Market Season Again!!!!

Live performance Nyack Farmer’s Market 

May 11, 2023

Post Mortem

Yesterday I did a “ambush performance”, which is to say, I showed up and got the market manager to let me play.  They schedule performers for each market, I’ve been on that schedule before, but I began playing there years ago, by playing before the scheduled act, early in the morning when most musicians are still in bed, or even just getting to their beds. ;)😴   In this way I don’t take anybody’s spot, and I also add some live music to the market when it doesn’t have any.  I think that some vendors play music over their smart phone or radios during this time to give the market some kind of energy.

It was looking to be the first real pleasant weather day of the season, the first warm Spring day.  It just seemed like a good idea to try and go out and play.  The market manager gave me the OK, I had til 11am to use how I wanted.  The market opens at 8am, I got there at half past so 2 hours plus to set up play, then get out of the way of the main act.  Pretty generous really.

Having played with the rig (guitar amp and mic) a couple of times in the last week or so, I think I was in a better informed place for playing out.  Playing with the rig is a very different thing than playing without it, completely acoustic.  It’s another thing altogether to do this in a performance situation.

So, on hind site, am I glad that I did it?  Was there a net gain?  Spoiler alert!!  Ya, I think it was worth it.  My metrics have to be understood to see how I get this sum out of the equation.

Finances, are not a part of my metrics.  I didn’t get paid for this performance, wasn’t looking for money from the market.  In fact, my intent was to give something to the market.  Hopefully I was adding some energy, a smile or two, and an interesting complexity to the event.  Even so, I did get a few people dropping money in my guitar case, and more importantly, more valuable to me, was that each of those people made smiling eye contact with me as they offered up their greenbacks.  Two of the vendors expressed their gratitude, one with money, and the other with delicious knish.  This expression from the vendors means quite a bit to me.  They have heard me before and they are still appreciative of my being there.  I know for a fact that some vendors don’t feel this way about all the people who play the market.

Being that I am playing only my original music, I am impressed when a vendor, or market patron, has some kind of reactive relationship with my music.  If a cover of a popular song is being played then at least some of the reaction from the audience was “paid for” by the original artist and the success of that song historically, in recordings or on the radio…. As an original artist, I don’t get that “perk”.  Playing in a Farmer’s market where there is no pressure on, or expectation of, any patron or vendor to react, or even listen to the music.  They don’t go to the market to hear music, generally.  I have noticed that there have been times when the music at the markets almost gets to the station of being, at least part of the reason people show up.  In the end, I would be happy to be a positive part of why people go to the market, along with the out of doors, the sunshine, the breeze, the community.  I want my music to be a sort of added value to shopping the market.

My performance yesterday was not great.  There were good moments, but over all my voice felt combative, my fingers felt a little clumsy, and the guitar foreign.  Thanks to the haunting lines of Bob Dylan, “I’m gonna know my songs well before I play them”, I have gotten more ownership of my songs, and my identity as a performer, so that got me thru the morning inspite of many missteps.

It was not a performance I wish I had recorded, except maybe for analysis, but for being the first time out in a very long time, and a spur of the moment kind of decision, it was not my worst showing.  I mean how bad could it have been if children and grown ups were actually dancing to the music?!  Really, grown women dancing, like they were at a festival.  I am not sure I remember that happening before.  I can’t feel bad about if I made people dance.

So the technical things to take away from yesterday are important and I think that they could have gone a long way to making the whole performance much better.  

First off is the way I set up the amp.  I couldn’t really hear myself.  I had practiced with it set up kind of like that but the market offers 0,zero, no reflection to work with, so I couldn’t hear myself.  On the good side the music travelled the length of the market and was intelligible, sounded good, according the a slightly biased opinion (my wife).  It’s not easy to get that coverage and not be to loud or to soft somewhere in the market.  The bad side of that was that I couldn’t hear what was coming out of the amp as it was in front of me pointing away.  Moving it back so that it is just even with me “upstage/downstage” might go a long way to allowing me to hear.  Because I couldn’t hear I was more effortful singing and I was spent pretty early on, so the rest of the time I had to rework melody lines in real time.  That just made me mentally exhausted.  It’s a cascade of affects.

