My last two days in Nashville went by so quickly. Pretty much the only thing I did Monday was go back to the BlueBird Cafe. They really talk up the BlueBird and make it a big deal but I felt far more comfortable this time and wasn't nearly as nervous. It helped that I happened to be in line with some girls from the hostel who kept me company during the hour long wait. There was one thing that really made my whole night though. When I got into the cafe, this woman came up to me and was so happy to see me. She had heard me sing "Supergirl" last week and didn't get a chance to exchange information so she came back this week hoping I would be there. She said she felt so moved by the song and that she was able to let go of some things in her life because of it. God works in some awesome ways and I was so humbled that this woman would come up to me and share that with me. It was a reminder of why I live this crazy lifestyle and why I write music.
To determine the order in which the musicians play, they draw names out of a hat and mine was the first to be pulled. I played "So Far Away" and got some good feedback. No publishers or anything, but the audience enjoyed it! I'm glad I went back this week because there were quite a few blues singers that night. There was this young girl from Mississippi that could belt her lungs out. She sang her song entirely a capella with nothing but a hand-drum to accompany her and she blew everyone away. It's interesting because you never know what you'll find here.
Tuesday night I was determined to get a spot to play at the Douglas Corner Cafe. I called in entirely too late last week and didn't find out until it was too late that you have to play the game. They do sign ups via voicemail specifically for the open mic. The website says to call anywhere between 1 and 6pm but all the musicians know you have to start calling at exactly 1 to get a spot. Everyone is calling all at once though so you keep getting a busy signal and it's just the luck of the draw if you get an early slot. After 93 calls between 12:56pm and 1:08pm, I finally got through and made it as number 29 and didn't play until after 12:30am that night. I didn't win that hand for sure. I decided I'd stick it out anyways since this was my last open mic before I left.
It seemed like all the great songwriters I had met while I was in Nashville were all there that night and it was great because they were all able to give me some last minute advice before I had to head back home. Tommy was there, of course, and he continued to be a wealth of information. His good friend Gary, whom I met at Richard's, was also there giving me loads of advice. He also reassured me that I may actually know some music theory, which I've always felt I lacked, so that was a good confidence booster!
I finally got to play in the second to last round. Most places you only get to play one song but everyone does two songs here, which is bittersweet because you get more time to play, but I was also there from 8pm-1:30am. I played "Everything" and "Supergirl" and I think the few people that stuck around enjoyed it. I would have really liked to get more feedback on my songwriting while I was there but the people I talked to about it suggested that an open mic isn't really the place to do that. The open mics are mainly for networking. I need to get involved with a songwriting group to really work on my craft. I'm pretty sure there's a branch of the Nashville Songwriters here in Pittsburgh, so I will definitely be taking advantage of that while I'm home.
I stuck around to hear the last round of writers and was so glad I did because I got to hear Tommy Turner play one last time. He's got this hilarious song I've heard him play a couple times called "Have You Seen the Hole I Dug For You Outside". Everyone at the bar knew it and we all sang along. It was a great way to end the night and to end my trip in Nashville.
Now I just have to decide where to go from here. I really loved my time in Nashville and would love to live there but I would be focusing entirely on songwriting if I move there. That's not a bad thing, I just have to pray about it and see if that's the route I need to take. I'm thinking about taking a trip to New York or Chicago or something and seeing if I would do better in more of a jazz scene. Or maybe I'll just stay here and travel to all the big cities. I'd be okay with that. Anyways, thanks for reading about my adventures. There will be plenty more to come :)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Nashville Day #7
Yesterday was fantastic. It was a Sunday, so I wanted to find somewhere to go to church. I'm partial to urban, inner city churches so I was excited to come across a church service held in an office building right in downtown. It's called Mosaic Church and it's centered on ministry within the city. I walked in and was greeted by several people. A younger couple invited me to sit with them during the service so I was glad I didn't feel like an outsider. So, as soon as the service starts I felt so dumb. Not once did it occur to me that I'm in Nashville, Music City, and that the worship bands are probably amazing. And they are. Like, really amazing. If any church musicians from home are reading this, the best analogy I can use is this: Six Alec Hendersons being Alec Henderson on various instruments to create a band of spirit filled Alec Henderson amazing musical flow. (also, yes Alec. We talk about your musical awesomeness like this) They had some of the best arrangements of Christmas songs I have ever heard of and I actually felt comfortable worshipping through traditional Christmas songs. It was crazy. I had to calm myself when we got to the message part of the service, which I ended up really enjoying as well. The pastor read from the gospel of John, speaking about the kind of freedom Jesus has to offer us and how we often confuse this inner freedom with freedom within society. It really hit home for me, being out on the road and enjoying my freedom to pick up and go where the music takes me. It was a reminder that that kind of freedom should always be secondary to the inner freedom Jesus has to offer. Definitely something to chew on for the remainder of my trip.
