Busy Busy

I don’t think there’s ever been a time when my performance schedule was nearly so full or complex. For most of my time in SL, I’ve been performing one or twice a week, often alternating weeks between a couple of clubs and then adding occasional one-time bookings elsewhere.

These days things are considerably more complex, and yet still quite structured and repetitive, which is a big bonus in my books. The process of chasing down new bookings and negotiating mutually workable dates and times can be arduous, exasperating and occasionally downright depressing. I prefer to lock in a repeating gig, even if it’s just a once-in-a-blue moon sort of booking, because it means I can keep my energy focused on making music instead of chasing new opportunities.

I’m rather excited about how nicely this has all worked out – have a look:

	Surfside Hideaway every second Sunday at noon since Jan 2017
Stanza every Sunday night since April 2017	Stanza every Sunday night since April 2017
Mondays off	Mondays off
most Tuesdays are free	Villa Lobos Tues night every six weeks since March 2017
Cafe Musique every second Wed night since April 2016	The Mill every second Wed night starting June 28 2017
Merry Prankster every second Thurs night since Sept 2012	Brazen Head Pub every second Thurs night since May 2017
Fridays off	Fridays off
Saturdays off	Saturdays off

That’s seven different clubs and at least three performances per week, with some weeks reaching four or even five shows.

And there’s still room to add an occasional one-off booking somewhere interesting on a Tuesday night, or a Sunday noon-ish, or maybe even a Monday, Friday or Saturday, if RL allows.

Getting around to different venues has been a great way to reach new audience members, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the variety of scenery and themes at these different spots.

Hope to see you at a show soon 🙂

Stanza opens this Saturday!

I’m very pleased to be a part of the grand opening event for “Stanza” this weekend.

Stanza is a new club in SL and a pet project of my very dear friend Brindimere Laroway and her pal Sorrowen.

I first met Brindi in October of 2015, and since then I’ve played a huge number of shows alongside her. Brindi is the perfect kind of hostess, who mixes bubbly and fun with sweet and silly in a way that makes everyone feel welcome and included.

We’ve both seen a lot of twists and turns along the way, these past 18 months, but our shared love for live music and good silly fun has kept us strong and made us dear friends and happy collaborators.

I hope you’ll come and join the festivities as Brindi and Sorrowen launch their brand new venue this Saturday. I’m looking forward to lots of good times and great music in this exciting new spot.

 

Another great show at After Dark

Many thanks to Meegan for another great night at After Dark on Thurs Mar 9. This is an awesome stage in SL, and it’s always a thrill for me to play there. Thanks to everyone who came out to listen. Thanks also to Theadreem for the photo above, taken at the show.

A month of Sundays…

It’s been a while now since I ventured into this new timeslot, and I have to say it is going very well.

For years I’ve been playing strictly late night shows, mostly at midnight for me (9pm in SL time), and most frequently Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Starting in the closing months of 2016, I decided to try something new, add daytime slot and see what that was like.

Real Life is busy, with work and family, so it couldn’t be just any day. But Sundays are usually lazy days, and I’m usually at home, so why not?

Since early January, I’ve settled into a regular schedule, alternating weeks between The Night Owl and Surfside Hideaway, singing at 12 noon SL time (that’s 3 in the afternoon for me).

It’s been sort of magical, realizing that there’s a whole different crowd online at that time of day. Sure, I still see my North American friends from time to time, but many of the audience members at these shows are from countries across Europe, UK, Scandinavia, etc. – they’re out exploring SL in what is evening or even late-night for them. I’ve met a lot of great new people and it’s been a ton of fun singing for them, taking their requests, watching them dance and sing along.

Thanks so much to Desi at Surfside Hideaway and Sweetpea at The Night Owl for giving me the opportunity to meet this new audience and share my music with them.

Great Things Happen After Dark

I gave a rare Sunday night performance at After Dark this weekend, and it was wonderful.

I think it’s fair to say that most performers ‘feed off the room’ – stealing energy from the crowd to pour into their performance. After Dark has a very rare and delicious energy that is truly a delight and an inspiration.

I received a great many kind and flattering comments throughout the evening – thank you all – but there’s one particular bit of local chat that kinda summed up the whole show for me:

Sɦaɳɳƴ (Shannyn Fall): Greg sounds fucking wonderful tonight!!!!

Thank you Shanny, and thank you to everyone who took the time to stop in and listen to me for a while. It is you, the audience, who inspire me to dump my guts into the microphone, and I am deeply grateful for your time and attention.

Thank you so much Meegan, and LG and all the rest of the After Dark crew. I hope we can do this again soon.

 

The Merry Prankster – 4 years of shows

It was in February of 2012 that I started to sing at The Merry Prankster, dropping in when I could to play their Sunday night ‘Pickin Party’ throughout the spring and summer of that year.

But it was in the fall that we started to talk about a regular timeslot for me.

I played my first hour-long show for Zany and Guru on Sept 6 2012, and then two more in the same month. And that was the beginning of something that’s been a cornerstone of my SL music experience.

It’s a gig I’ve kept religiously, every second Thursday, through ups and downs, through thick and thin. There were busy times, when I had many other shows sprinkled around those Thursday nights, and quieter times when it was the only gig I played for a span of weeks or even months, but I always kept it. Zany and Guru have always been there for me, offering up their stage, as they have for so many other SL performers throughout the years.

By my count, this Thursday (Sept 29, 2016) was my 100th appearance at The Merry Prankster. A hundred shows, spanning 4 years of time. It boggles the mind.