I think it would also help to have the option to sit down to play some songs, of only for a break.  I was trying to stand for the entire time, but it’s a lot for me, at least right now.

I think I should really make an effort to talk to the market before and between playing.  I need to find a way to do that and not feel like a fool talking to imaginary listeners.  Maybe it’s one of those instances of “build it and they will come” only it’s “speak and they will listen”.

A set list is helpful and I didn’t use one yesterday and even so it felt good not to feel hemmed into a list.  I need to figure out a way to see all of my song options easily.  “To many choices”  is kind of a first world problem to have so many original songs to choose from.

I missed an opportunity to relate to a group of little kids that were there in a story time reading.  At the end of their story time I should have played “Moonflower Waltz” and directed it right to them.  I know in the past kids have reacted well to that song.  I was thrown off by the adults around me.  Never put adults before children, or dogs.

    I played "The Ultimate" for the first time in public and got positive feedback on it.  Ya!

So I may wait til June 1st to go back and try again.  Give the vendors ears a rest and give me a moment to get myself together.  My goal is to play sets there that, if I didn’t record them, I wish I had, or that somebody had.  That seems an achievable goal, but still high enough to require some real effort on my part.

The new market banner!  Now who is that fella with the guitar?  I wonder? 

    I received my weekly email newsletter from the Nyack Farmer's Market this week and was pleasantly surprised to see the new banner, with a shot of 'yours truly' playing and singing at the market.  What a warm fuzzy feeling it was.

    It feels like ages since that last time I played at the market.  I guess it's been about 4 months.  I do miss it a bit.

    I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to play at that market.  I have heard of other artists having bars, or coffee houses or clubs, with open mic nights or some such regular event that they took part in early on.  These places often became where performing, was discovered, developed and informed.  These places were safe places as well, places one could be oneself or what ever version of themselves they wanted to present.  I suppose the Nyack market has been that kind of place for me.

    Farmers markets are kind of funny places to perform at in a way.  People don't come there to hear music, or very few people do.  The "audience" is there to do something else and the job of the performer is to add some ambience.  It is very different than an open mic at a bar or cafe, where people sit and face you and actively listen.  Most people playing at farmers markets are playing well established music, traditional tunes or covers, these both can established a desired mood, partly because they are familiar and partly because of the selection of music being generally upbeat.

    I took a chance and played only my own original material, and not all of it was sunshine and daisies.  I remember one day when a woman, maybe in her 60's came up and dropped a bill in the guitar case, smiled and then said, "that wasn't really a happy song was it?"  as if to say that she is listening.  I got the impression that like a sweet older woman, she'd appreciate happy songs more but that she would allow it.  She did after all give me a smile and a tip.

    I daydream about the coming Spring and Summer and the possibility of singing some of the new songs at the market, if they will have me back.

Seasons change

THE warm season has gone away and the Boat Shop Music Studio has moved out of it's larger, colder studio, and up into the more intimate Attic space.  The uninsulated "shop" has a wood stove, but it just keeps it from being bitter in there, and it is not a tight stove, so it's a bit smokey, which isn't so good for the voice and singing.

The Attic, is really cozy.  The wood floors and ceilings, and eastern exposure for early morning light make it a great place for recording with just me and a guitar.  It wouldn't really be appropriate for much more than that unless everybody was very laid back, literally because of the low ceiling, but that isn't really a concern.

Just yesterday morning I made my first recording of a new song, "Trespass", up in the Attic.  This song will probably be song number 11 for the new album "Garden of Love".

THE other seasonal change is that the 2019 Farmer's Market performing season is over for me now.  It was a long and very rewarding run, playing every week from the spring of 2018 thru the winter and all summer into the first week of November of this year.

The market manager, Pam, gave me a gift I can never thank her enough for, by giving me a regular spot to play my music, and develop my ability to perform these songs.  She has been a true patron, angel, and friend.