I had to leave the service a little bit early, but I didn't mind. Tommy Turner invited me out to sing at Ri'chard's Cafe in Whites Creek, a great little place about 15 minutes outside the city. I was so glad I was invited to go; it was probably one of my most memorable experiences here. I got there early and had a chance to chat with one of the songwriters who was going to be playing a set. I'd heard him play at the Douglas Corner Cafe earlier in the week, but I was glad I was going to be able to hear him do a longer set.
The songwriters were playing some great music when Tommy walked in and immediately started introducing me to everyone. He must have really talked me up because he easily got me a slot to play in and I was glad everyone seemed to really enjoy my music. It was nice to be able to play more than one or two songs, which is the norm at open mics here. Anyways, it took all of two seconds for some of the other songwriters to get up and join me in jamming to my songs. It was glorious. The owner is originally from New Orleans and we really connected musically. I felt incredibly privileged to be jamming with these people.
After the show, there was just a few of us left chatting. Richard, the owner, pulled out his guitar and played us some wonderful music, one in particular that was really moving. It was a song about his grandfather and how all throughout his life, it was like his grandfather was the same age as him, always joining him on adventures. You could tell it was a hard song for him to sing, reminiscing on all these memories, but it somehow left you feeling warm in the end. It was a really intimate moment. I love that music can do that.
I left there feeling like I was one of them. We were and are all here for the same reason and it seems that the music in this city connects people together through thick and thin. The songwriters told me about some of the highs and lows of music; being so close to getting a hit and then coming back down from the high, and yet still looking at the glass half full. These people have such a love for music and a love for life as a result and I'm here just taking it all in.
I had to leave the service a little bit early, but I didn't mind. Tommy Turner invited me out to sing at Ri'chard's Cafe in Whites Creek, a great little place about 15 minutes outside the city. I was so glad I was invited to go; it was probably one of my most memorable experiences here. I got there early and had a chance to chat with one of the songwriters who was going to be playing a set. I'd heard him play at the Douglas Corner Cafe earlier in the week, but I was glad I was going to be able to hear him do a longer set.
The songwriters were playing some great music when Tommy walked in and immediately started introducing me to everyone. He must have really talked me up because he easily got me a slot to play in and I was glad everyone seemed to really enjoy my music. It was nice to be able to play more than one or two songs, which is the norm at open mics here. Anyways, it took all of two seconds for some of the other songwriters to get up and join me in jamming to my songs. It was glorious. The owner is originally from New Orleans and we really connected musically. I felt incredibly privileged to be jamming with these people.
After the show, there was just a few of us left chatting. Richard, the owner, pulled out his guitar and played us some wonderful music, one in particular that was really moving. It was a song about his grandfather and how all throughout his life, it was like his grandfather was the same age as him, always joining him on adventures. You could tell it was a hard song for him to sing, reminiscing on all these memories, but it somehow left you feeling warm in the end. It was a really intimate moment. I love that music can do that.
I left there feeling like I was one of them. We were and are all here for the same reason and it seems that the music in this city connects people together through thick and thin. The songwriters told me about some of the highs and lows of music; being so close to getting a hit and then coming back down from the high, and yet still looking at the glass half full. These people have such a love for music and a love for life as a result and I'm here just taking it all in.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Nashville Day 5 & 6
Let's start on Friday morning.
My lovely roommate Colleen made arrangements to view an apartment in East Nashville (I think I mentioned she's looking to move here) and she invited me out to lunch with her afterwards. We met at this place called Batter'd and Fried, which we both loved, but her even more so because of its New England vibe. Afterwards, we walked around to see all the shops; I'd not been over to East Nashville so I was glad to have a buddy to check it out with. We stopped at quite a few places, but one shop in particular reminded me of the Toy Box in Ligonier back home. It was essentially this old house stocked full of kids toys. I'm pretty sure Colleen and I were best buds in a previous life because she HAD to buy these fantastic pirate finger tattoos (see my facebook for the visual) and we were equally ecstatic about wearing our pirate tattoos proudly.
After our shenanigans in East Nashville, we came back to the hostel and hung out for a while. I decided not to do an open mic that night as it was hard to find anything other than shows on a Friday night. So instead, Colleen and I decided to have ourselves a little party at the hostel. She had decided that she was in love with the place she looked at in East Nashville so we felt obliged to celebrate her commitment to her newfound home. We found this massive wine & spirit store and bought entirely too much cheap wine, came back to the hostel, and celebrated with anyone that wanted to join us in the common room. I gave Colleen a hairwrap (which led to like three more hairwraps Saturday morning. lol) and we sat around chatting with everyone late into the evening. There seems to be a lot of Australians staying here at the hostel; I'm pretty sure everyone there just really likes to travel. I never get tired of hearing all the places everyone has visited and their experiences there. One of the Aussie girls has been traveling by herself for 7 months now in the United States. I feel like I would like to do the same at some point, i.e. when I'm not flat broke.
