My gig at La Tazza Fresca
So last Saturday, October 15, I played at a cute little cafe called La Tazza Fresca (located between campus and Hyde Park, at Guadelupe and 37th), for the first time. A girl named Denise Kotrla played at 9, so I caught most of her set, arriving around 9:15 or so. Her stuff was emotionally-driven like mine is, but more country-ish sounding. She had a really nice voice.
I started playing a few minutes after 10. Thankfully, my friend Emma arrived a few minutes earlier with her guitar, for me to borrow. Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties with strings, my guitar had become unplayable earlier that afternoon. I had feared playing an unfamiliar guitar might throw me off, but much to my surprise it didn't seem to bother me at all.
My voice was kind of rough that day (I'm not sure if it's allergies or I'm fighting something off or what) and during the first three or four songs, it had a very raspy, kind of Janis Joplin-esque sound to it. Emma and some of my other friends said they liked it, but I was pretty worried. In some ways, I like the way it sounds when my voice is rough like that, but the big problem is that it's much harder to control. Also the higher notes are more difficult to hit. Maybe if I had some kind of vocal training I could learn to work with it better. At any rate, I was relieved when my normal voice returned about 20 minutes into the set.
I plowed through a fairly large set of my original songs in a surprisingly short time. I think I finished playing by around 11:40. There was a pretty good-sized group of people, most of whom i knew. I was really happy with the turnout. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. I had planned to play 3 cover songs during the entire set- like, I thought whenever I felt like I was losing the crowd's attention, I would play a familiar song to draw them back in. It wasn't necessary, though. I did play "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star, but only because I was in the mood for it. I was really pleased with how much the group seemed to be into my music. Some of them even sang along when I played "Stupid Pennsylvania," although Joel (predictably) pretended to be from Pennsylvania when I asked if anybody was.
I was a little disappointed in the lack of any kind of response from the management, considering how many people I brought in, but I still would say La Tazza Fresca is a good place for any singer/song-writer to make an Austin appearance, as long as you don't mind not getting paid. (A tip bucket is made available by the cafe, so if you want to ask for tips you certainly can. I didn't ask for anything, but I still made a few bucks.) They have a decent P.A. system for your use, and it's a very charming venue, patronized mainly by a mixture of students and professionals. Overall, I had a great time playing and I felt like the entire episode was a success, despite the initial setbacks. I hope my audience had as enjoyable a time as I did.
I started playing a few minutes after 10. Thankfully, my friend Emma arrived a few minutes earlier with her guitar, for me to borrow. Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties with strings, my guitar had become unplayable earlier that afternoon. I had feared playing an unfamiliar guitar might throw me off, but much to my surprise it didn't seem to bother me at all.
My voice was kind of rough that day (I'm not sure if it's allergies or I'm fighting something off or what) and during the first three or four songs, it had a very raspy, kind of Janis Joplin-esque sound to it. Emma and some of my other friends said they liked it, but I was pretty worried. In some ways, I like the way it sounds when my voice is rough like that, but the big problem is that it's much harder to control. Also the higher notes are more difficult to hit. Maybe if I had some kind of vocal training I could learn to work with it better. At any rate, I was relieved when my normal voice returned about 20 minutes into the set.
I plowed through a fairly large set of my original songs in a surprisingly short time. I think I finished playing by around 11:40. There was a pretty good-sized group of people, most of whom i knew. I was really happy with the turnout. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. I had planned to play 3 cover songs during the entire set- like, I thought whenever I felt like I was losing the crowd's attention, I would play a familiar song to draw them back in. It wasn't necessary, though. I did play "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star, but only because I was in the mood for it. I was really pleased with how much the group seemed to be into my music. Some of them even sang along when I played "Stupid Pennsylvania," although Joel (predictably) pretended to be from Pennsylvania when I asked if anybody was.
I was a little disappointed in the lack of any kind of response from the management, considering how many people I brought in, but I still would say La Tazza Fresca is a good place for any singer/song-writer to make an Austin appearance, as long as you don't mind not getting paid. (A tip bucket is made available by the cafe, so if you want to ask for tips you certainly can. I didn't ask for anything, but I still made a few bucks.) They have a decent P.A. system for your use, and it's a very charming venue, patronized mainly by a mixture of students and professionals. Overall, I had a great time playing and I felt like the entire episode was a success, despite the initial setbacks. I hope my audience had as enjoyable a time as I did.
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