It will be a bit different, not having a weekly "gig" now, but in truth, it is welcomed.  Now I can focus on the writing and recording in a way that I couldn't manage to when I knew I had to be in form for public performing.  Even after the year and a half of steady gigs, I still got keyed up as the market days approached.  That kept me from really focusing in on the writing and recording.

As verification of the new found psychological freedom, I just wrote that new song yesterday.  It was a "two day song", the first to have the inspiration and dig it out of my brain and shape it with the guitar and pencil, and the second day to learn it, start recording it, and then to see, and hear, the wholeness of it.  I love those ones, they are so instantly gratifying, and I have learned not to question how fast or fluidly they come to me.  During that period of writing, I don't stop thinking about the song.  I am haunted by the musical idea, super ear worm.  I can't seem to get out of the mind of the character of the song.  This is a very focused time and it is hard to stay in it with other things to think about.  I really happy I have arranged my life in a way that allows me times like this.

The end of the market season didn't mean the end of the performing season for me.  Yesterday I was invited to play for a "Arts and Cafe" event at the Central Presbyterian Church in Haverstraw.  Nancy, a jewelry artist, who I know from the markets, asked me to come and play as the evenings entertainment.  A chance to hang out with "Pastor Katie", who is always a good time, and play for such a friendly and appreciative crowd, I could not pass up.

Thanks to "Pastor Katie" of the Haverstraw Central Presbyterian church,
 for having mein her place.
 Thanks to Nancy Jagelka, jeweler extraordinaire,
 for introducing me to these good people.

THEY had a cozy stage set up, tables for people to sit and eat and drink and listen or chat, and lots of art to shop.  It ended up being a paying gig though I had didn't expect it.  Food and drink as well.  The really great thing was that it wasn't outdoors in the cold, like the markets all have been lately.  Lovely.

In truth, that was probably the best gig I've done from a certain perspective.  Though the markets are very safe, friendly, and appreciative, the musicians playing there are certainly just decoration, and it is rare that people stay to enjoy the music.  It happens, certainly, I've had people hang out and listen to multiple songs, and then go shopping, and then return to listen some more, but the overriding feeling is that the people are there to shop and then get on with their day.  We music performers are a bonus.

At the "Art Cafe" last night there was a bit more of a feeling that people came for community and were more interested in being in the space.  Some people were actually making crafts/art, and some were enjoying the drinks and snacks and most seemed to be listening and enjoying the music.  I got to do a bit more interacting with people thru the music.  Being up on the stage, which was minimally but thoughtfully decorated, gave me a real sense of purpose and place that felt good, felt right.

It was a step maybe, toward the kind of performance I'd like to do with this music.  This music is storytelling, and poem and the words have weight that wants a listener, not just somebody to tap their feet to the rhythm, though there was that last night, and even some dancing.  So from that perspective, it might have been the closest I've gotten to being able to present my music the way I'd like to, outside of recordings.  But recordings are the self indulgent part of this music thing for me.

I have ideas of an "Acoustic Cafe" type of show, showcase, that I'd like to see happen at some of the local establishments.  There are some great venues around, but the singer-songwriter, folk, and acoustic genre aren't the focus, as far as I can tell.  Maybe it will happen someday.

For now, it's the colder season and the time is "write" to record, and get these albums done.  I hope to play out again someday, but for now I'm good with hibernating for a while.
Peace.

Totally spaced out the fact that last week I got to be a stagehand/sound tech again.  It was an great time for a big birthday celebration at a local place in Nyack, "Prohibition River."  Their upstairs space is quite lovely.  Would be a great place for the "Acoustic Cafe".  I was just helping out the talented artist Bill Batson, with his lovely woman Marisol's, 50th celebration.  Great party and such a treat for me to do my thing again.  I almost miss the biz.

Still writing here beside the River.

The muse is still hovering
I finished another song last week and gotten to perform it twice so far.  Even had Ian Moore play along on his fiddle.  That was awesome, as it always is when Ian joins in.

