Buffalo and back.

A few things happened since my last post. I spent the weekend in Buffalo to showcase at the Mid-Atlantic NACA Convention.  Playing those conferences are always a mix of fun and stress. The best part is getting to hang out with students - for this particular conference, I gave away personalized kazoos and they helped to break the ice - while the hardest part is the showcase itself. I'm always over-thinking everything, from what songs I should play to what outfit I should wear. And when it's all done, I'm considering what I could have done better.  It's particularly more challenging this year because I have gotten into a few showcases (yay!), so there's extra pressure to do well. So far it's two down - one in Chattanooga in September and the other in Buffalo - and one more in Hartford next week. Wish me luck.

Last night I saw Laura Marling play in KTown and pretty much had my heart completely wrecked. She's so stunningly amazing. I've always loved her music, but I really couldn't connect with her the same way without seeing her. She prefers to have her vocal mic above, much taller than her, facing downward so she can reach up to it like a baby chick getting fed by its mother. It was both disconcerting and alluring. Her voice is flawless...even her flaws are flawless (there were a few mistakes I noticed, but I even hesitate to call them "mistakes" as such), and she exudes total technical prowess yet coolness onstage. She's very different from, say, Sara Bareilles or Ingrid Michaelson who are totally entertaining, funny and self-aware onstage...Laura is more subdued, and she reels you in by saying little. At one point she'd played about 5 songs without saying a word in between.  Anyway, I wish she'd sung my favorites, "Goodbye Old England" and the older "New Romantic," though the latter I don't blame her for not wanting to perform.  I think we songwriters are hesitant to touch on songs that are older...it's not that we don't think the songs are good, but I think something is lost in the performance when the personal connection is lost...when the story is long gone. When there's nothing more that can be done with the song. (Laura Marling, "Once I Was An Eagle")

Willy Mason opened the night, and he played an older song called "Oxygen." Funny, because he had a disclaimer for it, explaining that it was an old song but that he'd lately been wanting to sing it again (see what I mean?). Rob had put the song on a mix CD for me years ago, and I had always loved it. It was pretty great to hear it in person ("Oxygen" by Willy Mason). The song is simple and beautiful. Its approach reminds me of a song I've wrestled with for years called, "My Disaster," which I may or may not have finished.  I sang it for a songwriter friend I made in Nashville on my recent trip, and he seemed to feel it was done... so... maybe it is. 

I met some interesting folks on the plane ride to Buffalo. It's funny how many great conversations I've had in my few years of traveling here and there. One was a businessman who works with some high-profile musicians, who asked for my card. The other was a couple from Buffalo who have a nephew who is a musician/artist, and also recently graduated from NYU, my alma mater.  A few weeks ago, I met a couple who wound up coming to my show in Nashville; the wife even gave me one of her bracelets as a token. I guess what I do can be a so-called "conversation starter"... but I always think it sounds easier than it really is; seems more romantic than it really is...to be a musician, to travel, to make your own music. It'd be nice if that finely-crafted image could be carried in my heart always...I'm sure I would never be insecure, never wonder at what I am doing. But then it might also take the beauty out of everything.  

By the way, somewhat a non-sequitur, but here's a funny Vine video from some fans at Missouri Science & Technology singing "War!". These guys are way adorable.

Anyway.