Acoustic All-Stars 2012 = Success and Mucho fun!!!

What a weekend!!!  

Let me just start here….. See, this is the 5^th year of the AAS and a tiny bit of history is in order to give you a better idea of how awesome this weekend was.

We started our search for a venue to hold an acoustic music festival at a place called Club Celsius in Park City. They closed down and show was a no go. Then we played at The Star Bar for a show opening for Joshua James and Benton Paul. We fell in love with the staff and the bar set up and got our first venue for the AAS. The first year we had a small crowd.  The second a decent crowd. We implemented the ticketing system that year.  The Third year, we opened the doors to a line down the street of ticket holders.  Then, discord with staff and owner at The Star Bar made all the people we were previously working with jump ship. We couldn’t ask our artists to rely on such unpredictable circumstances and had to jump ship as well. We thought, we want to go to where Celsius was again! So the 4^th year was at The Downstairs. This year we were able to get a few sponsors, make t shirts, pay for advertising, etc.

In the end, I apologize to The Downstairs for this, but we were miserable with the results. The Staff wasn’t friendly, the owner’s expectations were unrealistic, and the seating was atrocious. We had to leave.

The first time we talked to Mischell and Mario about having the 5^th year at Fats, we were at the end of our rope. We heard rumor the previous year of artists complaining that they were too good for a 30 minute set and that we weren’t paying them.  We were at the point that if this year didn’t work out we were going to stop. We also decided that the stress and taxes of having sponsors wasn’t worth it. We weren’t able to spend the time on making the fest the best it could be because we were trying so hard to make money. Unfortunately, we don’t make money on this fest. Fortunately, it is more fun that way. Weird I know. lol

Now, I mean this in the best way possible, but artists…we set up the ticketing system because we can’t afford to pay you. What’s more, we will never be able to pay you all more than you could make with your tickets. Yes, I know you’re being nice and giving them out just to get people to come see you, but that’s YOUR decision. We have had a few people over the years say ‘now if only you could pay us.’  Well, we technically do. You’re just not earning it. I’m sorry but that’s the fact. We give you enough tickets (and you can request more) to sell them and make a good profit. We give tickets out to get people in so the bar makes money and we keep the little bit of money from the door which rarely covers our overhead. We apologize because this year we just didn’t have the money for any advertising but IMAGINE next year when we do J

What you don’t see is that 90% of the attendees are A:Friends of the bar and don’t pay, B: Have Tickets or are on a list, or C: Come in late enough we don’t charge them. Honest math…..If we took our profit (Overall income  + our own merch profit – (MINUS) Photographer, Food, tipping bar, making T shirts, making posters, purchasing tickets (that we give you), and gas to hang fliers, pick up fliers, back and forth to venue all weekend, etc that would pay each band evenly $8.09. I’m totally not exaggerating lol.

I just needed, for myself, to explain that to anyone who wonders why we don’t pay you. We would love to. We really would. But the tickets were brought out to make sure you all could make some money. If you don’t we are not responsible. We also don’t mind if you give them out. But really, what’s the difference of asking people to buy them or asking them to pay a door fee? It’s the same amount. If they are your friends / fans they’ll give you 5$  J

Anyway, what was wonderful about this year was that there was no discord, there was no artists acting like princesses, everyone was on time or early, people hung out, ate, bought or were given tickets, and we all had fun. The staff was friendly, the food was great, the drinks were cheap, and we all left with a happy warm feeling.

We will definitely have a year 6 and it will be even better. 

Off subject for a second…….Last, I want to pay tribute to our good friend Ischa of Minx.

I have been watching her amazing stage presence and ability to just give her performance all she has and I truly look up to her. She is a phenomenal performer and I see her as any musician’s perfect role model. There are things I have always wanted to do on stage and seeing her grace and professionalism has been pushing me to get out of my comfort zone and just do it.

Last night I took my mic off the stand for the first time and sang Alanis. I was so scary. I thought sure I’d pull the mic off and hit myself in the face and end up bleeding, ruin the song, everyone would laugh at me, and Id go home and curl up like a dead spider lol.

It was amazing and empowering and I loved it.

