The Hillsdale Farmers' Market is awesome. I really can't say much more to it than that; the experience I had there was I have to say unmatched compared to everywhere else I've played so far. I wasn't at all sure what to expect - the only reason I went out there was because of an invitation I got from one of the managers last Wednesday at the Portland Farmers' Market. It pays to get noticed, I guess... the dude just liked my playing and wanted me at his market.
And oh, the market is great. It's on the small side, compared to the Saturday Farmers' Market over by PSU (where I played yesterday) but it has a lot of the same folk selling, and it's really cozy. Not to mention I got a phenomenal take today - just a few dollars shy of yesterday. And they treat their musicians really amazingly well - not only did I have a canopy, a table, and no competition, they also made me a sign, brought me water (without me even asking!), and sent me home with a big bag full of produce from the market. Really good produce. I'm talking lots of organic, all local, and just good quality stuff. Those artichokes were real good for dinner, I gotta say. The homebrew soda they threw in there went down nice after a day in the hot sun, too. Although the sun really wasn't that much of an issue today; the canopy they gave me provided more than enough shade. I did get a really weird sunburn on my arm, though; my left arm was in the direct sun for a while, but my violin was also casting a shadow on it, so I ended up with part of my forearm burned, with a little bit going up to the elbow unburned, with a perfect violin curve dividing burned from not. I burn really easily, so it's not like that's a big surprise, but the curve of red going down my arm is a little bit funny. [Update: I also ended up on the Hillsdale Farmers' Market website. Didn't look at it until later, but my name's on there as of tonight. I'm famous.]
One thing that really made today stand out was just the reality of being a central musician and an actual part of the event. Instead of standing on the sidelines, watching out for a movealong or anybody hassling, I was a legitimate component of the market. I even had an official sign. This was, in a lot of ways, really nice - gets rid of all the competition, for example. On the other hand, it really changes what I do. I'm so used to running through the same handfuls of fragments and songs, repeating things in places that don't always make sense, and basically playing for a moving audience rather than as a regular performer per se. It's not like I'm trying to be lazy, more of just looking for economy in what I'm playing. The more I can stretch out my repertoire, the better. When I'm staying in one place, I have to watch what I'm playing and make sure that I'm playing things all the way through and not repeating too much. In a way, this got a little bit stressful when I was nearing the end of my shift - I was losing track of what I had already played, and how recently I had played it. It's very interesting to look at the different styles, I guess... personally, I prefer the more freeform "moving traffic" style, but I think that if I build up my stock of music a little bit more, I can get into staying in one place a little bit more easily.
Today wasn't really as memorable as far as running into unusual people or having weird stuff happen around me. In a lot of ways, it was a very normal day. I'm starting to see a lot of the same people around; the same vendors, the same Street Roots guy, even some of the same customers. I'm really hoping that this means they're starting to notice me, too. I'm hoping to become sort of a fixture around town by the end of the summer. I don't expect all of Portland to know me by name, but I'd love for people to be able to walk by and think, "hey, that's the violin guy," or even better "hey, that's the violin guy with the blog." Not to take away from the artistic side of what I'm doing, I would love to reinvent myself (in this job) as a kind of product that people remember and will talk about. Just getting myself out there is really the first step, but getting some buzz around me is just as important. I'm looking into some collaborations, some side jobs, and some other alternative stuff to go for this. What I'm doing is definitely fun, and definitely a labor of love, but even if the hours aren't as long as most jobs, it still is ending up to be a job. And I want to make the best of it.
Tomorrow: Taking the day off.
And oh, the market is great. It's on the small side, compared to the Saturday Farmers' Market over by PSU (where I played yesterday) but it has a lot of the same folk selling, and it's really cozy. Not to mention I got a phenomenal take today - just a few dollars shy of yesterday. And they treat their musicians really amazingly well - not only did I have a canopy, a table, and no competition, they also made me a sign, brought me water (without me even asking!), and sent me home with a big bag full of produce from the market. Really good produce. I'm talking lots of organic, all local, and just good quality stuff. Those artichokes were real good for dinner, I gotta say. The homebrew soda they threw in there went down nice after a day in the hot sun, too. Although the sun really wasn't that much of an issue today; the canopy they gave me provided more than enough shade. I did get a really weird sunburn on my arm, though; my left arm was in the direct sun for a while, but my violin was also casting a shadow on it, so I ended up with part of my forearm burned, with a little bit going up to the elbow unburned, with a perfect violin curve dividing burned from not. I burn really easily, so it's not like that's a big surprise, but the curve of red going down my arm is a little bit funny. [Update: I also ended up on the Hillsdale Farmers' Market website. Didn't look at it until later, but my name's on there as of tonight. I'm famous.]
One thing that really made today stand out was just the reality of being a central musician and an actual part of the event. Instead of standing on the sidelines, watching out for a movealong or anybody hassling, I was a legitimate component of the market. I even had an official sign. This was, in a lot of ways, really nice - gets rid of all the competition, for example. On the other hand, it really changes what I do. I'm so used to running through the same handfuls of fragments and songs, repeating things in places that don't always make sense, and basically playing for a moving audience rather than as a regular performer per se. It's not like I'm trying to be lazy, more of just looking for economy in what I'm playing. The more I can stretch out my repertoire, the better. When I'm staying in one place, I have to watch what I'm playing and make sure that I'm playing things all the way through and not repeating too much. In a way, this got a little bit stressful when I was nearing the end of my shift - I was losing track of what I had already played, and how recently I had played it. It's very interesting to look at the different styles, I guess... personally, I prefer the more freeform "moving traffic" style, but I think that if I build up my stock of music a little bit more, I can get into staying in one place a little bit more easily.
Today wasn't really as memorable as far as running into unusual people or having weird stuff happen around me. In a lot of ways, it was a very normal day. I'm starting to see a lot of the same people around; the same vendors, the same Street Roots guy, even some of the same customers. I'm really hoping that this means they're starting to notice me, too. I'm hoping to become sort of a fixture around town by the end of the summer. I don't expect all of Portland to know me by name, but I'd love for people to be able to walk by and think, "hey, that's the violin guy," or even better "hey, that's the violin guy with the blog." Not to take away from the artistic side of what I'm doing, I would love to reinvent myself (in this job) as a kind of product that people remember and will talk about. Just getting myself out there is really the first step, but getting some buzz around me is just as important. I'm looking into some collaborations, some side jobs, and some other alternative stuff to go for this. What I'm doing is definitely fun, and definitely a labor of love, but even if the hours aren't as long as most jobs, it still is ending up to be a job. And I want to make the best of it.
Tomorrow: Taking the day off.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 9:44 PM
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