Radio Interview and live chat tonight on "Dimensions of Spirit" Hey Z Radio.

World of Faeries Fest by Mike Smith

Hello friends. My hope is that your Indian summer days you are happy, well, content and the same for your loved ones. I'm busy laying down tracks for my new album "Ancient Grace"which will be an all original solo Native American flute music album for meditation, healing, yoga, Rekei, massage etc. In other words the kind of CD you ask me for when I meet you at concerts or through emails. I am seeking funding as far as pre-orders at whatever level of donation is comfortable for you. I will also run a funding campaign on IndieGoGo which will run concurrently. There is a fee associated with the crowd source funding programs like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, but whatever way is most comfortable for you. You can paypal to support at hangguy@gmail.com. 

It is clear to me my music offers healing to listeners and my background, spiritual practice and training as as metaphysician, healer, massage therapist and mystic from a long line of Shaman's and Seer's, is for that purpose. As I do free smudging at my booth at concerts the emotional releases, tears of joy and healing are real and is an extension of my music and spirit. 

On that note join me tonight in a live interview on "Dimensions of Spirit" on the Hey Z Radio network. You can stream live and even join in the live chat. Program runs from 6-8PM MST (Denver). The link to join and listen is http://www.heyzradio.com/listen-chat

I look forward to your questions and comments in real time. 
Thank you for your support. 

Here is a video of Double-Barrel Train Wreck from my cd A Place Called Peace. This vid is from a PBS special on my music. What a great honor. Enjoy and feel free to share. 

Is about the music or the spirit?

“My music will go on forever. Maybe it's a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.” 
― Bob Marley

Final performer's concert RNAFF 2013

Greetings friends. I hope your summer has been peaceful and filled with good things. I’ve been on the road bringing my music to as many listeners as possible. In June and July I was fortunate to play at the inaugural Renaissance of the North American Flute (RNAFF) festival at the Smokey Mountain Heritage Center and hear and play with some of my favorite musicians and visit with great friends. The fest was filled with warmth and mutual support that I hope will continue to infuse future gatherings. It rained everyday but we toughed it out together. My workshop and performances were well received. My borrowed booth tent collapsed under the collected rain and many folks rushed to help me not be eaten by the tent. 

We do what we need to do as artists because we are compelled to express the inspiration and creative force within us. It’s like you sign up to be the tool and once you do it uses you and you’d better express or the energy builds up. That’s what causes the insanity, substance abuse, ill temper and depression. My audiences lately have been very open about how my music makes them feel. It seems spirituality is the number one thing people want to talk about. If my music helps take them there I’m honored. I don’t think it is anything special about me, just the creative force or source expressing more purely as I become more in inline with my soul’s purpose here in this life.

After that I headed over to North Carolina for some great gigs and to stay with two of my dear road friends Ed and Dawn. We have so much fun together eating, cooking, playing music and maybe enjoying a tasty beverage once in a while. I’m so grateful for the road friends I’ve made over the years of touring. Looking forward to even more. I did a full day in NC or a flute–playing workshop, master class, potluck and full concert. It was a great, if not long day and I loved every second of it. I always do. As musicians you have to love what you do, all of it. The grind, the touring, the fans, the questions, the lack of sleep all add up to our way of life. It is what it takes to do get your music out there to new listeners, keep current fans and make a living.

Saint Anne's Chapel

Another concert I did was in an amazing reclaimed Chapel called St. Anne’s Chapel, on a former tobacco plantation in Tarboro, NC. Here is an article: Tarboro The spirit and energy of the place was incredible. Turnout was wonderful for the space. The humidity was brutal and I could feel the sweat dripping down my back and legs. My hair used to be straight. Ha-ha. We followed the concert with a meditation during which I offered some of my unique techniques and drumming. The owners Kevin and Trish Wilson are doing a beautiful job of building a community of high consciousness in the midst of some entrained religious conservatism. Ble

ss them for that. I can’t wait to return.

I ended this tour with another visit to Handpangea near Asheville. Another great festival of hand pans with great music and a chance to renew friendships and make new friends. I led workshops on playing the flute with hand pans and using hand pans in Hospice. I especially enjoyed the Hospice workshop participation. My friend Robin Burk who recently certified in MCCT and who plays handpans was a valuable asset and offered the clinical perspective.

