Sorry for not writing in a while. I’ve been running around quite a lot these last few days! One big thing, is that my girlfriend started up at SDSU again, so I’ve been kind of taking care of things at home. But the main thing is that I’ve been out there trying to pound the pavement and scare up a few gigs in this dismal economy. Here’s how it shook out.
On Sunday, I decided that I would head up to Disneyland on Monday in order to see if I can grab some sub spots, talk to some people, etc… For those of you who haven’t heard, I was hired as a cast member in September, but with the economy crash in October and November, no one has called me in since I’ve been hired. I guess no one wants to sub out, and so they are sticking with their jobs. I had heard that with the crash, Disney had to let some of their musicians go, and move a bunch to sub status. Also, some of the shows have been cut back from 7 days a week to 5.
So that same day (Sunday) I was perusing Craigslist for gigs here in the San Diego area. I found one up in Escondido and applied for it immediately. Didn’t hear back from them on Sunday at all…. oh well. Monday comes, and I head up to Disneyland to see what’s going on. I meet my buddy and he talks about how there’s a big hiring freeze as well as a training freeze going on. Not good news. Anyway, he tells me to go talk to some of the piano players and see if I can get scheduled.
I met Michael Pollock – super nice guy working Coke Corner on Main Street. He gave me a lot of pointers, including a tip about a cast-member-only audition on the 10th of February. I guess they want a piano player or guitar player for some show they’re opening up. They want good music (check), good singing (ya ok check), and comedy skills (huh? not so much check)…. I also talked with Richard Gere (no not the actor); he’s the piano player for the Hook & Ladder firehouse band, also a super nice guy. Both he and Michael, I would love to sub for… that would be ideal, to keep me open for other things. I have a feeling that if I were to grab this other audition spot, it would be a full-time roll, which I’m not sure I want just yet. I’m really not sure. I’ll be going over that in my head in the next week or so!
So after hanging out with these people, I go back to my car and get a message from Escondido. They want me to come in on Tuesday night to audition. OK Great… So I go up there, and it’s sort of weird. Really nice people own the joint, and they had me play for like half an hour. Usually auditions don’t last that long, but I suppose it made my trip worthwhile, as it’s quite a drive. Unfortunately, the business end of things didn’t go so well. The owner wants me to get back to him as to whether or not I’m interested in the gig, but he had me come audition. The pay is not what I’d expected, especially if they want me to sing a lot. Plus he wants me for Friday AND Saturday nights, and if I can’t make both, he won’t book me for that weekend. So I’m probably going to say no to that one.
However, I was definitely destined to make that trip, because I ran into Joel Reese from Nashville (yet another super-nice guy), and he had his family at the restaurant. He really liked what he heard me doing, and is putting me in touch with an agency out of Beverly Hills that does big corporate shows with opening acts. So that’s really exciting! Seems like all these little good things keep popping up.
On top of all this, on a more local level, some of you know that I’ve been trying to grab some dates at the Hotel Del Coronado and the Westgate Hotel. Well, it looks like the Del wheeled its piano out of the lounge, and they’re making way for a sports-bar atmosphere. It’s really sad, because that was such a classy little spot. So that’s out. I found out that the Westgate is owned by the same person who owns Sinclair Oil and the Sun Valley Resort. That is a tough spot to get a gig because all the nights are already covered. What I need to do, though, is talk to my friend, Joe Fos, who lives up in Sun Valley and has been playing the Duchin Room for the last 30 years. I think he may know the owner, and perhaps he can help me out with that. I have to call him there while he’s working. Maybe tonight. I need to go scope out the Gaslamp District a little more for some places to play. I’m going to get a gig if it kills me!
So as you can all see, I’m at a crossroads as far as what to do. I think I’ll just go after all of them and see what happens. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Carpe Diem… bye everyone!
P.S. Oh incidentally, I’ll be up in Sacramento next thursday from the 5th to the 8th playing around town. Also I just signed up to do the Rogue Festival in Fresno with the Karen Marguth Quartet on the 28th of Feb. and the 1st of March! See you all there!