2. Audio engineers and live music…don’t necessarily go together (yeah, I’ll explain that one)

3. Everybody loves free stuff!

As mentioned in my previous blog, I came up to San Francisco to play at the Performer Magazine booth at the Audio Engineering Society conference today. Mike and I have been to San Francisco a few times, now, so we’re feeling oddly in between tourists and people who truly know where they’re going. Today we took the bus for the first time, and the 12:22 bus came right at 12:22! The bus ride back from the conference site to our friend’s apartment was not as smooth, because traffic had really picked up, but nonetheless, I’d certainly give San Francisco high marks for public transit. Not that they asked me to rate it…

We got to the AES conference ahead of schedule (thanks, Muni!) and met Katherine, Regional Editor for West Coast Performer Magazine, just outside the conference. I spotted her right away because…she’s a woman. I laughed to myself when I saw her, “oh, that must be her, because that’s the only girl I’ve seen” and I hoisted up my guitar a bit to get her attention so she’d know I was the musician she was looking for. And, funny or not, it was her. We got our fancy badges – I do love a conference badge – and walked on in to the exhibit hall, where nary a woman was to be seen among the towering exhibits of cool-looking gear. She wasn’t the only one, but throughout the afternoon I saw maybe 10 women, so that the ratio of men to women had to be something like 100:1. The upside is that in that kind of crowd it’s not too hard to stand out as a female performer. But it makes me wonder why there aren’t more ladies in the field of audio engineering, and why more women don’t seem to be into gadgets and gear the way men are.  I suppose there is some answer in the way we’re socialized; what girls are told we’re good at or what we should like (the whole Barbie, “math is hard” thing), but I wonder if there’s something deeper. Kind of makes me want to start learning how to use Mike’s stuff.

But I digress – onto the next lesson! (see #2). I have to say that my set went really well. True, a conference is not the ideal performance situation. It’s totally awkward to sing your heart out while random people walk by looking quizically at you and/or strain to hear you, but it’s “this is funny” awkward, not “I want to sink through the floor” awkward. Actually, I love the challenge of taking a less-than-ideal performance environment and turning it into something that feels like some sort of accomplishment. And what I received were a lot of smiles and actually quite a few thumbs-up signs from the dudes who passed by (and sometimes, stopped to listen). It’s a mobile crowd, so being able to catch someone’s attention even for a moment feels like they just gave you a high-five. I think that several people stopped by the Performer Magazine booth and signed up for their mailing list, and I’d like to think that some were drawn there by my performance, but you never can tell.

Now, Katherine had told me, when I asked her how things had been going at the booth, that everyone “seemed really into it…well, maybe except for the booth across from us,” and then she laughed. She said that Performer Magazine’s was the only booth that actually had live music (though I did hear some random guitar being played when I entered the hall. Kind of like at Guitar Center). It certainly seems appropriate to have live music at a recording conference!

But back to the booth across the way. I started playing, and the young guy sitting dead across from me kept giving me “I like your music” kind of smiles, so I was a little startled when an older woman from the same booth came over in the middle of my set and said, “Um, could you turn your microphone away from us?” I didn’t know how to respond, mostly because turning the microphone won’t do anything…except maybe create some feedback if it’s pointed right at the speaker…so I said, “Um, I could, but I don’t think that will make it softer.” I could have put my guitar down for a moment and turned the PA down, but I was sort of frozen to my spot. The sound guy for the booth returned just then and was told by the woman that our booth was exceeding the decibel level allowed and we were making it impossible to hear her clients. (Though I don’t know about the decibel rule, because I could hear strains of The Doors from the speaker company behind me and guitar riffing on behalf of some amp company from across the hall…). Ah well, what can you do, except smile and then…try not to project so much. She did tell me my voice was lovely, though. And later the “I like your music” smiling guy gave me a t-shirt. I think he felt bad.

