First day out of the house all week - I finally got struck with the cold that knocked out everybody around me over the past couple of months.
I had my mastering session booked today and no way I could miss that, I've been responsible for enough delays in getting this CD out. Now I can blame any firther delays on a man called...oh maybe I shouldn't use real names in my blog. Let's just say he's a man who designs CD covers who always has someone waiting - but that's only because he's got a lot of people who want his services. And now that I've rushed to get it mastered, the record co prez is going to the coast for two weeks and I'm still going to have to wait. Hurry up and wait....except I find it easier to wait than to hurry.
Of course with a CD coming out, I can't just sit around waiting for people to invite me to gigs. I'm getting pro-active, and I've got help. Alyson has been following up on some festivals and presenters who received an advance copy of the CD (though they probably never listed). Anyway, all the festivals are booked - Easter is too late to be booking festivals, though I've been know to slip in at the last minute.
This year I'll have a nice mobile (almost strolling) acoustic blues setup - with myself on a resophonic guitar and fiddle & mandolin.
Anyway, back to the mastering. After lots of discussions and recommendations and dis-recommendations I finally said "to hell with it, I'm just going back to the guy that did my last CD" - a known quantity. As opposed to an elite group of miracle workers (or brutal destroyers of perfectly mixed music - depending who you were talking to. I thought the mastering went well - I still haven't heard it on my system - the tracks were defenitely sounding more cohesive amongst themselves - whether it sounds like a record remains to be seen.
Then tonight I couldn't resist going out to the Silver Dollar to hear Coco Montoya and boy am I glad I did. It doesn't get much better and obviously the word was out because the place was overflowing - and I don't think they expected it. It looked like they had only two waitresses working.
Here what I learended from Coco Montoya: Maye every gig a special event. Make every song a feature. And make every solo build and build until the audience is on their feet (or on their toes if they were already on their feet). And I hope I picked up a few guitar licks too!