 |
Music •
Biography •
Press Kit •
Randomness •
Lyrics Gigs • Photos • Writing • Fun Stuff • Links • Contact |
Thursday, October 27, 2005 On Performing in New York On Sunday I had my first taste of performing in New York City; eight Indiegrrls came together to raise money for musicians in New Orleans. Earlier in the day, Alex was near Otto's Shrunken Head (of course, "shrunken head" worked its way into the improvised song that night) on the East Side and called to warn me that bringing the keyboard in the car and trying to park it would prove nearly impossible unless I was willing to spend $30 on parking--which I wasn't, since my set was only 25 minutes long and it was a benefit (i.e. I wasn't getting paid, but we were raising money for a great cause so that was fine). Guitarists travel so much easier than pianists. Unfortunately I'm both, which can be a pain--but I grabbed the guitar and lugged it through the subway and streets, which wasn't bad. Before the show I met up with an old friend, another former intern with the University Musical Society who moved to New York years ago to work in arts administration. Jen's since decided that she needs to get out of the city and go back to grad school for psychology. It was wonderful catching up, especially since we hadn't talked much since she moved--you have to appreciate friendships that remain comfortable even with so much distance. Back when she was in Michigan she claimed one of my songs--"Freedom"--as her own, so that night I dedicated it to her onstage. As much as I love New York and enjoyed performing with the other grrls that night, it seems like it'd be harder to do music there than many other places--it's oversaturated and from what I hear it's difficult to build an audience because there's so much competing for their attention. So it looks like New York is moving down on the list of places to settle, though I anticipate touring there often. After the show, Alex, Jen, her boyfriend, and I headed off to find some food--and our trip was brought to an abrupt halt when Alex discovered that he'd lost the plastic bag containing $35 worth of comics he'd bought that afternoon. So we retraced our steps and he examined--yes, even reaching inside, using his cell phone as illumination in the dark--every garbage can and pile of trash, just in case he threw the black bag away. Half an hour and six garbage cans later, we found the bag in front of Otto's, where Alex had put it down in order to take a group photo by the venue. Finally we got food at a pizza place, and my first thought walking in the door was "this reminds me of NYPD (New York Pizza Depot)," a restaurant in Ann Arbor. Technically, it was the other way around, NYPD being inspired by NYC, but it was good to know that they'd gotten it right. The décor was similar, as was their method of serving the pizza and other foods. ^ Top | 6:27 AM | | | 
|
