Why I’ve Been So Quiet Lately and What’s Coming Up - PART ONE
After a fun release of my second EP My Own Advice in 2022, I had plans on releasing more music this past year as well as putting on more shows. If you follow me, you know I went silent for a year. So what happened? And what’s up next?
Well, to be honest, a few things went wrong. Let’s start with the “EP Release Show” at The Atlantic BKLN. Sometimes when things don’t go according to plan, it can be quite discouraging. It seems as though most of my career has been just that. I initially wanted my EP to be released on the date of the show, but had to delay the release to September to allow more time for promotion. Yes it was a bummer however, I was confident it was the right decision and I stand by that. The weeks leading up to the show became a bit of a challenge from pulling a band together, traveling to rehearse with them, finding horn players last minute, putting together and using backing tracks for the first time, creating merch for the show, and continuing to find proper promotion for my EP. Whew! Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. The week of the show, things almost fell apart. My guitar player got sick with a cold, there were tech issues with the backing tracks, and on top of all of this, I was working a 40+ hour work week. Not to mention, the venue changed the time because the opener couldn’t do the show. So I, without any luck, searched for an opener.
It is a miracle the show even happened.
Cut to the day of the show, I arrived late because of a car accident I was stuck behind. We then scrambled to pull everything together on stage, work out tech issues with sound, midi drums, and backing tracks. We even started late. I barely had time to change and warm up. While performing, my vocals weren’t where they needed to be, I forgot one of the names of my bandmates, and there were minor but noticeable latency issues. I hired a videographer to record the whole show so I could use the footage to book more gigs. I haven’t even brought myself to rewatch it for footage to use even though my bandmate claims it's good. I was discouraged. Everyone who attended had a great time, but I wasn’t proud of the show I put on because I know that I could do much better. I had an amazing venue (which sadly closed down), I had the perfect opportunity and blew it — at least in my head I did. And I know why. I was doing too much. The show was too big, and I didn’t have control of it.
The EP released and it was a fine release. Everyone enjoyed it and it got hits on streaming. But the company I was using for press, didn’t do anything. If they did, I wouldn’t know, because I never received any communication after the fact. I was upset. Felt duped. It happens, and I’m over it. You learn who you can trust along the way. A month following the release, I got covid which slowed everything down to a halt. Any promotion I was doing stopped, and I focused on resting and recovering. I was fine in about 10 days and kept on working. The following month is when everything took a turn for the worse…
STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO
