April Music News from John Roy Zat

Happy April!!  Hope you had a good March and still have some chocolate Easter eggs left. 

I heard some very nice news last week.   I was invited onto the board of the Folk Alliance Western Region.   Folk Alliance is an international  support organization for independent musicians and singer songwriters.   I have gone to the Western Region annual conference the last two years and learned so much, and I am very pleased to be able to be more closely involved.

I put up a cajun fiddle tune on Youtube last month, "Big Mamou", (here) and a couple of other videos with my buddies in the Don't Look Back Stringband (here).  Video is a great way for unknown artists (who me?!!) to spread the word about their work, particularly by doing cover songs.  Twenty views and counting on Big Mamou.  This is what I am aiming for: 81 million views and then a record deal.  Here is another which has had 141 million views and was so successful that it spawned a number of parodies. All it takes is great chops, clever ideas, hard work and good looks.  No problem here :-)

Mi Bay Area amigos -- do you know about the Two Day Town music festival on the last weekend of April?  This is a fun, small, local music festival at the Del Val campgrounds in Livermore.   If you live in the Bay Area come on over for the campin',  pickin' and chillin'.   Oh boy, summer is almost here!!

       

I was down in LA visiting my mom again in March, and I played the Songwriters At Play Showcase, at the SLO Down Pub in Arroyo Grande, on my way back to the Bay Area.   I have mentioned Songwriters At Play in previous newsletters.   It is run by Steve Key and in addition to the fine showcases he runs, he is such an excellent writer and player.  If you didn't check out his material before, here is his link again.  

Good news!!   Chester 's has reopened with an upgraded decor and menu.   The new owners are French (French cuisine et oui, c'est tres bon!!) and it is now called La Fable.   They have started having live music again and on Saturday, April 13th, I will be playing with Dorcas Moulton and my friends, Sonic Boomerang.   If you can come out that evening, we would very much appreciate you helping us show the new owners that live music is a good draw for their restaurant.   Music is from 7:30 to 9:30pm .

And, I'll be playing a lot more music in April -- see dates and locations on the calendar below or my website:  www.royzat.com

I mentioned that I am van shopping last month and I am still at it.   Thanks for your opinions and suggestions.   I'm leaning towards a Chevy Astro.   I used to have a '53 Chevy station wagon and did lots of car camping in it.   Good memories!!

That's a bit of my news, and I would love to hear some of yours.   Wishing you a happy April and lots of fooling around.

John
Roy Zat
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