2012 Fall East Coast Tour Blog #8 (End of Tour)
I am currently in the middle of my 2013 Spring Tour, but I feel compelled to finish retelling the account of the 2012 Fall Tour, because it was the best tour of my life so far (though this year's Fall Tour looks like it will surpass it). It also included at least one more freakish incident at the end of the tour. I'll try to get through the rest of it quickly.
We left off just midway through the tour. On the 14th of October, I made a fairly lengthy trek from Ringoes, NJ to Mt. Airy, MD for a winery show. The crowd there was a tad on the slim side, but it was a very supportive one, and I somehow managed to sell ten CDs and increase my CDs per show average, somewhat to my surprise. That evening, I stayed with an old friend and her family, and they insisted on taking me out for dinner. This is something I have tried to gratefully decline over the years (especially when it is from a tour host), but I have been very fortunate to have grown accustomed to the kindness of friends (and strangers) when I am on the road. I don't take it for granted. That evening, I had the chance to repay them by helping them disassemble, move, and reassemble some furniture in their house.
On Monday the 15th, I had the opportunity to perform as part of a monthly series at a venue I had been trying to get into for at least a few years. The venue was nice, and they fed me dinner, which was also nice, but the music room did not get very full that evening. There were maybe 7 or 8 people in attendance. It was a nice, listening room show, but I only managed to sell one CD. A few of the people there were actually people I had met previously at house concerts in the area.
That evening, I stayed with some other friends, and had this awaiting me in the guest room:
I've never had towel animals made for me when I've been on tour, so having two in three days was quite surprising.
I had another decent drive on Tuesday, as I would be returning to New York City. Trips to NYC are always an adventure, but this trip to NY was perhaps the least eventful one that I've had in all my years of touring. Getting through the Holland Tunnel (this tunnel takes you from NJ to NY or vice versa) can take anywhere from 15 minutes (usually very late at night) to an hour. On this occasion, it only took me about 15 minutes from the moment that I could see the tunnel to the moment that I had exited through the other side. My show in NY went really well, and several friends came out. We grabbed a late dinner together after the show, which was great. I don't usually get to hang out with a group of people like this while I'm on tour. I may see a lot of people, but it's usually at shows, when I am not really able to really catch up and spend quality time with them. That evening, I stayed with a good college friend.
On Wednesday the 17th, I would return to Connecticut for a show for the first time in I don't know how long. I played at an Irish Pub in West Hartford. I ordered dinner (bangers and mash), and unloaded my gear onto the stage area while it was being prepared. The "stage" was a small area raised up by a few inches from the rest of the floor, and it usually has tables and chairs on it. The staff cleared away all the tables and chairs that weren't being used, but two men remained at their table, talking. This wasn't a big deal, as I wasn't ready to plug things in and sound check just then. But I kept my eye on them as I waited for my meal to arrive. They were already done eating their dinners, and were just talking. It was obvious that there was going to be music that evening, and there were several open seats at the bar, but these men stayed there until it was impossible for me to set all my gear up and start playing on time. The pub apparently has a policy of not asking customers to move...
Though they did eventually get up, they didn't leave. They sat down at the bar! They could have done so 20 minutes earlier than they did. Oh well... it was just a strange thing. The pub wasn't a music venue per se, so I was basically background music. It was basically a non-responsive crowd for the first set. Thankfully, a couple came in at the beginning of the second set and sat at the table closest to the stage. They were really excited that there was live music. I basically played that set for them, and when the night was done, they asked me a bunch of questions, including ones about looping. They grabbed a couple of cds and asked me to sign them. So an emotionally draining situation turned into a fulfilling one by the end of the gig. That evening, I stayed with a high school friend who I hadn't seen in way too long. We hung out with some of his friends, one of whom was known to shake salt onto chocolate chip cookies before he ate them. He convinced me to try it. It wasn't bad.
