Working hard or hardly working?

Well… I’ve been keeping busy at least.  Not much of what I do feels like work.  Even my day job - worship leader and youth worker at Killarney Park Church - doesn’t really feel like work because I love what I do.  So it’s hard to say if I’m working hard, but I am doing a lot of stuff.

- I’ve been playing a decent amount of gigs.

- I’ve done a couple photoshoots.  One with Tracy Zhang and one with Adam Loewen.

- I’ve been planning a Vancouver Island tour for late August.

- I’ve become the new host of weekly Live Music Wednesdays at Bean Around the World at the Lonsdale Quay.

- I’ve done the Grouse Grind (I finished in 80 minutes… I’m going to try to do it in an hour next time)

- I’ve been running almost daily.  I have a goal to be able to run the Stanley Park sea wall by the end of August.

- I’ve appeard on Drive TV.

- My album has been reviewed by Colin Rink.  Check out his podcast “On the Run”

- And I’ve been having fun hanging out with friends.

By the way, last night I tried Bud Light Lime and I must say… it was good.  I’m not a Bud fan at all, but this tasted like Corona with Lime.  It’s a nice Summer beer.  Give it a try (I wish I was getting paid to say that).

The first time I tried busking, a security guard shut me down after only six minutes.  The prime spot that I thought was public property was apparently private property.  ”Oh well!” I thought, “I’ll just find another good spot.”  But it’s harder than you’d think.  I walked around Robson street looking for a place to play.  As soon as I spotted a decent open area with lots of pedestrian traffic, I noticed that there was already a busker there.  The next good spot I saw was being reaped by a homeless panhandler.  I didn’t want to compete with him (plus I would feel bad taking away his “business”).  Other good spots were taken up by painters and street venders.  So I tried relocating to a different neighborhood.  I thought that Gastown might be nice, being a major tourist location.  However, I found the sidewalks to be too narrow to perform on without blocking pedestrian flow (not getting in the way of  business is one of the main rules for busking).  So I called it a day and gave up, after only performing for six minutes and making no money.

Well, tonight I gave busking another try.  I decided to go to the Broadway / Commercial skytrain station.  Commercial drive is an artsy area, so I figured the people there might appreciate some live music.  I saw a great spot right away, so I got all set up and was just about to start playing.  Sure enough, a panhandling homeless man came up to me and complained that we would be competing and confusing people.  I didn’t want to get in a fight, so I went around the corner to the other entrance.  

I got my first busking dollar from a guy who had a request.  But not a song request… no, he wanted to hear me play scales!  It was a little bit odd, but I’m all about pleasing the people, so I played those scales backwards and forwards with passion.  

Eventually I began playing a set of songs - both originals and covers.  I got a lot of smiles and had a few people stopping to listen.  But only occasionally would someone actually drop in some change.  It was frustrating to see people stop and reach into their pocket or purse (me thinking they’re reaching for change to give me) only to pull out a cell phone or lipstick or whatever.  It got my hopes up and then shattered them.  

At one point there was a small group of people gathered around.  They seemed pretty into the music, so I was thinking I might get some money, but after I finished a song, one of them told me that he built my guitar.  I like to think they actually did enjoy the music, but the main reason they stopped is because they noticed I was playing a Haida Gwaii guitar and this guy was the luthier.   It was interesting meeting the guy who put so much work into building the guitar that I put so much work into playing.  We have very different experiences with the instrument.  His creation (the guitar) has made my creations (the songs) possible.  Very cool!  He gave me his card for the new guitar company Paragon (since Haida Gwaii guitars aren’t being built anymore).  

I ended up playing a full hour set of busking and made a grand total of… drum roll please… three dollars and seventeen cents.  Not quite minimum wage (or even half, for that matter), but that’s okay.  I basically view it as paid practice.  I made more money by practicing on the street than I would have by practicing at home, so I say it’s worth it.  Now I just have to make $31.83 to break even on the cost of my busking license.  Ridiculous.

Because my music career is a self employed endeavor, it is up to me to make sure I spend my time wisely.  I could easily waste my whole day just watching TV… OR… I could make little developments with my music.  What I’ve realized is that I need to give myself some realistic tasks in order to make progress.  For example, I won’t sign a record deal tomorrow, but I could book a gig or contact a radio station.  A whole bunch of small steps will eventually equal a big step.  

Today I did two main tasks: (1) I got a busking permit, (2) I sent my CD to a lady who puts music on film and TV.  

It was a good day.  Both of these things could lead to some good development.  Busking is basically paid practicing and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!  And if I get my music on film or TV, that would be a dream come true.  It would also be some great exposure and potentially some supplementary income.  So this is a good example of how doing something small could lead to something bigger.

I wonder what sort of realistic tasks I might do tomorrow…

I guess I’ve neglected my blog for a little while… but I have a really good excuse - I’ve been busy!

Seriously, lots of stuff has happened since my last post.  Yesterday, CBC Radio 1 played my song “Shame on Me” (I had no idea they were going to do that.  My friend just called me up and said that he heard my song on the radio.  I was pretty excited, to say the least.), I played a show at the Railway Club (great turn out and great bands to open for: Fuzzcat and Missing Starla), and I auditioned for the Olympics.

…did he just say the Olympics?

Yes I did.

I will be an Olympian, skin-tight body suits and all, and I’m going for the gold!

Not really.  But I did apply to play music at the Olympics.  The weird thing was that my audition wasn’t for music.  It was for “movement”.  They figured that musicians have rhythm, so they must be able to dance and move.  Little do they know…

I’m not one for dancing, but I surprisingly had a lot of fun.  We did some line dancing and other movement exercises.  I think they were mostly looking for a few things: (1) good coordination,  (2) good at following instructions, (3) good attitude.  They would then train the people that they choose.  Apparently they are auditioning 3,500 people, so it’s a long and complicated process.  My audition was three hours long, but the time flew by.  I really enjoyed the experience and I hope to be chosen to “move” during the Opening or Closing Ceremonies.

