I’ve spent a lot of time the past few days catching up on reading my
best friend’s travel blog (see, I’m not the only one out there still doing a
blog). In their writing he and his wife
go into detail about each day and discuss all the interesting things they’re
seeing as they travel the world, and really get introspective about the whole
thing. Btw, this is the same best friend
that I mention in the first verse of “Friends Like These”. As I have been reading their stories I keep
wondering to myself: am I as interesting and descriptive in my writing as they
are in theirs? Probably not. Maybe I should be going into more detail
about the day to day activities we encounter, or more about how those things
effect me or make me feel. I’ve been
racking my brain trying to come up with unique or interesting things to
discuss, when maybe the most interesting things will just come as I talk about
our week and what is going on with us. I
don’t know, it is all trial and error anyway.
I actually spent the good part of a show the other night thinking about
things to write about. So I have plenty
of material, plus it has been a busy week for us. Guess we’ll see how it all comes out.
Like I said, last week was pretty busy for us. We had six shows in a row in 3 different
towns, so there was also lots of set up and tear down included this week. Plus, I got another cold at the beginning of
the week to go with it. Singing for six
nights straight is tough; singing for six nights straight while fighting a cold
and being congested is a nightmare.
Coughing up blood, taking long steaming showers to try to get some of
the congestion out; plus the overall feeling of achiness and grogginess; it was
brutal. Anyway, on to the shows. We started on Monday night at the Lonesome
Dove in Mandan. I think we might be the
only band that they allow to come in on a Monday night. It helps us make some extra money, which is
great, and I’m sure it is advantageous for them as well. We have been playing there for 5 years, so it
is worth it to go in on a Monday b/c people will show up to see us. It wasn’t a large crowd, but everyone was
there just to see us, and stayed pretty much the entire time, which was
great.
We tore down our gear Tuesday and headed up to Minot to play at the Udder
Place on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
The Udder Place doesn’t usually have live entertainment through the
week, but again is one of those places that will let us come in on random
nights like that when we need it.
Another club that will make an exception from their routine to help us
out – very cool. Tuesday was a long day
for us; tearing down from one place, driving up to another, setting it all up
again, then playing a show that night.
Story of my life, right? Tuesday
and Wednesday were like Monday for us: not large crowds, but most of the people
in attendance were solely there to see us.
From there we went to Williston for the weekend (Thurs-Sat). Thursday was much like Tuesday: tear down the
gear in one town, drive to the next town, set it all up again, and play a show
that night. By Thursday I was starting
to get past some of the illness, but was really worried about my voice holding
out for the next three shows. When
you’re sick and trying to sing all night, you have to push your vocal chords a
little harder. Since I had been doing
that the past three nights, I was starting to get concerned that they wouldn’t
hold up for the next three nights.
Williston is great. They get a
bad reputation there, but we have felt very welcome every time we’ve been
there. The people there seem to
genuinely like what we do, and are very appreciative that we come to their town
to play music. They buy our albums and
merchandise and sing along to songs off those albums. Crazy thing about playing in Williston this
past weekend: we sold almost as many copies of our old album “Rowdy” as we did
our new album “Back In Town”. Actually,
I think the people in Williston have purchased more of our merch than anywhere
else. We are usually pretty well stocked
when we are on tour, but we have actually ran out of certain products while in
Williston. It is a very good problem to
have.