On Thursday, I made another lengthy drive, from West Hartford to a tiny town, the name of which escapes me, but it's about as close to being in PA, MD, and DE at the same time as you can get. As I was driving in unfamiliar territory, I ended up passing the address of the venue. There were no cars in the parking lot, and it didn't quite seem like a restaurant to me, so I drove a little further. I called the number that I had for the venue, and no one answered; but their message had a recording that advertised live music, so I thought that seemed hopeful. Anyway, I backtracked to the place that I thought might have been the venue. Sure enough, it was. But this is what the parking lot looked like:
(That's my car on the right.) Thankfully, driving to this closed venue did not add too many extra miles to my tour route, but it's always disappointing when a venue cancels, and even more disappointing when they don't have the courtesy to let me know. They apparently had shut down a couple weeks prior, but made no mention of it on their facebook page (or their phone message).
On the 19th, I played in my home state's capital: Harrisburg. I have stayed in Harrisburg several times, but this would be only my second performance in the city. The show was at The Midtown Scholar, a humongous bookstore with two levels. A band from Connecticut opened up for me.
I'm always concerned that I won't be able to hold the audience's attention when a band opens for me. But this show went extremely well. The sound was great, the audience was great. I only knew two or three people there, but I wound up selling 8 cds, and one person went out of his way to tell me that he came because he saw my poster, and that he enjoyed my set more than a Keller Williams show that he had recently attended...quite a complement.
On Saturday the 20th, I returned to a little coffee shop in Wayne, PA (just outside of Philadelphia). This place used to be a regular stop for me in my first years of touring, until they limited their live music nights to just Saturdays. Since my Fall Tour, they have cut out all live music, except for their open mic. I made a decent amount in tips and sold 2 cds. It was a decent crowd, and included a fan from years ago, who happened to be walking by the coffee shop as I was setting up, and didn't realize that I was in town to perform. After the show, I drove back to Harrisburg for the night, largely in order to avoid driving through areas of higher population the following day.
And on that following day, I made the long drive from Harrisburg, PA to Blacksburg, VA, after which I had (dinner and) a three-hour show. No one at the venue was expecting me, but I pointed out that my posters had been up on their doors for at least 2 weeks, and told them who I had booked the show with, and everything turned out fine. They had also reserved space for a small party to watch the Sunday Night Football game. This party never showed, oddly enough. All in all, everything turned out well, considering the potential setbacks.
On Monday, October 22nd, I had my only day off of the tour. In anticipation of this, my hosts, who are both excellent photographers, suggested shooting some videos of songs. So we spent most of the day working on one of the songs. It will hopefully be up soon... I don't want to give away too much, but it involved a lot of leaves. And there was no shortage of them in the area. Look at this - they actually have trucks come along that vacuum up the leaves from the street, and residents are encouraged to move their leaves to the street. My neighbor would be irate.
On Tuesday the 23rd, I had the first of two midweek House Concerts. House Concerts are my favorite type of show to do. I usually do them on weekends, however, and crowds are unpredictable on weeknights. Unfortunately, this night's show in Mt. Airy, NC was thin in attendance. The host, who is also a musician, was great, and offered me a small guarantee, and I was able to sell 4 cds. Though it could have gone much better, it was still a decent night. You can't win them all.
On Wednesday, I played at a Bed and Breakfast in the small town of Blackstone, VA. There was a great, engaged crowd that filled all of the seats in the living room where I played. I wound up selling 11 cds, which I'll take on any Wednesday night.
On Thursday the 25th, I headed back to Blacksburg for another show. After the show, we did another video shoot for another song. Again, these videos should be up on my YouTube page sometime soon - please feel free to subscribe to the page to stay on top of all of the new videos!
Friday was the second to last day of shows. I had two shows in Asheville, NC. I really like that town, but have struggled a little in my attempt to find a great venue to return to for shows. My first show was at a really neat place, though, called French Broad Chocolate Lounge. It's not really a music venue, but they do have music on the weekends. Tonight's visit was the best one I've had there so far, and I managed to sell 5 cds. I think it was the fourth time I've played there. After that show, I quickly packed up my car and headed to another venue for a midnight set. Prior to that first show, I actually went to the second venue to grab dinner. Anyway, there were very few people at the second show, and, in retrospect (you'll see why if you read a little further), I wish I hadn't booked the gig. I sold one cd, but it really wasn't worth the extra running around...
