But at least I tried.
It was The Cold. The cold made it hard to be out, and so it was quiet down there for a Saturday, let alone THAT particular Saturday.

Nonetheless, I did great. It definitely made my top 20, even with the other two recent entries to that list. So I can't complain. But I was hoping for transcendentally great, a perfect storm of in-town partyers at their favorite places, tourists, and new to town workers & appointees.
I was hoping for historic. But I'll take damn good. I could certainly use the cash.

Before I got out tho, there was a brief side adventure:
( Maug rescues Xena!Collapse )

And now the highlights of Old Town!
SWEET-A couple of the gals from the Silver Parrot are still working there. I was their informal 'neighbor' for a decade, and both of them made a point to say that they had missed me and my music and had hoped I was okay. They were always so nice to me.
SOLD- my first live sale (as opposed to pre-sale) of Crazy Quilt #1. A nice family had stopped, and were digging the music. The Dad saw the CDs, picked up CQ1, read the list, gestured to Mom, showed her something on it, they both nodded vigorously, and cha-ching!
COLD- It was COLD. COLD! I tell ya! I fared mostly ok with that, but there's only so much you can do if you're not hardened to it the way you used to be and are out in it for 14 hours. There was this spot on my lower back that was still cold an hour after I went to bed.
COOL- I was tipped with a fancy pocket knife. There was this group of marines who came up at about 1am, who requested "Heart Of Gold" (which, for no good reason was requested a total of three times yesterday). I'm pretty sure that they had been drinking. (Marines+Old Town= Drinking. Prove me wrong) They were impressed with my fortitude, and my aptitude and after the song, one of them came up to me and hands me this fancy pocket knife with an etched bone handle, and told me that he and the knife were "From Wyoming! REMEMBER THAT!"-over and over.
So I promised him I would never forget that he and his cool little pocket knife were from Wyoming. As he pressed the gift into my hand, I did my best to try and demur, as something like this might be missed. But I also know better than to argue with a drunken marine who's trying to pay me a compliment with a gift.
WAY COOL!- My improvised big-assed battery pack for my laptop gave me 7 HOURS of available use. So I got to pull up stuff I used to play, stuff I hadn't played in a looooong time, and a couple of brand new things too! If it hadn't been so cold, I bet it would have lasted even longer.
NOT SO COOl- My improvised big-assed battery pack was hard to keep together if I had to move it, (like during my partial packup for potty breaks). My crimping tool is worthless and weak, and my crimped connections kept falling apart, necessitating kludges. It needs a dedicated container, and a more secure assembly.
ALSO NOT SO COOL- I brought the WRONG type of mic cable for the Mouse, so I wasn't able to amplify. When it's real crowded or real quiet, a little amplification means that people hear me more clearly, especially the guitar. And I kinda could have used it because, from 9pm on it was both noisy AND quiet. There weren't alot of people out, but there was a very loud DJ and party upstairs in one of the restaurants nearby. It's hard to compete with that when people aren't right by you. Rookie mistake. Dagnabbit!
ALSO ALSO NOT SO COOL, BUT AMUSING- Sometimes, the harmonicas would freeze; especially the double reeded ones. If I played a particular harmonica, switched it out, and then played it again later, sometimes I would have to blow into it a bit to thaw it out. The moisture would get on the reeds and they're metal, and well, you do the math. Fortunately, if I thaw them out gently they're not damaged and they wake right up after a few seconds. I'd forgotten that this happened sometimes.

Overall, I did great, but it wasn't historically great. I blame the cold mostly.
I'm glad I did it. As hard as it was and as hard as it burned me out at the time, I miss this side of my musical self, and I'm glad that I'm able to get a bit of it back.
I'm not gonna do this hard core as I used to, but it'll be a nice indulgence, and good for me on a few levels.

The Xmas holiday turned out pretty much perfect.

With the money I made in Old Town *last* weekend, I was able to drive up to the little antique shop in Reisterstown and purchase patches023's gift, a lovely little combo cedar chest and bench for less than half of what I remember it costing when I first saw it. Woo and also Hoo! They were closed on Monday when I drove up there the first time, but were open on Xmas eve, so I got it just in time. There were also some small items, of course, but the bench was the thing I wanted. For years, she's been wishing for a place to sit by the front door, and a place to put stuff like knitting bags and backpacks.

I also acquired what I hope is Mama Tiger's new starter.

We had a nice visit Xmas day with my Uncle and various other relatives. I got to serenade the younguns, and my cousin's wife, who kept requesting all kinds of really cool classic rock.