I also have begun a new song, or song project.  It is very different to be in a project that I don't really feel has an end in sight.  This project feels like an unending song that will have verses, multiple chorus, maybe chapters.  Maybe I was very influenced by the large album pieces of the 1960's and 70's, "Quadrophenia", "Sgt. Peppers", "Tommy", "The Wall".  They each got completed of course but They were epic works.  Maybe they had some two minute fifty hits in them but I think that the composers may have gone at them as larger works.

I find it comforting to have an ongoing story/song to be able to come back to anytime.  This particular work seems outside of what the "muse" is particularly interested in throw at me these days, but that in itself is also a bit comforting too.  Sometimes it is good to have something to work on if I am not feeling particularly inspired, but that is also an available canvas should something drop down from the clouds into my brain.

So, the songwriter, me, got interviewed on a literary podcast and the session was just released today for Patreon subscribers.  River River Writers Circle has a pod cast called "Littoral".  I had a lovely time during the interview and am very grateful for their interest and the sensitive manner of the people who hosted me.  Check, check, check it out, and become a subscriber/supporter of the arts and artists.

The Poet and the Songwriter,
A. Anupama of River River and host of the Littoral Podcast
 with me at the Nyack Farmers Market
(Photo A. Anupama/Ian Moore)

Fiddle About!

I had a wonderful experience this week while playing my weekly gig at the Nyack Farmer's Market.  Just about the end of my time playing the market manager came up to make a request.  She wanted to "You and Me" a song of mine that she especially likes.  being that Ian Moore was there onstage getting ready to take over and play his set, he suggested that we do the song together.

     Ian is an amazing performer, a singer of songs and a story teller, who mixes in wonderful dancing with his fiddle playing.  He is also a fine composer.

     I was very happy to have him accompany me on the song, but also a bit nervous.  I get worried of being able to play and sing at his caliber, well not worried really, I flat out know I'm not in the same league.  But I was so excited for the idea too.

     I showed him the chord progression and gave him a quick idea of what the song is, that took about 15 seconds, and then we went at it.  That was quite enough time to let Ian know where to go with his part.  That's the kind of player he is.

     It was work for me to keep my mind in the attitude of he performer because I so wanted to be the observer and get the full affect of Ian's playing on one of my songs.

     He played a beautiful line, quite sensitive and appropriate, but creative.  I was very moved.  It seemed as though others listening were too.

     Sometimes 1+1 don't make 2, they make so much more, or Moore, Ian Moore.  I love that guy.

The great Ian Moore.( photo from https://www.reverbnation.com/ianmooreplaysfiddle )

     

Song writing, for me is like

Song writing for me is like looking out in the woods and seeing a shape in the bushes.  I can tell something, someone, is there, maybe a fox, or a dog, or a coyote, or a deer, but I have to look harder, be patient, in order to discover what, who it is.
If I see the flick of a tail I might realize it's a deer, or a dog.  I look a bit more and determine the color of it's coat, and then the general size.  And so it goes until I have a confident idea of who it is I am discovering.
Then, I need to spend some more time finding out the particulars of this particular being.  If I say I know it's a dog, or even a dog with a black and brown and white coat, about 50 pounds, with a long tail, I still don't know the disposition of this particular dog.  That take time and more observation, listening for a growl, or whine, or wiper, or friendly bark.
And so it goes.  This is how songs get written for me.  So far.  It can take a little time to become well acquainted with a new song.  Patience is always a virtue, as well as a willingness to listen, and look, and discover.

https://richardamaldonado.bandcamp.com

Winter Music activities

I started playing, at the Winter Indoor Farmer's Market in Nyack, last week.  It made me very happy to be back at the market, and to be able to play for the patrons and vendors.  The indoor space is the Nyack community Center, and the room has an elevated stage but I chose to play on the floor level because this allowed a bit more interaction with the patrons, especially the little ones, as well as the canine contingent.  It seems to me that the lower to the ground, the better the person, i.e. children and dogs.
It was great to be playing for people again and the time off allowed me to bring a few new songs to my rep.
Link to the Market:

hl=enhttps://www.instagram.com/nyackfarmersmarket/?hl=en

Summer Sessions 2018, Liner Notes, part one

The songs in this collection were all written in the last 3 or 4 years, but most of them were written this last year.  I think that after they were first written they evolved with a bit of influence from performing them weekly at local farmer's markets.