I slept so good Friday night and woke up Saturday morning very well rested. Colleen was leaving early but had some complications with her flight back to Connecticut. I have confirmation that she made it back alive though, so all is well in the world. I didn't have any concrete plans so I hung out in the common room knowing that something eventful would happen at some point. As I mentioned, my hairwraps were a big hit here so a did a few more Saturday morning and made a little bit of cash, so I guess it's a useful skill to have! It wasn't too long until some of the people I'd made friends with decided to take a trip to Opry Mills Mall. I'd been there already, but I was looking for somewhere to go for lunch so I thought I'd tag along and grab something to eat. Five of us decided to go together so we took two cars and I rode in with Max from England. His accent is as lovely as you'd imagine. This turned into an adventure when we got onto the highway and ran into a crazy amount of traffic heading into the mall. None of us thought to exchange cell numbers so we realized it was going to be next to impossible to meet up with our friends after wading through all the traffic. I was glad to be stuck in the car with Max though; I hadn't met anyone else here from England so he told me all about life there and what London is like. Also, it was interesting to discuss the language differences. Apparently they call a sweater a jumper, and cheers simply means thank you, not hello or well wishes.
By the time we got through all the crazy traffic, Max and I were starving so after a failed attempt to eat at the Rainforest Cafe (it would have been a 2 hour wait!) we ate at Johnny Rocketts and enjoyed the employees wonderful dance routine to Aretha Franklin's "Respect". Also, we couldn't help but notice that there was a Christmas train driving around the entire mall. If only they let the big kids on there. Sigh.
To end the day, I went back out to the Commodore Grille to get a spot to play at the open mic and network as usual. There was a fantastic jazz trio there that night that I fell in love with. I was thrilled that Tommy was there again and was able to introduce me to the guitar player, who is a known songwriter around the area. I was able to play two songs that night but the best part was just talking with the guitarist. We seemed to see eye-to-eye with our thoughts on the music industry and we spent quite some time talking about our passion for music. He frequently talked about the ear and the heart in music and how important those two things are. As I was getting ready to head out, Tommy invited me out to a venue to go to today. I may not be able to play, but he says it will be a good networking experience. I'll be sure to fill in the details in my blog! I'm headed off to church right now, but I will back to update soon enough.
My lovely roommate Colleen made arrangements to view an apartment in East Nashville (I think I mentioned she's looking to move here) and she invited me out to lunch with her afterwards. We met at this place called Batter'd and Fried, which we both loved, but her even more so because of its New England vibe. Afterwards, we walked around to see all the shops; I'd not been over to East Nashville so I was glad to have a buddy to check it out with. We stopped at quite a few places, but one shop in particular reminded me of the Toy Box in Ligonier back home. It was essentially this old house stocked full of kids toys. I'm pretty sure Colleen and I were best buds in a previous life because she HAD to buy these fantastic pirate finger tattoos (see my facebook for the visual) and we were equally ecstatic about wearing our pirate tattoos proudly.
After our shenanigans in East Nashville, we came back to the hostel and hung out for a while. I decided not to do an open mic that night as it was hard to find anything other than shows on a Friday night. So instead, Colleen and I decided to have ourselves a little party at the hostel. She had decided that she was in love with the place she looked at in East Nashville so we felt obliged to celebrate her commitment to her newfound home. We found this massive wine & spirit store and bought entirely too much cheap wine, came back to the hostel, and celebrated with anyone that wanted to join us in the common room. I gave Colleen a hairwrap (which led to like three more hairwraps Saturday morning. lol) and we sat around chatting with everyone late into the evening. There seems to be a lot of Australians staying here at the hostel; I'm pretty sure everyone there just really likes to travel. I never get tired of hearing all the places everyone has visited and their experiences there. One of the Aussie girls has been traveling by herself for 7 months now in the United States. I feel like I would like to do the same at some point, i.e. when I'm not flat broke.
I slept so good Friday night and woke up Saturday morning very well rested. Colleen was leaving early but had some complications with her flight back to Connecticut. I have confirmation that she made it back alive though, so all is well in the world. I didn't have any concrete plans so I hung out in the common room knowing that something eventful would happen at some point. As I mentioned, my hairwraps were a big hit here so a did a few more Saturday morning and made a little bit of cash, so I guess it's a useful skill to have! It wasn't too long until some of the people I'd made friends with decided to take a trip to Opry Mills Mall. I'd been there already, but I was looking for somewhere to go for lunch so I thought I'd tag along and grab something to eat. Five of us decided to go together so we took two cars and I rode in with Max from England. His accent is as lovely as you'd imagine. This turned into an adventure when we got onto the highway and ran into a crazy amount of traffic heading into the mall. None of us thought to exchange cell numbers so we realized it was going to be next to impossible to meet up with our friends after wading through all the traffic. I was glad to be stuck in the car with Max though; I hadn't met anyone else here from England so he told me all about life there and what London is like. Also, it was interesting to discuss the language differences. Apparently they call a sweater a jumper, and cheers simply means thank you, not hello or well wishes.
