Oh Me Oh My Oh…
…look at Miss Ohio.
If you’re reading elsewhere, you may need come to the blog to see the video.
Yeah, I keep thinking of blogging, and every time I think of it, that line pops up for some reason. Doesn’t bother me really because it’s a damn good song, I’m just not sure why exactly it keeps coming up. Maybe it’s being back in Iowa, and all the talk of the raygun shirts that only people from Iowa, Ohio or Idaho understand. (This and This).
Maybe it’s the line “I wanna do right, but not right now.” December was a busy month for me. Making sure I made it to 100 performances before going home (Ended up being 103, yay!). The final of those performances was a 45 minute set, so that was a little bit of a bigger deal than my usual open mics. Final Rubicon group showcase, where I also prepped the food & beverages. Getting a haircut. Prepping for and teaching a couple music lessons. Organizing my stuff in Austin to be gone for a month (By now, I honestly don’t remember quite how I left it, hope I did ok there.) Getting packed up to come home in just a duffle bag and guitar case (there are lots of great little nooks & crannies in a guitar case for stuff like socks and scarves - I even put my hair flowers and a pashmina INSIDE the guitar.)
That was just while I was IN Austin. Coming home I pretty much hit the ground running, I got to Des Moines on Thursday and spent the evening with my cousin, came to Fairfield on Friday and was asked to sing back-up in a Christmas show on Saturday (yay!), so had a couple rehearsals on Friday & Saturday before the show. Mix in there visits and parties with family and friends too, and then some doctor & dentist appointments, doing some live Lyrical Venus shows, Christmas shopping (not like I had room in my guitar case for presents!), and then getting ready for my concert on the 27th!
In some ways I’d been prepping for the concert since May, through all the work I’ve been doing with Dan in my Rubicon Year, including all that open mic experience, and in other ways I pulled off most of it in just a little over a week!
I did a quick photo shoot with my friend who also made me a beautiful poster and newspaper ad (which we also repurposed for a flyer). I printed out and put the posters up all around town. I wrote an article for the paper. I made a Facebook event and hand-invited my Fairfield people. I organized getting a sound guy who could also record the show so I might be able to use a few of those tracks for a live EP. I organized my bro & husband to man the video camera and webcast. I figured out the set list and gathered up mp3s of all the songs so I could get them to the other musicians (part of which involved uploading videos from my open mics to YouTube and then ripping the audio from them). My brother & I burned 20 copies of a little 5-song demo, I designed a label and put it on all of them, realized I forgot my website and hand-wrote it on all of them. I also put all those songs together on a Bandcamp page with lyrics and info in case I had any online people wanting the tracks. I had two rehearsals, one with Lauryn Shapter and one with the whole group, the night before the show. I asked local bloggers if I could get listed on their blogs. I did a radio interview on KRUU. I also was making sure to run through the songs myself every day and handing out flyers wherever I could.
Oh, and through most of this we were house/pet sitting for two awesome cats, which was pretty great because not only was it a nice house, both we and our housemates had more space, but also meant a bit more running around if something was forgotten at one house or the other.
The coolest thing I think, was that even with all this stuff to do, I didn’t freak out or get sick or lose my voice, as I so often did back in my high school and college theatre days before a big show or competition. I worked hard, but it was fun and felt good.
And the show went really well! I ended up with about 60 or so people, which was a nice full house. (Cafe Paradiso can squeeze maybe a little over 100 in for a really big deal show.) I think there was around another 10 people watching online at any one time. The energy was great, I felt really connected to the audience and comfortable with my between song banter, the songs felt awesome with David, Lauryn & Taylor backing me up! I even sold 5 of my little CDs. BIG BIG BIG heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the show not only possible but a success! I love you!
New Year’s Eve though, I came down with a fever which thankfully broke during the night. Spent most of New Year’s day napping on the couch between spurts of cleaning up the house for the owners’ return and gathering up all the things we had accumulated there. Monday I could have gone out if I needed to but luckily got to spend it inside having a marathon session of The Office on Netflix. I think the quick little sickness was my body’s way of saying, “If you don’t slow down, I’m gonna do it for you, missy!”
