Wow, after last night’s show in GR, I only have five Burning the Boats CDs left, the record I started recording with producer Dan Achen in 2009 at the incredible Catherine North Studios before he passed away suddenly in 2010.
2009 was the same year I met my wife Natalie. Michael Chambers and I finished the record together in 2010, while missing Dan immensely. (“Change Your Tune” features Dan not only producing, but playing a ride cymbal!)
By the time Michael and I finished the CD, Nat and her two lovable dogs Bonnie and Gunshy, had moved into my apartment above Cleary’s Pub…
The title Burning the Boats symbolized the switch from teaching to music full-time, because Natalie said “go for it”; and I’ve been carrying this CD, a piece of Dan, with me to all of my gigs for four years.
Music makes memories. Thanks for helping me make ’em.
When my wife says I have a lot of guitars, I tell her about Dan Achen’s collection.
Designed by Ron Howard, the CD Release Show from 2010
Setlist: Oct 15, 2015 – Richard App Gallery
Setlist: Oct 15, 2015
Richard App Gallery – Songwriters in the Round
with Josh Rose and Michelle Held
- One Way Road
- A World That’s Bigger
- Girl on the Mountain, Boy on the Beach
- Love & Be Proud
- Ghostwriter
- Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover, the night finale, with Josh and Michelle)
Photo credit: Richard App Gallery. Josh, Michelle and I during the songwriting round
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Miss the merch table last night? Get a download of 22 songs for $15!
https://mikevial.bandcamp.com/album/mike-vials-entire-music-collection
Hear demos of the new songs here: PVSG
Big thanks to Oscar Bittinger for helping set up and run sound! Josh, our host, you are incredible. I can’t thank you enough for your songwriting and friendship. Also, thanks to Smitty and the Lansing crew who made the road trip, your attendance is what fuels music!
Josh Rose and Oscar setting up before the show. Thanks to Richard App Gallery for hosting!
A teaching moment: Asking the wrong question
I love teaching guitar as much as playing guitar playing a gig.
This week, I’ve been giving free trial lessons at my guitar lesson studio to new students. Yesterday, I realized I had a missed opportunity, all because I asked the wrong question.
One of my new students was picking up the concepts rather quickly, and I was excited about this. At the conclusion of the lesson, I asked, excitedly, “Did you have fun?”
He smiled and said, ‘Yes.”
Now, I believe the new student did have fun, but what a terrible, leading question. What do I learn by a asking a student that question? How many students would say “no”?
A better question is, “What was most fun that we did today?”
Even better: “What was most difficult?” Or “How might you approach that challenging part? Which aspect of our lesson will be most fun to try at home?”
Over 10 years of teaching experience, and I’m still learning. That’s what makes it fun.
Today, I was talking with my friend Craig Carrick (musician, festival volunteer, Guitars for Kids benefit creator), and I mentioned, “I think about the business of music too much; it’s exhausting.”
He chuckled while replying, “Me too!”
I realized when I hung up the phone how important my other passion (mainly writing) is with keeping me excited, and sane.
I enjoy writing poems, almost as much as I enjoy playing guitar and writing songs; however, I have no larger ambition with my poems than to write them, post them, and maybe self-publish a little chapbook; and to keep writing. I feel no pressure–illusion–to make money from it, which might be why I love it so much!
And writing poems doesn’t cost me anything, except the time spent doing it. (OK, and the coffee I drink at Moon Winks Cafe, my office away from my office.)
I think it’s valuable for creatives to have a second passion they can dabble with doing, for fun, free from the stress of trying to “make it” with that medium.
Art begs art. Go make some art today.
Hidden costs: they can be the cause of a delay in a creator’s Kickstarter campaign, the reason for loss for the touring musician, the end to a great project. I
It’s human nature to focus on the big expenses, but the little costs add up. (When I budgeted my first tour, I forgot to consider tolls! let alone oil changes!)
It’s easy to let money and fear get in the way of working on one’s work; however, there is hidden cost to waiting too ship, the most obvious being we might lose excitement for the project.
Budget for those hidden costs, but don’t budget until the excitement is gone.
