I had a new gig in Stone Harbor, NJ, not far from Cape May and the tip of the NJ shore. It was for an outdoor arts show in a very upscale town with lots of nice shops on the main road. I left PA in the sunshine before 7 am for the 10 am first set, but as I got near Atlantic City, the wind picked up, it clouded up and when I started, it was cold, too. I thought I had played enough of these gigs this winter and spring, but I weathered on, so to speak.
Most of the art was inside the stores so there was no visible sign of an arts festival, so I played to a few straggling folks looking for Sunday coffee through a sound system that played to the whole city block. I interacted with a few kids, and folks were quite nice, and somewhat surprised with the quality of the music.
The trip down was a breeze – Sunday morning and all, but the trip back through Philly was a drag. Luckily I had my leftist podcasts and Little Feat CD’s to get me back home.
One nice connection. An elderly lady was in the nearby Chamber of Commerce office and offered the use of the restroom there. And as I started my set at 10 am with just me and the sound man, she came out and started to dance on the door step. It brightened my day immediately. But the cool part came later when I availed myself of the facilities, I thanked her for ‘shaking that thang’, and she said, “I was a dancer and I had my own dance studio a long time ago.” I said that I should have known she was an artist.
And, as I was walked down the street during my break, I caught three folks walking along. One man said, “I like that guitarist.” I said, “Yeah, he’s really, really good.” He said, “Who is he?” I said, “Me.” It was quite a chuckle.
Anyway, it was a Sunday spent making music, with hopes of a check in the mail at the end of the week. The sound man loved it, as did the town’s coordinator. I got a $20 tip and I will get more gigs from it.
Back to Godfrey’s for the Open Mike, and a recording session for the OM CD.