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Monday, August 24, 2015

Como Dockside 8-22-15

Shows! Shows! Shows! They just keep happening! It's wonderful. I love it!

Our show at Como Dockside was an interesting one. First, the venue is beautiful and the view from the stage is breathtaking.


But, the weather did not participate. It rained. The wind was insane. And there was a tornado watch. Luckily, even thought it's an outdoor show, both the stage and the seating are underneath a covered pavilion so were able to stay dry during the rain and wind and thunder that happened that evening and the worst of the storm didn't happen until right after our set. Still, the wind was brutal. It whipped through the pavilion the whole time, blowing my hair into my mouth as I sang, which made singing somewhat difficult.

It was a 90 minute set and I had thought about bringing both my acoustic and electric to mix things up a bit as the stage was definitely big enough to hold all of us and then some...


 But, last minute, I decided to just bring the electric and well, that turned out to be a bad idea as, towards the end of the set (we had 4 songs left) I broke a string and was completely unprepared to remedy that. Lesson learned. We had to take a short break while I tried to restring it with the string that was there, but it was too broke and wouldn't work. We managed to play 2 more songs without me on guitar before having to call it quits as the rest of the set just didn't make sense without my guitar.

Even with all that, it was a lot of fun to play with the whole band on such a big stage. People came out even with the weather (thank goodness!) and we got to play a ton of songs. I hope we can play there again some day under better weather.
 

Set List for Como Dockside 8-22-15
  • For the Time Being
  • Lens
  • Car
  • Good to Know
  • The Reminder
  • Reactor
  • I Wanna Know
  • Float
  • Blind
  • A Story
  • Running 
  • The Party
  • Beg, Borrow, or Steal
  • Daughter
  • Introvert
  • Adore (Partial at first as this is when my string broke. Then we came back and played it without me on guitar)
  • When You Were Mine (Prince cover)
  • Safety Mode (played the best I could with missing string)

Songs on the set list we didn't get to play due to missing string: "Here" and "Yesterday".

We're back at the 331 Club tomorrow night (8/25) for the last show of the residency! August has flown by. Eric Fifteene of Party of One and Davis III (Shawn's band) are joining us. Come on down!

Friday, August 21, 2015

331 Club Residency Night #3, Birthday Week, And More

Let's start with the residency.

We had our third Tuesday night in August at the 331 Club this week. It was a weird show. Things started late. There was some confusion with gear. It just didn't run very smooth. But I thought we played a good set.



I've said it over and over again, but I really do love playing at the 331 Club. The staff treats you so well. Jason, the sound guy, treats bands so well. He brings around a tip jar towards the end of every set and people actually put money in and just the effort of him doing that alone makes such a difference.

And there are always people there. 11pm on a Tuesday and there are people there. It's fun. It's fun to play to a room of people. : )




Colleen and Laura were back to join us, which is also fun.

Earlier in the day, the three of us went to KFAI to do an in studio session for WomenFolk Radio.


I don't what it is about in studios, but they are terrifying! Fun, but terrifying. I get so nervous. I'm just not a very good public speaker and I don't do well put on the spot, so I get all nervous about what questions I'll get asked and I talk really fast and I giggle a lot. So I was grateful to have Colleen and Laura join me and help ease the stress of taking it on alone. We played "The Reminder" and "For the Time Being".

 Warming up beforehand.

  Warming up beforehand.

 Live on air!

Post radio selfie with Ellen Stanley, host of WomenFolk Radio

You can hear the archived session here (about 90 minutes in):  Listen Now

331 Club Set List 8-18-15
  • Car 
  • Lens
  • Running
  • I Wanna Know
  • Safety Mode
  • Reactor
  • When You Were Mine (Prince cover)
  • Introvert
  • Beg, Borrow, or Steal
  • Yesterday
And, I found out I got another play on The Current, too! It was a big radio day. 



Tomorrow, 8/22 at 7pm, we're taking a detour from our residency and playing at Como Dockside Pavilion. 90 minute set. We will be playing all the songs.


In other news...
It's my Birthday Week this week. Actually, it's my actual birthday today. So Happy Birthday To Me!

36

I'm usually all about Birthday Week and my birthday and making the most of it. But I got my present earlier in the month (my new guitar) and so things have been pretty mellow. I've been trying to stretch out these last weeks of summer but they are going by so fast. And once they're gone, I head to the hospital to get a hysterectomy. And I'm terrified.

