I did hear from the Video Lady, and I think she’s going to do it! Helps that the Senator is coming the same day (yes, it’s official), though not to the concert, and she wants to film his meeting. I got the Failed Economy show poster blown up to 2-feet-by-3-feet size to hang on the Dance Floor’s front door; everybody’s going to see it. If it happens—I hope it does—we’ll be broadcast throughout the county (just this county—Charter Communications finally compartmentalized their cable-TV system, alas). And the broadcast will include contact information for all the local Food Pantries in the county (there are four, I believe, including the one in Garibaldi).

If it happens—I hope it happens—there will finally be video of Deathgrass performing in public, and I will one way or another get copies. It’d be nice if copies could be sold—proceeds, after costs, going to the Food Pantry, or maybe to all four of them—and I’ll suggest it. I could work up costs for me doing the whole thing, for Video Lady providing the copies and me doing the packaging (I have sources for that stuff now), and for sending it out (again, to sources I know) for reproduction and packaging in quantity. I may just know enough about the business now to be able to pull it off.

Solicited “staff support” help from both the Food Pantry and the Lions Club; somebody has to take food and money donations, greet people, &c., and it can’t be the band—we’ll be performing. I want to bake lots of cookies to have for refreshments, along with coffee and punch, and I’d like the minister who runs the Food Pantry to make a pitch to the crowd during the band’s potty break—this time, I don’t want anybody to have an opportunity to sneak off.

This event will either be big or not, and I don’t know which scares me the worst—having nobody show up, or having the whole county show up. We’re not going to get to practice until the Wednesday night before the gig.

In the meantime, I am playing out as much as possible, to strengthen the fingers and make sure I’m used to playing in public. Thursday night was at the Tsunami Grill’s “country jam” in Wheeler; then the Friday Night Group in Garibaldi; Saturday, there’s the library in the afternoon (if I get back to town early enough), plus a “talent show” up north in Manzanita (benefit for the local Hoffman Center); and Sunday, an “acoustic jam” in Wheeler. And of course, every one of those is an opportunity to promote the Failed Economy Show, too. (The lesson: Never stop selling.)

The “country jam” isn’t really country (or maybe, as one Canadian songwriter I know put it, it’s just a different country). Rather a lot of rock music, some of it very progressive (i.e., I can’t follow it) rock music; some blues. I knew some of the musicians; rather more people—people I didn’t know—seemed to know who I was. I didn’t try to perform anything, just tried to follow the rest of ‘em, and hoped I did okay; next time—because I will go back—I might give ‘em some blues; the blues tunes I know (all of which are ones I’ve written) are pretty simple and traditional, but should still be acceptable. A thought: if brave enough, I could suggest “Angel in Chains,” the Southern Pigfish country death-metal anthem. That group in Wheeler could do it well. And I don’t have to tell them the band Southern Pigfish doesn’t really exist…

Ex-local DJ Tommy Boye’s latest venture, http://www.tillamookcow.com, debuts 1 March, and he’s interested in some Deathgrass music; we should have the album finished well before then. It is time to start planning the CD release party—when, where, how many CDs to have on hand, yada yada. I wonder if we could do the event at the Arts Center?

Joe