After some gigs in New Mexico I now find myself doing concerts in Iowa and the Chicago area with a return to the 9^th annual World of Faeries Festival, which I love. Gloria and David Yeager, the WOF organizers pour their passion, energy, resources and love into this festival every year and I’m honored they’ve invited me back all these years. Please let your friends know about it. It is in S. Elgin, IL northwest Chicago area and close to Milwaukee, Indiana, Iowa etc. It is held on the Fox River in a beautiful Oak Park. Magical. The theme this year is Airship Coud 9 Steam Punk and I’ve been busy on my outfit and hat. When on the road it’s a good idea to do “Pick up gigs” to increase your chance to play for new people and hopefully increase your revenue. Be creative about price etc. If you just say I need, for instance $500 for the night venues aren’t likely to take a chance on you. If you say well let’s do a door charge with a percentage split or donation et

My homemade Steampunk Hat

c. Like I said, be creative. Make it a good experience for the venue host and don’t whine, demand or deceive. Your music will have to sell itself. I personally love the challenge of playing to a brand new audience. I’m always open to a gig in your town like a house concert, church, clubhouse etc. you name it. No venue too small in my way of thinking.

Upcoming shows:
JULY 31 - Radiant Om Yoga, 7694 Hickman Road, Windsor Heights, Iowa. 5:30 PM play for Community Yoga Class followed by concert at 7:00PM www.facebook.com/events/179144032266059/ www.radiantomyoga.com/‎ (515) 270-4820

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AUGUST 2 - Batavia, IL The Holmstead, 700 W. Fabyan Pkwy. 7:00PM. Private concert.

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AUGUST 3, S. Elgin, IL The World of Faeries Festival "Steam Punk" 1PM, 4:15PM Directions: http://goo.gl/maps/NzCyi

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AUGUST 4, S. Elgin, IL The World of Faeries Festival "Steam Punk" 1:45PM, 4PM

Alchemy as a Music Metaphor

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho’s seminal book “The Alchemist” is a fable like story of a Sheppard boy searching for the meaning of a recurring dream. Along the journey he meets archetypes that tell him it means treasures, wealth, secrets but an alchemist reveals it is his own personal story that he must transform into the metaphor of gold. "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" is the core theme of the book. Coelho was met with failure and ridicule when his book was first released and after a “period of healing” so believed in his work he went door to door of publishers. This undoubtedly, his own personal transformational journey he wrote about.

Las Cruces Museum of Art Feb 1, 2013

This week I taped a short radio interview about my album Strong Medicine and also to promote an upcoming show in El Paso, TX Feb. 10. The interview is scheduled to air Feb. 9th 11:30 AM MST at www.ktep.org on a long-running program called State of the Arts. The interviewer had listened to and reviewed the new CD and had a page of notes. She is a pro and musician as well. She said to me before the interview that she is incredibly moved by this new album, paused then said, “You know Randy, you’re an alchemist.” She said I had turned so much love, pain, grief and loss into something so personal and moving that is stunned her. She shared a story about her own loss and how when her mother was battling cancer in the last stages she heard a bird singing loudly outside her window during a thunderstorm. Just then she received a call that her mother had passed. So when she heard the line in my song “Where Did You Go” about a bird singing outside a window, she knew I had been in that place too—where the artist makes the personal into the universal. Alchemy.

Las Cruces Museum of Art Feb 1, 2013

The process of writing and recording the music for Strong Medicine felt like mining, which is another metaphor for how we get gold. If you’ve any knowledge about gold mining it is messy, hard, ugly work that involves searing heat, tons of water, chemicals to extract the gold and a lot of sweat and dirt. Sometimes making art is like that too. You don’t come out of it clean, shiny and radiant. You need time to heal and recover too. It is an enormous privilege and responsibility to be given the gifts and talents to do this. You want to avoid sentimentality and cliché as much as possible. You gotta dig deep and mine that emotional core of each song in an authentic way. Listen to the interview if you get a chance. If you miss it the State of the Arts website posts past shows so you can catch it later. I only hope I was an alchemist of this music for posterity and for you, the listeners. Ultimately though, it has to be about my own, the artist’s, transformation from raw materials into something precious and worthy and my own personal transformation.


During the interview she got choked up a couple of times which is very humbling to me as she is a pro. At one point, when I mentioned my late partner’s name in reference to a lyric a speaker in the studio howled and squealed with feedback for an unknown reason. This shook us all up. The engineer piped in and said he had no idea what that was caused by and suggested we had a ghost with us. We exchanged a knowing glance. I think this will be edited out of the interview though.

Don’t forget I’m playing a full concert 3PM, Feb 10, at Grace United Methodist, 400 N. Carolina Dr, El Paso, TX. www.graceumcelpaso.org/about.html it’s Free!

