A day in the life of a working musician.. the behind-the- scenes drama of presenting Irish fiddle shows, running a band, dealing with the endless characters in the music industry, and keeping the dream alive.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor

I'm just noticing that my last post had a coffee theme to it, and it seems to be inescapable.
Last week my guitarist VIta and I did a very electric fiddle/guitar set at Otto's Shrunken Head, which is a dive bar in New York City. We were playing for GOGirls Night and every set was 20 minutes, so it was just enough time to try something new- electronics and foot pedals. It was different and I was surprised how much I liked it, especially since the electric guitar isn't in my top ten favorite instruments. Even Vita kept saying, "On paper, this shouldn't work" but like most of life, it never happens on paper!

Now that I'm all excited about the electric possibilities, we'll be doing a completely acoustic concert at a great listening room in Brooklyn called the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor. The best part is that people go there to hear music (not so common these days!). Even though the coffee isn't exactly Italian espresso (I'm from Seattle so I do tend to like strong coffee), it's a pleasure to play there and I'm looking forward to it.
(Friday June 6th 8 p.m.Good Coffeehouse, 53 Prospect Park West in Park Slope Brooklyn bsec.org)

I don't know what the future will hold. Should we have an electric/edgy set for the whiskey crowd and an acoustic version for the coffee drinkers?
I do know that we are having fun creating new sounds, and that is one of the best parts of being a musician.