Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Sunday Night Off


Joseph Schedlo
I had talked to Joe Schedlo, who plays acoustic guitar and sings in a voice somewhere between John Prine and Bob Dylan, somewhere between the Supreme Court building and the corner of Royal and Conti Streets.
He had said that he can only play 4 nights per week and just has to take 3 days off.
I didn't press him for the reasons behind that, but it did get me thinking:
If I drag myself out to play on a night when I really don't feel like playing, and it is a "slow" night, like a Monday or Tuesday, then I might in effect be burning myself out for the "money" nights of Friday and Saturday.
I really hate the feeling that I sometimes get when setting up to play which I usually vocalize as: "Wasn't I just here doing this like 5 minutes ago?"
That is when I feel like my battery hasn't been recharged for doing those certain songs, and, unless I can pull some song from my memory that I haven't done in a long time; there is a struggle to be fresh and original, not to mention, inspired.
Sunday Night Baseball
I took Sunday night off, because I wanted to rest, in general, and to listen to the broadcast of a Red Sox baseball game on my cheap radio.
"I'm really not a big baseball fan, in fact, I have just about enough interest to listen to one Red Sox game per year; and this is probably going to be it. The Red Sox just happened to be playing the Yankees, whom they share a storied rivalry with, on a Sunday night; and so Sunday Night Baseball scooped it up.
I've been reading the sports section just about every day, enough to at least know the names of the Red Sox players, plus, I wanted to take a night off.." was my explanation to Sherman, who dropped in to visit, upon that Sunday night.
The Red Sox were ahead 5 to nothing when I drifted off to sleep, after Sherman had left, after we had hung out an chatted.
He gave me a new (to me) cellphone, and I can switch my account, along with my easy to remember number of 333-4123 over to that phone, which has a camera.
I can use the camera in order to recapture some of the functionality that I am missing because my laptop is on the blink.

Sherman
I went on to take Monday night off, also.
I will just have to make up my mind to work longer and harder on the nights that I do busk.
I can feel my ambition to go out and play gradually increasing.
I think that Shedlo might be on to something.
Tanya and Dorise are 3 day per week players, also.

It is on the nights that I feel upbeat and am enjoying myself immensely that I have my best money nights. This can happen on a Monday night (like a recent 45 dollar one) but, a lackluster performance given with a "really don't feel like being here" attitude on those slow days can produce a 9 dollar outing. Subtract $2.50 for the trolley back and forth and...you should have stayed home and read, or wrote or drew or.....

1 comment:

  1. Tanya & Dorise are only playing 3 days a week? Wow. I thought they were slogging away more like 6 days a week. That could make for a good life, play your ass off 3 days then have the other 4 to do stuff.

    I'd been really crawling inside the bottle, and finally ended up in the ER and then a very scary "detox" place that was bad enough I signed myself out and spent $80 on a cab outta there lol.

    Now I'm sober and got my trumpet out .... felt like Chet Baker making his comeback ... blew in and got nothing ... finally got some sound and messed around, Ave Maria, this'n'that. If I can actually become an adequate trumpet player someday I'd get interested again in taking the train out there, maybe rent a room from Dorise and just go out and busk a bit, hang out, eat crawdads, etc.

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