MinneapolitanMusic

I have been working my tail off lately trying to get things ready at HowWasTheShow for a brand new site design. I am so excited! It is going to be very slick and pretty and, most importantly...way easier to operate. Which will leave me some extra time, I hope I hope, for my dear deserted blog.

In the meantime, you can look forward to October 1, 2006 as the day when HowWasTheShow.com will get its face lift.

In other news, we have been nominated for a Minnesota Music Award, which is pretty sweet! What if we win? Are you voting? And, most importantly, what on earth will I wear to the awards show? (Sometimes pretending to be shallow is FUN! ***LOL***OMG***)

There is a show coming up at First Avenue that really deserves some attention (not to mention some revelling in the fact that they booked almost every single one of my favorite local musicians into one night). The event is called Conrad’s All-Star Revue: A Benefit For Conrad Sverkerson and the Twin Cities Music Community Trust, and proceeds from the concert go toward setting up a fund for local music community members who are enduring medical problems.

The First Ave press release indicates that Conrad suffered injuries from a fall earlier this summer, and that he will be the first recipient of funds from the Trust.

Check out this amazing lineup of musicians "scheduled to appear" (I am wondering how exactly this is going to go down - a couple songs each? Everyone piling on stage? I can't wait to find out...):

Koalas, The Mighty Mofos, Tim O’Reagan (of the Jayhawks) with Jim Boquist & Friends, John Munson, Dan Wilson, Matt Wilson, The Retribution Gospel Choir (featuring Alan Sparhawk of Low), Kraig Johnson & The Program, Gary Louris (of the Jayhawks), Jessy Greene, DJ Roy Freedom & DJ John Smith, and other VERY SPECIAL GUESTS.

Ahhh!

Sound Unseen starts today! Sound Unseen starts today!

Yeah, I am a little excited. While interviewing the staff of the festival for this piece that came out in Pulse today (go read it. Now! Seriously. Stop reading this blog entry and go read it and then come back and finish reading this. Yeah, I'm bossy.) I realized that not only is the festival totally kick ass and awesome, but the staff are extremely dedicated to our local "scene" and that we need more of these organic, community-based events in this city of ours. This city that I love so madly that I can't tear myself away.

In other news, I seem to have some strange knack for running into Minnesota music-related people while out and about, and it just strengthens the argument that Minneapolis is an amazing place to live. Let's recap:

1. First I ran into P.O.S (Stef Alexander) at Kowalski's, but didn't want to bother him with the ol' "Hey you're P.O.S!" routine because he was shopping with his kid (who is adorable).


2. Then I saw Dave Pirner outside Trader Joe's in St. Louis Park, yelling at someone on his cell phone (reasons for not approaching him are pretty obvious, he looked/sounded irritable).


3. And finally, last night, while out slogging down Red Dragon Specials with my pals I got up to go to the bathroom and *gasp!* there was Slug! I proceeded to run back to my table, drink more Red Dragon Specials to get good and courageous, and then saunter over to him and introduce myself. "Hi, Slug, I'm a huge fan," I said, cheeks rosy. "Hi, I'm Sean," he replied, as I gulped down the realization that rap stars do not go by their rap names when hanging out at the bar and that I had already made a fool of myself. "I'm a writer," I blurted out, for no known reason. "I write for Pulse." (WTF? Who cares?) "Oh, that's too bad," he said, grinning. I swooned and panicked and suddenly felt the need to flee. "Well, I just wanted to say that my husband and I are huge fans," I said, shaking his hand, turning and running outside. Yes, outside. Everyone else was still at the table. Where did I think I was going? I have no idea. Thank god he didn't see me when I came in to slink back to my fellow rosy-cheeked companions. But it has been confirmed that I am a huge nerd. And my head hurts today from the confidence juice.

In conclusion, Minneapolis rules, I can't wait to make a fool of myself in front of more rock stars, and I love you all very much.

In writing, the hardest part of the whole endeavor is knowing where to begin. While finely-crafted novels and poems would have you thinking that each story begins and ends definitely, poignantly; real life doesn’t seem to work that way. At least not for me.

So where to begin, again?

My life got all ruffled up and then I somehow landed exactly where I was before. Turns out moving to Chicago was not the best laid plan, or at least not the plan that was meant to happen at this moment. It might happen later, it might not. For now, I am a Minneapolitan, tried and true, and in Minneapolis I shall stay.

I took a break from my writing, somewhat unintentionally, and it helped me to re-gather my strength and confidence, so bear with me while I work out the cobwebs and get my fingers good and nimble again. I have a lot to say about a lot of things, and I can’t wait to tell you all the thoughts about all the CDs that have been stacking up in my house, because I have a lot of both.

More and more, it is clear to me that creating – whether it be writing, singing, painting, sculpting, whatever – is a process that requires audacity (read: balls). Right now, especially, I am getting to the point where I am so in love with this whole avocation that I just hope to god I never burn out. Even if I never making a dime working this gig, I want to do it for the rest of my life. I keep coming back to this quote I read a few years ago, which surfaced in an interview between Tom Hallett and Martin Devaney, and it’s a quote I seem to drag up time and time again when I need a little push push nudge nudge. Devaney says:

We’re just trying to last. Because you see how everything can crumble. Bands break up, people stop playing. There’s a whole lot of buzz bands and flashes in the pan. I had two really great wise men talk to me about this subject. It’s all about the long run. It’s way more rock and roll to fucking be in there for the long run, and to bring it time and time again. Both Ike Reilly and Slim Dunlap have sat me down and talked to me about that. All you’ve got to do is hang in there and stick around.

I updated the list of other crap I have written lately, on the right hand side there, so if this post doth not satisfy your craving for MinneapolitanMusic-ness, read on my dears!

I’m back, and I promise I am in it for the long haul. More soon.

Why I am not blogging as much as I should, in the words of Albert Markovski from I Heart Huckabees:

"Motherfucking cocksucker motherfucking shit fucker what am I doing? What am I doing? I don't know what I'm doing. I'm doing the best that I can. I know that's all I can ask of myself. Is that good enough? Is my work doing any good? Is anybody paying attention? Is it hopeless to try and change things? The African guy is a sign, right? Because if he isn't, than nothing in this world makes any sense to me. I'm fucked! Maybe I should quit. Don't quit! Maybe I should just fucking quit. Don't fucking quit! I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to fucking do anymore! Fucker! Fuck shit!"

And Melissa Maerz, in her farewell article in City Pages:

"The truth is, you can't choose your own endings. If there's one thing I've learned from reviewing albums, it's that actual time doesn't work like a pop song. There's no intro or outro to anything, just an endless procession of minutes that segue into other minutes..."

Because, right now, my writing looks like this:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.