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St Patrick’s Day gigs today; City Pulse article

2016 March 17

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tags: City Pulse, Lansing, Lansing State Journal, St Patrick's Day

by Mike Vial

“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

2016 March 15

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by Mike Vial

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

2016 March 14

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tags: Concert Window, set list, Solid Sound

by Mike Vial

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