Postcards
October 3, 2000
The Great Gas Cap Jam
Sometimes it's a miracle you can make the gig at all
by Sam Shaber
Postcards is a journal of life on the road, written specially for readers of Harmony Central by Sam Shaber. Each installment will reflect on the trials and rewards of touring, as experienced by this New York-based solo artist.
 What could be better than basking in the limelight? Sharing it.
I do so much touring by myself and play so many gigs solo that it's the best thing in the world to play shows with my friends. I often get together with a few other songwriters to book an entire night at a club. We bring in more people as a team, cross-pollinate our mailing lists, make the club happy, and just generally have a great time.
I've done shows like this recently in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. On August 5th I was in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with two of my best friends and excellent performers, Anne O'Meara Heaton from New Haven, and Andrew Kerr from San Francisco.
“The open mic went well until I realized I had no idea where my car keys were.”
There is a new venue in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport called the Acoustic Café. Owner/manager Rich Franzino built the place from the ground up with heart and devotion. During construction he consulted numerous artists and club owners about the importance of a green room, the best way to advertise, how to pay the performers what they deserve, etc. His love of the music and enthusiasm about the club inspires the artists to work hard to promote their shows.
August 5th was a Saturday, so on Monday the 31st of July I booked a radio interview on a Bridgeport station, WPKN, with DJ Terri Lagerstedt. She was happy to have all three of us into the studio from 10 p.m. to midnight for a chat and live performance. Anne then got Andrew and me booked as a co-feature at an open mic in nearby Hamden earlier that evening.
We all met at Anne's in New Haven where we got in my car and drove to the open mic, which was situated in a warehouse and hosted by a local band called Mighty Purple. The open mic went well until I realized I had no idea where my car keys were. Chaos ensued, with everyone stopping to get up and look around their chairs and another group in the parking lot trying to break into my car in case the keys were locked inside. Meanwhile I was on the phone to Terri the DJ explaining that we might be a bit late, and she was suggesting ways to break in the window that we might not have tried already.
We all picked up a ride back to Anne's place where she and I got into her car, and Andrew, having flown in from San Francisco, followed in the Boy Scout troop van he had borrowed for the week from his parents in New York City. ("It cost me $60 to fill the tank," he mused wryly.)
As we sped south on I-95 to WPKN, Anne and I found ourselves singing the theme song from The Greatest American Hero.
"Who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just me!" came the big finish.
"It makes me so happy that you know that song," Anne said, "because I sing that song all the time, and I don't know why."
We pulled over to buy some gas, and more chaos ensued. Anne could not get the gas tank open. "What is going on? What is going on?!?" she exclaimed repeatedly. We checked the dash for any buttons or levers, even pushing the AC, the radio, and the wipers in desperation. Andrew had pulled over by this time and was trying to help. A cop pulled over and joined in. I was on the phone to Terri again explaining that we were going to be even later, as Anne yelled at me to try turning the key in the ignition. "I always just pop it with my fist," she said, "What is going on?"
Finally we dug out the owner's manual to discover that on her Volkswagen, the official way to open the gas cover is to put the key into the passenger side door and turn it twice to the left.
"God, Anne, I can't believe you didn't figure that out," quipped Andrew.
It was 11 p.m. by the time we got to WPKN for our 10 p.m. show. But we plugged in furiously, adjusted headphones, and got down to it. Returning late to the warehouse in Hamden, I learned that my keys were found in the pocket of my jacket -- which I had forgotten about!
That Saturday, to a full house at the Acoustic Café, we gave a great show in-the-round, Anne playing keyboards on some of my tunes, me singing harmonies for Anne and Andrew, and Andrew bringing the house down with his folk-rap anthem "Special K". After two sets, and before heading to my parents' home in Roxbury, Connecticut (also the home of Brown Chair Records!), to raid the fridge and have a beer, we fired up the finale: a three part harmony rendition of "The Greatest American Hero." Andrew even knew all the verses.
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Sam Shaber is a solo artist who has spent most of the past three years on the road throughout the U.S. and the U.K. Her articles have appeared in Musician, Performing Songwriter, and Home Recording. She is about to release her third album on her own Brown Chair label. For further information, visit www.samshaber.com. |
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