Howdy folks! Welcome to February! Life has been a little bit crazy as of late. I’ve opened my studio for business, and have already met with a couple of prospective clients. There’s more work to be done, likely always will be, but JourneyFrog Audio Services is open for business! As a result, my amount of “free time” has just reduced to roughly zero for the foreseeable future. I’ll gripe more about that in the future, but for now, it’s a happy and joyous (and hopefully profitable) thing.
What’s the band up to? The usual, mostly. Playing shows, rehearsing, trying to write some original music, prepping for St Patrick’s Day, subjugating the Amish. Looking for ways to advance, to grow, and to find more opportunities to bring our music to people. As of this Summer, we’ve been at this for 10 years, and frankly, I’m beginning to wonder where my mansion, my gold-plated Rolls Royce, and my spot on Oprah might be. Weren’t we supposed to be embarking on our second world tour by now? Ah, well, the checks must be in the mail.
I had asked, back at the end of December, if people had any suggestions for this blog, any questions burning in their psyche that they’d just love for us to address. We got a few responses, for which I thank the authors. We’ll address them soon. But there wasn’t much of a response, apart from that handful of people. No shade being thrown, no rancor here I promise. But it does make me wonder if perhaps there might be a more effective way to reach and engage with our fans. It was right around this time last year that we decided to make a concerted effort to post on this blog, on a weekly basis. Apart from a couple of minor bobbles, we’ve managed to do that, and it’s been fun and all, make no mistake. But there hasn’t been a ton of engagement from the fans, and I’m wondering if our energies might best be turned to some other endeavor. We’ll keep you posted, of course, and we’d LOVE some suggestions. (Already had one of those, in fact. Something about ukelele lessons, and perhaps a monthly seisiun for Patreon subscribers. I’ll leave the first part to my bandmates who are far more accomplished with stringed instruments than I. The second part has some technological challenges, but we’ll see what we can manage!)
There’s something else coming up, and I’m nervous and humbled and excited about it all at once. There’s a local musician, Jim Pipkin by name, who’s kind of legendary. His music is directly responsible for this band existing. (Ask me about it sometime, preferably over a pint or three) Jim quit the music biz a few years back. It didn’t take. He popped back up on stages last year, and recorded a whole new album, “Bare Bones n’ Honey*. I had the good fortune to be able to attend the listening party a few weeks back, and I’m just kinda blown away. This guy can write some amazing music, with lyrics to match, and his latest is his best, I think. He’s throwing a release party/show for the album on February 13, and he’s asked Open Beta (that’s us) to open for him. We’re all kinda blown away, frankly, and deeply honored that he’d ask us to play for him on such a special evening. So on February 13, at 6pm, there are many worse (and few better) things you could do that to find yourself at The Chill Room in Tempe. Tell Jim we sent you, and bring some cash to pick up his new album.
I think that’s all I have in me this time out. Tune in next week, where you can hear our beloved manager ask that age-old question, “Brian did WHAT, now?” I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together. Let us know if you have any ideas regarding how we can tempt you to hang out with us more often!
What did the Amish do to you!?
Gabby beat me to it!