Doors and pre-show at 6:30, featuring Stampede playing in the lobby. We’re co-headlining with bluegrass band Basin & Grange, a different musical style but clearly a group with the same sense of playfulness in band names.
This is free and all ages. There are 800 seats; make sure you’re there to claim your favorite. A big crowd would warm our hearts, inspire the music, and demonstrate to the generous sponsors just how much benefit this brings. Bring yourself, your family, a couple of friends. And please share widely!
But first: Grand America Lobby Lounge this Friday night 9/20/2024, 7:00 – 10:00PM. If you’re in the big city, drop by and get a snack and a drink and say hello. It’s a nice place and we really love the vibe there.
Then, we have a private gig next week and then a few other things …
Including: We’re playing at the Egyptian Theater on Monday, October 7th (free, all ages) as part of the Excellence in the Community Concert Series. We co-headline and get to take the big stage in the beautiful space for a 1-hour set. We’ll remind you and blast out the promotional materials.
But the reason I’m bringing this up now is because in the previews of materials coming out we’re characterized as “jazz.” And that’s fine in most cases as we’re trying to describe how we fit in, especially since in this case we’re side-by-side with a bluegrass band (so fun!!) and it’s great to know what the range might be for your Monday evening.
And yet I start to worry. People who are really aficionados of jazz would scoff at a lot of what we do. Sure, we’ll play Gershwin regularly. But also Dua Lipa. I feel like we might be misrepresenting ourselves to the people expecting Coltrane.
That’s not the worst of it, though: What if you hear “jazz” and you think Coltrane and bebop and you’re turned away by these things and never tune in to us? What if, heaven forbid, you don’t realize that it’s not all dissonant, not all that serious, not long bass solos — Tim refuses.
In fact, I wish we were represented as “jazz-ish.” That feels better, more accurate, appropriately whimsical. Of course, those running gigs at Grand America? That’s when we have to promote ourselves as “jazz.” That gets us in the door and under the big chandelier. So far they haven’t kicked us out.
Anyway, we’ll keep playing around the fringes of jazz as well as blues and funk and soul and everything else. (Caryn just sent us an idea to try out a Taylor Swift piece. You might have heard of her? We think we can swing it.)
It’s been a minute since we wrapped up a summer lineup with our amphitheater gig for Davis Arts. It looked like this:
We’ve rehearsed, narrowed the setlist, worked through transitions between songs and established a tight 60-minute set for Davis Arts Council Sunday Concert Series at the Kenley Amphitheater in Layton, the very last one of the season. Come cheer us on and we’ll play just as long as they’ll let us. Sunday, 25 August 2024, 7:00PM; free, all ages.
Besides being an amphitheater with a stage and a big sound system and a green room and all that, the thing that we really love about a gig like this is that it’s a “listening” show. We love playing lounges and parties and bars and all that, but this is a show where everyone is facing forward with nothing to pay attention to except us. So we’ll make it worth your time. Bring a friend or two or three, and come say hi after. We’re so grateful to get to play and have you there.
Rehearsal on the patio, Adam doing whatever it is that he’s doing and the rest of the band playing music.
We haven’t made too much of a big deal about this, but we’ve been really really excited about our return to the Kenley Amphitheater since we signed the contract back in the spring. We get to play there again, 60 minutes of uninterrupted, all ages, free music on Sunday, August 25 from 7:00 – 8:00p.
So. So. Excited. We have the setlist with fun new stuff and playful transitions sprinkled in. Adam gets to play the big piano, Matt gets his own drum riser, and Tim’s bass gets pumped through the mains. Cheer as the Diva walks out onto the stage while the band backs her up — it will make her evening and set the mood for the whole show.
Of course, as you know, we have a gig tonight (7/26/24) at the Grand America Lobby Lounge, 7-10p. Free, all ages, fancy ambiance and snacks, but you can come as you are. We love playing at the Grand because it’s a simple setup in an elegant setting. (And then we have a bit of a break before our Kenley Amphitheater show and another parade of gigs after that.)
But more than this reminder, we wanted to talk about art and what it’s worth. For example, I was just working on new sketches in lieu of photos once in a while. We kind of like renditions like this:
We don’t think this is really worth anything; it’s just something that was fun. Maybe we’ll make a sticker or something based on this, or we’ll hand it to stage managers so they know our sophisticated setup.
But there are other things you might pay for and we get money in return. For example, I just cashed in two years worth of our streaming revenue from our EP, Videos of Us in Handcuffs. After those two years we earned (drumroll):
$30
Actually, that’s an exaggeration. I think we barely cleared $28, but we can round up. This is just to say that we love it when people share our music and play it in earbuds or speakers or anything else. Turn it up. And thank you for sharing. But we don’t make any money on this. We sell some disks, but we just break even on the production when all is said and done.
This isn’t a complaint, mind you. Instead, we want to make this public service announcement:
Go support live music.
And not just us, but everyone. This is where people earn money to buy gear and keep the operations going. We might even make enough to fund studio time again and make another album (and another $30). Pay a $5 cover or throw some money in the tip jar or, best of all, hire us to play in your backyard or for your event or at your wedding. Those of you who have placed the $2 bills in our bucket, thank you. We’re collecting these for good luck. The kids who deliver singles to us and share a big grin, you’re absolutely delightful. Folks who have a twenty (or more sometimes) that mixes in the salad of other bills, we’re grateful. Please take a sticker or two. Oh, and stream our music to your heart’s content, but also please share it and invite your friends to the next show, ours or anyone else’s.
(And the gnomes* who Venmoed us cash on your way out onto 25th Street and into the world (the garden?) late on Saturday night, we loved you so much and hope you’ll be back again. Thanks for making our night.)
Excited to see you all out there soon. Say ‘hi,’ give a cheer, and dance or sway along.
*Yes, there really were gnomes. Yes, with hats. And beards. It was delightful. You had to have been there — another reason to go out to live shows.
Standards & Substandards 