Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have two upcoming shows! My persistence has paid off, and I hope it continues to. Combined with the recording I’m doing with Larry and Aselin this Wednesday, I now have three reasons to rehearse. So I am, and all of the fun and challenge and fingertip-pain attendant on that is flooding forth. Again, I don’t really know why I stop, ever.
The Raleigh show will be about one year after my last visit to my former hometown. I’ll be playing dueling solo sets with my brother Scott (who performs under the name The Monologue Bombs). We’ll be part of Raleigh’s “First Friday” (10/2) celebration — sort of an open-house for all the art galleries around town, with music and maybe food. Scott tells me that where we’ll be playing (Rebus Works Gallery) is an especially isolated space, singer-wise. I mean, there’s good separation between folks who want to check out paintings and folks who want to hear music. You get the idea.
The Chicago show will be at the newest bar in Logan Square, Cole’s. I tip my hat to my buddy Jet, who texted me in the middle of a barrage of gig-emailing I was already doing to point out the near-glowing writeup of Cole’s in Gaper’s Block, wherein it was mentioned that, hey, they’re looking for bands. Cole himself responded to my email that same day, offering .e September 15, a Tuesday (I’d suggested something low-key like that). What’s more, he asked if I knew other musicians to round out the evening, and so thanks to some more rapid-fire emailing, my compatriots-in-song Denise Hradecky and Eric Ziegenhagen are on the bill. Should be a good night!
Semi-relatedly, yesterday was a great day. We went to Chinatown to watch The Xylenes open up a festival at noon. Amber from the Xylenes is the wife of a former co-worker/friend, David. A few years ago, when I thought I wanted to get a trio going to play out, I invited her and Larry over on a Sunday. My neighborhood being what it is, Amber got lost trying to find the place, and I had stupidly left my cell phone off. We jammed anyway, and it was actually pretty fun, but I always feel bad for having her go through that, only to not have a band materialize anyway. Not that being “in” Zapruder Point is necessarily a total treat. But I digress.
The Xylenes rocked a brisk set of covers, including “Roam” and a very faithful “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” They have way more women in the band than the last time I saw them. They form a wall out front, trading off and harmonizing lines. It was the perfect accompaniment to a perfect day.
THEN after a couple other errands, Amy said she wanted to check out this fabric shop in Bucktown she’d heard of. As we pulled up to it, I saw the bar across the street and was astonished to find that it was Charleston — the only venue on my gig-grubbing short list that I’d never set foot in. I remedied that, asking Heather at the bar if there’s more that I can do to get in with the booker there (aside from email). “Definitely,” she said, sliding me a notepad to leave Wendy, the booker, a personal note. The place looks great — the kind of bar with books in it, and a stage at the back that looks to be about six feet square. Cozy. Sweet. Keep your fingers crossed.
Speaking of fingers, when we got home I practiced again. I’ve been trying to go for a full hour each time, but my fingers were pretty stinging by about 50 minutes. It had been worse the day before. It’ll probably be better now, as I head down to the basement…
