Year In Review

2012 is over and what a year it was.

A year ago I worked a desk job by day and a cocktail bar by night. I pulled crazy hours with little sleep and had grown used to that horrible feeling in the corners of your eyes when you are just. so. tired. I had an old guitar that I liked to play in the spare time I could find, on the floor of my tiny and dirt-cheap studio apartment in the basement of a gigantic house. I had a handful of songs I thought were not completely horrible and some pie-in-the-sky desire to play them for people.

I had been, for some months by then, throwing all of my tips from the bar in a Highland Park box. Every few weeks or so I would take the money out, organize and count it. I was saving up for the Martin I always wanted, along with the amp, mikes, cables and other hoopla I would need to play gigs on my own.

In the meantime I got to know the local open mikes, and found a particularly supportive and gracious crowd at Dorothy's Music Room in Trumansburg, NY.

In February, on my birthday, I hit my goal. I bought the Martin in March. I quit the bar in April. My first week at Dorothy's after buying all my new toys, Dorothy offered me a gig of my own. Finally, I had the tools to say yes. I played my first solo show in May. That first show at Dorothy's was two hours long, and I had to play nearly every song I knew just to get through it.

Since that time, I have played shows every month at venues big and small. I have been paid in wildflower honey, wine, succulents, and cash for my services. I have played markets, lounges, street corners, and porches, and I've been having the time of my life. I've also written a ridiculous number of songs, especially this past autumn.

Looking forward, there's still so much ground to cover. In 2013, I will be making recording a top priority. I will be playing lots of shows of course as well, with hopes of some kind of small tour at the end of the summer. I've also moved on from that dirt-cheap studio into a renovated schoolhouse, where I am beginning to host a house concert series. 2013 already looks busy, but I'm so ready for all that it will bring.

Thank you so much for listening, coming out to shows, reading my ramblings, and all the other things you do to support me and my dream. I feel it every day and it means the world to me. I wish you all the happiest of New Year's and I can't wait to go through it together.

-Bev