Rock City

OK, so maybe a bazillion Christmas lights is cheesy but a little cheese is good for you now and then, right? Tonight I'll travel down Signal Mountain, across the valley and then back up Lookout Mountain to play a little music at Rock City.

Click their Enchanted Garden link or take a look at my Calendar for other dates.

I've been doing this holiday gig almost as long as I've been playing hammered dulcimer which is 19 years. I don't know for sure when the first time was I played Rock City but I've had couples with young children say they remember seeing me play there when they were in high school. Someone's getting older. It must be them.

There's something to be said for longevity here at the relatively obscure end of the music business. It is flattering and still surprising when someone I don't know asks if I have any new CDs out because they want to add to their collection. "Collection of what," I ask. "Of your CDs" they say. I finally stopped saying "Really?!?," and learned to respond with a simple "Thank you." Which by the way, I really mean.

Doing this music thing is hard and uncertain work. CD sales to an independent artist are like report cards and paychecks at the same time.

Speaking of paychecks, I got a small ASCAP check in the mail yesterday. ASCAP stands for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. This is how you get paid when your work gets airplay or is used some other way around the world. The bulk of this check was for airplay in Taiwan! Yes, I'm big in Taiwan. I think I'll have a t-shirt made. ¶ 8:56 AM