Hi folks, I hope this finds you all reasonably well and thriving.
It has been a difficult week and one that has caused me to think on some difficult issues, well difficult for me at any rate.
Real life has been quite demanding this last week making my appearances in SL a bit sporadic and in fact I didn't log in other than to clear notices etc till Sunwolf and I played the Drunken Drow on Tuesday. Blackdwarfbud was away in RL, having a much needed short holiday. I must admit, I missed her support and encouragement even though she has not been in SL for more than a month or so. We have been close RL friends for more years than I will admit to. It is surprising how quickly you can become used to a person being there.Butterfly Maiden, also another lass we usually see regularly, was also away and we missed her too. Though it is always good to see folks turning up to shows, some names stand out as ones who are there regularly and those folks produce a special kind of warm feeling.
We stayed to watch Cailidgh's set, she can always make you smile with her blend of humour and talent, but after her set we had to go back to RL to continue the tasks needing to be done. Sometimes I wish we could just tap a few buttons in RL too.
Wednesday at Ye Olde Wolf and Hawk, was a shorter show than usual. Gweeb, our regular Wednesday performer had to cancel, so Sunwolf and I Aka Wolf n Hawk, decided to play a little later, thereby closing an empty slot. It can be handy owning the venue you are performing at.
Ari performing at the Pub
Our little friendly dragoness Ari, followed us. She seemed much happier this week and gave a great performance. We were glad to know she was feeling better after her recent health problems and it was lovely to see the tinies in again.
After we closed the venue for the night there was time to nip over to POZ , Poets of Zarahemia to catch most of Russells set there. I had not seen him for what seemed like an age. It was like balm for the soul to hear his skilled playing and wonderful voice. I also love the setting there with all the gypsy caravans pulled around us and Mathoni is such a nice caring sort of person. That was one night at least I went to bed relaxed and without too much on my mind.
Thursday saw us at the new Spice venue. Katja and Tim had moved one space over so they could have the sea on two sides of the venue and I must admit it did look lovely. Katja said it was not quite finished, but it could only get even better. I love this open air venue where good friends often meet up.
We had just settled in when I managed to break my reading glasses. Tim was playing at the time and I so enjoy his sets that I was stubborn and waited till he had finished( even though my typing and applause gestures were largely a matter of guess work) before we made the dash to our 24hour supermarket to get another pair.
We rushed home again just as Lyn Carlberg was about to start his lovely soothing set. I put the new glasses on only to realise I had got the wrong ones. Oh I could see the keyboard wonderfully, but my P C screen was totally blurred. In the end I sellotaped the old glasses back together and chalked the whole lot down to experience.
Norris Shepherd followed Lyn, and I had not heard him in so long I had forgotten how good he was definitely someone to put on your To See list.
Friday saw us doing our regular show at Guthries and again it was good to recognise some familiar names as well as other artists who had come in early. We were followed by the usual musicians Moses, Lazarus and Quinton All good shows, well worth catching. Though Quinton will not be there for the next few weeks as he is going away in RL to visit his son. Sunwolf and I wish him safe journeys and a warm reunion.
Fridays are always so busy for us in SL. We get just enough time to eat after Guthries before we are back on to host our own place.
Steveeolio opened for us. He has such a wonderful voice and so much talent with a guitar that I really do not see why more folks were not at the show. We had a small friendly audience clearly enjoying what they were hearing, but I couldn't help wondering where everyone else was.
Gweeb had thought he got away this week, but then he ended up doing a stand in show for us as Cailidgh Spires who usually plays for us had pulled her shoulder and was unable to hold guitar let alone play it. Bless her, I hope she will be back soon. The Gweebster likes
to be thought of as a bit of a villain, but actually he is such a sweet guy always willing to help us if he can. It was a great show with plenty of laughs.
Our lovable lion Ringo played the last set of the evening and it was good to see some of the Robonuts in the house for a lively often hilarious hour as we all messed about and teased one another and genuinely had a good time. Our good friends Brique and Jed Tharnaby dropped in during the course of the evening too. We are trying to get Jed to play at the pub, but as yet we don't have free time when he does . We are crossing our fingers for the future as Jed is another performer well worth giving a listen too.
