Paying our Dues

I suppose in starting out in any industry or field, there is a certain period of adjustment. A time when, as a newcomer, you are "paying your dues". That is about where we are at this moment in time. Let me recap the past 4 days for you. Tuesday we played a show in Johnstown, TN which upon our arrival appeared to be a rad little college town. We later came to find out that the university in that town was on spring break that week, and that is why the only people we saw anywhere were bums. Lots and lots of bums. Unfortunately for us, bums don't like to pay five bucks to hang out at local metal bars. The place we played was super rad, the Hideaway, and the band we played with was really cool, Worn in Red, but there were very few paying customers that evening. We met a dude named Travis who owns a recording studio only a block from the venue, and he was kind enough to key us in and let both bands crash for the night. We woke up early on Wednesday to get a head start on our drive to Asheville, NC, which we were all looking forward to, and arrived fairly early in the afternoon, maybe 2 or 3ish. This gave us plenty of time to walk around town more than a few times. After a few hours of that, and some serious butt chaffing, we found ourselves sitting in the van in front of the venue waiting for someone to let us in. Austin decided to call the promoter around 8 to see what time we could expect to be able to load in, and he informed us that the show had been cancelled, and he thought he had emailed all the bands. He was very apologetic, and gave us the name of a few venues in town that might let us jump on a show. After visiting 7 other bars, we finally found a hooka bar who was having an open mic night. They said we could play last, and that it probably wouldn't be too late. They also were having a $6 all you can drink PBR special which helped us bide more time. After 5 hours of endless music, a million PBR's and a huge brawl in the parking lot (we were not involved, only spectators), we were able to play 3 songs for the few remaining patrons and bartenders. We loaded up our gear, and made our way to a Walmart parking lot only a few miles away to sleep. We woke up Thursday to a fart filled, steamed up van and another serious drive to Birmingham, Alabama. We played a small DIY space, and it was fantastic. There were people there, we were able to play our full set, and we even sold some CD's! All the bands were great, and we were able to get out pretty early, around 11ish, to make another long trek to New Orleans. I drove all through the night, arrived in NO around 6:30 this morning to the sun rising. Our tour managers girlfriends parents own a two story apartment building in town, and the upstairs apartment is unoccupied at the time. They are being gracious enough to allow us to stay here as we take a break from the road for a few days before heading down to Austin for SXSW. When we got here there was beer in the fridge, chili and fresh corn bread, a washer and dryer, a shower and most importantly, a bed to sleep in. Things have been rough the past few days, and I imagine there will be plenty of hardship ahead of us, but this is the price you pay to do something you absolutely love every single day. If this is "paying our dues" I don't have a problem making the investment. It's paying for gas that might become a serious problem here sooner than later. If you feel so inclined to help, here's what you can do. Go to Hollister and buy our album. It's on their shelves as we speak. Or, go to Insound to pre-order our album, or simply help us with some gas money. Our paypal account is Sixgalleryband@gmail. Till next time.