A New Year, A New Goal, A New Stage…or many of them!

In 2013, I made some very cool strides with my music, and I’m dedicated to building on that in 2014.  Do I expect to return to television?  Not really.  That’s a hump that I just don’t know comes around thrice in three years for an unsigned, very regional artist.  But hey, if someone will take me, I’ll be glad to play!  

I will return to SXSW this spring, which is awesome.  

But, and more importantly, I’ve made a move to sing SOMEWHERE on a stage every week of 2014.  One week in, I’ve succeeded in that goal.  Only 51 more to go!  Where did the goal take me this week?  Well, all the way up to Chatsworth.  Some of you may not know where that is, so I’ll just tell you…it’s whopping 25 minutes from my home.  Ok, so maybe that’s not a huge distance to travel.  Here’s what’s important to know - at Cowboy Palace, they love country music…and on Mondays, they allow any ol’ Joe to get up and sing as part of the Talent Contest.

Now, I’ve been to the Palace a number of times over the years.  I’ve had birthday parties there.  I was there when my Kickstarter ended last year and I saw that my fans had given me an amazing $10,000 to go on tour.  The Cowboy Palace has been a mainstay of my life here in California.  This week, though, I added a milestone there.  The Cowboy Palace was the site of the first Talent Contest I’ve actually WON.  Now, there were only 14 competitors, and it was a “preliminary” round of their larger contest, but still - to walk away a winner was pretty cool.  I ran into Jeffrey Michaels, another local artist, and chatted with him while awaiting my turn on stage.  When I stepped up and announced I’d be doing some Merle Haggard, there were a number of cheers from the crowd.  By the end of “Mama Tried,” I had a feeling that it had gone pretty darn well indeed.  

As I stepped off the stage and back to the bar, I was greeted with a number of “Way to Go”s and “That was Great”s.  Ten competitors later, we were sitting at the bar awaiting the announcements…and then it came, 1st Place belonged to yours truly.  It was a nice moment.  I got up and sang an encore, Cash’s "Folsom Prison” and then headed on home.  

Sure, it was a small-time contest.  It was a song that wasn’t mine.  It was a small cash prize and an opportunity to come back to compete again for a shot to make the finals.  All of that is true…but the most important part, was that it was a chance to get on stage and do what I love - and to make an impression on a few of the folks there at the Cowboy Palace that night.  Maybe I’ll sell a download out of the deal, maybe I made a new fan.  I don’t know…but I know that I said I want to get on stage every week…and I did that.  And the $50 helped pay for the gas.  

Yeahcomeon.

Dukes