new skills
in which I celebrate all that the last two years has made me learn, recap the (awesome!!) Valentines Show, and catch you up on The Chrysalis
hey hartlist,
“I / Don’t want/ New Skills / No New Skills” - Ethan Lipton, No Place to Go
If you missed last week’s installment of The Chrysalis, watch it here.
Next up: MARCH 27 4PM ET, The Chrysalis #60: KIDS (Not Just For Kids) Pt II on my YouTube (subscribe for a reminder!) and FB.
So this was a really great week. Just gotta say that. 1
First of all, we played the coveted Stage 2 of the Rockwood Music Hall on a freezing Monday night, 7PM, Valentines’ Day, during (still) Covid. And I was fully prepared to play for … no one, because freezing Monday, 7PM, Valentines, (still) Covid. And I was like Rebecca, so what, it’s one show, don’t go nuts and get your hair done and worry about ticket sales, remember that whole post you wrote last week about the love of music, just let it be. And then I walked out onstage and - there you were!! Thanks for coming! Bonus: we now have a bunch of free videos courtesy of roving mystery videographer @nycartists, making that the last time I ever Don’t Go Nuts and Get My Hair Done before a show.
( Also, I got a cute spring haircut! … yesterday.)
Ok, this is my most oft-filmed song of all time and maybe you’re over it, but this guy only taped the cover tunes ? Except this. Leading me to believe maybe he thinks ‘Kestrel’ is a cover? I’ll take it.
Secondly, I had a really busy week that involved a Big/Challenging/Fun Audition that had a lot of moving parts and asked a lot of me and I @$Q%^&O*#ing Did It!! Thirdly,
I spent the rest of the week finally launching the massive “find-a-new-acting-agent” email campaign I’ve been warming up to for months. And two hours in I already had a first meeting scheduled (!), but perhaps more importantly I am now the enthusiastic Master Of The Mail Merge and I probably? wouldn’t have said that two years ago.
Another reason the gig was so fun: getting to do a trio number w/ Mollie McQuarrie & Susie Greenebaum from ye olde Dirty Waltz Band… plus Matt stepping in to do this beautiful fiddle duet with Susie. Worth a listen.
Here’s a short list of things I did not do a year ago and do now: video editing. livestreaming. using audio equipment to livestream so the guitar doesn’t sound like it’s underwater. folding a popup backdrop (no joke). Mail merge. email marketing software (in progress). Singing the audition song that goes to the top of my range without squawking. Lighting my self-tapes. Self-tapes. Setting up scheduling/payment software so people can book tarot readings. Doing my dishes (mostly) every day. Playing a gig without a drink (?!). Making a rolled cake. YAMM, Convertkit, Wondershare Filmora, Calendly, Squarespace, Zoom. Writing a weekly newsletter. And the fact that, as it turns out, no one is actually going to come after you with pitchforks simply because you sent them a business query email. Even show business.
Is this bragging? Yes. Why not celebrate the New Skills out loud. It feels just as important as saying “This was a great week.”
Have a great weekend.
RH
you would not believe how many nervous and/or apologetic sentences I wrote qualifying that statement, but I erased them because…. it was a great week!
new skills
You rock!