On tour 5/6-10: NC/VA/MD/OH

[Chicago Sandy]

The first Sass! Southeast/Midatlantic Tour starts this Friday, May 6! Susan Urban & I will be playing, and hope you can come out to see us:

Fri 5/6, 8 pm--Wilmington, NC--Cape Fear Folk Festival--WHQR Gallery Stage, 254 N. Front St. Billed as "Sandy Andina," but it'll be the both of us.
$7 at door gets you five acts!!

Sat. 5/7, 8 pm--Apex, NC (Raleigh suburbs)--Pheasant Creek Coffeehouse, 800 W. Williams St.
FREE

Sun. 5/9, 8:13 (??!!) pm--College Park, MD--College Perk, 9078 Baltimore Ave.
FREE

Mon. 5/9, 9 pm--Vienna, VA (Wolf Trap/Tysons Corner area)--Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Ave. E. We're the featured artists after the 8pm open mic.
FREE

Tues. 5/10, 7 pm--Cleveland, OH--house concert at the home of Joanne Laessig. For reservations, cupoftea@aol.com or 216-321-7073.

Love to see you there!!!

[Cakes]

Sandy,

Jammin Java is within shooting distance for me. I'll see if I can make the show. I had a small gig there once. Neat little place.

John

[dahn8]

Not sure if i can make it yet, but i'll try and come out to the College Park show.

Dan

[Chicago Sandy]

Really looking forward to meeting you guys!

[jmeinel]

I'll go to the Jammin' Java one too! Let me know if you want to grab some food afterwards. There are a lot of good restaurants around that area. Maybe we can make it a small AGF gathering for us locals. :-D

And how are you going to go from College Park to Vienna the same night? That seems to be cutting it pretty close for the Jammin' Java gig.

[Chicago Sandy]

Hi, Jennifer,

We have this thing Mapquested out--we're leaving Raleigh early Sun. morning, arriving at Tysons Cor. early enough to check into the hotel and grab an early Mother's Day dinner with sis and family; it's only half an hr. to College Park via Beltway. Monday during the day we'll hang with my sis. We're staying at the Westpark, ten minutes from Jammin' Java. Dinner after sounds like a plan! (Sis and her pals are probably going to make an early night of it).

[Livingston]

When are you coming out to California???

[napman]

When are you coming out to California???

And Los Angeles? :)

[Chicago Sandy]

I'll probably be in the L.A. area for the next TAXI Road Rally, which is usually the first weekend in Nov. at the Westin LAX. (Missed it last year due to it being a week later--by the time I found out, I'd already committed to playing a gig in northern MI). I usually also play a gig or two in Pasadena or Altadena, as well as the Just Plain Folks Showcase the last night of the conference at Rusty's Surf Ranch on Santa Monica Pier.
But Susan (a UU lay "circuit rider") also has contacts at a UU congregation in Simi Valley, and there's a chance we may go out there to do a service and house concert too (probably before Thanksgiving or after Christmas).

[DJanzen]

Sandy, safe travels and here's to great shows! Don't forget to scope out a good spot for the tip jar, and pick it up at the end of the set!

Seriously, have a great trip!

DJanzen

[dahn8]

How was the tour? I hope it went well... sorry i couldnt make it to the college park gig, but maybe you'll swing by maryland again sometime soon?

[Chicago Sandy]

The tour went well, though the College Perk gig was something of a bust: the management had neglected to tell me that it was definitely NOT a listening room. There was a fair-sized crowd, but most were there to cram for finals or use their laptops. We weren't even listed on the chalkboard, as the only music they usually have on Sundays is an acoustic jazz duo that plays during brunch. Pity--it's a nice funky little Sixties throwback on the first floor of a lovely old antebellum frame house set on a shaded half-acre. (The coffee was mediocre, but I digress). The barista said during the break that they have "problems" with artists who "expect audiences to listen!" Only way we'll play there again is if we get a Friday or Saturday night, they promote us adequately (besides our own PR efforts, of course) and I can thus get all my MD and NoVA friends out there with plenty of notice, thereby insuring an appreciative audience.

However, the Jammin' Java and Pheasant Creek gigs went very, very well indeed. Jeniifer (JMeinel) and Tad (Tadmania) came out to each, respectively, as well as my online friends from the pen collecting and coffee-aficionado communities (plus my sister and her friends to the Jammin' Java gig). We even got a good video out of the Jammin' Java set, with one song destined for our full-length CD (we had planned to go into the studio for it, but that live version is the definitive one, better than the one that is currently getting airplay). We're even thinking of releasing the video as part of an Enhanced CD when we're ready to release the album.

Wilmington was something of a bust due to cold and rainy weather (our set was indoors in the evening, but the rest of the fest was outdoors and attendance all day Fri. was abysmal) and Merlefest and a competing cancer-research Indiegrrl benefit going on at the same time (the latter held that weekend despite express requests from the organizer of Cape Fear, which was scheduled far in advance). We had a small but appreciative audience and did make back the cost of our lodging, though. And Merlefest (plus short notice and a Tuesday night date) kept attendance at our Cleveland house concert down as well (though the concert was a last-minute idea, since we'd originally just planned to stay over at our friend's house). Our hostess (prominent in the folk community) did a terrific promo job, handing out flyers at a Claudia Schmidt concert, sending press kits and CDs to local media and folk DJs--who totally ignored us and focused on Merlefest. But the audience we did get wants us to return on a weekend, with plenty of notice, and promises to rally the local folk community. (A Local 1000 officer--the Traveling Musicians' Union--was so impressed that she wants me to send her one of my songs both to perform and publish in their newsletter)!

I will be back in the DC area (solo this time) the last week in August--I'll post details as soon as I know them. Thanks again to Jennifer and Tad!