At the end of the audition, they announced that three people will be asked to  stick around for a special audition.  They called out the numbers and I was one of them!  I was almost scared.  I thought I might have done something wrong.  But no.  This was awesome.  They wanted to audition us for carrying the Canadian flag as the Olympians come in behind us at the Ceremonies.  Could you imagine that?  If I get picked for this, basically the whole world could be looking at me on television for a short period of time.  That’s intimidating.  But it would be such an honor.

This will be my only post about Olympics stuff though because everyone who is involved in the Ceremonies is sworn to secrecy.  They want the performances to be a surprise.  They even specifically said that we cannot blog about it (I hope I won’t get in trouble for this post).  I won’t even find out if I’m chosen until September anyway, so you’ll probably forget all about it by then.

If there’s any lesson I learned from this experience it was that life is more exciting when I’m open to trying new things.  Even though my expectations didn’t line up with reality (I thought I would be auditioning for music, not movement), I experienced something new and fun.  Take this concept and apply it to your life.  Go be adventurous!

I finally faced my first major rejection.  I’ve had obstacles before, but any previous rejection was at least disguised as something else (e.g. “You can’t open for our band because our line up is full,” or “You can’t play at our venue because we book three months in advance”  …these could be legitimate, but you never know, they might be hidden rejections).

No, this time it was straight up rejection.  I emailed a number of house concert venues and one of them replied saying no.  They were vague, so I asked for clarification.  Among other reasons, they won’t book me because they aren’t “enthusiastic” about my music.  It’s a personal taste thing.

Fair enough.  Not everyone can like my music.  That’s reasonable.  It still sucks though.  It’s like working up the courage to ask a girl on a date only to have her look up at you with her pretty little eyes and say “no.”  It hurts the self esteem.  There is a disconnect between my desire and reality and there’s nothing I can do about it.

What happens now?

I move on.  I say, “Oh well.  Just one small opportunity lost.”  No big deal.  There’s plenty more fish in the sea (or in this case, venues in the world).

Finding places to play music can be challenging.  It gets even more challenging when opportunities fall through.  I found out yesterday that two of my upcoming gigs have been canceled.   One of the venues decided to not do any music for the month of May and the other cancellation involved a miscommunication.

I only have one show still booked, which is coming up on Monday.  This means I desperately need to find some more.  Today I looked into house concerts.  I found a website called Acoustic Roof that lists various small venues for acoustic shows.  Surprisingly there weren’t any in Vancouver, but I emailed some venues in other towns.

I’ve also been considering busking.  I know it’s not glamorous, but it would be a way to play publicly on a regular basis.  The only problem is that I’ve met some conflicting information regarding permits.  Some websites say that you can busk anywhere without a permit except for Granville Island.  But other websites talk about people getting fined for not having a permit.  I’m a little scared of being fined because I don’t have a lot of money to begin with.

Does anybody know the local law on busking?

Does anybody know of any venue I could perform?  Perhaps a house concert… or anything really.  I’m not too picky.

There is, yet again, another page on my blog.  The Links page (see the tab at the top of this page) lists all of my official pages on the internet, as well as all of the bloggers in The Great Blog Off.  If you don’t know what The Great Blog Off is, join the facebook group, read the blogs, and vote for me at the end of the month!

I just spent an hour or so resizing various photographs that were taken between September 2008 and February 2009 by a brilliant photographer named Adam Loewen.  I chose the best shots and ordered them very intentionally onto a new page called Image.  You’ll be able to see how my hair (both facial and head hair) changed various times over those months… which is a pointless detail not really worth mentioning.  I’m just trying to make conversation.  Alright, moving along…

Please feel free to visit my Image page at your leisure.  To go to it, just click on the “Image” tab at the top of this page.

What’s your favorite picture?

I want to thank everyone who has supported me so far by downloading my music, buying my CD, reading my blogs, watching my videos, or coming to my concerts.  I hope it has been as good of an experience for you as it has been for me.  I look forward to continuing in this venture.

I want to also thank those who have written a review on my iTunes page.  This helps not only me (by giving me recognition and encouraging new sales), but also helps prospective fans know if this is something they would like.  If anyone else is considering writing a review, I encourage you to do so.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I can’t believe I’ve jumped on another social networking bandwagon.  That’s right.  I am now a twitter-er (is that what we call someone who twitters?  Or is it “tweets”?).  I find this whole thing ridiculous.  But when I look back on my experience with these kinds of things, I remember that I took forever to get a myspace page (of which I’m on my third one now) and even longer to get a facebook page… I would resist for as long as I could until I just felt left out.  Well… this time I resisted for just a short while and decided to give in to the cultural psychosis of hyperactive social media.

If you’re interested in “following” my tweets… pop on over to www.twitter.com/JeffHawker

Does anybody else laugh at all the new internet lingo that has arisen in the past ten or so years?  When I was a kid, writing on someones wall was considered vandalism, but now it’s just how we say hello.  Terms like “add me” and “comment me” actually make sense to most people, when really they sound like bad grammar.  Whenever I had a dumb questions when I was young, my dad would tell me to look it up (or he’d make up a false answer and I was gullibul enough to believe it, which is why I bowed like a royal prince at the end of my children’s play)… now when I have a dumb question he tells me to “google it” or “wikipedia it”.  Somehow this language has become a social norm.  We accept these terms without thinking twice about them.  And now I will accept the new term “tweet”.  But I still can’t say it with a straight face.