Florida Folk Fest, Accolades, Sarasota Folk Fest

I had such a blast this past Saturday night.

Let me start by telling you about where it happened, a great little venue you must look up if you're ever in the Fort Myers area, Nita's Cafe. It's run by my good friend Nita Flores who dreamed of running a music venue for years and years, and has finally made it a reality over the last couple, despite some pretty hefty road blocks. The coffee is great, but she likes to joke that the whole "cafe" part is just an excuse to have a place to feature live music. Her love of music and art, musicians and artists keeps her going as she and we, "the village", continue to help slowly raise the profile of her business to both touring and local artists, as well as music fans hither and yon. I've had the distinct pleasure of playing there a few times, both as a solo and, more recently, with my festival band, and this past Saturday I was honored to be part of a really fun songwriter round.

There were seven of us local singer/songwriters taking turns singing our songs, telling stories, heckling each other, playing off each other... I'd never been part of such a thing, and I really enjoyed myself. It was a benefit for ACT (Abuse Counseling and Treatment), and between the door, the "tip jar", CD sales (we all donated 100% of CD sales to the cause) and the raffle, we managed to raise over 400 bucks for this worthy cause. Doesn't sound like a ton, I know, but in this wacky economy, I was glad to be able to help a good cause in at least some small way ("it all adds up", etc, etc). The people who attended seemed to have a great time as well, and I think I can safely speak for all the performers that night when I say thank you to all of you who were there. Thanks for simultaneously supporting live music and A.C.T. We couldn't do this stuff without you.

Nita's info:

(In the lobby of the Denny Grimes Building) 1870 Clayton Ct, Fort Myers, FL 33907 (239) 275-9000

You can find her myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/ftmyersjava, however it is undergoing some technical rehashing at the moment.

Another major player I wanted to publicly thank is Tracy Hostetler at WSLR radio in Sarasota. She's been working so hard to help promote me and other artists, spreading the word about events, hanging up posters, making calls, promoting acts on her show "From the Mountains and Beyond." I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I will be appearing on her radio show on Monday, March 9 at noon. She has helped me make some important connections and I am eternally grateful for her help and dedication to the advancement of independent artists.

Now that I've gooshed for a couple of my comrades (comradettes?), a quick update gigwise...

Just got word the other day that I've been invited to play the Florida Folk Festival on March 22-24, and couldn't be more pleased. It promises to be a great fest. And you know, their letterhead is so cool and earthy and the invite is worded as such that I am frankly very tempted to frame the thing. Right now it's just danglin' from a thumbtack I jammed in the wall so I could read it over and over and feel good about myself.

Well, the Sarasota Folk Fest is drawing near, and BK and I (my beautiful bassman) had our first official rehearsal this past weekend. Ohh, there are few things in this world sweeter to this songwriter than the warm fuzzy sound of an upright bass thumping along underneath my songs, holding 'em up that much higher. I've also been speaking with a fantastic fiddler in Sarasota, Mr. Keven Aland (yes, it's KevEn), who it looks like will be joining BK and me onstage at some point over the weekend for one or two songs.

Man... I am one lucky guy.

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House Concert News and Radio Spots

No, that doesn't mean there are spots on my radio. I keep my radio clean and tidy, thank you very much.

The house concert at Alice's place (Music4MeAndU Series) on Saturday night was a success, I would say. I had such a great time playing for a roomful of very cool people. My hat's off to Alice and all who attended for being so attentive, appreciative and participative!

See, I got this goofy idea on the way over to the show. I like to keep a balance between the more serious, introspective songs and the ones that are just meant to be fun and goofy. I decided I would sing "Tommy Robbins," one of my goofiest songs ever, in which the instrumental break is played on kazoo and slide whistle. I stopped at a local party store and bought a variety of little plastic kazoos and slide whistles, and before performing the song I asked for a show of hands as to how many people ever wished they could "sit in with the band." Nearly every hand went up, so I announced that I was about to make everyone's dream come true. I proceeded to pass a bag containing the plethora of plastic products (or "PPP", as we call it in the biz). Everyone was such a good sport! When it came time for the instrumental break, I asked everyone to go to it. It was a lovely experience for me to hear 30 people or so playing kazoos and slide whistles with me. I received a lot of kind comments after the show, and the CD sales were very much appreciated. Thank you so much, everyone, sincerely.

