We were selected to play this year’s Purple Door Festival. It’s going to be a great weekend full of great music. We’ll announce details when we receive them. So far, all we know is that we’re playing on Friday, August 12th. Here’s more info on the festival: http://www.purpledoor.com/
We played the Launch Music Conference this past Saturday as a part of the best of Philly showcase at the Chameleon Club. The show was a lot of fun, but the turn-out for the conference seemed to be down from last year. Also, I don’t know what we did to be included in a best of Philly showcase, but we were happy for the slot.
CD Baby, our online distributor, asked for bands to submit an entertaining story for a contest they were running last month. I submitted something, but even though it was good enough for an honorable mention, it wasn’t quite as crazy as the winner’s story. Anyway, I didn’t want it to go to waste, so here it is!
The Show on Someone’s Front Porch
How an awful gig gave a band a reason for existing
Before it’s existence as a full-blown folk rock band, The Historic was an acoustic duo consisting of Tim Spiegel and me, Phil Rohrer. We had both been in various bands in the past, but during the time period when the following events transpired, The Historic was our new musical endeavor. We were still trying to find our place in the southeastern Pennsylvania music landscape, and as a result, we were taking most of the shows that were offered to us. This attitude toward booking opened up a lot of opportunities for us, but also occasionally led us into some regrettable situations.
One such situation transpired after I received a show offer from a respected local slide guitar player. This veteran of the music world asked us if we’d be interested in playing a show that he was organizing in his hometown, which was somewhere northwest of us in the Appalachian Mountains. Out of respect for our musical elder, we accepted without asking many questions.
The day of the show arrived and we made the hour and a half journey deep into the wilderness of Pennsylvania to the mystery gig. When we reached our destination, we had a little trouble entering town due to a town-wide classic car show. We navigated around a few road blocks and found the address we had been given. It was a small two-story house on the edge of town. The old white siding and rotting front porch definitely had character, but there was no question that the house was a private residence and not a venue. We tried to stay positive as we spotted our slide guitar playing friend amidst a gathering crowd of elderly town folk with lawn chairs in hand, coming to claim their places on the sidewalk in front of the house. Our friend exchanged pleasantries with us, and then began to assemble a small sound system on the front porch of the dilapidated dwelling, confirming our fears. We knew we were in for a long afternoon.
When the predetermined time came, we began our set. We played song after song, trying to find a way to connect with our aged audience. However, playing well didn’t really seem to do the trick, so we found ourselves trying to appeal to their grandmotherly and grandfatherly instincts. We were on our best behavior, trying our hardest to come off as “nice young men”. This went on for what seemed like hours, but considering our lack of material, in reality it couldn’t have been more than forty-five minutes or so. Another factor that didn’t make time pass any faster were the bugs. Apparently the vibrations from our guitars woke them from their slumber under the rotting floorboards of our makeshift stage. Thankfully, one of our more merciful audience members went back to his house and got us insect repellent halfway through the set.
Eventually, the show came to an end and our audience folded up their chairs, preparing to begin their slow shuffle back toward their respective homes. One or two polite ladies told us our music was nice. However, we were well aware that we had just finished playing music inspired by Bob Dylan in front of an audience that preferred Bing Crosby. We packed up our gear, exchanging jokes about the absurd situation under our breath to help ease the awkwardness. That’s when a voice from down the street caught my attention.
A traffic cop was manning the road block at the end of the street, twenty or so yards from the house where we had just finished playing. She was yelling to me, attempting to get my attention without leaving her post. After hearing her, I walked toward her to find out what was going on. She proceeded to tell me how grateful she was that she was stationed at that particular roadblock, within earshot of our performance. Apparently, her best friend had passed away earlier that week, and as a result, she had been very depressed and overwhelmed with her loss. However, she told me that listening to us perform had somehow made her happy for the first time in days. She didn’t explain why, and to this day, I still don’t really understand what we could have said or done to have that effect on her. In that instant though, through the words of a stranger that wasn’t even attending our concert by choice, all of the time and effort we put into our art became worthwhile. As a result, what started as a day I thought I would be eager to forget became a memory that drives our musical pursuits onward, in hopes of having the same effect on a wider audience of people.
The Historic and Old Man Welsh will be providing the musical entertainment at a limited seating living room show in Ephrata on February 19th. There will be delicious free food and the bands will be performing a few post-Valentine’s Day songs. Please contact one of the bands to reserve your spot (only $3 for one great evening). You will be given the address after reserving your spot. Contact us using the contact form on our website or by visiting our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thehistoric
So another year has come to an end and we have another album to show for it. 2010 turned out to be the year that The Historic finished the transformation from singer/songwriter with backing to a truly collaborative band. It was a fun year with a few really great shows – Denison Witmer, Jennifer Knapp, Derek Webb, Lovedrug, The Annual Historic Christmas Party. All that said, 2011 already has a lot of potential. We have some exciting shows in the works, and while we probably won’t be releasing an another studio album in 2011 (unless we scrape some money together more quickly than anticipated), we might release some home recordings with friends if things come together. Whatever happens, I’m sure 2011 will be fun and exciting. Keep in touch.
Well, our annual Christmas party will be taking place at Emmaus Road Cafe this year. Via Linota will be opening for us, and just to switch things up a bit, Majik Andrew will also be performing. And if that weren’t enough, the show will be FREE and will also include a variety of delicious coffee drinks and holiday treats (the food will be free, but not the coffee drinks). Anyway, it should be a fun evening. We hope many of you can make it.
So with “The City of Promise”, we’ve determined that not everything is as meaningful as society would lead us to believe. Indeed, we can’t create, earn or even steal meaning in life. The meaning of life is beyond us, but we’re free to surrender to it and get satisfaction and peace by going along with wherever it takes us. I’m sorry. My mind tends to drift. Anyway, where do we go next?
It seems to me that the next leg of our lyrical journey could be a battle to find and focus on meaning in the big, tangled web of meaninglessness that is our society. I’ve thought about doing an album that’s split into two themes, symbolizing the conflict. Other things that have popped into my head are “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” and “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Those are both Biblical references. We need to find a variety of stories from all kinds of sources. If anyone thinks of anything, let us know.
Phil R.
This week, we lined up what will probably be our last free show for a while. Try to make it out to Emmaus Road Cafe on November 20. If you’ve never been there, it’s a nice little cafe on the east side of Lancaster, near the Walmart on Lincoln Highway. We will have a friend opening for us (we haven’t confirmed who that will be yet though). Also, we will have plenty of our new albums on hand for those of you who haven’t picked one up yet. Hope to see you there!
Our CD Release Party is rapidly approaching (Oct. 2) and we’re making final preparations. We have a 5th song that might make it onto the album. Also, the album now has a name, “City of Promise”. All of the songs have a cohesive message, and the “City of Promise” is where the album leads you (although, it’s not the happy place you might imagine). In addition, it’s both the end and the beginning of a journey, setting us up for another album in the future.
I’m sad to say that I’ve been reminded once again that life is fragile and that you can never really count on there being a “later”. My grandfather had a stroke last Thursday. He was previously in good health, so it caught everyone off guard. He’s lost his ability to speak and can’t really move the right side of his body. However, from what I can tell, he’s still thinking and reacting normally (waving goodbye, etc.) His nurse thinks he’s depressed, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s depressed because he feels trapped inside himself, wondering if he’ll recover and thinking about all of the things left undone. I can’t imagine coming to what could be the end of my life, only to have plenty of time to analyze how I had spent it. I’m praying that he recovers. I’m sure he’ll have a lot to say.
Phil
