So, I’m still plugging away at the Austin City Limits contest. I was boosted up to about 31 out of all the bands and then, though I’ve been garnering more and more votes, I’m down to about 51 now. Hopefully we can get things movin’ again over the weekend. What can I say – I’m competitive. And I would LOVE to play Austin!
For those of you who’ve told me I need to re-post the link, here you go:
mp3.com
I’m really blown away by how many people I don’t know (outside of MySpace) who’ve written to tell me that they’ve been voting everyday, re-posting the bulletin, having their friends vote…wow. I always feel like I’m imposing when I ask people to do something like this, but it seems that people like being a part of the mission! Certainly anything good that comes of this belongs to everyone who voted. My fingers remain crossed…
On Tuesday night, Mike and I went to go see Michael Penn at Largo. It was an extra special treat because Patrick Warren, Mike Elizondo, Buddy Judge, and Aaron Sterling all played with him for a full-band extravaganza toward the end of the show. Patrick and Michael have played together for years, and I loved hearing them play as a duo, even if we did wonder when Aaron was going to come on and rock out! Listening to Patrick, I just kept thinking to myself, “I can’t believe he’s on my album.” There’s just no one like him, and he couldn’t be nicer on top of it. It was a treat to hear Aaron play, too – he’s just incredible, and again, we’re so lucky to have worked with him (he played on the CD release party). It would have been a great musical evening regardless, and Michael Penn was in great form, but the extra personal connections made it really special.
Wednesday night I played a very last-minute show at The Derby. It was strange but also a lot of fun to play by myself. Nothing compares to playing with a full band. It makes me really let go, and I’d probably almost always prefer it, but I’ve gotten to a point where I feel much less inhibited playing on my own. And it’s liberating, if a little self-indulgent, to be able to just do a song however you feel it and not worry about what everyone else is doing! A few folks came out to the show, including engineer Bryan Cook, who knows our engineer Ryan Freeland. We connected through MySpace and he decided to just come on out to the show. He could not have been cooler. I’m glad that our musical and social circle just keeps expanding with such great people.
Finally, we got together with some friends last night, and snacking and drinking wine turned into Mike and our friend kind of jamming on the piano and guitar. We’ve known our friend since college and re-connected out here. I re-visited his random, red guitar that I borrowed for a show once back in Ann Arbor and actually wrote “Take it Back” on. I sang a little Gershwin while our friend played all the crazy jazz chords on the piano. I used to be able to at least play changes – I miss playing piano and wish I had one – nothing like the feel of real piano keys. I should probably force myself to practice on a keyboard in the meantime, since I’m a long way from owning a house, a piano. Oh, and I want a dog, too. :)
Ah, so much to accomplish. ;) Baby steps….