By the time we got through all the crazy traffic, Max and I were starving so after a failed attempt to eat at the Rainforest Cafe (it would have been a 2 hour wait!) we ate at Johnny Rocketts and enjoyed the employees wonderful dance routine to Aretha Franklin's "Respect". Also, we couldn't help but notice that there was a Christmas train driving around the entire mall. If only they let the big kids on there. Sigh.
To end the day, I went back out to the Commodore Grille to get a spot to play at the open mic and network as usual. There was a fantastic jazz trio there that night that I fell in love with. I was thrilled that Tommy was there again and was able to introduce me to the guitar player, who is a known songwriter around the area. I was able to play two songs that night but the best part was just talking with the guitarist. We seemed to see eye-to-eye with our thoughts on the music industry and we spent quite some time talking about our passion for music. He frequently talked about the ear and the heart in music and how important those two things are. As I was getting ready to head out, Tommy invited me out to a venue to go to today. I may not be able to play, but he says it will be a good networking experience. I'll be sure to fill in the details in my blog! I'm headed off to church right now, but I will back to update soon enough.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Nashville Day #4
This week is flying by. I'm feeling pretty settled in at this point. I don't have all that much to do during the daylight hours here so yesterday I decided to check out the Musicians Hall of Fame Museum. I'm not usually into all the touristy stuff, but I was so glad to check out the museum and see how much history is here. So many great musicians had there start here and it was encouraging (and yet intimidating) to know that I'm here at this moment trying to fulfill my dreams, just as they all have done in the past. Even more interesting than that was reading about all the studio musicians that made it possible for people like Elvis, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, etc. to get their music out there. I'm finding more and more that this city has shifted it's focus and has mainly become a place for songwriters, studio musicians, and studio engineers to make connections and work behind the scenes of all the celebrities, making what they do possible. I feel challenged to go home and re-focus on my songwriting.
I was honestly pretty lazy the rest of the day until I went out with my roommate in the evening. It's crazy how quickly you make friends here. We met one of her friends for dinner at the Tavern; It's this cool little restaurant in midtown. I had a beer and chatted with them for a bit but I didn't stay long because I wanted to get to the open mic at the Commodore Grille early to make sure I got a spot to play. As soon as I got there I ran into Tommy, an older gentlemen I keep running into at the open mics. I was glad he was there and as we were watching the songwriters play their set, he was giving me all sorts of advice about getting into the music scene here and just overall guiding me in the right direction. He reassured me of the places I should try to get into and gave me pointers on the things that I was unsure of. The best part of all of this is that this kind of hospitality doesn't appear to be an usual thing. It's not nearly as cut-throat as I was expecting it to be. Everyone is so willing to give each other a helping hand.
Luckily, I got there early enough to be one of 8 people to play the open mic after the show. I was the only keyboard player, but I think it went over well. Tommy offered to take some pictures of me, so if you're reading this Tommy, thanks again! They turned out great! The host seemed pretty pressed for time, but she went out of her way to tell me she thought I had a great voice so I was grateful for some feedback. I've been meeting so many people and I'm not sure who all is able to help me out and who are the "right" people to know but I think a lot of it is probably luck, hoping that somebody from somewhere is at an open mic listening. Either way, there's plenty I'm learning and plenty to take away from this experience so far.
After the open mic, I wasn't very tired so I sat in the lobby on my floor at the hostel and chatted with some of the guys staying there. One of them in particular was a very vibrant character. He's a 22 year old college student, originally from China, but he's taking classes at a school in Missouri and he loves to travel (as do most people in the hostel). He was telling us all about his recent trip to Vegas with an ex-girlfriend of his. He pretty much just left school, didn't tell anybody where he was going or what he was doing, and went to Vegas for two weeks. Nobody knew where he was and they almost reported him as a missing person. I suddenly felt like my trip to Nashville wasn't so daring. Also, this was apparently after he'd broken up with his girlfriend, so they weren't in a relationship when they were in Vegas. This seems to be a recurring theme for him because he broke up with his most recent girlfriend and then a week later went on a road trip with her. I think he's single now though. Either way, I thought the story was entertaining. There were many more adventures he talked about and we stayed up fairly late into the night just sharing life stories until I was ready to call it a night. I made plans to hang out at the hostel tonight with my roommate before she leaves to go back to Connecticut tomorrow morning so I'm sure I'll have more stories to share tomorrow. The hostel was such a good decision.