Thank you Ischa. You’re beautiful and inspiring and your inspiring nature lead to one of the best performances we have ever had . Xoxo

Last!

All the musicians this weekend were awesome and we want to thank everyone who stayed for our performance. It was Sunday and everyone works today but the people who stayed for our set are the best friends anyone could ask for. We like to take smaller sets and lesser loved times every once in a while just to makes sure its fair and that everyone knows that side stages and opening the show are not a reflection of your talent but merely the fact that not everyone can play the main stage and not everyone can have the best time slot. Those of you who took time out of your busy schedules to stay and listen to the last band of the festival are our heroes and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You made last night end with a bang and we had no idea we could even imagine that outcome.

Thank you all again. Next year is going to rock your socks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out photos!!  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tim-Candelaria-Photography/305338682811887

Next. Acoustic All Stars August 11 at Rovali's in Ogden!!!

Our Dirty Laundry All Aired Out

First off, I want to say we are by no means perfect. Any professional of any trade who thinks they are, are sorely mistaken and are setting themselves up for a very rude awakening. Never have we claimed to be perfect.
Sometimes, it seems, the universe likes to give you the great, and then pull the rug out from under you. This is the universes way of seeing if you will be able to keep on your feet. We have known many musicians who fall when this happens and they are unable to get themselves back up. It is a tragedy, but for some, it is for the best.
Before you put your heart and soul into anything you should know a few things. 1: Is this what I truly want and for what reasons? 2: Can I work toward this if it takes all my life? And most importantly 3: Can I handle all the bull shit that is inevitably going to come my way from every direction possible when I am least expecting it.
If you want to be a musician, you unfortunately have to deal with the following on any given night at least once in your career and if you tell me at least 90% of these have never happened, they will or you’re a liar lol:
Cancelled shows, shows where you play to only the bartender (99.99999% of this happens when starting out but every once in a while you have a fluke show or last minute at an unknown venue), People texting during your set, people talking during your set, people laughing at something other than you and in some cases at you during your set, unprofessional musicians, unprofessional booking managers, unprofessional venues, free shows, paid shows, paid shows where the pay becomes an issue, agents who don’t come through, agents who come thorough with things you didn’t expect, agents with little or no skill, agents with lots of skill and bad luck, agents with great luck, bad sound, bad sound men, broken equipment such as bad cords, bad mics, etc, stinky mics, ill suited venues for your style, misunderstandings, missed shows for one reason or another, bad shows for one reason or another, missing gear, missing picks, missing songs, tough crowds, drunk crowds, obnoxious fans, no fans, great fans, head colds, sore throats, sore fingers, missed chords, missed verses, nay sayers, getting sex eyes from someone, getting sex eyes from someone you do NOT want them from, loud cheerers, no cheers, no applause, ‘free bird!’, ‘Skynrd!’, Crazy people, Cool people, new connections, LESS connections, clash of personalities, bad pictures, no pictures, bad video, no video, long drives, running out of gas, car breaking down, no place to sleep, bad moods, fights between fans, fights between people you don’t know, the need to put your foot down with a venue or a booking agent, firing people, hiring people, missed opportunities, being left out, being forgotten momentarily, being referred, being denied, being dissed, being complimented, being new, being hit on, being neglected, feeling like a #........ Need I go on?
Many of these have happened to us at one time or another in the 3 years we have been playing together and to me in the 2 years before that I played on my own. I’m sure Ty has a few things to add to this list lol. I’m not trying to be discouraging. I’m trying to tell you that these things happen.
So what do we do about them????? We are professional no matter what! We shrug off the bad, and look toward the good and we understand that in ANY venture, bad things happen and good things happen and good can not be constant. It’s the way of the world. But, if we train ourselves to rise above the immaturity and the high school attitudes we sometimes come across we are the better for it. No one can stop you if you are talented and act like a human being. You have a right to stand up for yourself, but no one has a right to act like an ass hole, think they are a God, to walk all over you, or to slam your good name if in fact you have one. On the same note, no one has the power to ‘ruin you’ unless you let them. If you are doing the right things, any slamming that may come from someone’s ego will be dismissed because you have already set a foundation that no one but you can destroy. On the same token, you shouldn’t do it to them either.
The point to today’s blog? Some days suck. Some days you will want to give up even if for a split second. Some days, you will hate everything. But there is one constant. Karma is a bitch. Lol.

