Before you start reading this page, I suggest you read my Tour Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! blog.
I wrote it at 4 am the night before tour started.
It's about 6 pm the day of the first show as I'm writing this paragraph. I wanted to start just before the first
show because right now it's all about anticipation. I have no idea what's going to happen on this tour. I am
familiar with many of the places I'll be playing, but the events that will unfold are a complete mystery, which is
exciting and scary. This really could be the moment that gets me to where I want to be, making a living from my
music! That's how it feels right now. I feel like it will.
This is definitely a transition day. I'm actually doing laundry as I'm typing this because I have worked at
least 10 days in a row, and I think I've actually worked 14-15, but I may have had a day off somewhere in there.
That's why it's a good thing that tonight is an open mic, close to home. It's an open mic I've attended many times,
but I've never promoted it the way I have this one. I've been pushing it almost as much as I would a full show.
Being close to home for the first one is good, as I'm bound to forget something, whether it's the camera tripod,
the remote for the DVD player I use on stage, batteries for my keyboard (the power cord stopped working), etc.
This eases me back, and gets me ready for the full tour to come. I also ran some other errands today related to
the tour, including buying batteries and laminating the price sheet for my CDs.
Starting points: $34 in checking, $200 available credit, and about $100 in cash (primarily to make change when
people buy CDs). Mileage on my car: 87,095.
Along this tour, I will be sharing how much I make. Making music has never been primarily about making money for
me. I've actually lost tens of thousands of dollars on it. But, I feel like this is the moment that music will
start making a little bit of money for me, allowing me to turn it into a living, and I'd like to share that experience
with you because I know you're rooting for me to make it. I also think it will be interesting reading for any
independent musician who is thinking about trying to make a living from their music as well. If I can help someone
else make a living from their music by avoiding any mistakes I'm making, it will be that much more rewarding. I do
not see other musicians as competition, but rather as people who are simply doing what I'm doing, which is creating,
and loving what they do, with or without financial reward.
Tonight's performance is at South Park Tavern, 1301 Wayne Ave,
Dayton, OH 45410. I will update this page after the show tonight
It's now 2:08 a.m. It was great to get that first performance under my belt, and shake off the rust of working.
There was one woman there who came to the open mic to support her son, and was nice enough to give me $3 towards
gas, so I made my first $3 of the tour! That's why I have the picture of the tip jar, to show that it's not empty
now. :)
I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of turnout. I had thought that there may be a handful of people there
to see me due to my previous open mic almost 2 weeks ago at Blind Bob's, where I ended up doing an acapella version
of "Playin' A Little Basketball," which you can see here:
No one from that show was there, however, so I was playing to strangers, aside from my friend Jared, the staff
at South Park, and one person who recognized me from when I did a show with Oxymoronatron years ago. I have to
admit a certain oddity in my performance habits that has to do with good friends coming out to see me. Jared, as
well as a few other friends, have been to many performances of mine over the years, and most of those performances
have been to empty rooms, or small crowds that weren't into what I'm doing. Previously in those situations, I've
held back slightly. I think because my one or two friends that were there showed so much support just by coming
that I felt a little extra pressure. Tonight, I overcame that. Having a close friend there actually improved my
performance tonight, which is tremendous. One more barrier broken down gives me continued hope.
I'm excited about tomorrow! Thank you to everyone who supported me tonight, with an extra thanks to Marshall's
mom for the gas money! You can see Marshall playing his blues guitar above.
Ending mileage: 87,202. Cash made $3. Estimated gas costs from the 107 mile roundtrip: $14. Food costs: $0
(still had groceries left) I'll gladly take that today, given the other positives that came out of this show.
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Quick addendum. I checked my email just before bed and saw that one person had downloaded liberty island from CDBaby for $9.99. I got $7.49 (CDBaby pays every
Monday, so it will actually be in my account then) from that, so today I almost broke even.
No one from that show was there, however, so I was playing to strangers, aside from my friend Jared, the staff
at South Park, and one person who recognized me from when I did a show with Oxymoronatron years ago. I have to
admit a certain oddity in my performance habits that has to do with good friends coming out to see me. Jared, as
well as a few other friends, have been to many performances of mine over the years, and most of those performances
have been to empty rooms, or small crowds that weren't into what I'm doing. Previously in those situations, I've
held back slightly. I think because my one or two friends that were there showed so much support just by coming
that I felt a little extra pressure. Tonight, I overcame that. Having a close friend there actually improved my
performance tonight, which is tremendous. One more barrier broken down gives me continued hope.