July 2012 Tour: Days 3-9

NOTE: THERE AREN'T MANY SHOW PICS FROM THE FIRST PORTION OF THE TOUR, AS MR. BUDDY HAS KEPT DAVID PRETTY PREOCCUPIED .  SO, TO KEEP IT INTERESTING, I'M ALSO POSTING RANDOM PICS TAKEN ON TOUR!


Days 3 -5

For this portion of the tour, I returned to Jacksonville, FL. My first Jacksonville show was at Dos Gatos downtown. Dos Gatos is a hip, swanky martini bar and lounge. What I like most about Dos Gatos, other than it’s great location, is that the venue is sectioned into two parts. The bar is at the front of the venue as you walk in, and in the back, is a listening room and lounge with comfy couches and booths to sit in as you enjoy the music. I think because of this, Dos Gatos is my favorite venue in Jacksonville for acoustic music. They just started having acoustic music on Tuesday nights a few months back and I hope it continues!!!

David chilling with Kevin's
rescue dog, Sydney.

The fourth day of my tour was July 4^th.  I tried to coordinate some kind of 4^th of July show, but there was already so much going on, that I couldn’t get it to work out. There was an art walk scheduled downtown for the 4^th of July, but it probably got rained out. Though we had planned to attend, the rain kept us indoors. It was nice though, to have a night off to lounge, eat vegan food made by our old roommate, Kevin (whose place we stayed at for this portion of the tour), and work on my crochet piece.

The 5^th day of tour was spent at Engine 15 on Jacksonville Beach. I have played there a few times before and have always enjoyed it. Engine 15 is a microbrewery with many amazing beers to choose from. The bar tenders there are always incredibly nice and accommodating.

Days 6 & 7

David took a pic of the church where my cousin got
married. He was in the balcony video taping.

This is the portion of the tour that was spent visiting my family in Fort Myers, FL. It was so nice to see my parents and sister again, and get to hang out with them a bit. We went down to the art walk downtown in Fort Myers. It was nice to see such an event. It’s fairly new, I think just a few years old. Art walk happens once a month, along with music walk, which is on a different day, but also happens once a month. Growing up in Fort Myers, there was a small indie music scene, but not many venues to play at, and not much local art being showcased. It’s nice to see the scene has been growing and evolving. This art walk was much like others I’ve been to, wherein local galleries, bars, and shops open their doors, host live music, and showcase art. There are also street performers and artists creating on the sidewalks.

Double rainbow action outside the wedding reception.

The 6^th day of the tour was spent at my cousin, Brittany’s, wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding, and so nice to see family that I haven’t seen in a really long time, some that I haven’t seen in over 10 years. It’s pretty crazy to see all of my cousins all grown up, graduating college, and getting married. Life is amazing and bazaar! After the ceremony, we danced the night away at the reception, as we Hogrefe’s often do, Polka included!

Day 8

My sister, her boyfriend, David and I headed up to Tampa for this next gig at Mellow Mushroom. Unfortunately, as awesome and useful as iPhones may be, they also lead you astray with directions sometimes. I have learned my lesson to be careful and make sure that the destination matches up with the address I need to arrive at. Thought I typed in “Mellow Mushroom Tampa” into the google maps, it sent me to the Mellow Mushroom in Brandon (about a half hour south of the one in Tampa). Though I thought I would be early, I ended up being a little late, but it turned out okay in the end. Though I strive to be on time to every gig, venue owners have the understanding that musicians are not the most punctual people, 
especially when they have to drive long distances.

Mr. Buddy chilled with us often as we ate, usually sitting
in a chair like a person.

I have a long history with Mellow Mushroom, as I have performed numerous times at the locations in Fayetteville and Rogers, AR. Also, David has been working there for a while. I love Mellow Mushroom because they have good options for vegan pizza. David and I switch it up between a BBQ based pizza with Daiya cheese and tempheh, and a Mediterranean pizza with a hummus base (and loaded up with veggies, of course).

This show went really well. I got a good audience response, sold a few CDs and made some much needed mula for the road. If they keep hosting music in the future, it will be a great place for me to stop on my way out of Fort Myers and up the coast. We didn't have anywhere to leave Mr. Buddy during this show, so David, my sister and her boyfriend all sat outside and ate pizza on the patio, and hung out with Mr. Buddy while I played. I was hooked up to the speakers outside, so they could still hear me :)

We spent the night at my sister’s boyfriend’s place. It’s a cool pad with lots of animals, including corn snakes, which I love (I worked with corn snakes when I interned at a nature center in college)! The host of the house made us vegan popcorn as we chilled and watched one of the craziest movies ever made, From Dusk Till Dawn. Overall, this was a really great day!

Day 9

We drove 5 hours up Florida’s west coast to arrive in Tallahassee, FL. Here, we visited some old friends we haven’t seen in a while, and I performed at the Songwriter Showcase at Mockingbird Café. I’ve played at this event at Mockingbird before, when I lived in Jacksonville. Mockingbird Café is a nice little restaurant with a small stage near the bar area. There were quite a few musicians performing this time, so we each had 15 minutes play and speak about our songs.

I quickly noticed that I was most likely the youngest of the performers at this Showcase, though there were two guys who played a few country break up songs that might have been a few years older than I. Though primarily, I would like to perform for an audience of my peers, I often enjoy playing for an older crowd. It seems like the older crowds listen better. Part of it may be out of respect (something lost to my generation), or the wisdom that comes with age in which you appreciate and listen to the lyrics that others have put so much time and effort into.

I’ve always considered myself a good listener when it comes to music. I love music of all kinds, but especially music that has something to say. It seems like most of the music born from my generation consists of love songs, break up songs, and of course, the mainstream songs about sex and money. I don’t know how it got to this point. I know people have always written love songs, but at least some of the classics I listen to had more to say on top of that. I’m not sure what the reason is for this. It could be a combination of factors. Did past generations care more about what was going on in the world around them? Did they feel more of a sense of conviction to use their music to create change? Has mass media so hypnotized us to buy into pop culture that we only care about the superficial? Have we become disillusioned so that we think our voices will not be heard or taken seriously? Maybe we don’t want to think about the state of the world because it’s too depressing. In any case, I could do with a lot more conscious music.

At the showcase, one of my favorite acts was a husband and wife duo from Oklahoma. He is a Florida state finger picking champion, she is a Native American Indian who sings politically charged songs. She said, “I’m a folk singer. I write a lot of controversial songs. But that’s my job, to rustle some feathers.” I loved that! Though her singing was not the best I’ve ever heard, the stories she told through her songs, and the sign language she motioned during them moved me. I thought in my head, “Right on! Why don’t more people do this?” Then I learned that she grew up in foster care, not really knowing her tribe heritage. She sang a song about it, and said that she finally found out through DNA testing after 61 years of wondering. Learning about her hardship, it makes sense that she would sing about these songs. It seems that a lot of the time, it takes some kind of tragedy or hardship to get us to really think introspectively, and to write about what is on our minds and what we would like to change. It makes me think of the old slave and gospel songs of the early African Americans, as well as the revolutionary songs of the Civil Rights Movement. I think of the revolutionary songs of the 60s and Woodstock. Since then, it seems, we have lost our voice. I hope someday day soon to get it back.