If you want to be successful, surround yourself with promising and already successful people.

When I sold vacuumes door-to-door (swear to God it's true) I learned a lot. There are a few statements and sayings that have forever stuck with me. To quote a few, practice doesn't make perfect, "Practice makes improvement". Some people may not like this half empty approach, but I think it has a realizm that is important in certain situations. "The fear of loss is greater than the hope of gain." This quote is particularly interesteing to me because if you think about it and open your eyes, you can see that mostly that's true. People are more afraid to lose something they feel is important than almost anything else. "Dream Big. It's free." Nuff said right? And finally, "If you want to be successful, surround yourself with promising and already successful people." This one is invaluable.
Long ago, we realized that you can have 1,000,000 acquaintences, but if only 2 of them know YOU, you may as well have 2 acquaintences. BUT. If you have 3 real friends, you have 3 real friends. Ty and I have made it super important in our quest for the life of music to surround ourselves with people we truly enjoy, like, and have a respect for with only one ulterior motive. To really truly be friends with those people. This brings me to my next quote. I heard it on the radio one day. "Be nice to people on your way up because you'll need them on your way back down." -Winston Churchill. We have decided to base our careers on this quote.
We have been so privelaged to be associated with some of the greatest fans, musicians, and venues probably known to man that it's easy to live this way. Sometimes new friends come along and that is just fine. Sometimes we get an email from a 'Fran' (I just came up with that because our fans are our friends. I dub thee, Fran) telling us how much they love our music, or thanking us for free tickets to shows. These emails are beautiful. Never stop! It means so much to us to have people like what we love to do. I think a lot of people don't understand artistic endeavors. We work with some supportive people, but I think a lot of them think its rediculous. We get asked silly questions a lot in jest toward us.We hear this more than we hear "I love your music". I remember as a kid getting teased for singing. Even some family (not immediate) telling me I couldn't do it... Well... Guess what. We're doing it! lol Now some of those people have since found me on facebook and tell me they enjoy our music. And the ones I REALLY love are the people I was once friends with who WERE supportive of me finding us on facebook and online and saying they still love us :D *warm and fuzzy*. Then, we come play a show and we play a new song that we're not sure about, and you love it, or we are just really feeling it and it feels GREAT. And then a Fran (lol I'm a genius), new or old tells us they love it. All of a sudden all is right with the world.
As we get more involved with the community, new people turn up everyday and its really exciting to meet them. We think of most of you as famous in our eyes because we get to do some bad ass things! :D
A good example of this is The Utah Musicians Breakfast Club which was started after Eric Openshaw suggested a monthly meting with musicians at breakfast. GENIUS! Eric, Us, Taryn, and Candice started building a community of musicians on Facebook that brought us together at places we all choose. We meet once a month and talk about music, our plans, shows coming up, what we've been working on, and share ideas and sometimes join in on the events. This is exciting because we are all facebook friends but sometimes you miss those opportunities or you can hear more details in person. Some great shows and collaborations have come from these things.
It's exciting to be accepted in this group of truly great people, Kole, John, MIke, Taryn, Rick, The Local Landing guys, Eric, I can't even name them all,(sorry) and get to hear their ideas, the things they feel deeply for and get the chance to join in on these endeavors and help them get it out to all our friends to help build it. This community of music is something surreal. No idea is a bad idea. No one is turned away (unless you're someone ex-boyfriend stalking them or something like that. Then you have to leave. lol) Everyone is trying to be a part of a movement that I know deep down will be remembered even if only by us. We truly believe that the people we are meeting every day are so amazingly talented and smart that many of them are going to find a way to do what they love. To even just watch that is so cool :)
We just are excited to see where our lives go, what we accomplish and what we have to give up on, and whats more, the people we are still truly dear friends with 20 years from now. We love you all in a totally non perverted or innappropriate way. (except maybe Kole. Its totally innappropriate and perverted lol jk)