Next house concert is in March, opening for a wonderful young New York singer/songwriter, Amber Rubarth (www.amberrubarth.com) at Music Under The Moss concert series. I covered that a bit in an earlier blog post, "Cruises, House Concerts and Novels", something like the third of fourth paragraph down.

Also excited to announce a live studio performance/interview on Sarasota's WSLR on Tracy Hostetler's show "From the Mountains and Beyond" On Monday, March 9th from 12:00 noon - 12:45. I believe you can get a live feed from their web site:

http://wslr.org/listen-live/

I've also been invited to co-host a stage show with Grant Peeples on Friday the 13th, the day before the Sarasota Folk Festival, at Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bradenton, FL. I believe it's sponsored at least in part by WSLR, so I'm hoping they plan to air it. I have no idea at this point whether that's in the cards or not, however.

As for my novel, I'm on Chapter nine, somewhere around 15,000 words so far, and took a couple of weeks off out of necessity. I'll be climbing back into that in the next week sometime. So far, I feel very good about the progress.

Thanks for your support, everyone, as always. Feel free to comment or email.

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Jam Cruisin'

Wow. Who knew how much fun the Jam Cruise would be?!

Well, I guess all the repeat offenders who show up year after year did, for one.

Absolutely incredible. A week of killer concerts, day and night, out in the middle of the ocean. A music fan's "kid in a candy store" experience. No hassles, no worries, just a jamn good time, all day and night. Don't know if I ever got to bed before 3:30 AM or so. No, in fact I'm sure I didn't.

We saw a bunch of great shows from bands we were already familiar with; Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams, Galactic, The Lee Boys, Les Claypool, Emmett/Nershi band, Michael Franti, etc... And we also saw fun shows by bands that were new or nearly-new to us; Bustle in Your Hedgerow, Animal Liberation Organization (ALO), Bonerama and others.

Got to meet and pick with Billy Nershi and Drew Emmett at the Pickin' Party, and as for my own personal acoustic performance experience, I had the time of my life playing late at night with a bunch of folks I met from Atlanta in one of the kiosks where they sell you vacations and things during the daylight hours.

I don't know which was more entertaining, the shows or watching the reactions of the service staff, who are accustomed to serving and dealing with elderly folks on cruises where shuffleboard and hairy chest contests prevail, until they drop off to sleep about 8:30 and the ship winds down. Don't know if some of them had ever seen white guys with dreadlocks down to their feet, or served caviar to chicks with purple hair and nine or ten piercings in their face. Of course, by the end of the excursion, we had the bartenders wearing funny light-up top hats and mardi gras beads.

The bars on this ship were slammed, 24/7, and I'm not even kidding. I'd be belly-up to the coffee bar at 9:00 AM to get an espresso, and three guys would walk by with Heinekens in their hands.

Back to the shows: Bonerama was a blast - ooh, no pun intended. Four trombone players backed by a standard electric rock outfit, just whalin' away. ALO was a ton of fun, and will be added to our regular music shuffle. Bustle in Your Hedgerow was very cool and different, doing all covers of Led Zeppelin songs without vocals. The keyboard player played the vocal melodies on the organ, making for interesting arrangements of these all-too-familiar tunes.

Les Claypool can play the hell out of a bass, and he showed up with his usual assortment of wacky hats, masks and glasses. Michael Franti is not only a great musician and performer, but especially good at getting a crowd MOVING. Dancing, jumping, singing along. Very motivational and tons of fun.

As great as all the shows were, I think the peak for Kim and me was the second night. Keller Williams on the pool deck, then Galactic in the theater. Two absolutely smokin' shows, I'm so glad we bought the downloads before we even left the ship. Keller had an amazingly talented band with him, their stage chemistry was absolutely joyful and the jams were tight and intense. A bit later, Galactic just tore it UP, with guest horn players from New Orleans. One of their guests, blues legend Walter "Wolfman" Washington, just blew my mind. I love the blues, I've seen a lot of blues shows, and I was actually starting to think that I'd seen it all. I mean come on, there are really only a few basic structures used in the blues, they just get rearranged this way and that for a real good time. This guy, with Galactic whalin' away behind him, just blew my mind. I always thought that whole "playing with the teeth" thing was kind of a corny gimmick, but let me tell ya, Walter can play a guitar with his teeth in style! I took video of it, and am hoping it came out (been very busy since getting home, haven't had time to review!).