Oh, and finally, on the freebie thing, this is not a new lesson. Everyone knows that you leave a conference laden with crap you don’t need, several plastic bags to put it in, and magazines you intend to read but never will. But free stuff sitting on a table is just too darn tempting. While I was playing, I put down a few CDs, meaning for them just to be a display – I wasn’t really going to try to sell them, but it didn’t occur to me that I should give them away. Mike planned to just watch the little pile while I played…but by the time I was done, they were gone, taken by people who just grabbed ‘em. True, they might go the way of the magazines, but for me the taken CDs represent a successful day. :)

Thursday, May 8 we played at Tusca Cafe in Pittsburgh’s trendy South Side Works. We’d actually been there earlier in the week to go to the Cheesecake Factory for, well, cheesecake, and my poor friend was served a frozen piece of cheesecake that I can only describe as a cheesecakesicle. But I digress. Tusca seemed very swanky and upscale, and I enjoyed listening to Heather Kropf and Brad Yoder’s smooth piano/sax stylings and then the nice smoky vocals of Sonji. The only bummer of the night was that the place kind of cleared out right around the time I started playing. Apparently Pittsburgh is not one of those places the parties late – at least not on a Thursday night! But it was worth it to be a part of a great event, and it was nice to get my feet wet in a new place. There seems to be a great scene there. We had a great time in Pittsburgh generally; we went to the Andy Warhol museum and enjoyed the budding spring for a few days.

Friday, May 9 was the last show of the tour back in Ann Arbor. It was a nice little homecoming for us, playing at Crazy Wisdom – I played some great shows there during college. I wasn’t sure what the turnout would be like, especially given the fact that U of M is out for the summer, but the place was absolutely packed! As always there, the crowd was extremely attentive and appreciative, and it felt really wonderful for me to finish the tour on such a high note. It didn’t hurt that some friends and family were there for the show and we went to Pizza House later! That place RULES! One of my college faves, especially when I had a late night veggie italian sub craving. :)

In the morning I was lucky enough to see my niece’s soccer tournament in Novi and then we spent Mother’s Day in GR before hitting the road back west. It was uneventful – until that snow on the border of Colorado and New Mexico – we just can’t avoid it! But we made it home safely after all on Thursday afternoon and now here I am in LA, melting in the heat. I was just not really prepared for this crazy heat wave, and it seems even more drastic since we were just in cooler climates. The afternoon I got home I felt incredibly productive, going into super-laundry mode and making lists of things I needed to do, and then Friday afternoon I just crashed.

Mike and I have been getting some things for the apartment, though, and generally doing stuff we ran out of time to do before the tour. The fact is, I really loved being on tour. I loved always having a show to play. I loved seeing somewhere new and someone new every day. We stayed with lots of friends who made us feel completely at home everywhere. So I missed certain things but I never felt homesick. But it’s funny to me the little delights of being home after so long…for instance, I know where the glasses are! I know how to work the remote. Also, it feels great to go to the grocery store.

And that is all – next up, a show in town at cool club Libertine, and a tour of Northern CA and the Pacific Northwest is in the works for later this summer. The tour felt like, instead of something over and done, the beginning of a long road. And I can’t get wait to get back on it!

It’s funny how certain rooms and combinations of people just give off a certain energy, and last night’s just felt good to me. When it just feels comfy, I feed off of it and crack jokes and playing is the most natural thing in the world. I think the best thing about playing so many shows over the years is the fact that I can now, almost every time I play, really settle in and enjoy it, and hopefully that helps the audience ’settle in’, too.

Yesterday we left DC for Pittsburgh, but before we left we visited my friend Jocelyn where she works at…get ready…NPR!!!! I think Jocelyn is such a rock star because NPR is pretty much my favorite thing ever (ok….there are other things…like music, my husband, coffee, but you get the idea). To get to visit the place where the magic happens was just, well, magical. :) I was struck by the piles and piles of reading material in everyone’s cubicles. How inspiring it must be to be surrounded by people who are just learning and learning all the time, and then sharing it…very good for the brain, and the soul. I felt like I might get smarter if I just stayed there in the building long enough. Most everyone was quite busy, so I saw but didn’t meet the NPR ’stars’ who were around, but we met someone who works in music and we met the All Things Considered engineer who talked to us about their studio and all of its cool technological details. The music studio was much bigger than I expected, because I guess they often do full-out live performances there, sometimes for audiences. Very cool. I now have a place to envision when I dream about being on NPR…ah, someday.

