1/98
Dear Surfer:
January is over already. The holidays just flew by, as usual. I don't
know why people are suprised by this fact every year! My Mom’s back from Vegas. I had to give her back her car. It was excellent having a car for a month. Got to go all kinds of places.
We had 3 gigs this month and went to 1. Our show at Flanagan's in Mt. Kisco
on the 9th went well. We played to an audience of mostly college students
and they kept wanting us to play more. So after 3 sets after giving it our
all (like we always do), we did a 4 song encore. But they still wanted more!
But we had to stop. No one was throwing money! The club wants us back,
though, which is good. We'll hopefully be doing a regular stint up there
on Thursday nights. We shall see.
Next was our regular place, Desmond's. My Mom just got back from Vegas the night before. Her plane was
delayed and I had to pick her up and didn't get to bed until well after
midnight. I usually like to get at least 8 hours sleep the night before
a gig so as not to sound like Croaky the Frog, but fortunately, my voice
was functioning.
Anyway, it was a fun show, but we would have
liked more people there to see us...paying people. The place used to be free, now they charge $3.00. I guess
people started off 1998 really broke or something...who knows! But the place was packed
with other people - people not on our mailing list who are now. It was a good show.
Witness came on after us. They thanked us for sticking around, but they don't have to
because we love this band. They are slick and cool and jazzy and funky and getting tighter
all the time.
Just a quick note about Desmond's, though. Like I said, it used to be free
to get in and they used to pay us. Chump change, but it covered the cost of
flyers and stuff. We were told the new "policy for all bands" in '98 was no more
pay to the bands and that they would charge $3.00 at the door. So we unhappily went along, seeing as it was "policy" and all.
Later found out this isn't true. Only CERTAIN bands
fall under this policy. Lies, lies, lies. What a world we live in. I've
known the guy who books the place for over 8 years. Am I bitter, though?
I must admit, a tad!
But we love our audience!! Special thanks to Strawberry Boy Mark Shunock - yum. Hey, Mark, can you
please come to all of our shows and bring fresh fruit? Strawberries are my favorite.
Also, thanks to Eddie Decker for giving Kim that valuable info on how to make his X3R
work right! It's been driving him nuts. And finally, thanks to Dave and Flatlanders for
showing their support. If you like power pop/roots rock, by the way, you should check out
Flatlanders. GREAT band. Good people. You can link to their homepage on
our "Links" page.
On the 22nd, I checked out my friend Doreen Younglove at the Dark Star
Lounge. This woman can sing. I am convinced that some label is going to
snatch her up soon. Great original music...nice and mellow. Hard to
describe. Sort of Tracey Chapman, but more R&B influenced. Keep your eyes
peeled for Doreen. She's BAD (meaning "good".)
Then, we had one killer time at Images in Fairview on the 24th, though we don't know what happened to our NJ mailing list contingent! Thanks to Gabriela & friends, Jackie & Glen & friends, and to Raymond, Bern & Wayne (apologies AGAIN for the time mix up) and to Patti Gallagher & friends.
We got there in time to catch the ever powerful Greg Amici. Another star you must see before tickets are too expensive. Greg has a powerful voice, and GREAT lyrics. Satirical, clever without being cliche or cutesy, and backed up by strong rockin’ melodies, if he doesn’t get signed soon, I may just flip out.
Next was Witness. If you haven't seen us with them yet,
their music has elements of funk, rock and pop and while I hate comparisons, the Talking Heads mixed with the Police but jazzier is the best I can do. They'll be back at Images February 14th. Obviously, we plan on continuing to perform with them because we like them, we get along with them, they are nice people. I, personally, have decided that in ‘98, I’m only going to deal with nice people. No more cranky ass, hardhead, mean power trippin’, greed monger people for me. Life’s too short! Now I know that
I've just left out more than half the human race and it's not going to be easy, but shit!! This is supposed to be fun. See you next month!!
yours,
stefanie
p.s. next month's letter will be from Kim, affectionately known by some as
Frankfingers (pronounced "Frank Fingahs").
write back
Letters from the past:
December, 1997
Background pattern courtesy of scruffy puppy. I've got strawberries on the brain.
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