well, that was different

So I did my Juanita Bay gig yesterday - it was one of the first-weekend spots, so there was billing and I was formally invited and stuff, tho' that doesn't actually change anything much on the ground ^_^ - and that went fairly poorly monetarily, because nobody was there for the first two hours. Seriously, the weather was nice, it was cool but not cool, the sun was out, nothing windy, uberdead. Also, a bunch of vendors didn't show. So that was weird. Once people actually started showing up, it went pretty normally. The flower people gave me more flowers, which was, as always, awesome. ^_^

Today I hit Woodinville, but got out of the house late in the morning, so missed half the morning rush. This is me hitting myself on the head with the LAME board. So I have only myself to blame for that. Once that petered out, I decided to try to head to the Seattle Tilth Harvest Festival, to see what that was like, and also to see whether I could play there.

As a festival, it seemed rather nice - an exhibition area, they had some of their permanent gardens open for display, and it's a really pleasant park. It's configured well - the designated busker locations were very nice, they had flags for attention-getting and even provided chairs. They had lots of exhibitors, a good crowd, very lively - I heard one of the organisers saying that it was the largest harvest event they'd ever had, and couldn't even imagine how it got this large.

And nobody was making money on music. I did one set - about 50 minutes - and got $4. Seriously, $4. I had adult dancers, which was epic, but still - $4. But I was just fine with that because I'd rather expected this would either be really good or really bad, and really bad was the more likely option. (This is because it's an annual event with no regulars, and I didn't know whether it would be exhibitors or sales, or what; the busking area was in an exhibit area, so nobody was thinking about spending.)

Then I talked to some other music people and found out that at least of the people with whom I spoke, I was money leader. Even the stage band I saw who passed the hat after their performance appeared to have gotten less, which is pretty brutal. (I saw the hat get passed back to the stage with two $1 bills and some change inside. Ouch.) One busker I talked to (and jammed with a bit later) said she got zero, to which I can only again say ouch.

(One funny thing out of that conversation: one of them had heard me playing earlier, and walked by to check me out. She'd thought I was amped. Har, no, I'm just really fucking loud. ^_^ )

Nice festival tho'; I'd definitely go next year. Not for making money, of course - not unless I was a stage band or something, and so paid an appearance fee. But jamming a bit with a banjo player was pleasant, and it's a good festival in the other ways.

I looked up my mandolin

The mandolin I play, which sounds like no other mandolin I've picked up, is a Mid-Missouri Mandolin model M-11. It's no longer available, and the company is out of business due to a fire. As a letter from a customer notes at the bottom of the page, I am not the only one to notice the extremely atypical Loud these mandolins can produce.

The maker appears to have formed a new company (with a rather minimalist website) but I don't know - that website hasn't been updated in some time, and it's pretty small. I hope he has. Either way, I guess I should continue to be extra careful with this beast, and look for a hardshell case.

Mine's serial number 3268. I hope that means at least 3,268 were made, and they didn't start numbering at, say, 1000, or 3000; I wouldn't want to have to go looking for a replacement. But if I had the money, I'd be looking for a spare, just in case. Preferably one with a built-in pickup, if such a variant exists. I was thinking about someday getting this one modified for that - but those plans are now over. (Fortunately, it appears there are other options. Not cheap other options. But other options.)