This gripy post is going to sound like a bit of a joke, but I wrote it down months ago and held it back so as not to embarrass the place that was kind enough to book me a few times. So….this is about nowhere I have played recently nor anywhere you see me regularly. Little Tokyo, Harmancos, River Wild, those places are fantastic as far as I am concerned, but sometimes places that don’t regular feature musiicans really don’t know how to treat them.

I recently celebrated my 47^th birthday by performing a 2.5 hour music set of mostly original material at a restaurant in a town about half an hour away. I was paid $60 & a free meal and earned around $17 in tips. I’m thrilled to still be making original music and sharing it with with new listeners. On the other hand is that blasted salad bar I was playing behind and the dozens of people who stayed well past their meals to drink and listen and subsequently leave without tipping or even throwing a “Hey, thanks I enjoyed it” my way. Music when done as a business is a thankless job.

I let them know my displeasure at said obstructive bar the first time I played over here as politely as I good. I mean it is a giant empty bar on wheels and they have a huge empty event center right next door which they could easily roll it into when they have performers. I’ve decided to not book there any more. An artist has to have his line in the sand. For me, it’s a big bulky cold stainless steel salad bar mucking up my connection with the patrons. Sorry.