Against all odds comes an outcome
My eyes are a tad blurry this morning either from the fake-eyelash glue that I didn't quite get off last during last night's washing, or because of the Jamison shots that landed on my stage last night and then miraculously jumped into my mouth, or from the fact that I finally went to sleep very late in the morning hours and couldn't sleep in this morning because I am in desperate need of an apology for last night's blatant robbery of my showtime.
About a month ago I asked for a slot specifically at the Saxon Pub in Austin for a live CD recording. I was given a 3 hour slot that is typically filled by Austin's all-star cast band The Resentments. I wanted the Saxon Pub for this recording because it holds a legendary history of music and because I knew I could capture contained audience interaction with the band. It was perfect! An early Sunday evening show from 7:30 to 10:30 with Paula Nelson following. My audience, my band, my friends and I were all geared up for a night of amazing music and it was going to be recorded for everyone to hear whenever they wish! I also hired a videographer and a photographer so the entire thing would be documented visually as well.
At about 2:00 yesterday, while rushing to find a new pair of jeans for the show, I received a phone call that a big benefit concert was moving from an open-air venue to the Saxon Pub due to rain. Everyone who had been on the Saxon bill dropped out, except for me, of course because it was a big night for me with tons of work put into it. The guys in the band worked hard on the music too. I wasn't about to postpone. I was told that the benefit show would work around my schedule and my needs.
I was given the phone number of the person heading up the benefit show (we'll just call him Frank), but instead, I ran directly to the Saxon Pub to have a conversation in person about how this would work. It was about 3:30 and the Saxon was already filling up with people; of course it was, the line-up was incredible! Papa Mali, Vallejo, Del Castillo...I mean that's a great bill! So, I found Frank and we stepped outside to talk. He was very thankful that I was being so flexible. But in all of my flexibility, I made very very clear demands or requests I should say: 1) That starting at 6:30 and ending when I finished, every person who walked through the door would be asked "Are you here to see Ginger or for the benefit?" and 2) that although I would be willing to shorten my set time, I was guaranteed the time I needed to record my songs twice and to sound check properly and 3) that we could start as close to 7:30 as possible. The benefit ticket price was $15, mine was $7. All the $7 folks would go into the "Ginger envelope" to insure I would get paid for my people. I also mentioned that it was possible I would lose people since the parking lot would be full and potentially the house too crowded. Frank kindly offered to pitch in a little extra to help out in that case.
So here's how it went down. There were a lot of people there before I started, but luckily still enough room for my fans to find seats. That was all smooth. I had John Covington with me to help run the stage. The guy mixing the CD, Chris Burns, was there to make sure the recording gear was rolling. My merchandise sales gal, Dawn, was set up just fine. The videographer and photographer were all ready to roll. I happily greeted fans, friends, and family as they arrived. It was just about 7:00 when I was originally guaranteed to get the stage for a 30-minute set-up and sound check. The band was waiting at the stage door with gear, when I was told there was another artist to perform before we could go on. Ok, we'll wait. No problem. Being flexible. Audience was flexible. Everything was cool.
We finally got the stage closer to 7:45. All of my musicians, excluding the drummer, had multiple instruments to play last night, so they needed to make sure all of them were set up properly. I have some technical stuff I run my microphone through for effects and because we were recording, we were splitting the line (no need to understand that). Frank was eager to get our show started. He stood on stage and kept asking me if we were ready. No we were not. We were supposed to have 30 minutes to set up. But the push was on and we were rushed - so much so that my split line wasn't even working and there was no time to fix the problem. Issue #1. (Side note, I don't blame Frank one bit for wanting to move it along. He had a lot on his own plate. He wasn't being a jerk, just needing to make his thing flow. We were all working together...)
