Sunday, August 9, 2009

'Go back, Jack, do it again..'

I took a break from playing out today to recharge a little and prepare for the final three days of the project. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. I've learned a lot and enjoyed the experience, but it has - genuinely - been the toughest job I've ever had.

Tomorrow, rather than play somewhere new, I thought I'd try going back to a few of the stations where I'd struck out first time around, just because I don't like to take no for an answer.

I'm calling it "Make Right Monday" and I'll re-visit these four stations:
W4th Street, 34th Street, 57th Street and 116th Street at Columbia University.

I won't be stubborn and stay indefinitely until I make something; so I've decided I'll play just four songs at each one, and give it a real effort and then that's it; so if I come up empty again, I can't say I didn't try. Sixteen complete songs is about what I usually play in a normal set that lasts anywhere from an hour and a quarter to 90 minutes, depending on interruptions.

It's not about the money, more about the idea of having a second chance at something.

There have been other stations where I hadn't made anything, of course, but these four I thought were central, busy, and decent places to play, where the people should generally be receptive. We'll see how it goes.

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I wanted to share this video from a couple of years ago of a MUNY artist gone mainstream, Susan Cagle, who used the Subway backdrop in a professional video shoot. She has a great voice and this is a great song. I've never met her but she has the perfect 'discovery' story that a lot of fulltime Subway players er, dream about.

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