So yeah. I’ve got more to blog about, and I wanna do it right, but not right now. This turned out to be a pretty good catch-up/recap of the past few weeks at least anyway! :) I head back to Austin on the 7th for my final Rubicon session, which includes RECORDING in March! And all the fun little details of actually creating and releasing a CD. And figuring out what comes after this Rubicon Year is over. Whoa…
Newslettery Update: 100 Open Mics! December Show Dates!
Dear Friends, Fans and Fellow Music-Makers,
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are still enjoying your holiday weekend! I have so many cool things I want to tell you about that I broke it down list style!
1. 100 Open Mics in 7 Months
2. Two Big December Shows
3. Home for the Holidays
4. Thank YOU!
1. 100 Open Mics in 7 Months
Most of you have probably heard by now that I am on a mission to perform my songs at 100 open mics before I go home for my winter break on December 15th. I have been to somewhere around 4 or 5 a week since June 7th and just made it to #91 last night so I may even blast past my goal early! I have decided to document the final 10 on my blog: http://heathermillermusic.com
The venues I am planning to hit are listed at the bottom of this post in case any of you Austin Folks want to come out to watch or play!
2. Two Big December Shows
Besides my open mic adventure, I also have two shows coming up that I am really excited about! One with the band, and one will be my longest solo set so far!
December 11th, 3pm
Rubicon Recording Studios
4411 Jinx Ave
Austin, TX 78745
I am performing at Rubicon Recording Studios with the band we recently christened as The Doras. We are finishing up our second 12-week season of working together and I am so honored and happy to get to work with these talented women. If you came to our last showcase you know it will be a great time! If you haven’t been yet, besides a great show, you will get to see where I’ll be recording my 5 song EP in March! http://www.rubiconartistdevelopment.com/
December 14th, 6pm
Crow Bar
3116 S. Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78704
I will be playing a 45 minute set as part of the Bill Davis Acoustic Happy Hour at The Crow Bar. The show is from 6-9pm and I am not sure yet exactly what time my slot will be but I am sure the other artists are great and from the looks of the website they have a lot of tasty drinks! http://crowbaraustin.com/
3. Heading Home for the Holidays
On December 15th I head back to Iowa where it will definitely be cold if not snowy. I guess I can handle a dose of winter weather if it means getting to be with my loved ones for the holidays, plus I’ll be back in Texas January 7th for my final season of my Rubicon Year!
I am planning a show at my favorite listening room spot back home, Cafe Paradiso, a few days after Christmas. I am excited to play my new songs live for my friends I won’t have seen for 8 months. If all goes according to plan, I will have some good video footage afterward to share with y’all so stay tuned for that.
4. Thank YOU!
It is kind of crazy to think that just 7 months ago I came to Austin without a car and only half a clue, and could barely even play one song for my producer. The thought of playing at an open mic in Austin made me want to throw up for the whole day beforehand. Now I am rocking the bus system, spent 45 minutes playing original songs for my producer so we could pick out songs for the album, and I am nearing 100 open mic performances like it’s no big deal. Thank you SO much to each of you for every ride, cup of coffee, meal, babysitting job, kind word and Facebook comment you have offered to me since I arrived. It may not have seemed like much at the moment to you but the support has meant the WORLD to me! Whether I get to pay you back directly or pay it forward, that’s a whole lot of good vibes going out into the world, so thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love,
Heather
OK! Here is my tentative plan for the next couple weeks of open mics:
92. Sunday - 11/27 - Baker St. Pub on South Lamar
93. Tuesday - 11/29 - Whip In
94. Wednesday - 11/30 - Kick Butt Coffee at The Triangle
95. Friday - 12/2 - Fair Bean Coffee
96. Sunday 12/4 - Baker St. Pub on South Lamar
97. Tuesday - 12/6 - Opa’s
98. Wednesday 12/7 - Backroads
99. Thursday 12/8 - Flipnotics
100. Friday 12/9 - Fair Bean Coffee
If you are planning to come out to watch or play, PLEASE call me to make sure I’m really going and still going to the venue listed above. Things can change for a variety of reasons and I wouldn’t want to miss you or have you come out for nothing! Also I can let you know more about the sign-up and performing times if you are interested in a particular day or venue.
