I’ve Hit the Year Mark!
Hi everyone, I missed sending a June newsletter because life got in the way. Natalie and I moved to Ann Arbor in the first week of July, only a few weeks before our upcoming wedding in August. It’s been a summer of change!
Plus, I’ve reached the year mark of when I left teaching to pursue music full time as a career. I’ve made it! I’ve played so many gigs, I’ve lost count. My car has over 160,000 miles on it, about 20,000 miles alone this year from seeing most of Michigan, as well as seven states with three tours.
Thanks for the support during my crazy ride. The letters from Holly High teachers, alumni, and students have been encouraging; the new faces signing up for the mailing list at shows has been validating; the new musicians and bands I’ve met along the way have been a great community.
After the wedding, I’ll be hitting the road again. October will be bring me to Canada to support Paul Federici on a week tour. And the fall will bring me back into the studio to record. Plus my drummer Stuart Tucker and I have some full band shows together in the fall in the Detroit area.
PS: Our bass player Kevin Vines’s wife Themba just had a baby! Congrats you two! My cousin Andrew Vial will be joining us on bass for a few gigs.
My first thought of today, and other days, since all days, past and present, mark violent tragedy, here and elsewhere, and I wonder what part in it all I play:
“As I walk through this wicked world/ Searching for light in the darkness of insanity. I ask myself/ Is all hope lost?/ Is there only pain and hatred, and misery? / And each time I feel like this inside,/ There’s one thing I wanna know: What’s so funny about peace, love & understanding?”
One problem I find with playing cover gigs is handling bar patrons that demand I play their favorite song, even after I politely say, “I don’t know how to play [insert song here].” [Usually, this request is for Creed.]
Some people won’t stop. They will say, “Come on man! You know it!” Others get mad. Many times they continue their request while I’m in the middle of playing a song.
My new tactic to end the conversation is to publicly compare said bar patron to my math teacher in fourth grade, Sr. Aquila. Sr. Aquila would make me stand at the board and demand me to do a math problem or spell a word I didn’t know. Making me stand at the blackboard didn’t make the ability to spell a word appear in my head, yelling at me to play a song didn’t make it appear in my head either.
When I end with, “Please don’t be like St. Aquila,” this statement usually gets them to go away with a chuckle. I recognize this will one day backfire and get me punched in the face, but for the time being, I’m happy to share my elementary school anecdote.
Setlist – REM Tribute @ the Loft 6/23/2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The Loft in Lansing
Fusion Show’s SingaLong Vol 1 Show
REM Tribute Set
- Losing My Religion*
- Shiny Happy People*#
- Nightswimming*#
- Man on the Moon*
- The One I Love*
- Everybody Hurts (Mike solo)
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)*#
- *with Hannah Fralick (keys/vocals, acoustic guitar)
- #with Natalie Burg (trumpet, vocals, percussion)
- Photo Credits: Natalie Burg
Here’s my attempt at transcribing and arranging the clarinet solo for Nightswimming into a trumpet part.
It’s inevitable. If we go on our, musicians, we run the risk of having our equipment stolen. One must have auto insurance to drive a car, and I think a touring musician must have insurance to cover their touring gear, if not all of their gear at home in case of a fire.
Here are two sets of insurance one can use to protect myself:
1. Homeowner’s Insurance Plans: Call your current auto insurance company, and add homeowner’s insurance that will cover business stuff in your car. For $300 a year, you can get homeowner’s insurance from a carrier like Progressive that will cover $5000-7500 of your equipment stolen from your car. However, ask important questions:
- Does this cover my gear in my car if there is no sign of break-in? (This might be an odd story, but read this blog as a reminder how easy it is for stuff to get stolen.) Does this cover my gear if it’s stolen at a venue?
2. Get additional coverage for gear from a company like Heritage Insurance Services, which specifically works with musicians. These plans can cover your instrument if it is stolen–or damaged–at a gig (Example: Drunk person falls over onto your guitar or someone spills their beer on your pedal board.) Here’s their information:
Robert A. Gallo, Jr.
Account Executive
Heritage Insurance Services, Inc.
826 Bustleton Pike, Ste. 203
Feasterville, PA 19053
800-289-8837 x 103
(215) 322-5854 FAX
rgallo[at]musicins.com
Also, make an Excel spreadsheet listing all of your equipment with these items
- Item name
- Serial number
- Estimated value price used
- Market value price new
- How much you paid for it (for your own records, wink, wink.)
- Interested marks that make it identifiable
Take a picture of all of your gear, including the serial numbers, and keep it in a folder on your computer.
* * *
Lastly, I’m going to risk sounding like my father saying this, but if you have a priceless piece of equipment that can’t be replaced, don’t take it on the road. Some instruments are for studio recording sessions only. They don’t need to go on tour.
I take my live sound seriously, but one must be reasonable. For example:
- Your audience will not tell the difference between an Analogman modified Tube Screamer TS (replacable) and the original Tube Scream 808 (difficult to replace).
- Your audience will not tell the difference between a really newer Fender guitar and a 1965 Jazzmaster.
- Have a a 1960s Gibson semi-hollowbody made in Kalamazoo? I’d take your Epiphone on the road instead.
If you can’t afford to replace it, don’t tour with it. Don’t take your vintage stuff on the road, especially if you are just starting to tour!
Mike V. & Michael Chambers laying down tracks for "Kalamazoo" at Catherine North Studios.