As there was no Cuddlers Cove at all this weekend and our RL commitments were screaming for attention Sunwolf and I decided to take the weekend off from SL. We will be back tonight for a show at Southbound owned by the lovely Kitty Rider and run by the equally lovely Crystal Robesphere. We are looking forward to that and hope to see some of you there.
This is normally where I sign out for the week,but there are just on or two things I wish to say before I go.
SUPPORT, anyone who frequents the SL Music Scene will have heard this word used often, and it is not just meant in the monetary sense, though I will come to that in a moment. I have touched on this once before but I feel it needs repeating. To put your avi on the stage and be in front of a microphone is no small thing. You are laying a piece of yourself on the line and it is good to get some feedback from the folks who are there listening to what you are putting out. Many venues Sunwolf and I have visited lately have had people in who listen but do not encourage the musicians in any way. It does not take a great deal of effort to hit your applause button or add a little appreciative gesture. You can get them for free at lots of places. Our own venue has a box of free gestures for anyone who does not have any, as do many others. It can be quite soul destroying to be giving a performance all you have and get no kind of response in return.Think about that a moment, how would you feel? for instance, if you were talking to someone telling them something that you really believed in or felt strongly about and at the end of what you said the other person/s said nothing. After all, if you don't like what you are hearing you have a TP button. I am not saying you must sit at your PC and applaud every song, but come on guys, lets show some enthusiasm at least some of the time.
Linden support is also a necessary part of the live music scene, without it venues fold. One of the things that has been so amazing about the SL music scene is the generosity of the people who appreciate it. Staunch support is often given to the charities that use the scene as a way of getting a little help for their causes and this is a wonderful thing. Sunwolf and I have been delighted to open two fund raising events for Relay For Life's race for a cure. For those who may not know, this is a team of folks headed by the hard working and dedicated Still Braveheart who are raising money to put to finding a cure for cancer. It is a really worthwhile effort and people have been working tirelessly in it's support. The there is Feed a Smile, helping little children in Kenya to get a meal who wouldn't otherwise be ensured any food at all. Again a worthwhile cause, and in fact Sunwolf and I aka Wolfn Hawk will be playing at Briques venue for Feed a Smile this Thursday at 2pm slt, and hope to see some of you there too.Those are just two charities off the top of my head. There are many more, all with sound reasons to ask for your support so do help if you can, but and I think you probably realised there would be a but....
even when the venues and artists are not giving their time or premises for free to these worthwhile causes they still need your help. Here I can only speak for our own pub, but if we are having these problems then you can be sure others are too.
Many folks say they love our venue and that is wonderful, thank you all so much for your kind comments, but we would like to see you here too, as often as you can make it. We only run 2 days a week and then for only 3 or 4 hours each day, leaving plenty of time for other places and other things. Please, if you have a venue you like to frequent, be it ours, or any other, make sure you go there as often as you can and give what you can in lindens as often as you can. Not to make the venue owners rich. That is a myth that simply doesn't happen. In fact sometimes venues run at a loss and the owners put their own money in to them if they have it, and if they don't the the venue closes. So yes, it is important to support the charities, but it is also important to keep the venues running or in the end the charities will also loose out, as there will not be venues to hold their events in. Really it is just a matter of balance and proportion as I see it. Times for many in RL are hard and money not freely available. Talking to quite a few other folks, and from our own observations as artists, audience members and venue owners, the numbers of people attending live music shows has fallen off quite a bit. Sunwolf and I love what we do, whether it is performing, hosting or visiting other venues. If the music scene in SL were to fold up it would not be a nearly so attractive a place to spend our time, and I know there are many of you out there who will agree with that. So if it is worth having then it is worth fighting for and investing in with our time our enthusiasm and what lindens we can spare. Let us not be the ones who didn't realise how good it was until it was gone. I do hope you who read this don't think I am being overly pessimistic. It is just that I have heard a warning bell and I wanted to sound the alert before it is perhaps needed, rather than when it is too late.
Well that's it for now.
As usual I want to wish you an abundance of all that is good, and to thank you for your patience as |I have tackled some tricky issues here. As always feedback is welcome.
Much love till next time.
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