Blog

Karen L. Davis, Jersey City, NJ

Now - for a little e-mailing music: Maestro! Bring those Monkees in here. More about my Mickey Dolenz fixation later. Now - I must type!!

When I was a little girl taking piano lessons, my teachers told me that I was responsible for my progress or lack thereof. I tell my students the same thing - you reap what you sow. Sometimes - sometimes you put a lot in only to get very little out. Sometimes, you put a little in and get a return that's way larger than you anticiapted. Sometimes you get bupkus - sometimes you cash out.

Since I've been a musiciain - quite a while now - I've done my own promo. This site, by far has yielded the best results in terms of paying gigs gotten, CDs sold, etc. It's also brought me the gigs that are the most fun to do. So, here I am, getting ready to promote.

I must admit, however, I'm always ambivaltent about this process. As a working musician who bikes 4-5 times a week, and also likes to sleep occasionally, I'm usually pressed for time. Engaging in any process that's not a sure thing can be tough to get motivated for, when there are so many other activities that will yield postive results pretty immediately: one more interval ride will translate into not getting dropped off the back of the club ride this weekend; another half hour with that song will smooth out that jump from A to C# that was so problematic at the last gig, etc. Booking is a crap-shoot, under the best of circumstances.

Yet, I'm always hopeful. This e-mail could lead to a gig that's an absolute blast to do; this next one could lead to a gig that's in a beautiful location, pays well and lasts for years, etc. You never know.

How to describe booking/promotion? Labor of love comes close, with an emphasis on the 'labor' part when you're doing it, and on the 'love' when it pans out in the form of gigs or more fans. Right now, I'm kind of bouncing back and forth between the two - I've been doing some promo on ReverbNation, so we're moving up in the Jersey City Rock Charts. Satisfying!! Got the labor and the love.

Here on FestivalNet, I'm still mostly in the 'labor' phase. I'll be sending out a bunch of e-mails today to events in the tri-state area NY. NJ, CT, maybe PA and MA. My goal is to send 20 - sometimes I get inspired and do more, but that's the goal. We'll see where it leads. Lets hope for more love!

Enough musing. Festival organizers, get ready - here I come.

Here's my musical thought of the day - inspired by riding my bike. There's a story behind this, so bear with me.

Eager to enjoy this early spring weather - to revel in the Rites, to properly see in this time of my birth - this season of the Ram - I went for a bike ride yesterday. Noting special in that, except it was the first time I did intervals on the road this year. Intervals are periods of intense cycling (Presto) followed by recovery periods (lento to andante)  followed by more intense cycling.

Seems that the harder you pedal, the more pressure goes on your tush. I usually wear padded shorts, but not yesterday - couldn't find them and didn't want to take the time to look, so I just wore my fitness shorts. All was well until the 4th interval when it started to feel like my sit bones were coming through my skin. Not pleasant, I can assure you.

I still had 6 intervlas to go - plus the ride home. I was in trouble. Finished the session very uncomfortably, but the fact that my tush is not as tough (or numb) in March as it is in May was brought home to me in no uncertain terms.

Musical Thought of the Day: Keep those callouses thick - practice, practice, practice. Since I do 3 nursing home hits every week, some times 4 or 5. my fingers are always protected by my nice deep callouses, whether I'm having formal gigs or not. My fingers are never as sore and my ... was yesterday. Keep those callouses thick, and you'llfinish your session smiling instead of questioning your sanity.

Gorgeous day here - really gorgeous - none of that cold, nasty wind or horizontal rain.  I love winter - snow, hot chocolate, Christmas - all that fun stuff  - I even like down coats and sweaters - I even like wearing multiple sweaters. But we've had some vile slop storms up here with the ice and rain and snow. Part of my freakin' ceiling collapsed during the last on Mother nature's little tamtrums. (Note to self: start leaning on lazy landlord.) Tormenta indeed. I've had enough.

Tomorrow, will be the first bike ride in months where I don't have to wear ALL my bike clothes and the skull cap under my helmet. Granted, the skull cap keeps my head warm in the helmet vents, but it cuts off circulation to my head. Not great when you're moving quickly on two skinny wheels over slippery ground. Lack of oxegyn to the brain can make the ride more exciting, in certain ways...

Enough bike talk - this is a music blog. OK - warm weather also makes me feel like travelling and booking gigs. So here I am on Festival net looking for some new shows. I'll also be booking locally here in JC. We have out regular gig in town at Sava Polish Diner on Grove St - interesting joint, I'll tell you.  We'll also be playing at Lucky 7 here in JC on March 23.

Another thing about better weather - my voice doesn't get hoarse, and my guitar stays in tune. What could be better than that? I carry my axe every day - to teach and do workshops at some nursing homes up here. When it refuses to stay in tune, I feel like I might as well be carrying a two-by-four. Sometimes, it it's especially recalcitrant, I threaten it with the fireplace. That always snaps it into tune quickly.

When it's in tune, I'm a happy girl. Needless to say (here's a songwriter eschewing concise use of language) I'm a happy girl today!

Just finished rehearsing with Joe. My voice, and vocal support are almost totally back - getting over pneumonia takes time though. Need to do some placement exercizes...

Looking forward to the gigs we have coming up - might have to cancel the Albany show, because my pneumonia and Joe's subsequent upper respiratory infection ate up all of our cash. Damned lack of health insurance!! Single Payer NOW!

Either way, it's good to have my voice back and be back in action. I'm out in Rockaway at my regular nursing home gig tomorrow. The Classic Rock will roll.

Hi Everyone!

Love the updates to the site. Been a while since I've been here, but I'm back and ready to rock!!

Joe and I will be in the studio tomorrow finishing up the second of the two instrumentals for Blue Sky Dream. I wrote it eons ago, but never thought of a title I liked, so it's just called The D Instrumental. In the words of Felix Unger, "It's simple but it says it." There are three other completed tunes up at the myspace site - Autumn, Firefly, Eyes Turned Toward the Sun. All the songs have some kind of nature theme - I spend lots of time outside on my bike, where I also do some of my best musical thinking.

Can't wait for the CD to be done so we can send it out. I'm looking forward to doing big booking project. Hopefully, we'll be travelling far and wide.

On Friday, we'll be doing an afternoon Halloween party up in the Bronx - promises to be hair-raising, indeed. Cool covers from the 50s and 60s - a rockin' time will be had by all.