Things went well for my Music Monday on TV-69. I had some valuable time to prepare for the show and its performance specs, and Eve Tannery, the producer of the segment, was really good at letting me know what was going to happen. I was on several years ago, promoting the LV Christmas Show in Allentown, so I was familiar with the ropes.
I was concerned with the very brief time constraints that Eve had laid out, to the point of having ~2 minutes for each song. I spent Sunday morning editing the tunes, cutting out choruses, shortening instrumental passages and feeling comfortable with the changes. It’s the changes in the routine that tend to create bumps in a performance that is different than my normal, audience-driven shows. Lots of visualization, timing to the microwave kitchen timer…. I then had the luxury of trying out the arrangements at GD’s open mike on Sunday night in front of a live audience and some stage pressure. I’m glad that I did. It made a big difference.
I had to arrive for sound check at 7:45 am, and, while various tapes were rolling, I got comfortable with my monitors, etc. I was scheduled for two sets at 8:25 and 8:50 so I got to hang around while the crew did the news, weather and traffic reports for the morning, so I was well informed when I hit the stage.
Eve supplied some questions ahead of time so I was ready for the Playground CD, Godfreys, LV Music Awards, etc. so things were smooth. I had planned on doing Giants for the first segment and had asked Eve if she was up for playing Thunder Tube and she was game. She’s a dancer as well as an on-camera newscaster, so I was confident that she would jump in. She did and provided some on-camera communication during the song. My arrangement ran flawlessly, including my reference to the TV show itself.
I sat out for the next twenty minutes and took in more traffic and weather and a segment on the health benefits of coffee. I had the chance to chat with Eve and her partner at the desk while off air.
We started up for the last 10 minutes, chatted about RockRoots and a few minor things. (I really hate tooting my own horn – I’d rather play) and did Lessons From Pete. I pretty much nailed this one, too, and it was cool to play one of my songs, one that really means something, for a TV audience. It wasn’t perfect, but I had trained myself to mentally prepare for the next line in the song and I didn’t stumble.
The staff asked me to finish off the last 1:30 with a song that would fade at the end. It occurred to me to do Don’t Call Me Early in the Morning, especially for a crack o’ dawn on a Monday morning. It went smoothly.
As I thanked everyone, packed up my gear and headed out, I got several thumbs-up from the folks behind the scenes, including the weather man and the guys grabbing a smoke outside on the front stoop. They were my immediate, yet unseen audience and I got a kick out of their support after the gig. That’s was very cool.
Lots of good FB comments, and I’m waiting to watch the video for now. Just a little critical space for now.