On Boxing Day, we had a nice visit with the Mominlaw and the Bro&sisinlaw with more younguns to play with. The BIL turned us on to this amazing, completely spastic band called "Gogol Bordello" who are a "gypsy punk" band from the Czech Republic. Wow! Just wow!
It's been a long time since I've seen a band go so fearlessly over the top as they do.
I KNOW my next target for acquisition.

Then there was a most excellently mellow time at baronrorik and janinasnest afterwards.

Yesterday, I went back to Old Town and went to work some more.
It was again, really really good to do this. I had a day where my income definitely made my top 20 of all time in OT, and possibly anywhere, but it's been a long time since I've had that list active, so I don't know EXACTLY how yesterday stacks up, but it was GOOD. Point is, that again, I made about twice what I'd come to expect when I was there alot back in the day. This time, I had more of my mojo and repertoire back. I was even able to use the laptop for a couple of songs, but alas, the laptop's battery is dying, so I didn't really have but brief access to the full lyric arsenal there. But I have a plan (I *always* have a plan!) for next time. I don't know how many more opportunities I'll have to go down there in the upcoming year, but I'm definitely planning on going from time to time. I can really use the money, and I can REALLY use this kind of intense practice again. Some lovely highlights include the lady from last week gushing some more at me about how playing "Taxi" for her, get this- SALVAGED her holidays. Damn! Also, I got several actual requests for Bob Dylan, which I totally didn't expect.

And, as of this morning, I found out that I am officially accepted to play in ALL of the festivals I applied for thru Medieval Fantasies Co. Woo and Hoo! again! Woohoo!
And tonight, I got confirmation for my gig on Jan 10th (more on that later).

So today, I was very low key. And kinda cranky when I went to Guitar Center, wad of cash in hand to purchase the PCI card I'm after. But Nooooooooo. They're "out of stock". Yeah right. It's a specialty item, and actually keeping it in stock might mean that they have less room for a Casio Keyboard or one more cheap guitar stand. I really shouldn't shop when I'm tired. I gave them a huge earful of how for YEARS now, I rarely leave their store without cursing about one or more fucking thing that I would have to find elsewhere. But they really and truly don't care one whit about actual customer satisfaction there- not if you want something that sets you apart from the herd. They really don't. The Martin, I think was a total fluke and was a somewhat lucky strike that they messed up in my favor that time. The last store that made a lontime habit of treating me this badly was Mars Music. They're gone now. Just sayin'...
But anyway, despite that setback, we had a wonderful Indian dinner at Tiffin, followed by a much needed nap in front of the TV and, just now, a very NON-Cranky interaction with a lovely gal at Musician's Friend who sold me the E-Mu 1212 for LESS than it would have cost at GC, even with a two year protection plan. So I win anyway.
Somehown, I made Santa's list after all, even while being a cranky pants.

Finalising the CD will continue tomorrow, after another night of rest.

The past two weeks have been a total crush on me financially.

The new album not being out yet really put a damper on my holiday income.
And then, the van needed all that work (and still needs more) and THEN my gig for Esoterica had to be cancelled.

Result: no $ to in the budget to purchase the holiday gift I'd had my eye on for patches023.
This. Would. Not. Do.

So I took my day off yesterday and made it back into a day on, and did something I haven't done in a few years: I went and busked in Old Town Alexandria.

When I had *stopped* busking there, I was starting to work a lot for Potbelly, and the City was cracking down on their buskers for every stupid little thing, especially my trying to sell my CDs and especially playing after 11pm on a block where nobody lived. The CDs were a little random boost that would often make my bad days better and supersize my good ones.
Playing after the bars and restaurants closed had me giving a final bit of entertainment to happy people who weren't done having fun yet. There were times when 11pm-2am were as lucrative as the rest of the day. Anyway, round about when we moved to MD, I stopped playing in Old Town. Little by little my regular gigs have improved alot, but I'm still making quite a bit less than I used to make. My income is sometimes better, but it's alot more irregular, and alot less often. My prospects ARE improving (I have to keep reminding myself of that), but that improvement is coming slowly and incrementally.

But I ventured out yesterday and decided I would give it a try and see how it went, and see if my Old Town Mojo could still fill my magic bag.

It did.

The first good sign was that someone up the street (way up the street, thankfully) was playing a trumpet, amplified, and not being hassled. I wasn't planning to amplify, but it was good to know that I was probably not going to be picked on just for being audible.