Last night I did a little guest appearance at the Club Cafe’s open mic here in Pittsburgh to a really gracious audience and a great little community of performers. It was just a few songs, but I guess that counts as show 12…it’s a great room I’d love to come back to for a full set. And I would’ve stuck around for the whole thing, but their kitchen wasn’t functioning and we were STARVING! So we had some nice thai food which made us feel right at home and then passed out. We have a few days to recover, then a show Thursday night here in Pittsburgh and a show Friday night in Ann Arbor. The tour is actually coming to a close, and I’m feeling sad about it. At first it seemed much more stressful than it does now; now that we’re in a groove I just want to keep playing and playing. But I am feeling that it’s time to hole up and write some new songs; I can just feel them sort of bubbling up to the surface. And I do miss LA. And I need a haircut. So all good things must come to an end…but not quite yet.

Wednesday, 4/30 – Woodstock, NY
This place absolutely ruled. The Colony Cafe might be the coolest space that we’ve played in, and it was certainly one of the best shows we’ve ever played. The place used to be a hotel in the 20s and it has this cool old-timey feel to it, combined with the art and photos on the walls making it feel modern and hip…There was a good, extremely attentive crowd who were really receptive to us and really friendly afterwards. We opened up for Willy Porter, who’s an incredible guitarist whose voice and lyrics are just as impressive. It was really an honor, especially because he was so sweet and gracious to us. The whole evening basically made us feel like rock stars, and then we got to spend the whole next day tooling around Woodstock and the Catskills, stopping to check out various historical sites and to take in some beautiful views over by the Ashokan Reservoir. I’m telling you, it’s impossible to be anything but relaxed up there.

Friday, 5/2 – Baltimore, MD
I was slightly apprehensive about this show because we don’t really know anyone in town and had never been here before. But Read Street Books is an adorable place and Chris and Lisette treated us so kindly that we felt right at home. At the start there were only a few people there, but they were extremely appreciative and we just had a nice, laid-back set. There were several people who came late, as we were finishing, but since they came to hear music, I just hopped back up on stage and did some more songs! It was a very impromptu kind of show, and we had a great time.
We ate at a diner in town last night and we were talking to the waitress. When she found out that we were musicians she insisted on getting both our autographs…too funny. Everyone has been really friendly around here.

Then today we met up with our dear friend Tim Young, who’s touring as Jessie Baylin’s guitarist. We met Jessie and her fiance Nathan, and they’re both just lovely. Newton Faulkner, the headliner of the tour, is very sweet, too, as was everyone in the whole little entourage. Tim, Mike, and I basically just walked around the harbor, eating ice cream (and later, gelato. Excessive? Perhaps. Delicious? Of course). Oh, and we had crab cakes. We also explored the Fell’s Point area, which was very quaint and cute. Then we listened to Jessie and then later Newton play, and both were fantastic. It was a great, relaxed day and very nice to see such a good LA friend while we’re out so far from home.

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Coming up I’m going to do a little photo retrospective of the tour up til now, ’cause I got a little behind on that, too, and hopefully those will tell the stories even better… :) Tomorrow, on to DC for a show with some very talented ladies, Stella Schindler and Mara Levi.

Yay for friends in NYC – Regan and I smile pretty in Union Square.


Mike ponders ancient Egypt at the Met.

Super-nice Kris Ortiz from WRHU, where I did a little radio interview the morning of the show in NYC.

Outside our friends’ apartment in Cambridge, MA. Sadly, this is about as far as we really got, because clearly, it was raining. This angle (and maybe the hood) sort of makes me look like a Hobbitt. I am small, but not that small…

The door at the Colony Cafe…are you excited? I am!

