some writers like footnotes, i like hyperlinks...

so, last thursday i was given the opportunity to partake in one of the BEST recording experiences of my life...

now, granted, i haven't been involved in too many:

*156 my junior year in high school (the worship team i was on at church)
*chorale (the choir i was in for two years in college)
*random other personal recording done during college

but, all the same, last thursday was too much...partly because of the studio...partly because of the piano...

the studio i worked at is called bassline studio (http://www.basslinestudio.com/studio.asp)

....it was like a trip into the past...into this completely crazy seventies steakhouse/recording studio/house...

the piano i used was a bosendorfer (http://www.boesendorfer.com/index.php?menu=6)

it was like playing butter...if butter could make beautiful music. the keys were loose...but not too loose...and the sound was soo resonant...ahh! wonderful!

so, anywho, i played four songs:
*crying alone (acoustic version)
*why don't you (acoustic version)
*lady monday
*this is love

oh, it was wonderful...we recorded around one o'clock...which was interesting, cause my voice is not really at top quality until around eight at night...but i think things went really well...i played and sang at the same time on all four songs, so as to give them a very live feel. i'm really anxious to see how things turn out.

anywho, all that's left now is guitar (acoustic and electric) on all four band songs, strings on a few songs, and a little bit of fun percussion here and there...oh, and vocals on four of the songs, of course...


so, when it all comes down to it, i'm very excited...very very excited...it's looking like our end of november finish might actually be a possibility...



...well, or maybe sometime during december:)

lesson number fourteen...

so...


tonight i played a *short* gig at a place called the manhatten...i kinda opened for another band...(aka the venue double booked)

well, the interesting thing is...the venue was not really my style at all...very large...the crowd wanted to dance...


:::i play music that people want to sit and listen to or slow dance to:::


well, i trucked through my hour and fifteen minutes-due mostly to the fact that i had three friends in the audience...along with my folks...

even covered 'i wanna hold your hand' by the beatles...(i have officially fallen in love with the song)




...lesson learned...it may not be your style of venue...but you're still getting paid...and at the end of the night...you need to deliver...


so deliver (as painful as it was) i did...


(and i made about $75 a hour in the process)

lesson number thirteen.

so, i decided that i'm going to go back and re-look at all of the shows/performances that i've had thus far...

i want to find a lesson from each performance...but for now i'm just going to start with tonight.




so, i performed tonight before stephanie pilypaitis...at a martini bar here in town called myth. it's this adorable place (kinda reminds me of minneapolis) and we had a fairly packed house tonight. the fun thing about it was that we didn't know a whole lot of the people, so some new people got to hear us sing.
well, anyway...i did about an hour set in the beginning...kinda played my best songs. and i just had a great time! i was super relaxed, and just loved it.

while we were setting up, a few people asked why i had my computer with me. (i always perform with my lyrics and set list on my computer) my explanation was that i like to be organized...and save set lists so that i can reference them later.

well, about an hour and fifteen minutes into stephanie's set, a woman approached her and asked if she knew how to play norah jones' "come away with me". stephanie didn't know the song, and so looked at me and i said i would see what i could do. so, i looked up the chords, and decided i would be able to play it. i then found out it was the woman and her husband's anniversary...so i decided to tell them there was room for them to dance up in front. (there really wasn't...but i thought it would be cute) so anyways, i went back up, they came up and danced, and i played the song. it was seriously magical. there were about fifty people in the bar and at that moment, it seemed like it was just me and them. they kept saying, 'oh my gosh, you're so good'...'you're better than norah jones' and all sorts of other things...people were even taking pictures of them dancing and me singing.

after it all, i sat back down, and the woman came up to me and gave me a tip...it was the perfect ending to my playing the evening.





so lesson number 13: having your computer with you to look up music can end up making someone's anniversary...so always use it for performances...



jessicalindsey