So it's back to the grind, back to finding some regular local gigs again, and back to seeking a reputable booking agent to help me take it on the road.

How are you?

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Cruises, House Concerts and Novels

Silly me.

Here I was thinking how quiet and relaxing it would be to take a hiatus, and I haven't stopped traveling since. We drove up through the Midwest and back for Thanksgiving, up to Boston and back for Christmas (both trips included at least one performance) and now we head off to the Jam Cruise in the A.M. for a week. Kinda weird, as I once went on a cruise ship and, though I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family, I decided that cruises are probably not my thing. In fact, upon returning from that bizarre experience, I had to almost agree when a fellow yoga student remarked that she'd "rather have a root canal"... But this one promises to be fun, as instead of things like karaoke and 'Largest Pasty Guy in a Thong' contests, there will be good music on any one of five stages at any given time, late night jams, and with any luck, opportunities to rub elbows with the likes of Keller Williams, Michael Franti and Les Claypool. Of course, I'm also preparing myself for "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry, man... I see you are one of those folkie types, and as I am an outrageously cool jam-bander, I am not permitted by law to expose my elbows to you."

OK, I would seriously hope that wouldn't happen, but it's always good to Be Prepared. At least that's what they used to tell us on those Boy Scout commercials that came on between the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons on Saturday mornings (yes, kids, back in the olde days we used to have to wait until SATURDAY to see cartoons. Gads, the horror)...

In House Concert news, just firmed up a new one in Panama City last night that I've been hoping to play for some time. I met Bart (the host) at Suwannee SpringFest several years ago when I played their songwriter's contest the first of two times, and we've been playing with the idea of me doing a show for him ever since. I'll be sharing a bill with an up-and-coming singer/songwriter out of New York named Amber Rubarth. You can check her out on MySpace... Sweet playing, fun and interesting vocal style, and she's much prettier than me. Before that, however, I'll be playing a house concert a bit more localized to where I live, in North Fort Myers. If you live in Florida and would like to host a performance between February 7th and March 21st, please shoot me an email right this second.

In case you were curious about the "Novel" mention in the title of this entry - well, I'm writing a novel. In addition to writing songs, some of you may know that I wrote and drew a syndicated comic strip for a few years called The Humble Stumble. I also wrote a column for about fifteen months for a parenting magazine and have loved creative writing since grade school (probably the ONLY thing I loved in grade school, aside from all the hot chicks). I acquired my first laptop computer just a few days ago, and am already well into the second chapter of my book.

See, on the way back from Boston (32 hours driving, yuck), I was telling my 18-year-old daughter about what happened to me back when I was a runaway kid on the streets at 16, what led up to it and how I got through it. By the time I finished telling her the story, I realized I'd been talking for nearly two hours and that she had been literally on the edge of her seat the whole time. Sooo, now I've got my topic. You music fans are the only ones at this point who'll know what it's really about, at least for now, because I'm not planning on being too forthcoming about the fact that it's heavily based on my own past.

I've also been tooling around with the idea of doing a comic book adventure featuring the characters from my formerly-syndicated strip. Gonna send them on a road trip around the country playing house concerts. Don't ask me where the inspiration comes from.

Meanwhile, off we go. And do think about that house concert thing, wherever you live. One never knows.

Thanks for reading and listening!

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Thanksgiving Road Trip, Dawgs, YouTube video, etc

Taking a bit of a hiatus from gigging of late, we took the van on a Thanksgiving pleasure cruise up through Georgia to Berea KY, Sylvania OH, a zig back through Paducah and a zag through Nashville, then back home. Played a show in Ryland KY, got together with old friends and family to pick, sing and reminisce, stuffed our faces on Thanksgiving fodder... O yeah.

Sidebar for microbrew aficionados: I recommend the brew sampler at Big River Brewery in Nashville. They bring you seven smallish glasses of beer, all different and all delicious. The amber was my fave, so I ordered one up and gladly handed the keys to Kim.

Speaking of my honey, she acquired a 100-year-old German fiddle during a fun after hours bluegrass jam at 'Music Makers' in the Artisan District in Berea. The thing sounds so sweet and sports some fantastic patina. I love old instruments that have so many stories to tell. There was an 11-year old girl there who sang her heart out in a style similar to Dolly Parton, and her yodel was adorable... She was GOOD! Very cute, too. Her mother looked so proud, and as a parent of two grown girls myself, all I could think was "thirteen is right around the corner - be proud, and be prepared!"

