Pelted by hail, but still better than playing in a sports bar!

I’m still buzzin’ this morning.

It might be from getting pelted by hail at a festival yesterday morning; or maybe it’s the large amount of coffee I’ve had this weekend to survive 3 AM drives home; or maybe it’s from playing my original songs to attentive audiences…

Musicians and artists often have to choose: Are we playing to fill our pockets with some cash, or are we playing to fill our souls with good vibes?

At the DIY level, these two rarely go hand in hand.

Sometimes, a songwriter needs to play that original show, even though you might not make as much money as you would play “Jack and Diane” for the 325th time in a sports bar where no one is paying attention. You have to keep the soul filled, not just the bank account.

Other times, we have to play that gig that’s a grind, but pays the mortgage.

This last weekend, I got to play three songwriter shows with Michigan songwriters, and I’m left feeling so great. Look at this wonderful new stage in Lansing called the Robin Theater. How does a songwriter not feel good standing on that stage?

And three out of four shows were well attended; money was earned, too!

But more rewarding: I got to flip the switch. This week I performed a majority of original material, rather than the cover-gig-grind.

After 1000+ gigs and five years of performing music full-time, I’m setting up my dominos to make another transition: to only playing original based shows. I’m not sure when the full transition is going to be able to be made, but it’s coming soon.

Covers gigs (bar gigs) have been a blessing, don’t get me wrong. I believe one should change careers like Tarzan, as Derek Sivers has proposed: You quit a job when you have one hand on the other vine!

Playing 400+ cover songs in bars was my exit plan from grading essays in a classroom, yet still pay the bills. I’ve honed my chops playing anywhere that paid me to stand in front of a microphone.

But the time is coming for me to make another change, to only focus on original-based shows. This week was a reminder of what that might look like, how challenging it continues to be…yet how good it feels.

Big thanks to Alex Mendenall and Carrie McFerrin for helping me put together some great shows in Lansing and Kalamazoo.

Also, Matthew Borr and Brian Koenigsknecht, you two were inspiring, your art is important, your songs touched me. Thanks for performing, too.

And my friends Spencer Michaud and Mike Gentry, what a blast and weird morning we had playing the morning festival in Ann Arbor! We celebrated the 45th year of the People’s Food Co-Op in Ann Arbor by playing their outside event in Kerrytown, but Mother Nature crashed the party!

It might be spring, but it’s Michigan: Low 40 degree weather was not a conducive temperature for moving fingers on fretboards. And then…the hail came. Gig #1028, the first time I’ve played during a hailstorm!(And honestly, this still might be better than playing in a sports bar.)

Here’s Mike Gentry getting pelted, and screaming “Hey mom, showbiz!”

Hail storm gig.

A video posted by Mike Vial (@mikevial) on May 14, 2016 at 9:52am PDT