In which I liked the band.

Thursday after work I met Mr. Brett at the Dead Cock for drinks. He went home eventually and I finished my cocktail and went out to find dinner. I ran into Hattie on her way in to work and said I’d be back to see her later.

I walked around the corner hoping to eat at either La Petit Paris or Revelations, but both were closed and I ended up having tostadas and chile rellenos at Los Portales.

After eating I sat in my car with the heat running – I hate winter – and read Eragon in e-book format on my PPC for about twenty minutes, then went to rehearse with House 11.

The band was tight, the vibe was really mellow, and rehearsal was fun. I’ve agreed to sing with them, so now I have a New Years Eve gig at the Best Western (opening with them for Big Bambu). They’re in that business-model originals-band-with-a-constitution phase, which means more writing/arranging/rehearsal than gigging, but after talking with Greg for about two hours after rehearsal, I realized he’s right: I don’t want to do endless gigs in smoky bars – it’s far better to do fewer higher quality gigs than it is to work your ass off and get nowhere. I mean, who am I kidding? I don’t want to sing covers at The Den Two for pissed off abattoir workers every weekend. (The last time I performed there, someone threw a fucking ashtray at the bandstand.) I’d like it for a month or two, then I’d get sick of it and start to hate the audiences which is always a bad headspace for a performer to be in.

So I’m still going to check out that other band on Monday, but I’ve already committed to doing this House 11 thing.

After rehearsal and then a long conversation with Greg (he’s one of those people I can’t stop chatting with – I just have to say “Walk away now or we’ll be here another hour!” and drive off), I stopped for gas and went back to the bar. Hattie served me a big glass of water (I hadn’t taken any to rehearsal, which was dumb) and sat to chat with me. I got home about 12:30 and crashed.

So: I have a gi-iiiiiig! I have a gi-iiiiiig! Neener neener neener!

In other news, you should go check out Stanford on iTunes immediately and fill your iPod all up with nifty things.

Wallflower no more, y’all.

Tonight I’m going to rehearse with a band that’s thinkin’ about hiring me. Monday night I’m going to sit in with another band that’s thinkin’ about hiring me.

It’s damned exciting to realize that within weeks of announcing my intention to start singing again (if you can call telling my friends and letting the grapevine handle it “announcing” anything), people are calling me up at work and offering me gigs.

Here’s the skinny on my two upcoming ‘auditions’:

• Tonight Greg’s band is an established band that’s been gigging around for awhile, but they’re in some kind of new members/new material phase so I’d hire on initially as a backup singer. I don’t really know anything else about them, their book, their gig schedule, or anything, other than Greg said they were going to try doing some Steely Dan covers (which speaks well for the players’ chops). They seem to have a “we’re in the process of becoming a slightly different band than we were before and it’s very exciting!” vibe.
• Monday night Randy’s band is new but made of players with histories and good gig contacts and it’s all but ready to gig – they’re learning five new R&B covers a week, and their current book is already a few minutes shy of four sets. If I love them best I’d be fronting. They seem to have a “let’s gig a lot and make money” vibe.

Now, I’ve never seen or heard either of these bands so I don’t have any inkling which one I’ll like better (or which one will like me better), but let me tell you the idea of being in a working band again is really appealing! What the hell have I been doing these past several years?

In other news, if I read your blog and you haven’t updated it since September, I hate you.