I couldn't go back to my old spot (apparently, The Landini Brothers having stopped liking me after 10years next to them was one part of my downfall before), but I found a good spot on that same block in the form of a vacant store front.

I did GREAT. I mean REALLY GREAT. I mean, twice what I would often do on a Saturday back when I was a regular. Sometimes I'd do that well, but it was definitely on the way high end of the curve.
And that was strange in that there were definitely fewer people out and I definitely seemed to have less mass appeal, but the people who liked me REALLY LIKED ME.
The fact that I did so well in such a bad economy and after being off of that venue for so long was the best Solstice gift ever.

I was not hassled about selling CDs. (And I did sell some)
I wasn't hassled for staying out late either.
I got a really good 13 hour musical workout, with extensive banjo playing as well as guitar.

I was a little disappointed in that there were a bunch of songs that I used to have down very cold that I just didn't have anymore, and more that I didn't have up to their old glory. I hesitated trying to cheat with the laptop for them, as it would majorly complicate my setup for not a lot of time on it (no plug), and uncertain payoff. But despite that, I know that I'm singing a whole lot better than even those final days when I was obviously singing pretty good. But alas, I'd need to do this more to recover more of my upper range. But that can be arranged. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I'd had my old sharpness with my new quality available yesterday. And there were some newer things in my current rotation that I always thought would have been good 'Old Town' songs, and sure enough, they were.

There were some great moments too, the kind that really made me love my job.

As I was entertaining a Dad-n-Child as Mom shopped, she *asked* if I knew how to play "Puff, The Magic Dragon". Yes!!!!!! That made my day. You ain't being brought up right if you're if you don't know "Puff" as a child.
Dad paying a couple of bucks to a street singer- cheap.
To be serenaded personally by someone playing Puff just for you when you're young- PRICELESS.

Also, I've spoken before of some of the songs in my repertoire being "Smart Missiles" when I perform, busking especially. They're not necessarily songs with mass appeal, but when they find someone in their target audience, they hit and they hit good. For example "American Pie" will almost always get me tips. It often gets me more people tipping me than any other song. But "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" gets me bigger individual tips, even tho it's not as many. The trick is to somehow develop the instinct of knowing when it's time to play a particular smart missile. Somehow I got better at doing that.
Anyway...
Harry Chapin's "Taxi" is the smartest missile in my repertoire. And yesterday was no exception. And my old instincts totally worked too. Unamplified, I roped a lady from across the street into coming over and GUSHING at me how she was such a Chapin fan when he was alive, even to the point of being the first in line to see him overseas somewhere when she had happened to be there when he was playing one night. And she tipped me GOOD! And then after dinner, she came and found me again, and tipped me GOOD AGAIN to play it for her again. I'm not usually into repetition, but she was nice, tipping me GOOD, *and* it helped me to work out just a little more rust off the arrangement, since I've maybe played it only a half dozen times in the past 6 years. I may have a new fan, and I gave her my card so she could get on my email list. And there may be a birthday party.
Or maybe it was just a good moment. Either way, it was the kind of moment that had the magic that I remember and totally grooved on. It was the kind of magic that eases alot of pain around why I stopped doing this in Old Town in the first place.

There were also a few people who recognised me, and all of them stopped to ask how and where I've been, and ALL of them went on about how they had missed me and how nice it was to hear me back again. That was also very very sweet and very very soothing to a (lately) grumpy soul.

All in all, I think it was Santa magic. I'd been wondering what kind of chance I'd have being considered nice, lately- what with numerous stupid tantrums and much anger and frustration around how stuff's been going that yes, did in fact spill out onto others. But It was the Solstice. And I think that it was just perfect that Santa would send me such a gift when I was being giving myself, in one of the ways that I do giving the best.

All in all, I really needed that.

I took a whole lot of sour lemons, including myself, and squeezed real hard yesterday, and now I am alot richer, in every sense of the word, especially the monetary.

Today, I am thoroughly squeezed.
My throat is a little scratchy, my hands are a little swollen, and I've been drinking ALOT of water. I wasn't as used to the cold either, but I had a couple of those nifty pocket warmers that my banjo student sister_devora scored for me last year, so that helped. And my insulated jump suit came out of storage and was as happy to be working again as was I.

I would have liked to stay out till the bitter end, but alas, it started raining about an hour before closing time. But I still did a whole lot better than I expected, and even better than I had secretly hoped!

Thank you, Santa. That was GOOD lemonade.