FAWM Blog #9: Showcase Showdown

For me, the FAWM season is now done. The songs have all been written, and the showcases have all been SMASHING.

The first, at the Newark Arts Alliance, was recorded entirely by Michael. You can watch the whole playlist on YouTube. (I had to scoot in after a contra dance, which is why I’m wearing my skirt and being barefoot.) The audience was very attentive and eager to interact. Which worked out awesomely on “Sea Song” - I had them humming along... it created a perfect ambiance. It was a great opportunity to play my uke and dulcimer stuff, which I felt would be too troublesome to bust out at other showcases.



The second, held at Extreme Pizza in Wilmington, was kickin’. This was a later showcase put together by our friend and fellow musician Jacopo de Nicola. Many thanks for his thoughtfulness and hard work. It was nice to have an evening showcase - and a Friday night, at that! Jacopo let me borrow his bass so I could play “Your Star.” It was well-received. (Especially by one of the waitstaff who I’m pretty sure was the one hollerin’ at me “I know that’s right” as soon as the bass licks started rollin’)

The third, at the World Cafe Live at the Queen. The staff treated us so well. The sound was great. The food was great. Our audience, attentive and sizable! Bam! And the “Stinkbug Song” finally made its stage debut.

Here’s a photo of us at the end, courtesy of James Simpson Photography:




And also a photo of Matt and myself playing “Let There Be Snow,” courtesy of Michael:



I gave out plenty of CD’s of my FAWM output and I’m thinking I will release the tracks to bandcamp. Just trying to decide whether to post just the 14 that are purely mine, or if I want to ask my collaborators if they’re cool with me putting their work up on my bandcamp. For free. Hmmmm.

Mostly I am proud. Of myself? Yeah, sure. I am. But I am primarily proud of our awesome little community. Three showcases. Many folks showed up at all three. Ten acts at least at each. Incredible talent. (As I frankly told one audience member, “the only difference between us and what’s on the radio is that we’re not on the radio.”)

But... incredible people, too. People whose talent wells up out of a naturalness of self. And the thing is that the selves involved are just beautiful and wonderful.

There was one FAWMer who approached me at a showcase, expressing gratitude towards Michael and me for all of our work promoting and organizing. There was a note of underlying worry. A kind of worry that says “it must have been such a burden for you.”

If you’d ask me, “Were there hard times?” I’d say yes, definitely. But I was blessed to be working alongside of some awesome people who shared them with me. “Did it stress you out?” At times. Life is busy, and enthusiasm is a poor guard against time constraints.

“Was it a burden?” A resounding and emphatic no. Because every step, good or bad, is part of the journey toward this end. I already know the outcome is good. I am already wholly convinced of that. If a difficult thing happens in the process, I can deal with it in its own moment without losing sight of the big vision.

It’s good, people!