I was honestly pretty lazy the rest of the day until I went out with my roommate in the evening. It's crazy how quickly you make friends here. We met one of her friends for dinner at the Tavern; It's this cool little restaurant in midtown. I had a beer and chatted with them for a bit but I didn't stay long because I wanted to get to the open mic at the Commodore Grille early to make sure I got a spot to play. As soon as I got there I ran into Tommy, an older gentlemen I keep running into at the open mics. I was glad he was there and as we were watching the songwriters play their set, he was giving me all sorts of advice about getting into the music scene here and just overall guiding me in the right direction. He reassured me of the places I should try to get into and gave me pointers on the things that I was unsure of. The best part of all of this is that this kind of hospitality doesn't appear to be an usual thing. It's not nearly as cut-throat as I was expecting it to be. Everyone is so willing to give each other a helping hand.
Luckily, I got there early enough to be one of 8 people to play the open mic after the show. I was the only keyboard player, but I think it went over well. Tommy offered to take some pictures of me, so if you're reading this Tommy, thanks again! They turned out great! The host seemed pretty pressed for time, but she went out of her way to tell me she thought I had a great voice so I was grateful for some feedback. I've been meeting so many people and I'm not sure who all is able to help me out and who are the "right" people to know but I think a lot of it is probably luck, hoping that somebody from somewhere is at an open mic listening. Either way, there's plenty I'm learning and plenty to take away from this experience so far.
After the open mic, I wasn't very tired so I sat in the lobby on my floor at the hostel and chatted with some of the guys staying there. One of them in particular was a very vibrant character. He's a 22 year old college student, originally from China, but he's taking classes at a school in Missouri and he loves to travel (as do most people in the hostel). He was telling us all about his recent trip to Vegas with an ex-girlfriend of his. He pretty much just left school, didn't tell anybody where he was going or what he was doing, and went to Vegas for two weeks. Nobody knew where he was and they almost reported him as a missing person. I suddenly felt like my trip to Nashville wasn't so daring. Also, this was apparently after he'd broken up with his girlfriend, so they weren't in a relationship when they were in Vegas. This seems to be a recurring theme for him because he broke up with his most recent girlfriend and then a week later went on a road trip with her. I think he's single now though. Either way, I thought the story was entertaining. There were many more adventures he talked about and we stayed up fairly late into the night just sharing life stories until I was ready to call it a night. I made plans to hang out at the hostel tonight with my roommate before she leaves to go back to Connecticut tomorrow morning so I'm sure I'll have more stories to share tomorrow. The hostel was such a good decision.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Nashville Day #3
Yesterday was a pretty chill day. I felt settled in at the hostel, I got some much needed sleep, and didn't get out of bed until 11. While I was being delightfully lazy in bed, I heard the door open and was glad to find I now have a roommate! Her name is Colleen, she's in her early 20s as well, and she's from Connecticut. She's a writer and decided she wanted to pick up and move to Nashville. We hit it off immediately. I've never been to Connecticut, so she filled me in on what life is like there and in the New England states. She strongly suggested I visit Boston and Burlington, Vermont. My trip here has made me realize how badly I want to travel and see the world. We chatted for quite a while but I could see she was exhausted from the trip, so I left her to have the room to herself for a while.
If you've never been to a hostel (I hadn't until this week), all you need to know is that it's almost exactly like living in a college dorm (minus the drama), but it's run like a hotel/motel. The more people I talk to, the more I find that not many Americans like to stay in the hostels, it's mostly people from out of the country. It seems like there's some weird connotation with hostels in the States (I blame it on that stupid horror movie) that doesn't appear to exist elsewhere. I think hostels are just more popular elsewhere as well. Anyways, on the first floor of the hostel, there's this community living space with sofas, a kitchen, television, etc. so I decided to hang out there for a little bit. I ended up talking to this guy from Brazil named Poul (sp?), which is apparently a nickname; When he was younger he was fairer skinned and had lighter hair, so his family would tease him and say he looked like he was from Poland. His hair and skin got darker as he got older, but I guess the name stuck. I'm sure the nickname is more comedic in Brazil. Poul spoke English fairly well, just a bit of an accent, but he seemed incredibly self-conscious about it. I asked him about Brazil, what it's like there, and what he thought was odd about the states. One of the first things he said was that he misses the food there. I wish I could mimic the look on his face when describing his first experience eating Wendy's. As much as I love greasy food, I'm pretty sure I speak for all Americans when I say that we know our food is crap; We just enjoy eating our crappy food, that's all. We talked a little longer until the conversation eventually led to music; There wasn't many other people in the lounge with us, so I went over and started to play the piano a little bit. I was glad to find Poul likes to play the blues so we jammed for a bit, and even had another guy join us, using a bar stool as his hand drum. Our drummer was a foreigner as well and I would have liked to talk with him more but his English wasn't as good and he seemed much more reserved than Poul. Regardless, we had this beautiful moment of bonding through music, even as complete strangers and despite our language barriers.
