Well, I could go on like this forever, but I suppose I ought to wrap it up. I'll have something more cogent soon. In the meantime, keep supporting live, local music.
We're all feeling the pinch, but man, the price of gas is getting out of hand. Where I live, it went up 14 cents per gallon in 4 days, and there's no indication it will slow down. That makes it difficult for someone who needs to travel a lot for work. I teach guitar lessons in the homes of my students. The higher cost of gas means that I have to either raise my prices or make less money. Unfortunately, I'm sure my students' parents are feeling the pinch too, so I walk a fine line between being able to continue doing what I love, and pricing myself out of business. Then there's the gigs. As you can see from my upcoming gigs page, I'm booked pretty far in advance. I've set my price for playing when I'm booked, so if prices rise dramatically between now and the time I've got to do the gig, I've lost out.
I usually try to keep this space on the topic of music, but this is an issue that really affects our whole way of life. It's time to tell your elected officials that we need to rebuild our capacity to produce energy at home. Allow exploration and drilling for our own oil so we aren't beholden to foreign countries. Allow new refineries to be built so we can increase supply, thereby reducing prices. I'm not saying we need to throw environmental concerns out the window. But we need to look at the big picture of what will happen if our economy continues to head south.
I know we've barely begun Spring, but I'm already thinking about Summer. That's because this year I've got a bunch of outdoor gigs. I'll be playing at the Art at the Barn festival in South Bristol, The Dansville Town Park, The Geneseo Summer Festival, The Angelica Town Park, The Perry Farmer's Market, The East Bloomfield Town Park (that one is with Connie Deming. Bonus!), Kinsey's in Honeoye a few times with W.B. Blues and with some other friends, a private party or two, and of course, I'll be on the deck at The Brown Hound Bistro a number of times.
Playing outside presents it's own unique challenges, but when the weather cooperates, it's a lot of fun. You can see all my upcoming gigs on the Upcoming Gigs page.
I got asked to sing at a funeral. While I've never done that before, I guess it's not all that unusual in and of itself. The unusual part for me is that I was asked by the.......guest of honor, shall we say. She's not dead. To the best of my knowledge, she's not even sick. Yet, it wasn't just a passing remark that she wants me to sing at her funeral. She is serious. There's a specific song and she wants to make arrangements to have me there to sing it.
Above all, I'm honored that she would think of me. Beyond that, I feel a little bit strange about it. We all have our own feelings about death. Personally, I'd like to avoid it for a while. Being asked in advance forced me into the future to a time when I'm sure I will be feeling pretty sad. She is, afterall someone I know and like. The song she wants isn't one that I'd otherwise perform as part of any of my shows, but I guess I should learn it in advance, and even sing it for her while she's still around to hear it.
If you'd like me to sing for you, it's much easier to hear me while you're alive (I presume). Why not check out one of my shows. There's a bunch listed on the upcoming gigs page.