For those of you who are not musicians, try to imagine that when you are on stage with all the sound coming from the instruments, it is INCREDIBLY important that your personal monitor - the speaker that plays back what you sound like - is set properly, especially for the singer. If you can't hear what you are singing or playing, you have no idea how you sound, if you are on pitch or what. It's like going deaf in the middle of a song (OK, not THAT bad, but you get the picture). So we were rushed into starting the show...The first song, "Come On Funny Feeling" was one that I was most excited about recording. It's been on my list of a song to record since the first time I heard Rodney Crowell's version of it. I couldn't hear a friggin' thing! I mumbled through most of the lines, I couldn't hear the guitars. I was requesting more monitors. But I was thinking "It's OK, we'll cut it again once everything is fixed! Just have fun and give this audience a kick ass show, G!" But in the back of my mind I was thinking about the multi-track machine capturing all of this and it was slowly falling apart. It was like the front part of my spirit was saying "Woo hoooooo! What a great audience! What a great time to perform!" And the back part of my spirit was in slow motion watching this opportunity be stolen by the need for the next band transplant to get on stage. I could feel the tension from the group doing the benefit. I could feel the band feeling the tension. But more than that, I could feel the love from the audience, and THAT made it all wonderful and there were some spirit-moving moments on stage.
So we made it through a handful more songs when I looked up at the red digital clock numbers SCREAMING at me "9:08!!!! 9:15!!!" and so on. Toward the end of the set list (which I had already cut short), I announced we would take a very very short break and come back to re-cut a couple of songs and then we'd give the room and the stage back to the benefit. Just before that happened a saw a man from the club approach stage right. He leaned in to tell me we couldn't take a break and do what we were promised we could do. I threw a hand up and relented.
We wrapped the show around 9:30 without re-cutting any of the songs I had hoped to re-cut.
However, as I am typing this, I am watching and listening to video from last night...and let me say .. there is some amazing stuff here! What a stellar band and what a fun audience! Really kickin'!
But after the show when I was handed a measly sum of cash from the door, my night was shot. This thing costs a lot of money to put together. I heard from a friend that when he and his date walked in the door guy automatically asked him for the $15 each (the benefit price and not our agreement). Luckily my friend told him he was there for me and paid the correct amount, but how many people who came to see me just paid what they were told without realizing that money wasn't for me? Gggrrrr.....
Miss Jane Reece was taking care of things and made Frank pitch in a little more money, so that helped, but crap! It was so frustrating how my big night was totally twisted. I lost an hour and a half on stage and probably 50% of the cashflow I should have received. So, when I got home, I grabbed my guitars and was close to wanting to put them in the trash and go flip friggin' burgers for a living! It's hard enough as it is to be in this business. BUT....I love it! So I put those precious Martins where they belong and sat down to a glass of wine. I vented for a while. I tried to watch some TV to shut my mind down. I finally slept for a few hours. And now, like I mentioned, am watching the video and it's pretty friggin' killer! We certainly blew off some steam on stage last night. I can tell that the tension was releasing through the notes, through the beats, through the whiskey.
All in all, I believe we captured a great product, although we will need to record a few of the songs again. Why not? So, I guess I'll be calling the Saxon folks and asking for another shot at it. Will you be there again? Or maybe we'll just release the stuff we got and let it be...Because it really rocks after all!
I hope that the benefit benefited well and that I gained some new friends and fans last night. I'd like to thank Lisa for her contribution. I'd like to thank the talent on the stage with me: John Pointer, Mark Williams, Kris Brown, and Frank Favacho. I'd like to thank Tom Zinn for shooting photos and Alison White for shooting video. I'd like to thank Dawn for selling merch. Thanks to John Covington for running the stage and the sound along with Richard. Thanks to Chris Burns who will be mixing this mess. Thanks to the Saxon Pub and to "Frank" (even though I wasn't a happy gal for a bit - he's a cool cat). Thanks to Jane for squeezing a little more cash out of it. Thanks to everyone who has already purchased the CD and in advance to those who will. And THANKS to the audience for being there last night and joining me in the music.
Onward and forward we go.....
-G Leigh
(PS, thanks also to Femme Metale jewelry for the peacock necklace! Didn't it look good with my Love. necklace? Woo Hoo!)
posted by Ginger Leigh & Jane Reece at
7:13 AM
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