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March 24th, 2008

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December 3rd, 2007

09:40 am - Slightly longer recap of Thursday's gig [Quick note: Blossoms has landed at CD Baby and will be up on itunes very soon!] I prepared about 11 songs for Thursday 11/29, and ended up playing only nine, I think. But I was really short on voice and hadn't practiced since the Saturday before because every time I'd tried to sing I'd lose my voice completely. Nonetheless, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. The video in my last post gives you an idea of the performace. Video of the other songs will be available to everyone at some point in some format. I played the Joy Division song "Ceremony" last and had a hard time holding back tears. It's such an emotional song but it seemed like an appropriate "goodbye." (interesting fact: I played the song on piano at my highschool baccalaureate. I played one-handed, with broken fingers, because the weekend prior I'd gotten mad at a gutter punk and punched a wall.) I saw a lot of friendly faces that I didn't get to say hi to, so huge thanks to you for coming! And I completely sympathize that people were sleepy and had to miss Spellbound. And a lot of you were so sleepy that you missed the whole event -- I regret that the show was so late. Accolade had a terrific debut performance, and Spellbound pulled it off though I've noticed a correlation between the size of the crowd and how tight we are. Possibly because we treat it more casually and don't prepare as much for smaller shows, we're not quite as "on." Also of course my voice was totally dead by the end -- but it lasted way longer than I thought it would! In my much-commented-on post here I talked about the reasons this was my last bar/club gig in SF in the foreseeable future. All the things I said are true. But, similarly to the label hybernation rant (note, lots of things in that entry no longer apply), people are getting the wrong idea from this. They think this means I'm stopping doing music. Which is silly because it implies that the shows (or, previously, running an ineffective label) are in some way causing or supporting my creative process. What actually supports my creative process are these things: 1. My brain 2. Having free time 3. Supportive friends/family/fans (and a *very* understanding buz) 4. Various life experiences or fiction that inspire stories that lend themselves to songs 5. Having badass instruments and computer(s) to make composing easy and fun 6. Deadlines (usually self-inflicted) or opportunities (also usually self-inflicted) And preparing for shows that no one comes to is a drag on #2, though if at least a few people are there it can improve #3. And since I'm no longer afraid of a certain amount of marketing and am less isolated in how I make music, at a certain point people will be coming to see the shows, and they won't be a waste of time, and everyone will be happy. In the meantime I'll be playing in cafes and maybe my parents' house (in Lafayette; I loved playing there for small groups of people in years past) and the shows will be free-ish for all attending, and easier for me to put on. Since I really don't think my music is the kind that really requires a bar scene/drinking to enjoy, or a professional sound setup to hear, there's no reason to relegate it to the traditional venues used by bands. Tags: blossoms, gigs, spellbound, the end, unwoman

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November 6th, 2007

10:54 am - I'm downplaying what may be the last The last Unwoman electronic performance in a bar or club in San Francisco. I'm playing both an Unwoman set and a Spellbound set, really going all-out in support of my new CD. ( HOWEVER... ) Tags: blossoms, gigs, the end, unwoman

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