I Need Your Advice
Hi Folks,
Long time no speak for some of you and others are hearing from me after spending a beautiful night together! : )
I am sending this message to you as I would like to ask for your advice. Thanks in advance.
So I did my big last show in Ottawa last night. Many of you who I am sending this to were there. Thank you for coming out and for helping me get to the Banff Centre. It was a great night. Man, I could have played for longer! 6 hours actually felt too short. But I got to play many of my favourite tunes with many of my favourite singer-songwriters. Playing on my own with guitar and voice was such a magical experience for me. I can already see that I am growing from all of this which is so much fun...
So how was the night for the benefit part of it? Well many people who came out were so generous that it was really touching. All of my paintings were sold and I sold a number of Gas Station Sessions - seven songs for seven years CDs as well. The unfortunate part was that not enough people came out to the show. That was the part that kind of upset me. It was a magical night and so many people who I admire and greatly respect in our creative community simply missed out and did not venture to experience the magic happen. That's alright, I'm not upset about it, only disappointed as I need to find a way to raise this money and am currently not successful with raising what I really need in order to attend one of the best art centres in this country. This puzzles me, especially after I had numerous articles written about me (ChartAttack, Ottawa Citizen (like Toronto Star), Ottawa Xpress (like NOW or EYE), Centretown News and the Charlatan. I did many radio interviews (CKCU and CHUO both twice), was on television twice (CTV and Rogers Cable). All of these articles were beautifully written and presented. One in particular, Fateema Sayani of the Ottawa Citizen put in a huge colour picture (Ami Jarvis) in her touching article. I could not ask for better from the media and radio. They were all so much fun to talk to and made it a really great experience.
In the end, I raised $720 dollars. This was after having to pay for sound ($150). I also have to pay a lot of that back to folks I borrowed money from. Unfortunately, I needed to raise a whole lot more than that ($5000 in total) and have been putting in 16-20 hour days (sometimes sadly more than that) already. I simply cannot do more. I have recently applied for a Canada Arts Council Professional Development grant but only find out in January whether I got it or not. I am now attempting to find some office work to do until I move (third week of December). I have until the end of the month to find the rest of the money I owe to The Banff Centre or I won't be able to go. Needless to say, I'm devastated by this recent dose of reality. It's been a challenging time lately, just lost my 12 year old dog, best friend Sadie. Anyone who's lost a pet seems to understand why that's a difficult one to handle. Needless to say, I was confident that the Ottawa creative community would want to support an artist during their special departure and new beginning. It certainly was a beautiful night and I do see a very bright future ahead for me. Anyone who was there truly understands what that means. For me, it was the connections with so many talented people on the Zaphod's stage one last time (for a little while at least). Gonna miss you.
I am writing to you to ask what you would do if you were in my shoes? I need some advice. I want to thank you in advance for taking the time to think about this and sharing your helpful incite.
Thanks again,
Love Rozalind
www.rozalindmacphail.com
(613) 244-7234
posted by Mystery Flute Girl @ 11/28/2005 06:15:00 p.m.
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Dear Bryce,
Those were very kind words. Really glad that you were able to make it out to my last show, especially since you were in from out of town and didn't know about it. Guess it was meant to be. That is so cool. Thank you for your support as well. It's people like you who make the difference. : )
Thanks again for your very helpful suggestions.
All the best,
Love Rozalind
Id say the best thing to do would be to get a job, maybe two,three if possible. Sell some records if you can but luckily its christmas and its a good time to get a job.lots of part and full time work out there.if the trip to banff doesnt work out there are lots of other ways to develop your singing and songwriting skills,its not the end of the world.in fact it could prove to be a great impetus for actually learning the craft, which generally takes years and years to refine and develop, residency or no residency.I am not a singer songwriter myself but I am a world famous piano player and have worked with many.If you spent 16 to 20 hours a day developing your songwriting skills and guitar playing and singing instead of writing web blogs and such you would see a very different world. Good luck.
Hello World Famous Piano Player,
I'd love to hear you play sometime. Do you have a website with recordings? I just love the piano. I know up until grade 6 conservatory but never got past that. Maybe someday I'll get back to playing.
Thank you for your comments. I am so appreciative of people writing their thoughts as every little bit helps.
Today, I actually spent most of my day looking for work and managed to find myself an office job until I move on Dec 20th. I also went to the CD stores to see what I could do to promote the new CD. Yup, doing everything I can to get myself to Banff, that's for sure.
You are right, it does take years to develop our craft as songwriters and I am only beginning that musical journey. Yes, I can write anywhere but it will be wonderful to collaborate with world-renowned artists in an environment that inspires and nurtures my writing. The Banff Centre is perfect for writing my first full-length album and I am very excited to be going there. Wouldn't miss it for anything. Anyone who's attended the Centre understands that one only too well.
BTW, I do not spend all my time blogging. You wrote: "If you spent 16 to 20 hours a day developing your songwriting skills and guitar playing and singing instead of writing web blogs and such you would see a very different world." Quite the contrary. If you knew anything about me, you would understand that I practise my instruments more than most people do in this profession, even more than a lot of the classical flutists I know. I try to keep up with the web side because it's an important part of getting your name out there. The business side in music is just as important as being good at performing and writing the music. This I have learned the hard way.
Thanks again for your suggestions. Do let me know where I can find recordings of you playing the piano.
All the best,
Love Rozalind
Eeh... You could take a whole week-end, go to some shopping mall, and find a place where you could do some kind of Mega Christmas Flute Marathon! :-) You just play anything, improvise, play christmas songs, wearing uh... une tuque? ... a red gnome hat. And you put a sign, giving details about your fundraising thing. That was suggestion (a). :-) Or, (b) you could put an annoncement on your website, saying that you are taking money in exchange of writing a song for all of those who contributed, using sentences of there choice to write the lyrics. Like, people could give 10$, and ask you to include in the song "my microwave oven is a great bass player", etc... Or some people could ask for a G7 #5,-9 chord to be included in the song. Or that you say "mooooh" somewhere in the song. You see. And then, you write lyrics, you could name the song "Thank you guys!" or something, record it, and make it available to everybody on your website, with special thanks to those who contributed. The song would be some kind of funny publicity for you at the same time... I don't know if it would work, it depends on how many people you could attract to your website. For the "money" part, you could use PayPal. It is simple. I have a "donate" button on my blog. (It is a joke by the way... Someone once gave me money, I just refunded it...) I could help. Well... That's all I could think of right now. Sorry for my English. I wish this is comprehensible enough for you to understand. ;-) and there is also (c) don't despair, you can always go next year... :-)
S!
Hi Rozalind,
I was worried too that it was sparsely attended. The weather wasn't the greatest, that's the only reason I can think of. I didn't really twig on that it was a benefit. As to money, that's such a lot of money to raise, really the only thing I can think of is to try to get a loan with the bank. And I don't think most loans officers are going to be amenable to the dream, but that's about it. What you need are stakeholders with deep pockets who are willing to underwrite you, but then what would they get in exchange? Perhaps you could talk to other musicians for advice, or even the Ottawa Folk Community and do another benefit concert where people are very warm, such as Rasputins. Dean Verger is someone with a very big heart, maybe he can give you advice or offer you a venue to perform once more. It seems like a long shot though, I have to say. If you get the money in January, will you be able to use it for Banff at a later date? These are the times when I wish I was wealthy or at least had wealthy friends All I can offer is a shoulder and hugs and reassurances that with your talent and temerity you will succeed, but money is indeed a major stumbling block for all artists.
best,
Amanda
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