Colony Cafe, Woodstock (aka the coolest place ever)

Willy Porter’s soundcheck. He sounded great, in case you were wondering.

Just in case you weren’t sure how the people of Woodstock feel about corporate culture…

Gotta love the Catskills.

Getting warmed up at Read Street Books in Baltimore.

Our good friend and my personal guitar hero Tim Young cracks me up in Baltimore when we meet up…

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We spent the day yesterday in Boston. I’ve been there before, but I really wanted to get out and walk around the town. Boston had other plans for us, however – it got really cold and the rain really poured all day long. I figured I shouldn’t go out and catch pneumonia, so we basically stayed indoors. In the evening we had a chance to spend time with my cousin and his family over dinner and then hung out with the great friends we were staying with, so it still wound up being a good day.

The rain continued today as we drove up to Burlington, Vermont. It’s beautiful up here and getting really green – it is the Green Mountain state, after all – but it’s freezing! Well, freezing for me, around 40F. Spring has not quite sprung up here it would seem. We keep thinking we’re there and then…not quite. We got to town just in time to stop by a new local radio station, The Radiator, WOMM-LP 105.9 and I played a few songs in their little studio. Burlington’s a very cool little town with a great vibe, and the venue is supposed to draw a good crowd of people who are into live music…we’ll see if that’s the case soon enough! More later!

My friends who’d come out and I stayed for their whole set and had a good time. It’s great to see those friends and great to be somewhere that feels somewhat familiar. I’ve always loved Boston – I think because I’m into history but have never really lived in a place that has all that much of it. Last night, I was thinking to myself how much it looks like Dublin, a city where I spent a little time in college. A singer-songwriter I met in Dublin was talking to me about Boston. I said that Dublin and Boston did seem kind of similar to me and he said, “Well, Boston is an Irish town.” I asked if he’d ever been there, and he said no. :)

I wanted to post some photos from James Crafford and MySpace is being cranky with me. You can see them all on his page in the photos section, and I’ll post a few on my next blog.

Today we have the day off in Boston and then tomorrow it’s up to Vermont – then back down to Woodstock. I’ll keep you posted!

We did manage to fill the place up with some new fans (many of whom are photographers – I’ll keep you posted when there are some photos to check out) and some great old friends, some of whom I had not seen in years, and most of whom were my best friends right at the beginning of my decision to really play my music for people. Mike and I had a show at the basement black box theater of the Frieze Building at U of M in early 2001 – I don’t think they use it anymore – and that was the first real show we put together, and the release of my first CD. Seeing some of the same friends last night who had cheered me on then was a warm fuzzy trip down memory lane. Memory has definitely become more of a theme of this tour than I even realized it would be. I feel so lucky to know so many wonderful people across the country, and this tour has served as an ongoing reunion.

Today we’re in New Jersey packing up and taking care of necessary things we’ve been neglecting, like laundry. Shortly, we’re off to Danville, Pennsylvania for a show in another little venue that seems to be oriented toward the performer. The owner of Brews ‘n Bytes just seems to be very, very into music and has been very nice over email, so it will be good to meet him. The town itself and at least the outside of the venue is very cute; we drove by really briefly on our way to NJ because I was curious. We’re backtracking a tiny bit to get there, but it’s not too much of a drive. I’m looking forward to a nice low-key day and show. Then tomorrow we’re off to Boston for another show! Whew. We got a little comfy with our days off, but these next few days, show after show, is making it really feel like a tour. I think that’s actually better, because though tiring, it helps you get a rhythm. Each place and show feels a little different, which I love. Ok! I really do need to pack now!

There were actually a few people photographing the show yesterday, which was pretty funny – with all the clicking at the beginning in particular, I felt that it was a high-profile media event rather than our lil’ show…

I’ll share all of them eventually, but for now, a few courtesy of Adam Jason Photography:

Love this one!

This is the part of the show where I get sweaty.

Me, looking all ‘earnest singer-songwriter’

Mike and I rockin’ the Rockwood!