Radio interview airs Feb 9 @11:30AM MST, www.ktep.org Stream live or listen after program airs at http://www.ktep.org/programs/state-arts

Peace and well being

Randy

Dancing to keep the lights on. Illinois gig travelblog.

“I’m just one little Indian/Dancing to keep the lights on
One little Indian/Singing to light the sky
Just one little Indian/Dreaming of the old ways
One little Indian/Looking for the Red Road home”—Randy Granger

I’m back in New Mexico from a Midwest gig trip and appreciating the drier climate, bigger vistas and Green Chilie. This trip took me up to South Elgin, Illinois to perform at the World of Fairies Festival with stops in Oklahoma City, St. Louis and Albuquerque. Being a musician in the southwest USA means you travel quite a vast distance for paying gigs. In the Atlantic northeast area, west coast and some part of the south you can book shows where you only need to drive 90 miles to the next town and sometimes closer. It is about population density and out west cities are far apart meaning you cover hundreds of miles—ah the things we do for fans…

Having just completed a tour up to Wisconsin I wasn’t too excited about a repeat 23 plus hour drive but a traveling companion agreed to come along up until Bloomington, IL. It helped having someone to talk to and laugh at how there seems to be a black hole of time between Amarillo and Oklahoma City that slows down time. Maybe it is the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere along I-40 that warps the space/time fabric. Whatever it is it is one of the longest 260 miles known to human kind. St. Louis is quite nice. I stayed in the Soulard District with its brick buildings and streets. I imagined how St. Louis must have been so beautiful in its heyday. I will say it was so hot and humid there that the word sultry didn’t suffice. The next morning I walked over to take a photo of the Archway to the West the famous landmark. It was so smoggy that only the top of the Arch peeked above the haze giving a creepy, surreal quality to the morning. I-40 through Missouri has giant billboards about every twelve miles advertising XXX Video Arcades, Stores etc. They are invariably located next to churches with or without steeples. One XXX is right next to a billboard for a church and a giant Bowling Pin. We looked and looked for a bowling alley or something but didn’t see one. What the enormous bowling pin is doing there is still a mystery. The XXX Arcades usually adversities free trucker parking and have names like The Lion’s Den, Pleasure Palace and Big Louie’s Too. Too funny. I was in too much of a hurry to explore them further.

I did visit Abraham Lincoln’s tomb and his home in Springfield, IL. Climbing the stairs and gripping the same handrail he and his family touched was moving. He had so much weighing on him I imagined he paced quite a bit. His tomb is gracious, austere and understated. Much like the man.

The World of Faeries Festival was mostly beautiful people in as beautiful setting along the Fox River west of Chicago. People drifted along in canoes and the crowd was dressed up in costumes somewhere between pixies and Middle Earth. I met some really wonderful people including The Gypsy Nomads and Knotty Bits. I heard some excellent music and got a chance to see other performers which is always a wonderful privilege. My own sets went really well and I was just awed at times thinking I’m bringing my music, my stories, and my culture to people 1500 miles away. I debuted a new story I perform with Indian Buffalo Drum where I tell the story of how Wind brought the first flute to the people because he was lonely and didn’t have a voice. It was fun. Playing the Native American flute and Hang drum for total strangers and winning them over is a tremendous amount of work and also a real honor. If there had been more people in attendance I would have sold many more CD’s—enough to cover the new Struts my car needs….yikes.

Such is the life of a working musician. We need to be paid for the work, investment, energy, rehearsing, preparation, travel etc. that we put into our act. We bring an intangible quality to venues. What we need from venues is to advertise and get the word out as much as possible. I usually send out my own press before gigs but the promoters get touchy about that so I stopped doing that. I’m not complaining about any one in particular mind you, just some thoughts in general that the outdated adage of “Well at least you made enough for gas money..” line we’ve all heard from bar owners for years is an attitude that leads to mediocrity and lack of professionalism. It’s like me saying well there weren’t many people out there so I just gave 40%. You know what I mean? Hey 2 or 2000 I’m giving all I got regardless. I, like many others, work really really hard to make sure when you come to my show that hopefully something transcendent will happen. You know, those moments when we all feel connected and know that an unseen inspiration is at work through this unlikely goof on stage. That requires a commitment and willingness on my part to get out of the way and bring all my training, gifts, talents and inspiration into focus and give give give everything. It is hard work. It is exhilarating and draining and it what I do everyday. And sometimes I make enough for gas money and sometimes I don’t…….ha ha ha. There is a line from one of my songs that goes, “Are you one of those legendary souls/Who hears God’s whispers?/I said I really do not know/Right now I’m living at my sisters….oh oh oh.”

