Basement---Thirsty Pagan---Attentive Listeners

I may seem like I deserve your pity as I sit alone on my corner stage at the Thirsty Pagan, playing to an audience that is seemingly trying to out do me in the volume department and no one claps at the end of songs. I'm like a jukebox; It's on, everyone knows it's on, but no one came to listen to the jukebox.

And I love it.

I can remember when I was just learning to play the guitar, I wanted to play for some people to get used to the idea of playing for people, so I drove to a nearby park that had heavy traffic. I would sit on the bench for hours, many days a week, and just play. Some people stopped, most people didn't, but I wasn't there to get them to stop, I was there to get myself comfortable playing outside of my basement.

14yrs later, I still need a place where I can just play and not worry about people listening. The Pagan has become a wonderful spot for me to work out new songs, new techniques, etc.,  I don't mean that every song is a train wreck, I bring in 1 to 2 new songs to test out, but you get the idea.

I think you need a place between the basement or practice space and attentive listeners. A place to see if you got down what you've been working on, to see if that song really is completed.  A place to forget your lyrics or mess up the guitar part, a place to experiment.

I can safely say that the Thirsty Pagan is the most comfortable place I play.  People do enjoy the music from what I can gather based on tips and CD sales and mostly from the waitresses...if no one complains, if no one notices, than you've done a great job.

I've also learned 1 other thing: It's tricky to get people to leave when you want them to.

I play form 6-9p and I get paid from a percentage of the restaurant/bar, so I want people to pay their bill before 9p. I don't have a solution to this just yet, but I'm working on some theories. Do I play a bunch of slow songs, or play a bit sloppier, or do I get real loud, or maybe all of the above? Either way I do have a new appreciation for that server who comes up and says, "my shift is over, can you give me my tip".

Here's to the Pagan!

Every last Saturday of the month.