Also while up there this past weekend a friend of ours hooked us up
with a radio interview. Since getting
our music out to the masses is a major goal for us, getting some air time at
the local station is a huge bonus. The
problem was that the interview was scheduled for 6:50am on Friday morning. It is tough to get up that early and be
upbeat on the radio after playing a show late into the previous night. When we found out the interview was scheduled
so early, I told the guys that if they wanted to sleep in, then I’d just go do
it by myself; no big deal. Actually, I
just wished they could go do the interview and I could sleep in; but since the
band is named after me, I should probably be there. Lesson learned: don’t name a band after
yourself and expect to skip radio interviews and sleep in. Steve and Josh ended up going with me to the
radio interview that morning. I was
surprised when Steve actually called me to make sure I was up. We went to the station expecting to be on
their local country station, since that is what we were told. When we got there we learned that our friend
had actually hooked us up with the DJ on the A.M. station. That kind of sucked to find out since I had
just posted on FACEBOOK and TWITTER that we would be on the F.M. station, and
even took the time to put a link on those sites so fans all over the country
could listen in online. But other than
that, it was still nice to be getting our name out to new people, and we are
always grateful to get any airtime to promote our band and our music. So thank you to our friend Frank for hooking
us up!
Anyway, the weekend was good (as always) in Williston. We had fun crowds each night. Oh, and I didn’t lose my voice either. One more night probably would have done me in
though.
Steve, Kevin and I also went to their brand new Rec. Center on Friday
afternoon to work out. I had been to
their old Rec. Center before, but it now has limited hours b/c of the new place
and was closed on Friday, so we checked out the new facility. It was huge: had several basketball courts,
two indoor tracks, weights, cardio, and even a water park for the kids. The only negative was that there were too
many people on the basketball courts so we didn’t get to shoot around, but I
did get to lift, and was able to get some cardio in on one of the indoor
tracks, so it was worth the trip.
On Sunday we tore down our gear (again), had Easter dinner at some
restaurant, and left Williston.
Speaking of Easter…
One of the things I did for Lent this year was to give up eating French
fries. Since Sunday marked the end of
Lent, it also marked the end of my fry restriction. So what did I do when we got to our
destination on Sunday evening? Went
straight to Five Guys and had a massive burger and a ton of fries; so greasy, so
bad for me, but so tasty. I probably
should try to stay away from fries though as often as possible. I really did feel much better by cutting them
out of my diet. But they’re so good! And to be fair, I did go for a nice long jog
before we ate there, so that should count for something, right? Mike’s horrible weight loss plan: jog a few
miles, then pig out on high calorie fattening food. Perfect.
To continue with just writing about what we’re doing: today (I say
today as in Monday – I’m actually sitting up late at night writing this, so
technically it is Tuesday morning right now) all four of us went to the gym
together. That has to be a first for
this group. It was great to see all of
us working out though. Josh and Steve
played some racquetball together (wish I had my camera for that). We all did some lifting and cardio. It was a pretty great afternoon. We’re all planning on going back tomorrow as
well. We’ll see if that actually happens
though.
Since I’ve already let you know I’m up extremely late working on this,
I guess I will also let you know that there is no way I’m finishing it tonight,
and I’m finally getting tired, so this seems like a good place to stop. I will hopefully pick up right here tomorrow
and finish up so I can post it Tuesday evening.
I guess we’ll see if that actually happens. Much more to write about tomorrow.
Alright, back to writing. It is
now Tuesday a little after noon. I just
read back to myself all the stuff I wrote last night, and wanted to add a few
other thoughts from things that happened or that caught my attention throughout
this past week.
The first one is this: I continue to be amazed that people will come
out to see us play during the week. We
played 4 weeknight shows this past week, and while they weren’t packed, there
were still several people out to see us.
I think this means one of two things: either these people really really
like our band and our music, or we are just a great excuse to head out to the
bar for a drink. I’m hoping it’s the
former. I don’t know, it is just
difficult for me to imagine going out late in the evening to see a band if I
had to work the following day. Maybe
that’s it; they don’t have to work early the next day. I honestly don’t know. I know I have a tendency to make assumptions
and group people together; I guess I’m just assuming that everyone who isn’t a
musician must have a day job they go to during the week. I know that isn’t rational; there are
thousands of different types of jobs with all different hours. So maybe the people who come to see us during
the week don’t have to be up early the next day. Or maybe they do, but they enjoy our music so
much that it is worth it. Or maybe they
work on the weekends and can only come see us during the week. I just don’t know. Whatever the reason is, I do know this: I am
so grateful for those people that will come out on a weeknight and listen to
our music and support our band. Seeing
people in the crowd on a weeknight really helps keep us motivated; it reminds
us that what we are doing has some relevance.