Here is a video of various people dancing and a fire eater I made between sets. I love any festival where people feel free enough to dance. The song is Hang Jig from my 2008 release The Roswell Incident.

Be Well and thank you for reading these blogs.
Randy

DANCING THE HANG JIG

Ego? What Ego?

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being. - Goethe

I always try to believe the best of everybody -- it saves so much trouble. Rudyard Kipling:

I’ve been thinking about Ego this week. Ego has come up on my tour where I witnessed some exploding Egos, an Ego self-destruct before my eyes and had a radio interviewer project their ideas of being a performer onto me. Revealing the details of the distasteful acts is too much like gossip so I’ll spare you the ugliness. Suffice to say that thank goodness for my training. As one performer was going off on me complete with name calling and false accusations I began to get angry then asked for help from my much wiser soul. Suddenly a feeling of compassion and even embarrassment for the frothing ego in front of me took hold. I stopped and said I was done with this conversation and walked away....not as cleanly as I would like but I ended it.

I believe when I perform I am expressing freedom. The freedom that comes from knowing I am doing exactly what my gifts, abilities, dedication and hard, hard, work allow me to do. The urge to express and create is compelling for me. “It” drives me not the desire to be celebrated, recognized, win awards or even make a living. If the arthritis in my joints got so severe I couldn’t play any instruments I would sing A Cappella. The point being is that the need to express, the creative force surging in my dreams even, is strong and regardless of instrument or art form it will be expressed. The Ego cannot sustain self-expression or inspiration; it can only sustain delusions, self delusions. Performing, doing interviews, marketing and promotion are the vehicles we use as artists to communicate and connect with others. A song only comes to life for me when someone hears it. In that communication that is creation recognizing itself. And that is cool.

An example of how Ego stagnates things is when musicians or writers have “blocks.” Blocks, I think, happen when the artist thinks they can create something and so draws on their limited power complete with all the baggage and self delusion they possess. Soon the superficial reality of Ego gets angry and resentful that people just don’t get it and it feeds itself convincing us we are above and superior to everyone etc. ICK! What a load of compost. I know. I’ve been there. Not anymore thankfully. I know I must feel something real and let it gestate in me so that when I come to my music all that feeling meets with my years of training, insight, skill, muscles, breath and now a distillation of that experience is communicated through an instrument and ultimately a microphone, a recording, a product…etc. Then I have to write about it, send it out to radio stations, Magazines, Newspapers, Promoters, Booking Agents, etc. etc etc. and subject that deeply personal experience to criticism, reviews, sales and play charts, audiences that sometimes listen and sometimes don’t. So I ask you…What Ego? I’m self-employed musician, a Journeyman; there is no time or room for Egotistical thinking. Are you kidding me? Anyone who chooses to subject themselves to this sometimes wrenching process should be examined not celebrated. Not that I’m whining mind you. I just think giving a working musician’s point of view regarding Ego might be entertaining.

Sometimes friends will tell me, like 6-months after a gig, they really thought my concert or interview was great but didn’t want to tell me at the time because I might get a big head. I just laugh and say right driving myself 22 hours to do a gig is really A-list. So why do I do it? Because I have something unique to express and I’m completely open to sharing that experience with an audience. Volunteering at Hospice, adopting Racing Greyhounds, being my friend’s caretaker after surgery and seeing just how happy my music makes people sustains me and keeps me absolutely grounded to the fact that relationships are most important. They connect us. Recently I had a few extra hours before a gig in Oklahoma City and visited the Oklahoma City Memorial site of the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah bombing. I was so moved by the serene reflecting pool and especially the 168 empty chairs for each person killed. There are a few smaller chairs for the children killed. Wow. Talk about powerful. I’ve included a couple of photos I took.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope I’ve revealed something interesting, insightful or at least entertaining. I always welcome your comments.

