Well yesterday was a festive one for the most part. Nancee and I spent the day in Waxhaw strolling around and taking photos before attending the Firm Foundation Ministries Christmas event where I had the chance to join my fellow spies and some other musicians for a small Holiday themed concert.
We started off our Waxhaw adventure at Provisions Local Market, where Two Spies performed back in the late summer time. We each got a swanky sandwich and a beverage. Mine was fine but the service was a bit slow. I also got a really delicious diet orange cream soda. Nancee and I had a short argument about evil chemicals. Two little fellas were loitering in the front windows, playing the games and using the free wifi. One of them had the temerity to flag Nancee down and ask her for a dollar. That along with the over thick bread and somewhat confused service (They had two cash registers seemingly manned, but when we went up to one, we were directed to the other one. A few folks came in while we were there and left because they couldn’t seem to get waited on.) sort of soured the lunch experience for her I think.
We then went on a little photo walk around town. I took a series of photos of Nancee before realizing I had my camera in the wrong mode. Eventually, I got things sorted and reshot my favorite setups all over the downtown area. I did discover a really cool looking historic home half covered in Ivy near the upper end of downtown. We eventually found ourselves at Crossroads Coffee. Todd and I played at that place a few times back when they still had live music almost 2 decades ago. The porched in area seemed even smaller now. Can’t imagine doing a show there but we did. The coffee was until pretty good and Nancee seemed to like the crumb cake she got into.
Eventually we sauntered to the Waxhaw Woman’s Club facility where the evenings concert would take place. This facility was extremely. It was very poshly decorated with Christmas Trees and lights everywhere.
The event was very well put together. They had lots of nice food, though I passed on all but a brownie. Typically, I get a bit of a nervous stomach before performing and don’t usually eat anything right before I play.
I’d say there were 50 – 60 people on hand, making that one of the bigger crowds I got to play for in 2015. Speaking of music this year has probably been the business with regards to my playing public.
Friday night I’ll be performing my solo show at Harmancos, but this time with the super talented Braden Harwood joining me. We’ve really put the practice in and I’ve added quite a few new covers and one or two new originals. I expect this to be one of the great shows other year. Come on out if you are looking for something to do. We’ll be on from 8 -12.
If nothing else pops up, this will be my last show on the year and we’ll look forward to more music and fun in 2016. I’m already tentatively book for an opening slot for one of the bigger shows at Little Tokyo Lounge around February 12 where we’ll be fielding an electric band for a 1 hour set to open up for some of the bigger draw acts. I anticipate that greatly. I haven’t played live and an electric since the summer of last year. This should be a fun one.
I can now say publicly for the first time that DS Creative Magazine has picked up one of my 3D comics to publish monthly. It’s a big deal to me because it means a much wider viewership of my render work. It’s just a hobby and it’s being featured in an online magazine, but as online magazines go, this one is my favorite. Please do check out the debut of Maggie Raider here. The adventure begins on page #47.
At the time I was pitching Maggie Raider, I also pitched a second story based on my Respawner character.It’s called Respawner – Permanent Midnight. Since DS Creative chose to go with Maggie Raider I’ve decided to self publish Respawner PM myself. New pages land on Monday mornings at 8:00 AM and have done so for the past 6 weeks. It’s a bit more of an action/gore horror centric tale. If you like Blade you might be able to appreciate it. Check that out here.
As if all of the above aren’t enough to have going on in addition to a full time contract position, I’ve began to plan for the continuation of work on my new solo album. I’ve located a place close by that produces very good quality for a price I can afford. I’m booked for January 2nd to do one song start to finish as a sort of test of the facility’s ability to cover my recording needs. If all goes well I’ll produce one song per month out of there until all of my material is recorded or I run out of money. Whichever comes first.
I’ve taken on yet another music video for an artist from Carthage. I tackled the shooting in a single day and though rushed managed to get more than enough footage in the can for the purpose. I spent a hectic week on it in post before switching off to try to get the rest of the needed footage for my own Two Spies video for, “This One’s for You.” Last Saturday with help from Bad Braden Harwood and Vanessa Ore, I managed to get my bookend sequences shot and shot well. The footage looked extremely cool. I hope to have both of those projects finished in early 2016. I’m definitely coming along as a one man production crew though Robert Filion has nothing to worry about any time soon. I really do love my Canon and the more time I spend with it in my hand, the more I seem to unlock.
I am still planning my big walk in the woods for the end of February when the end of this contract is upon us. I still haven’t really started training properly so it may turn out to be a lot shorter than I’d imagined. All I can say is that I will start. I make no guarantees as to how long I’ll stay on the trail but there’s one thing I know to be true. I’m not only a lot tougher than you think I am, I’m also a lot tougher than I think I am. We’ll see how it goes.
I do plan to release the songs from the Christmas performance on the Two Spies fan page over the coming days leading up to Christmas. I’ve had such a wonderful time playing with this group this year and I really do hope to continue that in the new year. Terry & Carolyn are talented musicians & great folks. I want to say a public, “Thank You” to both of them and wish them a very Happy Holiday Season!
To the rest of you, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Oh Come All Ye Faithful – Two Spies Trio from Brent Bowers on Vimeo.