I have a large mass in my uterus that is causing a bunch of problems and so it's got to go. I've never had major surgery before. They have to cut me open right down the middle of my stomach. It's a very weird thought. Just thinking about it gets me panicky and teary. I'll then be off work for 3 weeks while my abdomen heals. Stuck in bed twiddling my thumbs while the days waste away. I feel like I'm losing 3 weeks of my life - and more. Those 3 weeks are just the first wave. It will be another 3 weeks before I can really be active again. I've already had to turn down 2 shows. That makes me very mad.

And then there's just the whole idea of losing my uterus. I don't want kids. Never have. It's not that. I'll be thrilled to never have a period again. That's for sure. I'm already thinking about how I'll have my last one during the State Fair and I love the fair and my stupid awful period is going to get in the way of my enjoyment of something I love one last time.

But, well...I've never been a girly-girl. I don't know how to put on make-up. The only thing I can do with my hair is wash it and brush it. I hate shopping. Fashion escapes me. I do like to wear dresses, but only because I find pants restrictive. I'd rather spend an hour in a guitar store than getting a manicure.

So there's this part of me that feels very attached to my uterus and the bits of femininity it brings me. The whole "totally get ya, girl, cramps suck amiright?"of womanhood. As girls we're told when we get our periods we're welcomed to womanhood. We can bring life with our uteruses - the ultimate super power. It's just weird that I will no longer be a part of that club. A club I already feel so removed from in so many ways.

But, it has to go.

I put off the surgery because August is so busy. I have so many shows. It's my birthday. My wedding anniversary. The State Fair. So many things I love in August that I didn't want to spend it lying in bed. My doctor was concerned that the mass would continue to grow and make surgery more difficult the bigger it got. I didn't think that would happen, so I was fine with putting off until September. But I think she was right. I think it has become bigger. So now I'm worried about that. Or I've just gained a ton of weight - which is also a very likely possibility as I have been stress eating all month.

So, now I'm one month away from the surgery date and freaking out more and more every day. My head is in a really weird space. I keep trying to shove the thought of the surgery out of my brain and focus on other things, but it's hard to do.

Today, I'm home. Vacation day for my birthday. I took Robbie Dog to the lake for a nice walk. I did some more work on some demos. I'm currently drinking a beer, waiting for Matt to get home. I'll probably go to bed early tonight as tomorrow is a busy day. Birthday lunch at my mother-in-law's, then in early show, and then possibly an after party at my place. We'll see if people feel like coming over.

Hello, 36. Let's see what happens.

Monday, August 17, 2015

331 Club Residency Night #2 8-11-15

Eek! We've got night 3 of our residency happening tomorrow and I haven't talked about night 2 yet!


We were a 4 piece this time as Colleen and Laura both had vacations planned for this week. It's still weird to me to play a lot of the new songs without them as their voices just make the songs complete (in my opinion). So we pulled out a bunch of old songs. Which is always fun. I miss playing a lot of those songs.

J.W. Schuller opened the night playing an entertaining solo set on his magical folding guitar. Seriously, the guitar folds in half at the neck so it can basically fit into a backpack. Considering how I'm always worried about my guitars slipping out of tune, I can't imagine the care and confidence that goes into playing a guitar that folds in half.

 J.W.Schuller

Wowsville closed out the night with a really fun set. They have a drummer now and it really added to their vibe. Loved them.

Wowsville


 
Set list for 331 Club 8-11-15
  • Running
  • The Reminder
  • The Party
  • Blind
  • Float
  • Here
  • Daughter
  • Lens
  • Introvert
  • Adore
 And, as I said above, we're back at the 331 again tomorrow!

Thursday, August 6, 2015

331 Club August Residency Night #1 8-4-15



We kicked off our August residency at the 331 Club on Tuesday night. Joining us were the bands Murder Shoes and Edger.

 Murder Shoes
 
Edger

We had the full, full band and ...AND...I got a new guitar!!!


It was on my birthday list. It was the only thing on my birthday list. But my birthday is still 3 weeks away. I saw this guitar when I was picking up a new tuner and fell in love with it. I thought about it all night and all the next day and knew I had to get it. So I did! It's wonderful. It's a brand new Fender Stratocaster. I call her Lola.

She got to make her debut that night and was so wonderful to play. I'm so happy.



Set list for 331 Club 8-4-15

  • For the Time Being
  • Lens 
  • Reactor
  • The Reminder
  • I Wanna Know
    Float
  • Daughter
  • Car
  • Running
  • Beg, Borrow, or Steal
  • Safety Mode
We'll be back next Tuesday (as a 4 piece - no Colleen and Laura next week), August 11th, with JW Schuller and Wowsville!