Radio Radio...

So it looks like I'll be on the radio on Tuesday. The folks at Godfrey Daniels have a weekly show over at WDIY, and they want me to do a few minutes promoterizin' Friday's show.

Well... actually... I ASKED if I could come on the radio and promote the show. Weird story- a little uncomfortable, but ultimately OK.

It seems that the folks at Godfreys thought I was going to have a full BAND for this show, (even though I had e-mailed them a show description with the words SOLO ACOUSTIC SHOW as the header... I guess I need to be less subtle...) and were concerned that since I had done a solo show at the Wired Gallery a few weeks ago (whose admission price was $2.00) folks wouldn't want to pony up 15 bucks for a Godfrey's show unless it was DIFFERENT. Argh.

I have to say that this upset me a little bit. Godfrey's is so amazingly cool, that when some of the standard "music business" garbage entered into it, I was kinda disappointed.

Here's what bugged me:

FIRST- I have always ASKED that the admission for the Godfrey's show be AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. I NEVER have set the prices, and would be OK with ANYTHING that they would charge. (Remember that I only charged $10.00 for the IceHouse show, which included a TEN PIECE band.) The first time I played at Godfrey's (three years ago) they wanted the charge to be $15.50, and I asked if it could be lower. They lowered it to $14.50. Yay. THIS year, they jacked it back up to $15.50. THAT'S FINE with me, but I'm not establishing the market price around here. NOW- Godfrey's offers a very UNIQUE experience in its "listening club" environment. Do I think it's worth $15.50? FUCK YES, but again, that's not the point.

The artist payment deal is a 70/30 split, (artist / venue) which is VERY fair and nice. TO BE HONEST, I'd rather have the ticket price be lower, and take a smaller cut, say 60/40, so that the clubs costs can be covered. Maybe next time.

SECOND- There was a concern about me playing at Wired so close to the Godfrey's Show. This seemed kind of bullshit-ish to me because there are TONS of local players that PLAY LOCALLY ALL THE TIME, and do the SAME FREAKIN' TUNES and STILL DO SHOWS AT GODFREY's.

[Just as an example, last month there was a local artist who was playing Abruzzi's on Main (a restaurant) on the 7th, Mezza Luna (another restaurant) on the 9th , GODFREY'S on the 10th, The Brick Tavern (yet another restaurant) on the 14thth, and The Holiday Inn (a Holiday Inn) on the 16th. The show charge was $15.50 for his show. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that the restaurants were charging the same price. Anyway...]

Again- from EVERY INDICATION these local guys do the SAME songs, the SAME way with SAME people. IF THERE IS ONE THING I DO WELL- it's that I change shit up all the time so that each show is its own thang. With the book release this time, reading excerpts will add a whole NEW dimension to the show, NOT TO MENTION the re-arranged solo versions of my tunes.

THIRD- I was told that we "only" have about twenty pre-sells (this was as of last week) and that they were "concerned." (Keep in mind that the venue holds less than 100 people, so you don't need huge amounts of folks to fill the place.) I said that if there was any suggestions they had about promotion, I'd gladly help. (Remember that I've printed and mailed out about 300 postcards, and have made and put up posters for the show on my own.) I also said that I'd love to go ON THE RADIO and promote the show. They agreed...

FOURTH- I mentioned to the club that there were a few reasons why I was doing a solo show. I'm going to read a bunch from the book, so I didn't want guys just sitting on stage for a chunk of the night; some of the Geologic Guys were unavailable; I got RAPED by the IRS and don't have the FUNDS to rehearse and PAY the guys; I've never DONE a solo show at Godfrey's; and lastly I'm planning on doing MANY MORE of these solo shows, so I want to get in the habit and see what works.

Now remember- I LOVE GODFREY DANIELS, and am REALLY EXCITED to play there. It truly is a one-of-a-kind club, and the show I'm putting together is going to absolutely kick ass. The folks at Godfrey's have been INCREDIBLY supportive, and it just came as a bit of surprise when some of these comment were made. Since I was initially contacted by the club, I addressed their concerns and everything seems to be all right. Yay!

So I guess the point to all this is that IF YOU'RE PLANNING on going to the show- give a call and reserve a ticket, and if you want to hear me read a few excerpts from the book and play a song or two- tune onto WDIY 88.1 on TUESDAY at 7:00 pm, or listen on line HERE

here's the poo one more 'gain-

F r i d a y , A p r i l 6 t h , 2 0 0 7
8 : 0 0 P M

George Hrab presents:
The Entire History of the Universe (abridged)

featuring the release of "Non-Coloring Book"

Godfrey Daniels
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT,
MEMBER SUPPORTED LISTENING ROOM
7 East Fourth Street,
Bethlehem, PA 18015-1601
(610) 867-2390
Box Office Hours: 2 pm - 6 pm,
Tuesday through Saturday

Seating is limited- Call and reserve your tickets TODAY