Vermont Music Magic

What a week! I am kicking myself in the arse right now for having handed out lots of business cards last week with this blog on them only to have failed to post all week! No excuses - I just got wrapped up in a busy music and work week and needed to take time off over the weekend for some lake activities!

Where do I begin? Let's start a week ago when I attended the Venue Czar launch event at Higher Ground. Interesting concept! To recap for those who are unaware of what it is, Venue Czar is an extensive online booking system that links bands to venues and vice versa. It is streamlined and allows for negotiation of payment, perks, dates, etc. The goal is to alleviate the wasted time and frustration that affects both bands and venues - which, from being in a band before myself, I also found to be aggravating.

I think it's a great concept, but I wonder about the commitment the program will get from smaller venues that like having control over the relationships they build and others who like to reject streamlined ideas - even when those ideas can benefit the masses. It seems to me Venue Czar will be most effective if everyone uses it. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but agendas bounce to a different tune in Vermont. Regardless, it's specific for Vermont and folks should check it out and pass it along - www.venueczar.com.

Now, I certainly leaned about Venue Czar that night and got to catch up with some old music friends and chat with some new ones, as well as seeing the start of some great local music. In the midst of all my Burlington music publicity networking - where I try really hard not to be some annoying public relations mamacita - something happened on a fantastic personal level that certainly shaped the night into being recorded into my personal history book!

Speaking of history - here is a little background that plays in nicely here: Since my ex ditched me for some long-lost Phish tour broad back in January, I started going to Honky Tonk Tuesdays at Radio Bean for a night of music with some lady friends and to open my heart to the twang of the tonk lead by Chrome Cowboys frontman, Brett Hughes with a rotating cast of local musicians such as Marie Claire and Mike Gordon. This is also where I met my current main squeeze, Mitch, who was the drummer for the now defunct band Theory of Revolution. Honky Tonk night means a lot of things to a lot of people and there is nothing short of magic which takes place there - this I have seen and been a part of. From a healing night with the ladies to a place to fall in love again to an opportunity to catch up with and make new friends to a dance floor where my shoes come off and my feet turn black...

Ok, back to the night of the Venue Czar event - in the midst of music and publicity chatter, Mitch and I ran into Brett Hughes who was heading over to Radio Bean after the Venue Czar event - and who was still looking for a drummer for the evening. And he asked Mitch. Now, I am not a drummer, but I am a musician (I was a trained songstress in my former life), so I was aware of the power of that moment. Publicity networking halted, drummer girlfriend begin and I tell the rest of the evening with my photos: