Some you is, and some you aint

Well, how to start after tonight?

You know, touring can be fun, and touring can be tough too. Case in point, we played a lovely show at Safari Sam’s Americana Brunch in Hollyweird on Sunday, alongside some fine local bands: Lazy Brad Lewis, the Henpeckers, and the Texicali Drifters. It was a really fun gig, with most the other bands sticking around to hear us- which is always a good sign of mutual respect to honor the other acts on the bill- and it’s ALWAYS good to hang out with our pal Hillbilly DJ Jeff down there! Plus Dionysus’ Lee Joseph came out to say howdy, along with Pooch and some other pals in the area. So really, it was good to see new as well as old faces, and to play our hearts out for all of them.

Tonight though. Last April, I’d booked a fun little Monday night gig for this tour at Muddy Waters, the same place we played last time we came through Santa Barbara on a Monday night. We had a great time there our last time around, and fully expected more of the same this time too. Well, yesterday, we got a myspace message from one of the owners, telling us that he was having a serious ‘oh my God I f’ed up’ moment, and that they’d completely forgotten about the gig. Not on purpose or maliciously, mind you, just that the event got lost in a list of a jillion other things they had going on. So tonight was never listed on the concert page, nor on their website, nor did they advertise it, nor put up posters. Ever. Now, we’d had some press and were the pick of the week in the local weekly paper, but the article referred folks to the Muddy Waters website, which didn’t say a danged thing about the show, so…

So, we played to one person tonight. Actually, Jorge’s buddy’s dad came out to the show too, so there were two of them. But ya can’t make a living off of two folks. And so, friends, we lost our shirts, garters, unmentionables, and so much more tonight. We’d expected, or at least hoped for, a similar turnout as the last time we came through, which turned out enough to cover our hotel rooms, paying the band, and gas to the next town. Tonight, we made enough for a single short latte, depending upon where you shop for that sort of thing. So we didn’t make out so well.

Now, again, I’m not saying the owners of the place are bad people. They’re really incredibly nice folks!! But we just happened to be the one band that slipped through the cracks this time around, and that sucks for us. And we did end up having fun more or less either way- we played an acoustic set, with a cocktail drumkit, Jorge on acoustic guitar, Sean playing really low on bass, and me belting it out song after song, to our two guys there. The band enjoyed themselves, and that’s always good.

So, if you’re out and about any time near us on the rest of this tour, please stop by and make sure to buy a CD or two or a tshirt or workshirt, etc. That will definitely help us make ends meet on this tour after all is said and done. And really, if we’re to keep doing what we do- making music and touring to share that with folks everywhere, then your help will help us to make that keep happening.

Help us out, would ya? And as for touring, hell, some days are great, and some not so much. But we keep putting on our smiling faces and putting on the show!!

See you all down the road,
Ruby Dee