Set List: Fenton Hotel, Dylan Set, March 31, 2016
March 31, 2016 – the Fenton Hotel, Fenton MI.
Bob Dylan Set:
- Blowing in the Wind
- All Along the Watchtower
- You’re Gonna Me Lonesome When You Go
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Wagon Wheel
- Like a Rolling Stone
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Man in the Long Black Coat
- The Times They Are A-changin’
- Desolation Row
When my dad and I bought our first CDs, I got Pearl Jam’s record; my dad bought his favorite Dylan album. He told me, one day you will love Dylan. At age 13, I shrugged. By age 20, my father’s prophesy became true.
I played a mini-set of Dylan covers at the The Fenton Hotel during my 7-11 PM gig last night. This is partly for my dad, who can now request Dylan songs when he comes to my gigs; and also for Ed Talley and the Talley family. My dad and Ed Talley are the two biggest Dylan fans I know.
Blog Hiatus until May, Spring/Summer Tour!
Hi friends and readers, I’m putting my blog on hiatus until late May or early June.
As many of you know, I watch my baby Ginny in the morning and afternoon while Natalie does freelance journalism work; then I go teach music or play gigs in the evening.
For the past year, I’ve been writing my blogs daily during Ginny’s morning nap, but I need to use that time to finish tasks with impending deadlines.
The main goal is to finish some graduate-level classwork. I’m taking two online classes to keep my teaching credentials current. A second piece of that time will be finishing some bookings and songwriting.
So I’m taking a break from writing the blogs.
During the 50+ shows booked, I’ll be traveling though possibly eight or more states while on tour! I have six festivals confirmed to announce soon, and that might be up to ten this summer. I hope to see you at a show!
St Patrick’s Day gigs today; City Pulse article
“It’s still seven hours of music,” he pointed out when teased about having “just two” gigs this year. – Ty Forquer, the City Pulse
I’m playing two gigs today for St. Patrick’s Day 2016:
- Claddagh Irish Pub – Lansing, MI 12 to 4 PM, $5 cover – more info
- Barton Hills Banquet Room – Ann Arbor, MI 6 PM
reservations required – more info
Thanks to Anne Erickson for featuring me in Lansing State Journal‘s article about St Patrick’s Day events: read here
And Thanks to Ty Forquer for a fun interview along side Drew Howard and Mike Lynch for the City Pulse! – read here
The artist must step into the audience’s shoes
On Sunday, I knew what the Concert Window format looked like from my perspective as the broadcasting artist, but I forgot to do a test run to see what it looked like from the audience’s perspective.
The Concert Window was a success, but all of my directions would have been more clear if I had done a test run from another vantage point.
Behind the microphone, the canvas, or the keyboard–we get used to seeing things from our vantage point, the artist’s perspective.
But take a step back, and look at it from the audience’s perspective. Is this something you’d find engaging, meaningful, fun? More importantly, what directions are needed to be clear?
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus is right: “You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” Same for knowing your art.
Go stand in your audience’s shoes.
An apology, a thank you, a celebration – 1000th gig
First, I’m sorry if you tried to watch the show last night on Concert Window, and then after a few songs, got prompted to pay a “ticket” fee.
No one sent me any angry emails and folks didn’t seem to mind if they were prompted to pay a dollar to enjoy the full show; but I wanted to clarify the confusion since I advertised the show as “free.”
I meant for last night’s show to be 100% free to watch, and the “pay what you want” option wasn’t clear that folks could type “zero”. I didn’t know Concert Window was going to put up a prompted message, and I assumed the show would just play for free since I clicked the option to not require a tickets.
Last week was rough for my family and I. We spent all of Wednesday at the St. Joe’s Hospital*, and I lost some prep and rehearsal time. (*Everyone’s OK, please don’t worry!)
Solid Sounds did a run through for me to make sure the tech stuff was going to work, but we didn’t know what the platform would like from the fan’s view.
In the end, the show was a wonderful celebration and success. This was the first time I have used Concert Window, and we were lucky not to have too many bugs. You know how technology is!
For those of you who tipped, or purchased the music download, thank you so much! When Ginny takes a nap today, I’m going to get those rewards emailed and mailed today. Devin, thanks for buying my one-of-a-kind, handwritten lyric book! What a wonderful surprise!
So many friends were sending me photos of their families watching the shows from their living rooms. (Emily and Hugh, your kids watching the show
If you missed the show last night, Solid Sound and Charlie Steen both recorded video feeds of the entire show, and I’m going to be posting a lot of video content for the show in the future for the next record.
I might have messed up that Beatles cover of the “In My Life” guitar solo, but maybe that’s exactly how life is supposed to be, imperfectly beautiful.
* * * * * Set List * * * * *
March 13, 2016 – The 1000th Show
Broadcasted on Concert Window
Live from Solid Sound Recording in Ann Arbor, MI
- Only the Rain Knows Why
- Don’t Mess Around with Jim (Jim Croce)
- Faster Than Slow
- Empty Cup
- Kalamazoo
- Mahogany
- Freshmen (Verve Pipe) – on mandolin
- Girl on the Mountain, Boy in the Beach
- A World That’s Bigger
- [record player intro] -> Burning Bright
- Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
- Damn Fine Day
- In My Life (the Beatles) – on electric guitar
- Do You Know Your Fears by Name? (on piano)
- Ghostwriter
* * * * * The Crew * * * * * *
Thanks to Charlie Steen for taping the show for future video releases:
And thanks to the Solid Sound crew:
Jake, you’re the man! It’s hard to believe we met on Main Street in Ann Arbor in 2008! (That was approximately my 97th gig.)
