Saturday at Stage Left Cafe

Hi, guys!  There are a couple of non-Facebookers who occasionally stop by (I hope they still do) who might want to see this.  This is an open mic semi-near us, and I was signed up for 8 pm hoping for less light outside so I'd be an image rather than a silhouette, but they were running early and I went on at 7:30. Also, I made it especially for some friends in Vermont (which is why the opening slate has a mountain scene and cryptic inside-jokey graphic).  My intro explains it a little more.

Beware:  Randy Jackson would say, "It started out pitchy, Dawg." But, it gets better.  I was preoccupied trying to sing with an Irish accent without sounding magically delicious.  Not sure what key I thought I was in at first.

Enjoy!

Un Signo Di Dio

I've never had a Virgin Mary in the Glass experience or seen Jesus in my toast. However, today I looked down at the cord hanging from my guitar pickup and saw this:

I know, right? A freaking treble clef!

(My lips to Gods ears: I didn't contrive this in any way. I just saw it, lay down the guitar and grabbed the camera.)

If you didn't have music lessons as a kid, here's something for comparison:

It's no Shroud of Turin, but I don't think you can get a closer re-creation with a single strand of anything.

I'd be shunning my duties as a snake oil peddler if I didn't assign some heartfelt personal significance to this, so here goes:

I have a crazy goal to sing an original song in front of people who aren't kin to me. I find this tremendously scary, but in a moment of stupidity I confessed to my husband that I'd like to do it at an upcoming open mic night at Barley Island Brewing Company. Have I mentioned my husband doesn't let things go?

1. A reason this is scary: it's musician appreciation night at Barley Island's open mic. There will be lots of songwriters there. Yikes.
   
   
2. Another reason this is scary: I've not yet written a song I deem good enough to sing in front of non-relatives. It's four days from now. This is the only day I have off work between now and Sunday.

How can you help? Glad you asked: If you're a local MRF reader, come to Barley Island Sunday night around 6:30 or so and clap a lot. A diverse group of local acts comes out to this, so chances are good you'll hear something you like. Plus, their tasty Flat Top Wheat Ale does a nice job of taking the edge off stuff you don't like.

You non-locals (shout out to Wisconsin, California, and Texas) do what you do best and keep commenting here. You totally put the locals to shame.

Sigh. If my supernatural musical phenomenon means anything, it's time to stop procrastinating and write a song. Holy crap, I hope I can do this.

Rockin' It Homestyle

Thank you to my best friend, Jessica and her sister, Kristie for setting this up!

I'll be in Mississippi for my Dad's wedding next Saturday, and that night I'll play at Zachary's in Columbus. This town is the site of my alma mater , my first real job, and the church where we were married. My old apartment is two blocks from there, so it literally is my old 'hood. I'm still tracking down an amp, but being related to 50 people in the tri-county area (most of whom share the last name Pepper) ought to provide enough connections to work that out.

In my old apartment, when my next-door neighbor did yardwork she could literally hear me singing and playing in my living room. Not, like, through a window or anything- through the exterior wall. (Yeah - I know. It was a really nice place.) The day she brought this embarassing phenomenon to my attention, she said, "hey - don't worry about it. It sounded great. You should consider playing in bars; my friends and I would totally come hear you." That was the first time I really considered the possibility. The moral of the story: kind words are powerful. The next chance you get to say some, go for it.

If you're in the area, I start at 9 p.m. Kristie's the bartender, so give her a fat tip for making this happen!

Concert Pictures!

Remember when I said I might have some concert photos?? Well, it turns out a great photographer named

Stef Perri

IS nice enough to send photos to complete strangers. Plus she got some great shots...

This is the soon-to-be legendary Brandi Carlile performing at the Music Mill in Indianapolis.I was SO starstruck.

I'm Singin' My Songs Off Of Any Old Stage

That's from a Carolyn Arends song called "Seize The Day" that you would have heard last night if you were at Wolfie's Waterfront Grill. I probably shouldn't gush about my first gig like an excited teenager on my blog. It's probably not very professional. But, what the hell. You only live once, right?

This is me having MAJOR fun last night!

These are some of the nice folks who showed up for moral support...

Johnathan Baer and Diego Ross (vanilla bear and chocolate bear, respectively) then Amber and Kathy, wrapping up with Tom and Charlie doing it like they do.

I had so much fun it's ridiculous. I can't remember how long it's been since I lived in the moment. Not looking ahead to anything, or remembering anything; I just kept looking around thinking, "now this is what I call a job!" To make it even better, I had the pleasure of meeting and trading business cards with the very nice Greg Anderson who books local entertainment. Yay!

