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From: sk~te.com (Rod Thomas/Sandra Teare)
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 00:33:56 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Off to a good start

Hey harpers,

Other people's tales of "first nights out" have been an inspiration to
me, so I thought I'd share two. Last week was an eventful one for me and
Chris (my new guitar playing partner). On Tuesday morning, we played
publicly foir the first time. We were live on WERS (a college radio
station here in Boston) and on Saturday evening we played at a quitar
workshop-store-school in Waltham called Luthier's. They had a coffee house
setting there. We filled the place and played two 40 minite sets. Both
events went great, and I've now received my first check for singing and
playing the harp. (Perhaps I'll pick up a new lure for my tackle box).

My biggest concern at the first event was that I'd choke majorly ie:
stumble obviously, and then "contract" musically to my abilities of
yesteryear. That didn't happen. Our practice really helped. Together,
our biggest worry was that nervousness could cause one of us to forget a
verse, or otherwise lose our place in a tune. Happily, there were no train
wreaks. The recording studio was a cool place, and the interviewer was
great. We were both able to relax with her, focus on the music, and forget
about the airwaves. I also may have earned a new nickname. We'll see if
it sticks. Our hostess asked where we'd been playing so far. I replied
"In my basement mostly" then I made a crack about "exposing ourselves to
radon for you, our listening public" under my breath. She jumped on the
line, and I've been "Rod Radon", "the atomic harp player" ever since. I'll
see if I can live up to the name.

We had the same concerns a the Luthier's on Saturday, since we'd be
performing twice as long, and in front of an intimately close audience.
Again things went just fine. (Chris and I played at a number of open mics
before these shows to get used to our performance jitters). I sort of
spaced out on one tune, but caught myself, closed my eyes and grabbed back
my focus. I had to close my eyes a number of times to concentrate. By the
end of the night, we were both pretty tired. Chris passed on a few solo
opportunities before we were through, and I barely made it to the end of a
couple of my own.

One thing that really plagued me throughout the night was a dry dry
mouth. I think nerves were the biggest factor here. I was wetting my
whistle with cool water and hot coffee. I imagine the coffee was a big
mistake. Anyone out there have a recommendation for a mouth wetting
beverage that really keeps the mouth nice and juicy?

The main thing I'm looking forward to in future performances is a
growing musical confidence. I played just fine at those two events, but I
know I've played hotter licks here and there while practicing at home. The
more I can bring those hotter licks to the stage the happier I'll be.

All you Boston area Harp-lers can check us out next Sept. 22 at the
Colonial Inn in Concord. We'll be the featured act at their open Mic
night. Our repetoire is pretty varied. Come to think of it, there isn't a
real blues tune in the bunch yet. We do some gospel stuff, some celtic
stuff, an a cappella tune, some country, some folk, some ballads, and some
rock. I sing harmony, and I sing two of the songs myself. Maybe I'll see
you there.

adios,
Rod

- --
Rod Thomas email: sk~te.com