The evening came quicker than any of us expected, so we ended our jam session and parted ways. I made plans to hit up the open mic at Dan McGuinness Irish Pub. I got there early to make sure I could get a spot. Turns out I came super early so I sat down and had a beer while I was waiting. Turns out I was sitting next to the owner of the bar, Quinn. He was there with three of his buddies and they were curious about this young female that walked into a bar by herself. I told them I was from Pittsburgh and that led to a very PG-13 conversation about Ben Roethlisberger, whom he'd had the pleasure (displeasure?) of meeting before. We had a good laugh about it and chatted some more until the conversation eventually turned to music, as it usually does in these parts. One of the owner's buddies was a sound engineer and he shared with me about his time here in Nashville. Pretty much from that point on, everyone kept trying to convince me to just move here. haha. Maybe some day. I stayed and talked about twenty minutes or so with them and then went up stairs to the open mic. I'm still trying to get used to how friendly everyone is here. The regulars see someone new at an open mic and really make an effort to chat with them and make them feel welcome, and it's an awesome feeling to know you're constantly around other songwriters. I saw some familiar faces from the other open mics I've been to this week and even before I performed, some of them came up to me to chat. I could go on forever about all the advice given to me last night alone.
It was my turn to go up and perform. We each were able to perform one song and I felt like playing "So Far Away". I got a few compliments on my colorful keyboard. I've had this dinky keyboard since I was like twelve and I doodled all over it, but they seemed to like its character! I was glad to see that the performance was well received and I was really able to network/exchange info with people. The host even wanted a picture with me! I felt like a million bucks! It was probably just because I was a new face, but still. I felt pretty special. lol It's so hard to try to write about everything that happened because there was just so many conversations with so many people, I truly could write several pages about it. It's just incredible to feel a part of something even as an outsider. I feel like I fit in with these people.
I stayed a good while after the show but as I was getting ready to leave, I looked out the window to see a film crew filming right in front of the building. I had an awesome parking spot right where they were getting shots so I figured I'd wait to leave until they were done. We were all kidding that it could have been for the t.v. show "Nashville" but it could've been for anything, really. Either way, I was pumped that Francesca was in the shot. I always knew she'd look good on film.
If you've never been to a hostel (I hadn't until this week), all you need to know is that it's almost exactly like living in a college dorm (minus the drama), but it's run like a hotel/motel. The more people I talk to, the more I find that not many Americans like to stay in the hostels, it's mostly people from out of the country. It seems like there's some weird connotation with hostels in the States (I blame it on that stupid horror movie) that doesn't appear to exist elsewhere. I think hostels are just more popular elsewhere as well. Anyways, on the first floor of the hostel, there's this community living space with sofas, a kitchen, television, etc. so I decided to hang out there for a little bit. I ended up talking to this guy from Brazil named Poul (sp?), which is apparently a nickname; When he was younger he was fairer skinned and had lighter hair, so his family would tease him and say he looked like he was from Poland. His hair and skin got darker as he got older, but I guess the name stuck. I'm sure the nickname is more comedic in Brazil. Poul spoke English fairly well, just a bit of an accent, but he seemed incredibly self-conscious about it. I asked him about Brazil, what it's like there, and what he thought was odd about the states. One of the first things he said was that he misses the food there. I wish I could mimic the look on his face when describing his first experience eating Wendy's. As much as I love greasy food, I'm pretty sure I speak for all Americans when I say that we know our food is crap; We just enjoy eating our crappy food, that's all. We talked a little longer until the conversation eventually led to music; There wasn't many other people in the lounge with us, so I went over and started to play the piano a little bit. I was glad to find Poul likes to play the blues so we jammed for a bit, and even had another guy join us, using a bar stool as his hand drum. Our drummer was a foreigner as well and I would have liked to talk with him more but his English wasn't as good and he seemed much more reserved than Poul. Regardless, we had this beautiful moment of bonding through music, even as complete strangers and despite our language barriers.
The evening came quicker than any of us expected, so we ended our jam session and parted ways. I made plans to hit up the open mic at Dan McGuinness Irish Pub. I got there early to make sure I could get a spot. Turns out I came super early so I sat down and had a beer while I was waiting. Turns out I was sitting next to the owner of the bar, Quinn. He was there with three of his buddies and they were curious about this young female that walked into a bar by herself. I told them I was from Pittsburgh and that led to a very PG-13 conversation about Ben Roethlisberger, whom he'd had the pleasure (displeasure?) of meeting before. We had a good laugh about it and chatted some more until the conversation eventually turned to music, as it usually does in these parts. One of the owner's buddies was a sound engineer and he shared with me about his time here in Nashville. Pretty much from that point on, everyone kept trying to convince me to just move here. haha. Maybe some day. I stayed and talked about twenty minutes or so with them and then went up stairs to the open mic. I'm still trying to get used to how friendly everyone is here. The regulars see someone new at an open mic and really make an effort to chat with them and make them feel welcome, and it's an awesome feeling to know you're constantly around other songwriters. I saw some familiar faces from the other open mics I've been to this week and even before I performed, some of them came up to me to chat. I could go on forever about all the advice given to me last night alone.
