she always loves it when I come to play. I guess you can't always tell a book by its cover.
The last 2 western PA shows of this first visit would redeem the first two. On Thursday, I played at another one of my favorite bars to perform original music: The Map Room in the Regent Square area of Pittsburgh. Attendance was decent, and I sold 9 cds by the end of the night, including one to someone who heard me play the last time I played here, but had only just walked in as I was packing up and saying goodnight to the staff.
On Friday, I performed a noon show on campus at Pitt, for a series run by a songwriting organization in Pittsburgh, called Calliope. The shows are held in the University's library, which I find a little bit ironic. I was warned about parking, and left with ample time to circle around a time or two to find a spot. Luckily, I was able to snag the last spot on the same street that the library was on. I didn't see any other spots that were conveniently close, so I was thankful to find the spot. It was snowing as I unpacked things from my car. By the time that I had finished the show and hit the road for that evening's show, it was sunny. In the time between, I performed a set in the library. From what I could tell, people come out regularly to catch music for this series, and it was a good listening audience, some of whom weren't even reading books or using laptops. I sold 5 cds after the hour-long set, including one to a fan who I hadn't seen in over 2 years.
Alright; I've got to get on the road to my last Pittsburgh show of the second western PA visit (which you'll hopefully read about later), but come back soon to read about last weekend's shows, and some unfortunate driving circumstances that would befall me.
posted by Jeff Miller at 7:32 PM
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