It was a Cam and Jessie host the Super Robertson Supper Show night... they try to call it the Cam and Jesse Supper Show but they are far too poor promoters to get away with that nonsense. I had emailed the boys earlier in the month asking them if they still wanted to do the show, as it seemed to me like perhaps they had lost interest and were only doing the show because they said they would. As a leader i have to ask these questions. I have been in bands with people that have long since lost interest in the band but yet refuse to quit because they don't want to lose an option... sometimes artists are worse than children (which i have 3 of) when it comes to understanding what you have and what you want. For the record they want to keep doing it, and I'm happy to have them.
I believe in Cam and Jesse, and to their credit they have kept up their end of the bargain... they do on original show every month. Now as the leader i need to understand that doing super robertson supper shows time after time is no easy operation on the psyche of your average aspiring songwriting performer dude... I get that. So they are not good at promoting the show. Not a reflection of the talent needed to host a supper show... most good artists are shitty at promoting themselves, and it is a hard cycle for sure. It goes like this... do a whole tone of work to get your shit out there and get no response what so ever leaving you with questions of your own validity. And then every once in a while you get some review where some person tars and feathers one minor aspect of what you do and you are left to digest the everlasting internet ramifications of the whole fiasco, and you start asking yourself why do you do this.
So just playing a supper show is easy even though it is hard... you have the stage and your songs and you can ridicule great drummers until they swear to never come back and play with you and you can talk about your fore skin and how to grow it back as people come in and sit down with their dinner... different and entertaining in an Andy Kaufman kind of way.
The Music psychologist in me has a plan... i have been laying out of the Cam and Jesse supper show planning. I think it's time for me to start booking guest for them to help "rattle some chains". I always found on my end that when we play with somebody we don't know then the band is on their best behaviour... it's that classic first impression game. You and be a total ass to a loved one but yet be open and loving to a complete stranger... very human.
Obviously i have dreams, and i have big plans for the Super Robertson Supper Show, and one of the grand themes i hope to explore is musical conversation with complete strangers. Part of me is thinking of trying to pitch a radio show to the CBC about having various Canadian musicians come together to share in improvisations live on stage and then perhaps talk about the experience after wards. Perhaps Cam and Jesse should handle the singer songwriters within their form and i can deal with the singers and instrumentalists from the SR and collective songbook.
Am I an insane maniac? A worthless toad who should just be ignored until he hops away to another scene? A visionary trying to breath life back into the idea of local live music?
Meh... I'll do what i do.
Cam and Jesse and Shawn were rocking it:
they also had Caleb Stull out to play a awesome original number:
Caleb is an immense talent and Kingpin of the band Parlour Steps... Cam and Jesse get him out to play free live music to the people of Vancouver... just to focus on the positive for a bit... although to me it has all been positive, understanding what is happening and what needs to be done and why is always positive.
They called Johnney Wildkat up from behind the soundboard (aka JLS) as a guest and then before you know it it was JLS, SR and Shawn Killaly doing a version of Saskatchewan, but of course the Camera cut out... i will not blame the camera this time as i was aware that the batteries were almost done. After we played the song some fellows clinked glasses me and said well done... you have got to get what you can while you can, i always say.
So the next Super Robertson Supper Show on Wednesday March 9 2011 will have The Tiny Tim Overdrive:
I'll bring the lyric sheets this time
No comments:
Post a Comment