So if you are some of those people who will come out to an MDB show on a
Monday or Tuesday night, we really appreciate you. We hope you’re not too tired the next day if
you have to work.
The next thing I noticed about this week was that we sold an unordinary
amount of our first album (which I mentioned earlier in the entry). We always carry some copies of it around with
us, but hardly anyone purchases that one anymore. I’m guessing either because they already have
it, or because we aren’t playing as much material off that record lately. Also, we have been promoting our new album so
much, I think the old one kind of gets lost or forgot about. But for some reason this week, we sold a
higher volume of the old cd than we normally do. Someone this past week asked me which one was
better, and I suggested that he get both and decide for himself; and he
did. Maybe that’s what I should say to
everyone. I personally think that “Back
In Town” is much better than “Rowdy”, but I definitely don’t want my opinion
influencing what other people listen to.
So sure, get them both and see which one you like better!!! I guess I
was just surprised that so many people were getting the old album too. It has been so long since I’ve listened to
any of the music off the old album that I don’t even remember what it sounds
like. I never listen to my own music
though.
Here is something that I find amusing: when we are playing a
song, people will come up and try to talk to me. It is funny for one very important reason: I
can’t hear you! I wear in-ear monitors
during the show, which also act as ear plugs.
Think about when you have your headphones in and the music cranked up,
you can’t hear people talking to you – it is just like that for me. If we’re in the middle of a song, the only
thing I can hear is the music. And if we
are in between songs they become ear plugs, so I still can’t really hear the
crowd. But inevitably someone will come
up and try to tell me something during a song.
It becomes even more comical when I’m actually singing right when
they’re trying to talk to me; I can’t stop singing to hear what they have to
say. Oh, and also, I am horrible at
lip-reading, so not only can I not hear them, I also am not able to read their
lips very well. But as long as we
continue to play shows, I’m sure people will continue to try to tell me
something during a song, and I will continue to be amused by it.
Oh, on a related side note: We enjoying wishing people a
happy birthday over the P.A. system, and are thrilled that they will come
celebrate with us, but I am awful with names.
(Example: Jim comes up to me during the break and says “can you wish
Sarah a Happy Birthday?”). By the time I
get back up on stage and sing a song or two and am ready to say happy birthday
to Sarah, I have completely forgotten her name.
From the time Jim comes up to me to the time I am ready for the
announcement, I have focused on way too many other things and the person’s name
is long gone from my memory. I will have
talked to several other people, signed a few cd’s or shirts, gone to the
bathroom, and focused on the lyrics of a couple of songs. That person’s name is long gone by that
point. Best solution: write it down for
me. I am a list maker anyway; if I need
to remember to do something, I add it to my list – correction, one of my lists;
I always seem to have at least a few running lists going at a time. So the best way for me to remember not only
to announce the birthday, but also to remember the person’s name is to write it
down for me. Bar napkins are great for
this purpose. And it can simply say
‘birthday Sarah’. Anyway, just thought
that was something funny that happens all the time, and wanted to share with
you all.
Wow, this has turned into quite a long entry. Guess it is time to wrap it up. If you don’t already have both of our albums,
go find them right now on I-TUNES. You
will be glad you did. Be sure to check
us out at www.themichaeldband.com
for tour dates and much more. And if
you’re not ‘following’ us on TWITTER or haven’t ‘liked’ our FACEBOOK fan page,
now is the time. And continue sharing us
with your friends. As always, I enjoy
receiving your messages and comments about this ‘journal’ so please continue to
EMAIL me with your thoughts and idea about what you’d like to hear about.
As always, be safe out there!