In many ways, the Prankster has been my musical home, my safe place, my testing ground for new material, my ‘no matter what else is going on in my life I’m going to sit down with my guitar and sing some songs for an hour’ place. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve leaned into the mic to say ‘this is the first time I’ve ever done this song for an audience’ while playing there. And I’ve always been greeted with a cheerful welcome, with support, and with enthusiasm.

Thinking back over these past 4 years has reminded me of so many things that have come and gone – venues that have launched, grown, faded, and then vanished. People who have wandered into SL for a time and then wandered out again. Songs that I’ve learned, and played for a time, and then retired for one reason or another.

The Merry Prankster has been the one constant in all that. The one rock that I’ve used to anchor myself amidst the chaos of all the rest.

Thank you to the folks who came out with me this Thursday night to celebrate this remarkable and lasting piece of my SL experience. And thank you to Zany and Guru and the rest of the Prankster crew for your enduring generosity and kindness and friendship. I’ll see you in two weeks.

Another year gone…

Eeesh, another year gone by without a blog post. I’m not sure I’m really cut out for this blogging thing, lol.

October of 2015 brought me one last show at Key West, and then a first for me – Cafe Musique. I played the Cafe a few more times through the closing months of 2015 – thanks to Laya, and Siohban and especially Brindi for making me feel so welcome.

There were a couple of dates at Villa Lobos in November and December, plus my regular timeslot at The Merry Prankster every second Thursday.

In the holiday season, I played an hour of Christmas songs at the Cafe, and another at Pranksters, plus a Christmas-themed open mic at The Keys to wrap up 2015.

January brought me a 4 week stint at New Las Vegas, and then Feb and March brought more shows at the Cafe and another visit to Villa Lobos. By mid April I had settled into an ‘every Wednesday at 9’ slot at the Cafe, alongside my long-running ‘every second Thursday’ at Pranksters.

I paid another visit to Villa Lobos in June (thank you Cellandra, I’d forgotten how many of these we did) and I’m looking forward to another show there in about a week from now.

In August, I was thrilled to play a couple of different nights for Meegan at After Dark, filling in for some cancellations on the very busy schedule there. That brought back some fond memories of a long string of shows at Rhi’s Poem way back in 2013. After Dark is a wonderful venue, hosting some of the most talented and inspiring artists in SL. I hope to get back there soon.

This past week I played the 9pm slot at a Stand Up 2 Cancer benefit that ran all day and night at Cafe Musique (Thurs Sept 8). Thank you very much to all the good folks who came by to listen, and thanks for your support of this very worthy charity. Look for more SU2C events around the grid throughout the month of September and please give generously.

That’s all for now…

Getting back on track…

Eeesh. 15 months without an update. Bad blogger! Oh well, sometimes life gets hectic…

I certainly haven’t been idle in music. I still play my ‘every second Thursday’ show at the Pranksters, no matter what. And there have been lots of others in between.

In May & June of 2014, I got the chance to play several shows at a lovely spot called The Waterfront, and several more at my favourite Friday night hang-out, The Pocket. I played SL11B and Burn2 as well. Good times.

July to November I was alternating weeks between Pranksters and Solana’s Place.

December to March, I just got crazy busy with RL work and all the prep we do for my annual (RL) Easter Weekend Reunion Jam, so I kept things pretty simple in SL, popping in to play the Pranksters and that’s about it.

For April, May and June, I picked up a regular slot at Key West, and had a great time closing out Wednesday nights there, alternating weeks with my Thursdays at Pranksters.

And then July and August was pretty busy with summertime fun, so again I kept things simple… which brings us up to now.

This week I’m venue-hopping, seeing who is open at the crazy late hours that I’m available to play, and realizing just how much things have changed around the grid.

Lots of old favourite stomping grounds have dialed back their operations or shut down completely, while others have sprung up new or significantly expanded their schedules. Things change so quickly in SL.

My promo stuff like bio, pics, demo mp3s, etc, are hopelessly out of date, but that’s easy enough to fix. It shouldn’t be long before I’ve got a decent calendar lined up to give some new venues a try. See you on the grid 🙂

Busy month of May…

Looking back over the month of May, I see that I picked up a nice handful of new songs.

Sign of the Gypsy Queen was an annual jam song turned acoustic.

John Waite’s ‘Missing You’ has been kicking around in my head for years; nice to get that one in the book.

Billy Joel’s ‘Vienna’ is a real treat. I’ve admired him for many years and I’m glad I was able to work out a set of chords that let me move this piano masterpiece onto guitar.

Can’t Help Falling in Love is a song everybody knows. It’s nice to add something like that to the set.

Nautical Disaster is another one of those songs that just stuck in my head since the first time I heard it. I’m sure this one will grow and develop as I play it through several times.

And last but certainly not least – Steve Goodman’s ‘City of New Orleans’. Wow, there’s a song that’s been bouncing around in my head since I was a child. Thanks to my buddy Jim for working through that with me when he came to visit.

All in all, a very productive month, I’d say!

Neck Re-Finish for Norman

I’ve had this guitar for about three years now, and I use it quite a lot. And it was thoroughly used before it ever came into my possession. The finish on the back of the neck had broken down to the point that it was getting all sticky every time I played. Time for serious action 🙂 I took the hardware off, stripped the finish with sandpaper, cleaned up with progressively finer grits (320, 600, 0000 steel wool) and then re-coated with Danish Oil. It’s breathed some new life into Norman. I’m sure you’ll be hearing him in some upcoming shows.