For years I have been blogging on, to quote every reference to MySpace, "the popular social networking site", MySpace. For some time my website has been perfectly set up to have a blog but every time I sat down to write I realized I had no real idea of who I was writing to whereas on MySpace I have come to know my friends well. And they me.
So, here I am, Memorial weekend in The U.S., staring, typing and waiting for the inevitable holiday rain to pour down ruining a perfectly good weekend for all except for myself. Since I took up music as more than a dream, I've missed a lot of holidays. I mean, I am alive when they happen but if there is a barbeque or a party I am probably not there. I am probably working on something that will make it possible in the future for me to take a day at the beach without a care in the world. Nowadays, getting me to sit still for a day of "relaxation" is not possible. I'd get a good few minutes in and then be anxious to get on with a project I am workin on, or a new one, that will further my efforts. And there have been many over the years.
In my upcoming blogs I will share with you the past, keep those of you interested in the present up-to-date on what I am getting myself into (or out of!) and lay plans for the future.
For someone who I can safely say is still yet an "up and coming", oh the places I've been! With the exception of the support and help of friends, musicians, family and friends in the business, this has been a one-woman show. There was a publicist for a very short time in the beginning but I parted ways with him when he wanted to write a review for me in The Village Voice. I refused this because I was paying him to work for me and I considered that unfair. He disagreed and felt we could "stick it to the man" and take on the world. Well, I'd love to but that's not the right way to go about it.
Outside of that it's been mostly the friends I have met on MySpace who have helped me to spread the word. Not THE word. Just the word. My words. You will probably hear about them in my blogs. Most of them I have not met in person but will one day. I cannot wait. They have been my core and my rock along with a couple of close confidants, a very small collection at that because this is not easy. Only the 100 percent trusted survive.So, they have been there too.
But, it comes down to me. There is no booking agent. There is no full-time publicist tho I now work with a teriff Scotsman who vows I won't be able to understand him when the day comes we speak on the phone. Or Skype rather. I don't believe him.
There is no manager. There is no tour manager (but, god I'd love that!). There is no label. If I don't write my songs they don't exist. If I don't get musicians gathered into a room there are no rehearsals. There are no photos shoots if I don't make friends with photographers. No reviews without meeting reviewers and/or licking the envelopes myself. Lord knows there is no make-up artist or hairdresser! I wash my own dishes, do my own laundry, take the bus or walk everywhere I go having abandoned the idea of keeping a car in lieu of making a record and general necessities such as eating. My feet hurt a lot. Tho generally enthusiastic, I am half-asleep half the time and when I am awake I am Googling topics such as "superfoods" trying to find ways to keep my body from dropping dead and figuring out how the hell to do it all.
I could go on and list what I don't have and include the perfect website, perfectly aligned text on my MySpace site, a personal trainer (just throwing that one in), a lot of "play money", gigs every nite all around the world etc... but why let you in my head? I shall worry about these things and on many days I do. However, the truth is that 1)with all I don't have, I still have an awful lot and 2)if I put my attention on what I don't have I suspect I will get what I wish for.
And what do I have? Well, taking the website- I can assure you that while it could be better it's A LOT better than the one I had for years that I built myself. I do have stamina which helps when you are the one doing all of this and making sure shows get booked, promoted and played well. I do not mind parting ways with a band when they are not up to speed and have confidence that each new group will be better than the last. The one I am with now is superb. I have a roof over my head which, some days I either haven't or they have been questionable. I have food in the fridge and a computer that works until it goes and I get a new used one. I have a handful of imperfect vids on You Tube. But, I am on You Tube reaching out. I have a first record of which I am very proud and was reviwed very postively by the press. And after a loooonnnnngggg battle with barriers some of which would make your head spin, I do have a studio, an engineer, a co-producer and a band ready to put out the next batch of songs starting May 29th.
I think you get the idea. Thanks to my friend, filmmaker and photographer David Farmerie for kicking my butt to get this first blog written.
And thanks to you for paying attention and being part of my world. I hope you'll stick around.
Oh, a little warning about my blogs: they are often long, I don't edit them once I write them and there are grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes always. I was in honor's classes for those things in school. But, I was also thinking about a hundred other things and that has never changed.
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