It was my turn to go up and perform. We each were able to perform one song and I felt like playing "So Far Away". I got a few compliments on my colorful keyboard. I've had this dinky keyboard since I was like twelve and I doodled all over it, but they seemed to like its character! I was glad to see that the performance was well received and I was really able to network/exchange info with people. The host even wanted a picture with me! I felt like a million bucks! It was probably just because I was a new face, but still. I felt pretty special. lol It's so hard to try to write about everything that happened because there was just so many conversations with so many people, I truly could write several pages about it. It's just incredible to feel a part of something even as an outsider. I feel like I fit in with these people.
I stayed a good while after the show but as I was getting ready to leave, I looked out the window to see a film crew filming right in front of the building. I had an awesome parking spot right where they were getting shots so I figured I'd wait to leave until they were done. We were all kidding that it could have been for the t.v. show "Nashville" but it could've been for anything, really. Either way, I was pumped that Francesca was in the shot. I always knew she'd look good on film.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Nashville Day #2
I wanted to blog last night, but I was super tired so you all will have to suffer. My bad :-p
So my night with Candida was fantastic. We stayed up pretty late just catching up (I haven't seen her since high school!) and it was nice to have somewhere warm to sleep! She showed me around the city and we took a ride down Music Row...crazy to see everything all in one place. It was a lot to take in! After our little tour I decided to drive past the Grand Olde Opry and spend some time at the Opry Mills mall. I was there once before but that was several years ago so I thought it'd be worth my time to check it out again, and also try to do some Christmas shopping (which was an unsuccessful mission, by the way). I forgot how awesome the Rainforest Cafe is. I didn't stop and eat because I didn't feel like paying (it's my inner Jew) but the atmosphere is so cool. I didn't really shop, just sort of people watched. However, I had to check out this hippie store there and I ended up chatting with one of the employees, who (surprise!) is a musician as well. It's just neat that everyone here has a story. Everyone is from somewhere else going somewhere else and they're all excited to help others out along the way.
One of the highlights of my day was when I got into the car after walking around the mall. My first day here my key got stuck in the ignition of my car for no reason and by some act of God, I was able to remove it yesterday. Yay for the small victories! Also, my car hasn't fallen apart so that's also super exciting. Yay Francesca!
There were really only two things on my agenda yesterday: find an open mic for the night and find a place to stay. I was more concerned about the latter of the two so after the mall I went and checked in at the Hostel right in downtown Nashville. It's cheap and I'm pretty sure this is where all the broke musicians go when they're staying here. As I was checking in, I ran into the Canadian guy I met at the Bluebird Cafe, so it was nice to see a familiar face (if only a day old familiar face lol). He came with me to the open mic last night but left early because his flight back home was early this morning. Hope he had a safe trip back!
I heard a few people at the Bluebird say they were going to go to the Douglas Corner Cafe the following night so that's where I decided I would go. I should've called in earlier to get a slot though because I ended up being dead last on the list. I think it worked out well though; I stayed for a couple hours listening and then was able to get to bed at a decent time. I ended up sitting next to this comical guy that played the first round. He sang a song called "Catfish" that was about an experience he had meeting a woman online that wasn't as she appeared to be...he was giving me all this free music of his and kept wanting to buy me drinks. A little creepy, but I think he meant well. Nonetheless, I was glad I was able to leave whenever I wanted. lol
I came back to the hostel, watched some Southpark, and fell asleep in the middle of the episode. Timothy, I didn't watch another episode of Breaking Bad without you. The things I do for love...
So my night with Candida was fantastic. We stayed up pretty late just catching up (I haven't seen her since high school!) and it was nice to have somewhere warm to sleep! She showed me around the city and we took a ride down Music Row...crazy to see everything all in one place. It was a lot to take in! After our little tour I decided to drive past the Grand Olde Opry and spend some time at the Opry Mills mall. I was there once before but that was several years ago so I thought it'd be worth my time to check it out again, and also try to do some Christmas shopping (which was an unsuccessful mission, by the way). I forgot how awesome the Rainforest Cafe is. I didn't stop and eat because I didn't feel like paying (it's my inner Jew) but the atmosphere is so cool. I didn't really shop, just sort of people watched. However, I had to check out this hippie store there and I ended up chatting with one of the employees, who (surprise!) is a musician as well. It's just neat that everyone here has a story. Everyone is from somewhere else going somewhere else and they're all excited to help others out along the way.
One of the highlights of my day was when I got into the car after walking around the mall. My first day here my key got stuck in the ignition of my car for no reason and by some act of God, I was able to remove it yesterday. Yay for the small victories! Also, my car hasn't fallen apart so that's also super exciting. Yay Francesca!