...or hitting a bear with my car as I drove to my hosts' home that evening.
The man on the left hit the bear first. He had pulled his car off to the side of the road (I-40 East, just outside of Asheville), as had a couple who saw him hit the bear. I was moving my car from the right lane to the middle lane, and wound up hitting the bear because of this. I then pulled my car off to the side of the road, and ran toward the other cars. I yelled "Is it a deer?" As I approached them. The guy who hit the bear was pulling it off the road as I arrived where he was, and he said "Dude, it's a bear. You know you gotta facebook this sh*t!" It was certainly an experience, but I wish I hadn't had it. I was going about 65 mph when I hit it, and it felt like hitting a speed bump much too quickly. Fortunately, my car seems to have withstood the damage well. Some plastic undergirding was broken off, and my front bumper was also mangled a little. My alignment is a bit off now, too, but nothing that required a repair visit happened. The first person's car was apparently pretty banged up, and he asked me for my contact info for insurance purposes. A few weeks after the end of the tour, I got a call from Geico on his behalf. I was nervous the whole drive to the place where I would be staying, but didn't notice any issues, and my fuel economy stayed pretty consistent. As of this writing, I am currently getting about 45 mpg during my Spring Tour.
After this bear encounter, I was ready to go home. But I still had one more show, and, thankfully, it was another House Concert. Have I mentioned that House Concerts are the best thing ever? If you're interested in hosting a house concert, please shoot me an email, and maybe we can line one up!
I arrived early to set up for the show, and encountered this sign as I turned onto the long driveway:
It was a great final show of the Fall Tour. The weather was still nice enough to set up outside, and the owners of the home actually made a stage and mini amphitheater for their House Concerts.
There were between 15 and 20 people there, and the hosts actually apologized for the small crowd, saying that they usually get at least twice that number. I wasn't upset though, as all the people in attendance were bona fide music fans. I sold 26 CDs that evening, as well as a shirt. I believe this is the highest number of CDs I've ever sold at a House Concert, and probably the highest ratio of CDs sold to audience members.
The next day, I made the long final drive from the Charlotte, NC area back home to Nashville.
The End.
We left off just midway through the tour. On the 14th of October, I made a fairly lengthy trek from Ringoes, NJ to Mt. Airy, MD for a winery show. The crowd there was a tad on the slim side, but it was a very supportive one, and I somehow managed to sell ten CDs and increase my CDs per show average, somewhat to my surprise. That evening, I stayed with an old friend and her family, and they insisted on taking me out for dinner. This is something I have tried to gratefully decline over the years (especially when it is from a tour host), but I have been very fortunate to have grown accustomed to the kindness of friends (and strangers) when I am on the road. I don't take it for granted. That evening, I had the chance to repay them by helping them disassemble, move, and reassemble some furniture in their house.
On Monday the 15th, I had the opportunity to perform as part of a monthly series at a venue I had been trying to get into for at least a few years. The venue was nice, and they fed me dinner, which was also nice, but the music room did not get very full that evening. There were maybe 7 or 8 people in attendance. It was a nice, listening room show, but I only managed to sell one CD. A few of the people there were actually people I had met previously at house concerts in the area.
That evening, I stayed with some other friends, and had this awaiting me in the guest room:
I've never had towel animals made for me when I've been on tour, so having two in three days was quite surprising.
I had another decent drive on Tuesday, as I would be returning to New York City. Trips to NYC are always an adventure, but this trip to NY was perhaps the least eventful one that I've had in all my years of touring. Getting through the Holland Tunnel (this tunnel takes you from NJ to NY or vice versa) can take anywhere from 15 minutes (usually very late at night) to an hour. On this occasion, it only took me about 15 minutes from the moment that I could see the tunnel to the moment that I had exited through the other side. My show in NY went really well, and several friends came out. We grabbed a late dinner together after the show, which was great. I don't usually get to hang out with a group of people like this while I'm on tour. I may see a lot of people, but it's usually at shows, when I am not really able to really catch up and spend quality time with them. That evening, I stayed with a good college friend.