Living in Florida since 2001, it was fun to touch snow for the first time in several years when we stopped for fuel one evening in rural Tennessee. Being the eternal little boy in spirit, the first thing I did was throw a snowball at my love while she was walking the dog. To my surprise she returned fire, so I retreated, screaming and laughing, which instantly turned to cursing and b*tching upon stepping in poo. As I dealt with that pleasantry for quite a few minutes, a specific line from the Rolling Stones' "Sweet Virginia" did donuts around my frontal lobe...

We brought our neurotic dog Sadie on this trip, and will be taking her on the next one as well, not because we love all the convenience of traveling with pets, but simply because she is neurotic. Our friends will board our black bear of a lab, Sophie, without batting an eye. Sophie is older and hangs out, loves everyone, minds her business. She's the perfect "porch dawg." If I had me a wooden house in the hills on a dirt road with a big ol' front porch, you can bet she'd be lying next to me while I plunked my banjo in a big old rockin' chair. Sadie, on the other hand, is younger and quite fragile. She came from a shelter and undoubtedly a sordid beginning; she is super sweet and just as sensitive, but has this boundless nervous energy and a tail like an iron billyclub that never stops swinging in the direction of shins, knees, wine glasses and poor Sophie's face... She will run off given the opportunity (though she always returns), and she DIGS. If anyone has any clue how to cure a dog of digging, please let me know and I will beat a path to your door.

I look forward to the next road trip to Boston for Christmas. Didn't know about it soon enough to book any shows, though, so if you're up that way and know of a good venue, please gimme a shout at booking@royschneider.com!

In other news, I recently uploaded a video to YouTube. It's a series of clips from my solo/trio performance at Riverhawk in November. I've got a mic in my face for a lot of it, but I was very grateful that someone actually shot some video I could use. You can see that at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihY1Z33Ca0

Looking at all I've babbled, I'm thinking I should probably not blog or write newsletters right after drinking two espressos...

I leave you now to return to your day as I wring my hands and throw my head back, laughing heartily as I continue to plot my descendence upon various parts of the United States.

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Dust Settlement after Riverhawk Fest

Man...

Whatta wacky week.

From an almost-comically misfit solo gig at a jazz club one night to a full band appearance at a gorgeous outdoor bluegrass festival a couple nights later... Then a flatteringly well-attended solo/trio show on Saturday morning, then hotfoot it back to the solo bar scene on Monday, one of the busiest summer Monday bar nights I've seen around here in ages. I likes to be busy, and am looking quite forward to tourist/holiday season. This boy's ready for touring, still working on the particulars.

More about Riverhawk specifically, though... Wonderful fest in the midst of large Live Oak trees, great weather and musicians galore. Of course, if you're like me and you tend to stalk the grounds at these things seeking jam sessions until you are the Last Picker Standing, you might want to have a coat handy by around 2 AM. It gets C.O.L.D! This festival also had the best-attended kids tent I've ever seen, and there was even a gigantic trapeze setup that anyone could try with the assistance of the guys running it. I didn't get to it this time, but next time for sure, long as someone brings lots of tequila.

You know, when you're in a conversation with someone at a festival who you know saw your band play, it's almost expected that they will say they enjoyed it, in the interest of being polite. But when a total stranger makes a point of tapping your arm in a crowd and saying "hey, saw your set, really enjoyed it!"... Well, that makes me feel especially warm and fuzzy. Thanks to everyone who came to our shows over the weekend, and huge thanks to Mitch, Garrett and the Lind family for having us out and for all they do.

Those after-hours picking sessions are always a blast, in which I tend to mostly play mandolin so as to avoid having to "call" the songs. By and large, this is a crowd that plays traditional bluegrass, and while I enjoy the heck out of playing along with the stuff, I don't know a lot of those lyrics from start to finish. So I just chop and chunk and diddle-diddle away, trading licks and vocal harmonies with strangers on banjos and fiddles for hours on end. Matter of fact, at MagnoliaFest a couple of weeks ago, I was pickin' in camp with a phenomenally good banjo player well into the wee hours, having no idea that I would see him onstage with the legendary Peter Rowan the next morning. His name is Billy Gilmore, as it turns out, and I hope to cross paths with him again.