Tuttle INSISTED I take a picture with her and my first musician-type paycheck. I mean, she just wouldn't let it go. (She's gonna be pissed that she turned out so dark. I'll have to photoshop that before she sees it and gives me a licking. Ha, get it? Licking. I kill me.)

Thanks so much to my super roadie/manager/husband for all the fabulous behind the scenes stuff. I'd totally post a picture of him, but he had the camera. See what I mean about all he did? Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. You all rock my socks off.

Baby's First Meme

Daily Tragedies tagged me for a meme, and just in time, because I have too many ideas about what to write (which is unusual and oddly enough, still debilitating). Questions about music are a great excuse not to wade through the mental garbage looking for something you might actually want to read. Plus I always come out smelling like rotten eggs and coffee grounds.

So - here's how it goes: name seven songs you're currently into. The only rule is keep it honest, no editing out the dorky stuff so the cool kids will sit with you at lunch. Mine are in no particular order, just the way they came to mind.

1. Closer To You - Brandi Carlile
I am very into Brandi Carlile's music right now. As a matter of fact, I had a dream that we were friends and she came to stay with us when her band played in town. I'm inferring this from a very short single-scene dream: I get out of bed and walk into the hall. I see Brandi coming out of the guest room and I say, "hey, great show last night. Want some pancakes?" She doesn't really answer in my dream, probably since I've never actually heard her speak. (Yes, I know. Someone needs to get some real friends, and soon.)

2. Everything Comes Down To Poo - cast of Scrubs
That whole episode (My Musical) was amazing. I was in Jennifer heaven. Scrubs is my favorite comedy of all time, and they made a musical episode, AND it was great. Like, broadway great, but also hilarious. Listen for Donald Faison's (who plays Turk) line, "If you want to know what's wrong don't sit and act so cool. Just be a man, and eat some bread, and drop the kids off at the pool." I'm sorry to be so rigid, but if you don't find this song funny, we can no longer be friends.

3. Shame on You - Indigo Girls
I get so into this song when the weather starts to get warm. When you listen, promise me you'll groove a little.

4. East Asheville Hardware - David Wilcox
I'm kind of a folky chick at heart. I also tend to like stuff that songwriters like; which is ironic not having written a decent song in ten years. But, I'm working on that. If you like this song, the whole CD is just song after song of more fabulous.

5. In My Head - Anna Nalick
Love these lyrics, and of course Anna's voice.

6. Movin' On - Elliot Yamin
Eilliot is my boy and he always has been. He got his teeth fixed, and grew out his hair over his ears, but you were always beautiful to me, E. This is a fabulous song - get thee to iTunes.

7. Lake Marie - John Prine
One of my most unreachable goals in life is to sing with John Prine once. Hey, I can dream. Anyway, this is one is all about the words, but my husband's kinda ADD and he likes the jam of this one. To really experience the jam, get thee to iTunes. This video looks like someone did it with their camera phone, but hell, I woulda done the same thing.

Your turn! This is a group tag... leave your list in the comments or post on your own blog and link back to me.

Hey Ya Acoustic - Worth Checking Out

If you haven't see it yet, you must go here.

The video is grainy and crappy, but it's a fabulous version of the song.

Not Bad News

I've done lots more blog reading that blog writing lately. I've been pooky because, well, you can only tell friends and family you're still jobless so many times before your sparkling personality starts to dim. Believe you me, it's even worse when you don't begin with a sparkling personality. When you start out as me, you turn into Eeyore.

However, last night I got some "not bad" news. In Eeyore's gloomy corner that counts as good news, right? (Not that he'd admit it.)

I made an audition CD and took it to my neighborhood bar on Valentine's Day. My cell number and email address are on the CD label, but I hadn't heard back from them. Last night we went in for dinner and it turns out the owner had just gotten the CD yesterday and plans to listen to it soon.

So, see? Not good news, but not bad - not bad at all. Especially considering my immediate intepretation: she heard it, hated it, and only hesitated to say so fearing the revenue loss from all the expensive beer I buy there. Because it's not a matter of if Eeyore's house will fall down, but simply when.

I have a strong lead on a day job as well. My church's secretary resigned and I gave them my resume last night. It's not rocket science, but it's something I care about and I'll get to design and edit publications here and there. Plus the hours are light, allowing me to work on this crazy music thing at night.

So, there we are. No good news yet, but no bad news either. Who knows, maybe the house won't fall down this time.