Randy

Notes from a Desert Pied Piper

Nothing like being on the road to give you an appreciation for home. This week began attending a memorial for a friend who died suddenly of a massive heart attack in his living room. His memorial was on a late afternoon in their back yard and art studio. It was so hot and we were all squishing around the shade like delicate plants. What was amazing was how he navigated so many different crowds here in my little town on the Rio Grande. Painters, poets, sculptors, writers and of course musicians all knew Juan and we gathered ate, drank and gave our funny accounts of our personal experiences. I played a song on my flute that he had suggested a title for. It was moving and interesting to see how many people showed up. I don’t even think I know that many people……

The chilie fields behind my house are growing so fast. I trimmed many Mexican Elder and Pecan trees trying not to wear out my hands. Rehearing for upcoming shows is going well. Problem is when I rehearse I always end up writing new material so have to give myself a talking to. The fires here in the west make our skies hazy. The Mexican border town of Juarez is just 35 minutes away and when our monsoon season kicks in we can smell the acrid fumes from the 2.5 million citizen’s cars and huge Maquiladoras where our cheap electronics are assembled. The violence in Juarez is out of control lately. Nearly 300 killed this year alone from drug violence not to mention the women of Juarez numbering in the thousands by some accounts whose bodies are found in the desert raped and strangled. Very sad and disgraceful.

Yet there are wonderful signs of art and friendliness. When I’m in town I try to make it to our Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings where growers and artisans gather to trade their wares in an open market. Even when I’m traveling I always try to go down to the local Grower’s Markets and busk, or play for tips. There is nothing better than playing for hundreds of strangers and trying out your music. Today there were volunteers walking dogs available for adoption so that was heaven for me. As usual the children always gather around when I’m playing and I love it. I think this must be the first time they are hearing a Native American flute and definitely a Hang drum. They love it when their parents give them money to put in my tip can. Cool. I bought some summer squash, plums, chilie and fresh garlic to make Calabacitas. Yum.

Musically some great things are going on I think. My music was included this week on Hearts of Space a nationally syndicated ambient/new age music radio program. I was so happy as this is one of those desires that is in my things I want to manifest journal. My T-shirts with the Kokopelli/Hang logo are here and I have put a website to order merchandise and CD’s. http://www.randygranger.net/order.html You can still order the traditional way through CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.com. My newest CD “A Place Called Peace” is out in the world and I wish it well. It is all Native American flute music some with Hang, percussion and vocals. I’m very proud of this music and grateful for the opportunity to share it.

A couple of gigs fell through mostly due to the person I booked with initially was three persons ago and my contract is no where in sight or because my promised time slot was moved, trimmed or given to the friend of the organizer etc. Oh well. I believe everything is just as it should be so no longer fret. I uploaded a new song called “Chaco Moon Meditation” that has Hang and the mysterious Anasazi flute. I missed a chance to hang out with radio host Robin from NAMAPAHH due to conflicts of time. Mainly I had to take a friend to the airport very early Friday morning. Sorry Robin. Added some new shows to so it all balances out eh.

So check out the T-Shirts and give a listen to the new songs on “A Place Called Peace.” Say hi if you are at a show or festival. There is a special deal I’m offering to my MySpace fans for a few days. Order any CD and a T-Shirt from my website and I’ll throw in a free copy of “A Place Called Peace.” Yep free. It is my way to say thank you. Only one T Shirt per person please. I need some to sell on the road gas prices kicking my ass and all…… Just type in the word “myspacefan” for the deal.

Peace and unlimited happiness to you all.

Randy

Zion Flutes Fest Wrap Up

I’m back from a road trip to the Zion Canyon Art and Music Festival in Springdale, Utah. Though the weather was amazingly hot, dry and breezy—kind of like living in a huge blow dryer set on low—overall some really excellent music took place and loads of fun.

On my drive up, which is a 13 hour drive from my home in New Mexico, I camped out in Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Reservation of northeast Arizona. Canyon de Chelly is a deep, red-walled canyon with a small river running through it. The Anasazi and later the Navajo have made this verdant canyon home. Driving into Zion Canyon is always stunning and stirs every part of my being. Seeing the friends I’ve made again always makes me happy. This time I met several new people as we gathered around the campground across from the entrance to the festival. Rick Dunlap and his family on Djembe, the Tank Tongue Drum which sounded like a Hang and son Ricky on didgeridoo and all the others who were jamming up a storm made for a raucous good time. I volunteered to MC the open mic stage on Saturday and Sunday. I loved hearing the flute players from all over the country. Some really nice and original music was made.

Probably because I had a Hang drum with me several people asked me to sit in with them. Kiriel from Phoenix, Stephen DeRuby, the Dunlap Clan and others that I played with were all just really open and we all shared a passion for the Native American flute and its possibilities. Joe Young, a musician from Boise, Idaho did a fantastic job with sound and played an amazing set of music. He was nice and asked me to sit in on Hang and Cornell Kinderknecht on Bansuri played so beautifully both in his solo set and with us.

