My mother likes my music!

I'm not one to rest on my laurels or toot my own horn; I figure if I'm any good, people will seek me out and such. But today something happened that made me reconsider my whole outlook on music.

My mother, likes my tunes.

Let me give you some background. My immediate family (my mother and I) are immensely practical people. It's all about the ends. While I enjoy writing tunes, and performing- I'm looking to make it my career, not a hobby. When I first talked about being a musician, my mother and my uncle both tried to steer me into more "profitable" fields of study. "Why don't you minor in music and major in something else?" was something that I heard a lot when I considered getting a degree in music. And while my mother has been a good supporter (as well as the rest of the family) of my craft, let's just say I wouldn't say she enjoyed the music I did.

I gave her a CD to listen to. Rough cuts, I did on a digital recorder and badly miked. I wanted her to listen to it. I gave it to her about a month ago. I fully expected she'd listen, and say "that's nice" and that'd be the end of it.

I get a call from her this morning. We're talking about the usual; getting a watch fixed, the place I'm playing on August 22nd. (read more about it here: http://www.facebook.com/jamesrobinsonparran#/event.php?eid=233624725216), other stuff. Then she tells me she'd listened to my CD. Oh boy, I think, here it comes.

She genuinely liked the music. One of the songs she'd listened to was "Mistake" which she enjoyed a lot, and every song she had something positive to say.

Color me flabbergasted. I'd been back and forth about what to do with music since it's not really panning out so well for me as of late, but that was a shot in the arm for me. Suddenly, I had validation. I've had people tell me before that they like my songs, or that I was talented- I take all of that with a grain of salt. People will say things like that, to avoid saying things that might be hurtful or harmful. My mother doesn't really lie to me. Nor will she spare my feelings about things. If it were bad, she'd tell me. I appreciate it, because it's nice to have one honest opinion in this world.

So that was it. There's no great coda for this entry. No lesson learned, or thoughts deeper than maybe, just maybe- I might have something good going on here.

And if you want to listen, you can at http://facebook.com/jamesrobinsonparran

This business of Music

So today, I began not by making a game plan but by jumping in head first. Before I can come up with a plan to sell my music to interested buyers, I needed to take care of some pressing business first. I needed to get my band a gig.

Incidently, interested parties can check us out here:

http://myspace.com/justprevailsband

So I hole myself up at the local library and get my handy dandy computer out and get to work. Thus far I've contacted only 7 places in the city, and they're heavy hitters:

Elbo Room (http://www.elboroomchicago.com/): This one I have good feelings about. My drummer, Mike Amandes, says he knows the guy who books there and could probably get us in.

Andy's(http://www.andysjazzclub.com):This one was recommended to me by Chris Edwards of "5 after five". Seems to be our kind of spot

Green Dolphin(http://www.jazzitup.com/): Heavy, Heavy hitters. Beaucoup dollars spent there for private parties.

Jazz Showcase(http://www.jazzshowcase.com/): A little higher up than our band is right now. But, a man can dream, right?

Ironically enough, it was the last two I've contacted that almost broke my spirit.

The Joynt(http://www.thejoyntchicago.com): The guy there, one Paul Babcock, answered directly. Nice enough guy, asked me what kind of music I played.

Mostly Jazz/Funk/Blues, I said

He said didn't really like Jazz Bands playing, really looking for like Motownish/Funkier stuff.

I pressed on. Just listen, I said. If you don't like it, it is what it is. He'll listen, I think, but will probably pass.

The next guy, I think his name was Bill was at this little place in Evanston called Bill's Blues (http://www.billsbluesbar.com/). He was willing to book, willing to take a chance. He cautioned, however, that it was hard getting people to come from one side of town to another. I asked what kind of draw would keep him happy?

50-60. That's about half of my draw right now.

We chatted a little more, and I thanked him for his time. It's a sobering reality that draws make the world go around. I was looking to get into playing with my band again, so that the fellas wouldn't get discouraged. But at every turn, it looks like without a draw my music is dead in the water.

The interesting thing is, I know if people heard- they'd really get into it. Just keep pressing on, I guess.

I was at Molly Malones (http://www.themollymalones.com/) in Forest Park last night. They have open mic every Sunday, hosted by members of The Get (http://www.myspace.com/thegetjamz, http://thegetmusic.com) and Reed Rische. I was there to play some new tunes I had written. The crowd got thinner and thinner as the night progressed, but more importantly, the people who were left where very, VERY appreciative of my work. If I could get a core crowd like that- I would take over the world.

Tomorrow's another day. Better times.