The Show! Why Come?

On Thursday next week, there's gonna be a show at the Hotel Utah.  Why should you take time out of your important, busy schedule and come?  I would say most importantly the music is going to be good.

All three performers, Katie, Gyasi and Starr are singer/songwriters.  They will each take the stage with just an acoustic guitar and their voice.  Each will play alone for about 45 minutes.  But they are different in good ways.  And their differences will play off each other and make the show interesting.  All three care deeply about music.  I have seen them all perform live and was drawn to each of them, enough to invest my time and energy to co-organize this show to bring people in contact with their music.

With a solid foundation of good music, coming to this event will give you an opportunity to connect with real people.  There is always an opportunity for shared connection between people during and after live music.  This can be a special space.  My belief is that the people drawn to this show, most friends of the performers, me and my co-organizer, Yasya, are good folk.  I anticipate there will be a positivity that runs through conversations and the connections made at this show.

There will be beer, revelry, good times.  It's your show.  You get to experience it how you want to.  You help create the larger experience.

I took next week off, mainly so I could go out and put up signs in coffee shops and hand out flyers, old school style.  There's a lot of love being put into this show, from everyone involved.  Even Anthony who was originally going to play, but had to cancel because his younger brother is graduating from high school on the same night, has remained heavily involved in getting the word out.  All three of the performers have put the work in.  Yasya and I have put the work in.  This is usually a sign something good is going to happen.  But you never know. It's the mystery of not knowing that's both exciting and uncomfortable.  It's the mystery that will hopefully compel you to come out.

I hope to see you there.

much love,
Anthony

The Show!

I put together and am now promoting The Show!  The Show! features Starr Saunders, Gyasi Ross and Katie Ekin. You can link to all of their music below.  The Show! will be at The Hotel Utah on Thursday, June 14th.  It starts at 8:30pm, and the cover is $10.  Come! It's going to be fun. : )

I felt compelled to put together this show and try to make it real after seeing Gyasi, Katie and Starr each play at "Second Sundays," the singer/songwriter showcase that I've been playing, once a month, over the last six months or so.  I'm a beginner, so I always go first.  But the performers in The Show! are the ones who go much later in the afternoon as the talent and experience balloons.  Starr is one of the co-hosts of Second Sundays, so I've seen her perform many times and love her performances.  Anthony Martinez is the other co-host of Second Sundays.  I wanted him to be a part of The Show! too.  And he was absolutely down.  But he found out that his little brother's high school graduation falls on the same night as the show.  When he told me this I was bummed, depressed for a couple days.  Anthony is part of the glue that I had originally envisioned, when the idea of The Show! first popped into my head.  But I've come to accept that Anthony won't be there, and I greatly appreciate his priorities.  I know, absolutely know that Anthony will be there in spirit.  He is one of the kindest, most positive, supportive and musically talented people I know.  I could tell when he called me to tell me he wasn't going to be able to play that he was genuinely bummed, too.  Being the stand-up guy that he is, he's remained committed to promoting the show, and he's going to try and come after the graduation.  The great thing is that, assuming this show goes well (I'm working hard on my positive thinking) so assuming it goes well, we'll have more leverage with venues to do another show and Anthony can be a part of The Show II, but we won't call it that, cause that is a shit name.  It will be altogether different, but make sure to take all of the great parts from the first one.

I just really want you to know, fair reader, that I care deeply about this show.  I've worked hard to make it real.  You can go to the Hotel Utah website and see The Show! on their website (see below).  On June 14th, Starr, Gyasi and Katie are going to play their beautiful, upbeat, organic, powerful, light, brilliant music.  This wouldn't have happened (I'm shifting into the future, post-June 14th) had it not been for my passion and skill, putting together an email and selling this idea to the booker at the Hotel Utah, who doesn't know me from Samantha.  The day Keith, the booker for the Utah, wrote me and confirmed we were on was an extremely happy day for me.  I put a lot on the line, and now it is going to happen.  I'm not writing this to highlight what an amazing person I am.  I'm writing this because I care so deeply about this show.  It goes straight to my gut.

I got pretty involved in the local music scene when I lived in nyc, circa 2006.  I managed a band, I put on shows, including a benefit show I was really proud of, I interned at a major label (Virgin) and an indy label (Velour).  I was completely driven to make the band I managed, Paragraph, into a national phenomenon.  My model was The Strokes.  I felt like Paragraph had that kindof talent and chemistry.  Things didn't work out how I wanted, at the time.  But, fuck, I learned a lot.  I learned a lot the hard way, trying to chase the cats and get coffee and feeling one moment of euphoria at a Paragraph show because I loved the music so much and the next day feeling totally depressed and despondent because I couldn't get them to agree on a logo, or even get in touch with them.  But I don't blame them, they were like 19.  I loved them, I love them today.  I believe in them today.  They are no longer all together in a band called Paragraph, but they are still pursuing creative endeavors.  I have so much love for and faith in those guys.