Will Hoshal asked me and California musician Vince Chaffin to sit in during his concert and it was just an hours worth of smiling on both sides of the stage. Thanks Bill. Can’t wait to do it again. Being able to do what is your passion is truly a privilege. All the dehydration, sunburn, egos, too little sleep and extremely long drive was worth it. On the return trip I camped below Sunset Volcano Crater north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Very serene.

I lusted after so many flutes this year and really wanted one of John Kulias’ ceramic flutes and several of Michael Allen’s flutes but since gas is over $4.00 a gallon so the choice was pretty clear. Buy flutes or walk home….ha ha

Here is a video/photo montage of Canyon de Chelly and Zion Canyon set to a song from my new CD “A Place Called Peace.” The song is “Apache Tears.” The CD is ready and available but I’ll post a note soon about a special MySpace offer….stay tuned.

Randy

Adventures in Gigging

For a while I had a quote from writer John Updike as my email signature it goes: “Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or doing it better.” I would take that further to say that is what an artist does. I’d like to think of myself as an artist because with every song, every performance and every recording is an attempt to communicate MY experience in life, love etc. Thing is I’m also a working musician and when summer roles around out come the requests to perform at Weddings, Receptions, Rehearsal Dinners…etc. When things are going well and my bank account can keep up with my bills I usually say I’m too busy or have a schedule conflict. Whew! Weddings are madness but so are the many other “gigs” we do like banquets, dinners and the dreaded private party. Recently I was performing at a winery/bistro for a reception/wake sort of event. The woman who passed away owned a huge winery as well as co-owning the bistro. I set up in a tiny little corner next to the bar. After the funeral service the hoards of people, about 300 poured in and it got loud and crowded fast. I’m blowing my little lungs out on flute interspersing with Hang drum selections. I was near the door that leads out to the Patio and at the end of the food line. A group was encroaching on my space more and more and I was getting nervous—they had their backs to me, a plate of food in one hand, a wine glass in the other. Of course one of the fun things about playing these gigs is that you are really paid background music so I must have been invisible. This man keeps backing into my microphone and then knocked over my mic stand which fell onto my speaker which hit a stool which then hit a collection of wine glasses of various levels of fullness. Dude! I’m standing here you know….. ha ha ha

It was crazy and the whole place went quiet. A man suggested I move my equipment further back. I answered a polite but stern,”No.” Anywhere where you, the artist, is not a featured performer has the risk of competing with Cappuccino machines, clanging plates and children. When I played the Hang for the Wake a group of children gathered around and started dancing. That’s cool by me, but they were bumping into the octogenarians standing in line for food. It was like a kindergarten mosh pit.

Weddings are nice in the abstract. When you are a musician you know there will be a request for a song you have never heard of before and can’t possibly be played on guitar, flute or any other instrument. You will be required to meet with the family, the priest, the dreaded church organist and get lost during the service. Of course they ask “could you do a special song at the reception?” And…will $40 be enough? Too funny and too true.

I get a lot of request to play at private parties and just about always say no unless I have my eye on a new flute. Heck, with gas prices the way they are here…..I may have to say yes. Let me set up what it is like to play at a party. It is awkward. Period. Unless you want to put on a show and have the chairs gathered around you like a small concert, you will be background. One thing that happens is as soon as you start playing people go to the other room. If you are playing outside they all drift inside. It’s nothing personal. People just don’t always know what to do with musicians in these settings. Another thing that happens is people will start talking to you as you are playing as if you’re just another party guest. Sometimes someone will bring their kid over and say he/she is really good can she sing a song? Of course when they start singing THEN everyone pays attention. And don’t even get me started on the subject of requests.

So with all these types of gigs you have to balance being background music, being a professional, with your need to be an artist and communicate what you do to a listening audience. If you think you have something unique and meaningful to express and share like I do you are grateful to earn a living doing your music period and I am. Luckily I am doing a fair amount of touring and traveling and had to already turn down some delightful weddings in northern New Mexico and a couple of parties here. Aaaawwwww. I will say that something good always comes out of where ever I play. They lead to other gigs or interviews etc. so as they say, It’s all good.

Here is a new video of the A Cappella song “Oh Shenandoah” or “Across the Wide Missouri” from my 2006 release Cloudwalker. I hope you enjoy it. It is already 102 degrees F here in the day. Ugh!

Randy

OH SHENANDOAH - A CAPPELLA VERSION