Steve is the guy who quit his job by deploying the airplane's escape slide, grabbing two beers, and quitting his job over the aircraft PA system. He says a lady passenger took her bag out of the overhead and clunked him with it, although no witnesses saw this. JetBlue, of courst, announced that he was a coward and "had mental problems". I mean, who else would get angry at a rude and profane passenger but a crazy flight attendant?Don’t stand so close, I say, the heat index is over 110 degrees today. And I had to ride my bicycle right through it, collecting all kinds of documentation for the upcoming week. The heat has gone into the painful zone, I repeat do not travel to Florida in the summer unless you know what you are doing. In which case, you’d stay away.
Bryne has reappeared, up in Pembroke Pines. He got a last minute contract in the Keys and did not leave for the north. He is just not a computer person, his resume was in docx and some people could not open it. Trust MicroSoft to pull a stunt like that. What’s more, he’s got 53 copies out there and does not know which ones are docx. His former business on the left coast is for sale for $300,000 and he won’t see any of it.
He owned, or I should say started, a famous pub in Carmel. His clientele was the after- after- after-hours crowd, the ones who always claim to be Blues music aficionados, but drink Heineken and Corollas with that lemon slice. Did you know lemons are the filthiest thing to eat in a pub? They don’t wash them and, well, you can imagine. Still, Bryne was the owner, having invested his life savings just before the economy, pardon the pun, tanked.
My day was comparatively fine, my greatest discomfort was some music I had listened to that stuck in my brain all day. Remember that Patty Loveless and her “Blame It On Your Lyin’ Cheatin’ Heart”? Rattling my brain all day when I was supposed to be concentrating. For some good news, my throat is clearing up and I was able to sing along to some falsetto lyrics. Nobody was more surprised thnt myself when it came out on key with no detectable effort to move into the upper range.
[Author's note 2015-08-13: I was still learning to sing in 2010 and did not know that same Loveless song was to become a huge winner and money-maker for my act.]
Which is not to say I’m ready to do falsetto on stage. I still have to mentally plan every note and performing live has distractions. That’s what I meant when I was 17 years old and said there is no such thing as stage fright, only lack of preparation. You don’t do what I do half way, not without getting the heebie-jeebies. Practice is king, and if you count the hours, you might not even start.
This unbearable heat drove me in to Buddy’s Place (the pub on Dixie and Washington), the first time I’ve been there in the daytime. For the record, I usually have a soda, but a patron who recognized me sent over a cold and very welcome beer. The building A/C is sub-zero and it still took me a half hour to stop sweating. Buddy tells me that Laura is now doing her Karaoke seven nights a week. During the day she is a paralegal, so she’s working like I once did when I was able.
That explains why she never comes to see my show any more. The point is, the music work is there, and I’m prepared to face the realities. My new show and prices are planned to compete directly with the Karaoke market. I don’t know of any bands that are playing every night, know what I mean. Live music is still better, but experience shows that few people travel any distance beyond a mile or two, no matter how good you are. It’s a police and parking thing. And it helps if those miles are toward the beach, not along it.
Let me go over some repeat data here, just to be clear. I don’t really have a following, but I have plenty of local fans. The way I get hired is not to pack a club full of strangers. Instead, my strategy is to have patrons who are already there stay longer or buy more. Of course, I like work on the waterfront, where tourists provide variety. But generally, I cannot play the same spots continuously or repeatedly. Novelty is hard to sustain, even if I do a better job of it than most around here.
Sometimes I get asked about concerts and charity. That is an area I only consider when money is good. So the answer is no. There is also a “look-at-me” aspect of such events that doesn’t entirely fit my style. You know I dislike entertainers who play “at” the audience. My show is meant for smaller rooms. If memory serves, nor has anybody offered me $10,000 for a concert. So don’t rule anything out.
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