Almost 2013 !!!

Where did December go?   Into a whirl of warm gatherings with friends and family for me, and I hope, for you.  I was up in Portland over the Christmas week.  Drove up from the SF Bay Area and saw a lot of snow over the passes.  Beautiful, and brrrrr!!

And here comes January and a new year; and if you are like me, lots of thinking about resolutions, checking back on goals, recalibrating, dreaming and scheming the big plans.

Major priority is transitioning from being a capable musician to a truly engaging performer.  Not that I want to stop being a capable musician :-), but when you take the trouble to come see me play, I want it to be a good time and well worth your while.   I continue to get so much out of my performance coaching sessions with Vicki Ambinder.   I was able to squeeze in a two hour session with her in person during my visit to Portland last week.   A real treat since we usually work on Skype.  

I have signed up for a music marketing class with Bob Baker starting in mid-January.  Bob Baker has written several excellent books on music marketing, and I am looking forward to his class – even though marketing is the last thing a sensitive, creative, and very modest person (who me?) wants to do.   But to get better at playing and performing, I’ve got to expand my list of places I play and let people know about my music making. So promo, here we go!

I am particularly looking for new places to play in SF, Marin and Sonoma counties these days.  I am also going to be spending more time in Los Angeles, helping take care of my 94 year old Mom.  So, if you have any favorite places where you hear live music, thereabouts or in between, I would appreciate your ideas and suggestions.

Speaking of venues, I have been working with the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley as a board member for awhile now.  The Freight is a long established venue and does a first rate job of encouraging and supporting acoustic music.  If you haven’t come to a show since the Freight moved into their new venue, you need to!!  It is one of the best listening rooms I have been in anywhere; and one of my favorite performers, Clair Lynch will be there on January 24^th – fine, fine song writing and truly superior musicianship.

In terms of my own shows: Chester’s in Berkeley is changing owners, and we don’t know how that will affect their commitment to live music; but at least for January, Dorcas Moulton and I will be playing with Sonic Boomerang on Saturday, January 5^th, and we’ll be back with Randy Rood, Patty Hammond and some other talented folks on Thursday, January 17^th.   I’ll be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, January 13^th  with Dorcas and Patty.   And I have a children’s music gig with Michael Hanna on the 19^th.  So fun!!   That’s a private party, but if you have young kids, we play a lot of kid’s songs at the Farmers Market too, so drop by.

Hope your January is full of good things and big plans too.   Happy New Year, and all best wishes for a great year ahead!!

John

Roy Zat

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