House Concert Surprise

I’ve wanted to go to a house concert, but never did I expect hosting one as a first step. Here’s the story.

We had scheduled a surprise B-day party for Julie at a local bar. Julie always wanted her family and friends to hear her play, so I invited at least 40 friends and family and a great line up of local songwriters. The only requirement was that Julie had to sit in on one of their songs.
On the Monday before the Saturday show, Rob Roper went to the bar for lunch (it’s also a restaurant, no he wasn’t drinking his lunch) only to see a sign “closed for renovations.” After verifying that it was truly closed, we went in frantic search for a venue. You’d figure, great musicians and a crowd would entice some bar owner, but no luck. Finally as a last resort, we decided on a house concert in our basement. The next challenge - how to keep it a surprise? I got the family to come to a surprise dinner at a local restaurant, while Rob and friends rearranged our house (yes, I was feeling brave). The surprise at the restaurant was good, but having an additional 20+ people back at the house was great. They did an excellent job with rearranging our house.

Now to the concert, Julie and I played an opening 3 song set. What a perfect setting. We had a full room (actually packed) and attentive audience that we could see. We were then followed by Rob Roper, Ken Morris, and Eddie Wesslhoff. What talent in our house, so cool! I remember sitting on the basement stairs listening to Ken Morris. I couldn't imagine music sounding any better.

Thanks to all who helped pull it off and sorry to any who didn’t receive my emergency change of venue e-mail.

Memorable Performances

We were sitting around camp at Song School and a reporter stopped by to ask “what was our most memorable performance of past festivals.” Being a little flip, I said Big Joe Kinser, She Only Loves Me When She’s Drunk. I went on to tell the reporter that the best music happens at Song School, not the main stage.

Two days later, I see it in print. There’s a photo of me, Joe’s names, and a bunch of names you’d instantly recognize. However, I still stand by my choice. Here's the story,

It was the last day of Song School 3 years ago. We had a night filled with great performances. The last performer of the evening comes up, a big guy, small guitar, cut off shorts, etc. I remember thinking here’s a person out of his element, first time at Song School, and he has to follow all these great acts. However, he captured me from the first line, “She only loves me when she’s drunk, when she’s drunk I’m a bar room hunk...” I went home singing that line and to the dismay of my wife for the next year. Three years later, I still remember that song and moment. I just found it on UTube - check it out.

Another moment I remember is Paul Reisler getting up on stage and singing, “I can’t remember, what I forgot.” He never sings on stage but his vocalist was a no show. You could see his hesitation until the first words came out. An incredible performance that brought tears to my eyes.

I guess my point is, it’s not the production, it’s the emotion. Emotion of the performer and the listener. It’s being your authentic self on stage and with your song. It’s a magical blend of right place, right time, right song ...

Open stage on vacation

We were on vacation in NJ and amazingly enough ran into this guy Hugh at the Garden Tour who knew my blog and actually said he enjoyed it. When he invited us to play at an open stage, I couldn't resist.

With a day to borrow instruments and practice, we set off. I was using my nephew's guitar and Julie played our daughter's 3/4 sized violin. It turned out to be a fairly good crowd (including many of our family) at Finn's retaurant in Brick that night and we managed to have fun. What was great was that Hugh and another guy performed their own songs, songwriting alive in my hometown, cool.

Check out hugh's music on myspace.

American Idol - A lesson in performance

Yuk! I hate to admit it, but I've become an American Idol fan. What an amazing place to launch your career. It's also a great place to study song arrangement and performance.

On song arrangement - First, all songs short are cut short. I didn't time them, but I'm guessing around 2 minutes per song. The singers then arrange them however they like. What becomes very clear is those that build to somewhere and those that stay pretty flat. After watching a few shows, it's very clear that those that build in energy as the song progresses, typically get the best reviews.

They repeatedly say that it is a singing contest, but what clearly becomes important is the performance. Tonight for example, the show was clearly stolen by Chikezie. While I'm not sure he's the strongest singer, his performance tonight was outstanding. What came across was his joy and love of being on stage. One of the best singers, David Archuleta, was off tonight and even though he has a great voice, he looked uncomfortable and I felt uncomfortable watching him. I keep being surprised and impressed by Brooke White's passion for her songs. She had tears in her eyes after singing "Let it Be" and from what I felt listening to her, it was very appropriate. She shows the importance of being authentic with what you sing. Finally, my favorite, Carly Smithson, combines high energy, passion, with powerful vocals. I'm expecting her to win.

I've also found the judges comments to be very helpful. Randy will always notice if you're out of tune or out of the groove, you can always tell that he's listening intently. Paula is the coach, always providing positive reinforcement and helpful tips. Finally there Simon, the critic. Each contestant wants his praise. When he gives you a thumbs up, you know you nailed it. If you didn't there's no place to hide.

All the contestants in this later round are excellent and I'd love to have any of their voices, as well as their courage to put themselves out there in front of millions. If only I was 20 years younger, had a great singing voice and nerves of steel...