For a bunch of reasons, when I moved back to the Bay Area from nyc in the summer of 2007 I didn't want to get involved in music.   Mostly because I was suffering, dealing with panic attacks, anxiety and thick depression.  It took 4-5 years to even begin feeling "normal" again.  And thank the mysterious songs I replace God with that I got better at all.  So many people don't recover.  Many end their own lives.  It's a tragedy.  But you know this.

As I started to feel better, music started to creep back into my life.  But this time I was playing, and when Anthony invited my to play Second Sundays, I thought he was insane, a bad decision maker, and not a good judge of talent.  But I said hell yes.  Let me get up there and feel that terror.  And fortunately through that experience, I met Starr, Gyasi, and Katie.  I won't go on and on about much I love their music here. But you can assume it runs deep.  For whatever reason, I feel compelled to bring people together with live music I love.  Other people are not compelled to do this.  It's not good or bad. It just is.  I want people to hear wonderful music and be next to each other and feel connected to each other.  The first time I heard Gyasi play at Second Sundays, towards the end of his set, he had everybody sing along with him.  It helped that a lot of the audience were performers of various levels, but damn that was a beautiful thing, hearing everyone sing together, with Gyasi leading us.  I want people to feel that connection.

To make The Show! a success I brought in one of my colleagues from UC Berkeley. Yasya is like my business partner, only we don't have a business.  But she brings the tenacity, passion, intelligence, follow-thorugh and love of music that I believe are necessary to be successful in the music business. I'm so excited to see what is possible with Yasya and I working together to promote local, gifted musicians.

So come.  In all seriousness, I would love it if you take the time out of your insanely busy schedules, put Thursday, June 14th on your calendar, come out to the Utah and be a part of this.  Like I said, I want to do a second show.  But first we got to blow this one up.  I want to create energy and momentum with this show and build.  I dream big, but it takes small, specific, concrete steps to make dreams real.

with a profound love of music and its possibilities,
Anthony

The Show! Hotel Utah link:
http://www.hotelutah.com/event/120445/

The Show! My Facebook invite:
http://www.facebook.com/events/227520307347410/

Gyasi Ross Music (he just released a new album, like today!)
http://gyasiross.bandcamp.com/album/by-any-means?autoplay=true
(I recommend starting with Track 4, "Doing Fine". I love this song.)

Starr Saunders
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Starr-Saunders-Music/279245728771647?sk=app_2405167945
(I love this song, co-written with the also brilliant Robert Lindsey)

Katie Ekin
http://www.facebook.com/katieekin/app_178091127385?ref=ts
("Cuckoo" is amazing, as are all of Katie's songs.)

Love Songs to Troy Davis: A Small, Free Concert to End the Death Penalty

Sunday, November 20, 1 to 2:30 pm, at Solano-Peralta Park (across the street from the 7-11 on Solano Ave., near the Albany/Berkeley border)
http://g.co/maps/kzjav

The execution of Troy Davis on September 21, 2011, made a great many of us feel sick and brokenhearted.  Our government injected deadly poison into the bloodstream of a vital, breathing man and ended his life.  For those of us not involved in the every-day effort to end the death penalty, the execution created feelings of helplessness, sadness and the sense that we could do nothing to stop these brutal acts of violence.  In response to these feelings of helplessness and sadness, a group of us have come together and organized a small, free concert.  The goal of this concert is very modest.  Everything will be acoustic; there will be no amplification.  This will be a peaceful vigil, not a protest.  It is our hope that the music played for a short time in a small park in front of a small crowd will ripple out and send a clear message that business as usual must not be allowed to continue.  Our belief is that the death penalty is racist, immoral, cruel and unusual and therefore not allowable under the U.S. Constitution.

We want to emphasize that this will be a peaceful vigil.  There is a time for loud, direct action, but on this Sunday, our hope is that the sound of acoustic and unamplified voices will speak louder than a bullhorn.

We are so fortunate to have three local, up-and-coming performers share their musical gifts for this event.  I encourage you to check out their websites or just show up and be ready to be impressed.  The music will inspire.

Performing:
Anthony Martinez - website under construction
Starr Saunders - www.starrsaunders.com
Aerin Monroe - http://www.reverbnation.com/aerinmonroe



We hope to see you there.

much love,
Anthony