On Wednesday the 17th, I would return to Connecticut for a show for the first time in I don't know how long. I played at an Irish Pub in West Hartford. I ordered dinner (bangers and mash), and unloaded my gear onto the stage area while it was being prepared. The "stage" was a small area raised up by a few inches from the rest of the floor, and it usually has tables and chairs on it. The staff cleared away all the tables and chairs that weren't being used, but two men remained at their table, talking. This wasn't a big deal, as I wasn't ready to plug things in and sound check just then. But I kept my eye on them as I waited for my meal to arrive. They were already done eating their dinners, and were just talking. It was obvious that there was going to be music that evening, and there were several open seats at the bar, but these men stayed there until it was impossible for me to set all my gear up and start playing on time. The pub apparently has a policy of not asking customers to move...
Though they did eventually get up, they didn't leave. They sat down at the bar! They could have done so 20 minutes earlier than they did. Oh well... it was just a strange thing. The pub wasn't a music venue per se, so I was basically background music. It was basically a non-responsive crowd for the first set. Thankfully, a couple came in at the beginning of the second set and sat at the table closest to the stage. They were really excited that there was live music. I basically played that set for them, and when the night was done, they asked me a bunch of questions, including ones about looping. They grabbed a couple of cds and asked me to sign them. So an emotionally draining situation turned into a fulfilling one by the end of the gig. That evening, I stayed with a high school friend who I hadn't seen in way too long. We hung out with some of his friends, one of whom was known to shake salt onto chocolate chip cookies before he ate them. He convinced me to try it. It wasn't bad.
On Thursday, I made another lengthy drive, from West Hartford to a tiny town, the name of which escapes me, but it's about as close to being in PA, MD, and DE at the same time as you can get. As I was driving in unfamiliar territory, I ended up passing the address of the venue. There were no cars in the parking lot, and it didn't quite seem like a restaurant to me, so I drove a little further. I called the number that I had for the venue, and no one answered; but their message had a recording that advertised live music, so I thought that seemed hopeful. Anyway, I backtracked to the place that I thought might have been the venue. Sure enough, it was. But this is what the parking lot looked like:
(That's my car on the right.) Thankfully, driving to this closed venue did not add too many extra miles to my tour route, but it's always disappointing when a venue cancels, and even more disappointing when they don't have the courtesy to let me know. They apparently had shut down a couple weeks prior, but made no mention of it on their facebook page (or their phone message).
On the 19th, I played in my home state's capital: Harrisburg. I have stayed in Harrisburg several times, but this would be only my second performance in the city. The show was at The Midtown Scholar, a humongous bookstore with two levels. A band from Connecticut opened up for me.
I'm always concerned that I won't be able to hold the audience's attention when a band opens for me. But this show went extremely well. The sound was great, the audience was great. I only knew two or three people there, but I wound up selling 8 cds, and one person went out of his way to tell me that he came because he saw my poster, and that he enjoyed my set more than a Keller Williams show that he had recently attended...quite a complement.
On Saturday the 20th, I returned to a little coffee shop in Wayne, PA (just outside of Philadelphia). This place used to be a regular stop for me in my first years of touring, until they limited their live music nights to just Saturdays. Since my Fall Tour, they have cut out all live music, except for their open mic. I made a decent amount in tips and sold 2 cds. It was a decent crowd, and included a fan from years ago, who happened to be walking by the coffee shop as I was setting up, and didn't realize that I was in town to perform. After the show, I drove back to Harrisburg for the night, largely in order to avoid driving through areas of higher population the following day.
And on that following day, I made the long drive from Harrisburg, PA to Blacksburg, VA, after which I had (dinner and) a three-hour show. No one at the venue was expecting me, but I pointed out that my posters had been up on their doors for at least 2 weeks, and told them who I had booked the show with, and everything turned out fine. They had also reserved space for a small party to watch the Sunday Night Football game. This party never showed, oddly enough. All in all, everything turned out well, considering the potential setbacks.
On Monday, October 22nd, I had my only day off of the tour. In anticipation of this, my hosts, who are both excellent photographers, suggested shooting some videos of songs. So we spent most of the day working on one of the songs. It will hopefully be up soon... I don't want to give away too much, but it involved a lot of leaves. And there was no shortage of them in the area. Look at this - they actually have trucks come along that vacuum up the leaves from the street, and residents are encouraged to move their leaves to the street. My neighbor would be irate.
On Tuesday the 23rd, I had the first of two midweek House Concerts. House Concerts are my favorite type of show to do. I usually do them on weekends, however, and crowds are unpredictable on weeknights. Unfortunately, this night's show in Mt. Airy, NC was thin in attendance. The host, who is also a musician, was great, and offered me a small guarantee, and I was able to sell 4 cds. Though it could have gone much better, it was still a decent night. You can't win them all.
On Wednesday, I played at a Bed and Breakfast in the small town of Blackstone, VA. There was a great, engaged crowd that filled all of the seats in the living room where I played. I wound up selling 11 cds, which I'll take on any Wednesday night.
On Thursday the 25th, I headed back to Blacksburg for another show. After the show, we did another video shoot for another song. Again, these videos should be up on my YouTube page sometime soon - please feel free to subscribe to the page to stay on top of all of the new videos!
Friday was the second to last day of shows. I had two shows in Asheville, NC. I really like that town, but have struggled a little in my attempt to find a great venue to return to for shows. My first show was at a really neat place, though, called French Broad Chocolate Lounge. It's not really a music venue, but they do have music on the weekends. Tonight's visit was the best one I've had there so far, and I managed to sell 5 cds. I think it was the fourth time I've played there. After that show, I quickly packed up my car and headed to another venue for a midnight set. Prior to that first show, I actually went to the second venue to grab dinner. Anyway, there were very few people at the second show, and, in retrospect (you'll see why if you read a little further), I wish I hadn't booked the gig. I sold one cd, but it really wasn't worth the extra running around...
...or hitting a bear with my car as I drove to my hosts' home that evening.
The man on the left hit the bear first. He had pulled his car off to the side of the road (I-40 East, just outside of Asheville), as had a couple who saw him hit the bear. I was moving my car from the right lane to the middle lane, and wound up hitting the bear because of this. I then pulled my car off to the side of the road, and ran toward the other cars. I yelled "Is it a deer?" As I approached them. The guy who hit the bear was pulling it off the road as I arrived where he was, and he said "Dude, it's a bear. You know you gotta facebook this sh*t!" It was certainly an experience, but I wish I hadn't had it. I was going about 65 mph when I hit it, and it felt like hitting a speed bump much too quickly. Fortunately, my car seems to have withstood the damage well. Some plastic undergirding was broken off, and my front bumper was also mangled a little. My alignment is a bit off now, too, but nothing that required a repair visit happened. The first person's car was apparently pretty banged up, and he asked me for my contact info for insurance purposes. A few weeks after the end of the tour, I got a call from Geico on his behalf. I was nervous the whole drive to the place where I would be staying, but didn't notice any issues, and my fuel economy stayed pretty consistent. As of this writing, I am currently getting about 45 mpg during my Spring Tour.
After this bear encounter, I was ready to go home. But I still had one more show, and, thankfully, it was another House Concert. Have I mentioned that House Concerts are the best thing ever? If you're interested in hosting a house concert, please shoot me an email, and maybe we can line one up!
I arrived early to set up for the show, and encountered this sign as I turned onto the long driveway:
It was a great final show of the Fall Tour. The weather was still nice enough to set up outside, and the owners of the home actually made a stage and mini amphitheater for their House Concerts.
There were between 15 and 20 people there, and the hosts actually apologized for the small crowd, saying that they usually get at least twice that number. I wasn't upset though, as all the people in attendance were bona fide music fans. I sold 26 CDs that evening, as well as a shirt. I believe this is the highest number of CDs I've ever sold at a House Concert, and probably the highest ratio of CDs sold to audience members.
The next day, I made the long final drive from the Charlotte, NC area back home to Nashville.
The End.
posted by Jeff Miller at 4:54 PM
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