Q Cafe Performance

I promised to write an update for Tuesday night's performance, so here it is:

First, thank you to all my friends who came out and supported me Tuesday night! You are amazing people who not only made that night everything that it was, but also do the same for me on a daily basis. You are truly extraordinary people, and I'm so fortunate to have you in my life. Like I always say, "Life is easy when you have great friends."

To anyone who wasn't there and is reading this, that night proved just how awesome they really are.

It started with my mom picking me and the guitar up from my apartment (yes, I have no car!) and heading to the Q Cafe. I was expecting the crowd to be mostly teenagers/college students because every time I had been there before for a show, that's what demographic showed up. Boy, was I wrong!

There were probably about 20-25 sexagenarians there ready to play some fingerstyle/folk music! My mom even said something like, "Look at all the hippies!" I still assert that they were NOT hippies, Mom! haha

After everyone signed up, it was announced that 26 people had signed up!!! And we would only get five minutes to play (including setup time...so one song, basically)! I instantly felt my excitement wash away and in its place came a feeling of sadness: some of my friends were driving over half an hour to see me play for five minutes? To make matters worse, I was supposed to play second and only two of my friends were there and not stuck in traffic!

Luckily a good fellow by the name of Trip agreed to switch with me after I explained my situation. So now everyone had time to show up, but they were going to have to wait for an hour and watch a bunch of folk musicians play (nothing wrong with folk musicians, but it's just not the type of music my friends were going to be excited to hear).

While I was waiting to go on, a couple friends asked if I wanted to go somewhere afterward to play the rest of the set that I had prepared for the show. The thought that they cared that much to hear my music made me feel pretty special! I told them that I would love to if we can find someplace that would work well for everybody. Eventually, we settled on going back to my apartment's rooftop lounge area to finish the night.

A few of the highlights from that night in terms of the performers: a man who dangerously resembled Danny DeVito played "Creep" by Radiohead (the only song written after c. 1970 to be played, haha), a trio went up on stage that included a man playing the mop/bucket/bass and a lead "singer" that sounded like Ralph the Dog from the Muppets, and an overly political lefty that had written a (very good) song about the 1999 WTO events in Seattle.

Finally, when it was my turn to go up and perform, I chose to sing "Hello Mother," the most recent song I had written. It's my personal favorite, and it captured the raw emotion of my music best, I think. I made quite a few mistakes, but overall, I was ridiculously happy with how it went. I nailed the chorus vocals, and to me, that was the most important part of the song to get right.

So we quickly headed over to my place and got to the rooftop around 9pm only to find that some comedy/theater troupe was using the inside lounge for about 60 people! I had never seen it so full! Despite another setback for the night, we decided that I could just play it outside on the roof and everyone could just freeze to death in the 35 degree weather.

It actually turned out really nice. I sang and played in front of the beautiful Seattle skyline on a clear, cold night. It was actually pretty magical, even though I couldn't feel my fingers on the guitar for the last song hahaha.

I also have to apologize to Brandon once more for not picking up our phones while he was waiting outside downstairs at the front of my apartment waiting for somebody to let him in! He was feeling really sick and waited for probably 25 minutes! What a trooper! Thanks, Brandon!!!

Overall, the night was amazing, and it wouldn't have been the same without everyone who showed up to support me. I had so much fun playing for all of you. Music is what I love to do and to get the chance to perform was awesome. But it's definitely only the beginning. I plan on doing a lot more performances in the near future as I continue down the path to becoming a full-time singer/songwriter. I refuse to give up and will work as hard as I can every second of every day to do it. It's all I ever want to be. I'm just thankful that I've found my passion in life, and I'm getting the opportunity to chase my dream while I still can. The funny thing is that it's so easy because I love it so much that doing anything else just seems silly.

I'll post pictures of the night when I get a chance (thanks to my mom and Trent for playing photographer that night!). Also, I'm currently enjoying a brief sabbatical from writing. I needed a break after the past five or six months of nonstop writing. While the creativity wasn't dropping off, I felt like the energy levels for anything else in my life were. Hopefully, taking a quick break will help recharge my batteries and allow me to attack songwriting again with a fresh mind. I have so much material backlogged that I want to finish! Should be exciting and fun when I start again. It's so hard not to write! Haha!

So thanks to Aaron, James B., Malory, Gina, Chris, Morgan, James M., Trent, Amanda, Brandon, Josh, and especially my mom for being there on the first step of my journey! I know that many more of you wish you could have made it but just couldn't, and I thank you for your support as well! Next time...