Lois, our Boxer-Pit mix rescue, is two-years-old today!
(Nat’s blog about Lois’s silliness.)
And she has gotten so big!
Lois is two!
I was nervous to play in Nashville on tour, like almost pee-myself-anxiety.
When you think of Nashville, you think of country music, right?
People ask me what type of music I do and I just say, “I’m a James Taylor sound on a lot of coffee…”
To say the least, I was nervous to share my music in Nashville.
But I discovered that being different was a good thing: Jenny, the bartender at the National Underground was requesting Death Cab covers and bought a CD; the musicians I met at songwriter showcases said hello and commented about the jazzy chords in my folky pop; a few Mike Vial CDs are floating around Tennessee now.
I left Nashville feeling thankful to be accepted, even if I’m different.
I guess that’s a feeling we should all share, no matter what we do. You can’t be anyone else but yourself. Embrace it.
Isaac Hayden at Songwriter's Night at Kimbro's.
Hanging with my friend Ron at National Underground!
Tour Tip: Chewing on a Slice vs Getting a Taste
During my current, four week tour, I tried out a new strategy for my scheduling: Instead of rushing from gig to gig in new cities each day, I planned a few days off around a city to spend extra time exploring the scene.
Specifically, during my four week tour, I planned four nights in Chicago, and three nights in Nashville, even though I only had one gig booked in each city.
I’ve discovered that the rewarding part of the traveling to Chicago and Nashville was found on my days off rather than during the actual gigs. (The gigs were fun, too).
In a way, I’m still “working” on my days off, but it’s cool stuff: visiting concerts, meeting musicians, playing open mics, having coffee with other creatives. I’ve met so many people on my days off.
Last night, was another highlight: I went to the National Underground’s open mic, and I met Layne Oliver, a young country songwriter who moved to Nashville from Georgia this year. It was a blast to talk to him about his perspective of the scene from his experiences while we were bar hopping up and down Broadway.
Layne and I also met a group of Europeans songwriters that played at the open mic the National Underground. One “hello, I liked your song,” lead to us bar hopping to 1 or 2 AM, sharing beers at Tootsie’s and the Stage on Broadway, with Matt and Dan, German songwriters in a band called Skinny Jeans, and an entire group of Europeans they met while staying at the Nashville Hostel. It was a late night of singing along to ZZ Top covers, talking about our music goals and songwriting, hearing about Europe’s music scene and traveling…It was nuts.
Today, my alarm clock was menacing at 8:15 AM, but I got to meet Nashville freelance writer Chuck Schultz for coffee, and one minute into our conversation had me awake for the day! (The coffee helped, too.)
I’m might be still only passing through, but I feel like I’m getting to chew on a slice of the scene rather than only getting a taste.
My Michigan friends Ron and Erin surprised me at my gig in Nashville!
I have a day off on tour. I’m sitting at a Mexican restaurant in East Nashville in my Ypsilanti t-shirt, surely looking like a tourist. I stupidly thought I would walk to Third Man Records from where I’m staying in East Nashville, got 17 minutes into an hour and half walk in the Tennessee sun, and stopped at the nearest spot that had beer and food.
It was a bad choice that lead me to a great restaurant.
Anyways, I’m reading a copy of the East Nashvillian, and I came across a great quote from Randy Fox’s article about Peter Cooper:
Cooper says, “I only have a Bachelor of Arts degree…no journalism classes, no masters or doctorate, and no singing lessons. I am fundamentally unqualified for anything I do…”
I love that phrase: fundamentally unqualified.
Experience and a willingness to learn trumps all.
I am going to continue to feel a like a tourist in Music Row and have a great time. But first I’m going to get my car..
When I was 16 and got my driver’s license, my parents let me drive the old Ford Taurus to my friend Adam’s house. I was incredible nervous to drive 15 minutes, a few miles through the Dearborn suburbs.
Today, I drove 500+ miles, close to nine hours counting the traffic jam caused by an NFL football game. Canton, OH to Nashville, TN. I wasn’t nervous.
I remind myself this whenever I start a new project or a new goal, and feeling nervous
What’s anxiety causing today can become common place with practice. We learn to drive.