Among the new fave music I brought home from Riverhawk is The Steel Drivers... Fronted by singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton and supported strongly Tammy Rogers (fiddle), Richard Bailey (banjo), Mike Fleming (upright bass) - and usually with mandolinist/vocalist Mike Henderson, who was not in attendance - these guys blew my mind with their rich vocal harmonies and flawless, high-energy picking. Chris' strong lead vocal style and overall presence reminded me a lot of my old partner, Gregg Aranda, the guy who showed me the ropes in this business of procuring and performing gigs... But I digress. If you're not familiar with The Steel Drivers, definitely Google 'em!

In songwriter news: I've written a total of three new songs I'm quite satisfied with in the past eleven days. Because I have a ton of other stuff to catch up on and no management (yet), I find that I start to feel anxious and guilty for spending time working on new material. You know, like "the door hinge needs oil, the house needs a-paintin', and here you sit on yer butt with that damn guit-box!" But I have to remember, I suppose, that this is what I do for a living nowadays. A meager living, for sure, but it keeps food on the table and my fingers out of the cookie jar.

...Which reminds me, it's my night to cook, so I'd better get off to the market. I'm thinking some kinda grilled fish and steamed spinach. Mmmmm...

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Post-Telluride and Fur Peace Ranch Whirlwind

Proud to announce I was awarded 2nd place at the Telluride acoustic blues competition. I was given a Seagull guitar and a couple hundred bucks, which helped toward the bar tab on the return flight (I'm a bit of a nervous flyer). There were some very good players there, and the competition was tough.

For those unfamiliar, Telluride is a gorgeous valley in the Colorado rocky mountains. Nowhere else have I stood sweating in the sun in a T-shirt while looking up at snow-capped sparkling mountain tops. Amazing.

My darling Kim and I returned from Telluride with about a 24-hour window to unpack, do laundry, play with the dawgs, re-pack and get on the road to Kentucky. Played a gig at her dad's tavern in Ryland Heights, a kind of out-of-the-way rural area in the hills. As one who has played in bars and every other conceivable type of venue over the last decade, I can tell you this was about the most attentive bar audience ever. It ranked among my best bar gigs, and a good time was had by all. Nobody was thrown through any windows or anything, so I look forward to playing there in the future. Kim's brother, Mark, videotaped the whole thing, so hopefully I will have a video clip or two to add to the site before long.

Morning came early after the gig... I was puffy-eyed and on the road by 7:00 AM to make the 3.5-hour drive to Pomeroy, Ohio, to Fur Peace Ranch, a half-gallon of coffee in tow.

What a fantastic weekend! Nothing but guitars, guitars and more guitars... And guitar players to play them. And campfires, and great food, and beautiful surroundings, and much comeraderie... And me with the only mandolin in town, I got to hog the light a little and be sort of the standing mando player in most any jams that broke out. Made a lot of friends, really enjoyed getting to meet Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna), as well as Warren Haynes (Government Mule, Allman Brothers, etc). Warren put on a helluva show Saturday night in the intimate 200-seat Fur Peace Station (Warren doesn't play many places this small these days!) and was joined by Jorma and Jack in the second set for a real treat of a show. I will post a picture or two in the "photos" section soon, so please have a look!

Warren also knows a few hilarious banjo jokes, those and many more of which were cracked readily 'round the gang (including from banjo players) while cheesing for our group photo at the end of the weekend. Good timing, as it kept everyone smilin' big for the cameras!

Also met and enjoyed the talents of Spencer Bohren over the weekend. Spencer is a very cool, talented and soulful musician, storyteller and music historian from New Orleans. His lap steel playing was especially captivating, and I took some video of him playing on the porch Monday morning. If I can get his permission, I will put it on YouTube and create a link to it from my site.

Spencer joined Warren, Jorma and Jack for the encore at the Saturday show, and it was sweet sweet stuff for the discriminating ear. His playing inspired me to blow the dust off my old lap steel guitar when I got home... I've had the thing for at least 15 years, and I'm finally starting to get sounds out of it that I like! I hope to add some lap steel tunes into my repertoire once I get more comfortable with the instrument.

Perhaps one of the best entertainment features of the Fur Peace weekend, for me, was lounging around the deck after lunch and chatting with Brian Farmer, Warren's right-hand-man. That man can tell stories from the road that will have you in tears laughing, and I can only hope we cross paths again.

And now, it's back to the grindstone! Got to dig up some local gigs and get into the House Concert listings. Ciao.

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