track #
1. You and Me
    This was really the first song I ever wrote, or at least the first song I began to write.  I remember that when I started it, and even when it was basically finished, I had it in mind that it should be song and played by somebody else, because at the time, I had not yet learned to play or sing in any way that was acceptable to me.  There was a local singer/player who really impressed me, John Moroski, and I had always imagined that he and a girl he had performed with a few times would sing the song. That's not happened and in the mean time, I just started playing it.  The song is a reflection of my life with my wife.

2.  Sleepy Head
     This song happened, as a few of them have, in a moment of realization one morning standing outside and greeting the day.  I often think about my son, when he was just a little guy, and of my dog/friend as she lay on her dog bed, and of my wife, and how I have gotten such joy from just watching them sleep.

3.  Take, a climbers song
     I rock climbed, the mother of my son climbed, and my son started climbing a bit because the woman he was seeing climbed.  When I was climbing, the lead climber, if he started to loose his grip on things, would shout down to the guy on the other end of the rope "Take".  It was a quick way to say take up all the slack in the rope and stop me from falling.  It seemed a good metaphor for a relationship and since my son now had both a climbing partner and a lover, well there you are.  I wrote this song for him, for them.  They married in 2018.



Well this is a start.  I'll get back to this with "Summer Sessions 2018, Liner Notes, part two"

     Here is the playlist of songs from my CD, and Album Artwork.

1. You&Me
2. Sleepy Head
3. Take, a climber’s song
4. The Last Reef
5. Missing Parts
6. Around Town
7. Second Hand Heart
8. Dreaming of Yesterday
9. Heart at Sea
   10. Going My Way
   11. Sweet Retribution
   12. MoonFlower Waltz
   13. Another Season, Alley’s song
   14. Casting Shadows, a song for Gretel
   15. The Moments

All songs property of Richard A Maldonado, copyright 2018. Cover art, “Eye”, digitized watercolor, Richard A Maldonado, 2018.  It takes inspiration from Tibetan Sand Mandalas, and the Great Rose Window of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in NYC, where I was lucky enough to work for about a quarter century.

     So, yes, it's 15 original songs, all of which I played at the farmer's markets each week of this summer.  I think it's a pretty good cross section of the songs that I create.  I do have some work that is a bit darker, or grittier, or more experimental, and a handful of instrumentals that were the first things I wrote, but this selection seems like a good mix.
     Because of various computers dying on me, and my lack of enthusiasm for the work of backing up the digital documentation, I have lost some of those early Instrumental pieces, and my aging brain can only retain so much, it seems.
But I have found recordings of a handful of pieces from that era of music creating, and I hope to go back and revisit this work during the winter when I should be able to give it more time.
    I may take what instrumentals I do have recorded and put them together as a small album.  The organizing of elements to create an "album" is fun, though a bit tedious at times.  Just picking the artwork to be the visual signature for a collection of songs is really interesting.  I'm committed to making all the art mine, from the music, to the recording, to the cover art, and texts.
    Like the farmers markets I play at, and the local food sold there, I like my music to also be a local, small scale, and sustainable.  I like the Low and No pressure approach to marketing, which for me is basically, not marketing my work.  The creation of this CD came from being asked if my music was available.  So now it is.
     The best way to get a copy is to come by the markets and here me play and sing.  Try it before you buy it.  Maybe don't buy it, and instead just come to the market, buy some good food, have a cup of tea or coffee and a nosh, and enjoy some live, local music while you mix with your local community.
    I will be, slowly, maybe one song per blog entry, posting some info on the songs of this album, maybe even lyrics, for those who might be interested.  Until then.
Peace

Nyack farmers Market, Thursdays 9am-10am (market,8a-2pm)
      https://www.instagram.com/nyackfarmersmarket/?hl=en
        https://www.nyackchamber.org/nyack-farmers-market/

Haverstraw Market, Sundays 10am-1pm (market, 9am-1pm) come and play and sing along!