There were really only two things on my agenda yesterday: find an open mic for the night and find a place to stay. I was more concerned about the latter of the two so after the mall I went and checked in at the Hostel right in downtown Nashville. It's cheap and I'm pretty sure this is where all the broke musicians go when they're staying here. As I was checking in, I ran into the Canadian guy I met at the Bluebird Cafe, so it was nice to see a familiar face (if only a day old familiar face lol). He came with me to the open mic last night but left early because his flight back home was early this morning. Hope he had a safe trip back!
I heard a few people at the Bluebird say they were going to go to the Douglas Corner Cafe the following night so that's where I decided I would go. I should've called in earlier to get a slot though because I ended up being dead last on the list. I think it worked out well though; I stayed for a couple hours listening and then was able to get to bed at a decent time. I ended up sitting next to this comical guy that played the first round. He sang a song called "Catfish" that was about an experience he had meeting a woman online that wasn't as she appeared to be...he was giving me all this free music of his and kept wanting to buy me drinks. A little creepy, but I think he meant well. Nonetheless, I was glad I was able to leave whenever I wanted. lol
I came back to the hostel, watched some Southpark, and fell asleep in the middle of the episode. Timothy, I didn't watch another episode of Breaking Bad without you. The things I do for love...
Monday, December 9, 2013
Nashville Day #1
The minute I got here I knew I wanted to document this crazy ride, so here it is. I left Latrobe a little bit later than I was hoping to yesterday, drove all day, and decided to call it a night when I got to be about an hour outside the city. I was exhausted and after a failed attempt to get comfy in my station wagon (hereafter referred to by her name, Francesca), I caved and got a cheap motel room. The king sized bed was awesome, the rusty shower, not so much.
I woke up this morning admittedly anxious. Or terrified is probably more accurate. It finally occurred to me that I was within an hour of Nashville, Tennessee with nothing but Francesca and my half broke Yamaha. Craziness. Unfortunately, the motel I stayed at did not have wifi so I drove across the street to McDonald's and tried to figure out a game plan. I checked out all the open mics and it looked like the Bluebird Cafe was where I should plan to be for the night. Awesome decision. When I had my fix of coffee, I drove the final hour into the city and the second I got there, any anxiety I previously had disappeared off the face of the earth and was quickly replaced with an incredible elation. With nowhere to go, I drove around aimlessly and walked around where I could just to kill some time and soak it all in. The city is fantastic when you have nowhere to be.
The next few hours were sort of a blur and I'm still taking it all in. I just got done performing at the Bluebird Cafe and am now sitting in a McDonalds (yet again) stealing their lovely free wifi. I could continue in lengthy detail about all the specifics but that seems too tedious of a task. i.e. I'm too lazy to type it all out. It was three hours of nothing but original music from people all over (some from England, Australia, and Canada!). I played one of my original songs and was one of two people to get to play a second song (woot!) and I wasn't booed off stage. Success. I was actually surprised to find that I wasn't the worst musician in there, although I wasn't the best either.
I found a place to crash tonight. So glad Candida Sylvania was able to hook me up. I also ran into two of the musicians from the open mic sitting here at McDonald's and they suggested a hostel in town so I think I'll probably head there in a few days.
That was a lot of text. If you've read this far, well done. You must be bored beyond belief. I'm going to go sit on reddit now. More adventures tomorrow.
I woke up this morning admittedly anxious. Or terrified is probably more accurate. It finally occurred to me that I was within an hour of Nashville, Tennessee with nothing but Francesca and my half broke Yamaha. Craziness. Unfortunately, the motel I stayed at did not have wifi so I drove across the street to McDonald's and tried to figure out a game plan. I checked out all the open mics and it looked like the Bluebird Cafe was where I should plan to be for the night. Awesome decision. When I had my fix of coffee, I drove the final hour into the city and the second I got there, any anxiety I previously had disappeared off the face of the earth and was quickly replaced with an incredible elation. With nowhere to go, I drove around aimlessly and walked around where I could just to kill some time and soak it all in. The city is fantastic when you have nowhere to be.
The next few hours were sort of a blur and I'm still taking it all in. I just got done performing at the Bluebird Cafe and am now sitting in a McDonalds (yet again) stealing their lovely free wifi. I could continue in lengthy detail about all the specifics but that seems too tedious of a task. i.e. I'm too lazy to type it all out. It was three hours of nothing but original music from people all over (some from England, Australia, and Canada!). I played one of my original songs and was one of two people to get to play a second song (woot!) and I wasn't booed off stage. Success. I was actually surprised to find that I wasn't the worst musician in there, although I wasn't the best either.
I found a place to crash tonight. So glad Candida Sylvania was able to hook me up. I also ran into two of the musicians from the open mic sitting here at McDonald's and they suggested a hostel in town so I think I'll probably head there in a few days.
That was a lot of text. If you've read this far, well done. You must be bored beyond belief. I'm going to go sit on reddit now. More adventures tomorrow.
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