UK Journey Continued.

I went out last night for a Movember Finale party last night.
I do not feel top form today.
So seems like a good time for the sordid tale of my UK excursion.

Let's see... left off with travel partner.
basically just wandered London, saw the inspection of the guards, (pretty boring), went to the Canadian bar called the Maple Leaf. They had hockey stuff on the wall and served Sleeman and Moosehead. (nothing to crazy) and I kareokeed while drunk. An asian fellow shook my hand mid song. So I must have been alright.

Then to Edinburgh. I took a train for 120 pounds. I found out I could have flown for way less than that. Lesson learned.
Edinburgh is very hilly. Ups and downs carrying a giant backpack and guitar is not recommended for this city. But it's beautiful. old buildings, a castle right outside the hostel window. Fantastic jacket potatoes.

I have found that Scottish girls really like curse words. Fuck, cunt and twat seemed to be the preferred terms. usually blended together in the same sentence. "You tell that cunt fuckin' twat that I don't want to talk to her!"
I have not stayed in a hostel in a while. i forgot about a few things.
Sex. People having sex across from you, as quiet as they try to be, you hear it all.
Germans. I love Germans, good looking, kind, fun. But they are horrible hostel goers. They come in from the Disco and either talk very loud, turn on the lights, or both, when everyone else is sleeping. Oh the Germans....
Co-ed toilets. I'm just not a fan of going in to the same room and having a shower while a strange girl is trying not to fart to loud.
I played at the Wee Red Bar an on campus bar, pretty cool place. Green Day and the Proclaimers have graced the stage. as well as Eyeswide!
The show was ok but all of the acts were touring acts so we didn't really have a draw. But some people did come out, and I had some good conversations.

Off to Bristol again by train. I joined up to Couchsurfers.com and found a place to crash. A nice little place in yet another hilly city up and down. Despite my trusty map. I kept getting lost. I saw a fair bit of Banksy art and perhaps some copies of Banksy.
Let us look at some street art.

This one was in a museum.


I played at Mr. Wolf's here and the crowd was decent but since I was unknown did not get too much attention, or maybe I just didn't play well...




From Bristol to Liverpool. I'm just cutting right through these cities.
I went straight to from the station to the Cavern Quarter, to.....

Yes The Cavern, where the Beatles kicked it off. I went down for a drink and ended up on stage playing my version of Come together.
It's kind of tourist but it still has a vibe in there.

On stage at the Cavern!














So again I am going to leave this tale of excitement for later. part 3 will conclude the journey.
Where i will tell of how I wanted to cry in the airport.

but as for some current news.

Eyeswide is a feature artist on www.sonicbids.com I am gracing the main page!
Sonic Box Radio has featured a 30 min segment on Eyeswide.
That can be found at www.canadianartistrecords.ca
Let's go nurse this hangover shall we?
-Neil

I was warned. A tale of woe.

It's not really a tale of Woe.
I used that for dramatic effects.
It worked, didn't it?
I was warned that if I didn't tour the UK right I would lose my shirt.
Well jokes on you sir, I kept my shirt. I just came back with no money.
Ha, ha...oh.
Well I tend to jump right in to things whether they are going to go smoothly or not and going the UK was something I wanted to do for a few years. So I was quite willing to travel on this bumpy road.
If you've ver been to the UK, you've probably been been hit with that sad feeling when you go to the bank to exchange your hard earned Canadian dollars (or whatever currency you use) into the British pound. It's like some one stealing your toys as a kid.
I went with $1000 dollars I ended up with 575 pounds.
I know it's a different currency and you can get drinks for 2-3 pounds meals for 4 pounds etc.... but I didn't know that when I got the exchange done. All I notice is that 500 is half of 1000 and it saddens my heart.
By the way my attention span for writing today is low this may take 2 or three parts to write about.
Hey, I've got other things to do!
Another thing I tend not to think about. how much my luggage weighs.
I brought a large backpack and my guitar. the pack had all my clothes and merch in it. Jammed as full as I could get it. It was quite heavy. A little too heavy according to the older gentleman at Thomas Cook airline. about $100 to heavy. I was 5 kg over and it's $20 for each kg over.
The only bright side to that was that they said I could upgrade to first class for the same amount and that 1st class allows the extra baggage weight. So I got my first time in the front of the plane, Rosa Parks would be proud!
That's a horrible joke.
I show up to a pillow blanket water, free booze, and a decent meal. the chairs were more comfy but didn't seem to stretch out anymore than the coach seats. Maybe I was only in mediocre first class.

I arrive in London at 645am, and have to wait until my friends get off work at 7pm until I can get to their place and relax. So I got to wander London exhausted from little sleep on the plane (I just can't sleep sitting up) I saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the guards with the q-tip hats, but I didn't really care so much as I was dead on my feet.

 Luckily my friend got of at 3 instead of 7 and I was able to get a nap and shower.
my friends live in Brixton, it's very cultural there I liked it a lot. It hosts Electric Ave. The one from that Eddie Grant Song. Loads of Jamaicans. My friends likened it to the Harlem of London. I learned later that I was ignorant to the constant attempts at drug sales, the clicking noises people make are the signal for narcotic purchases.

I had a show that night I was recording 5 songs at The Abbey. The Abbey is a cool venue, I ended up going there twice, with really good musicians.
I'll be posting a song or two at www.eyeswide.ca in the near future.....
Met a fellow Canadian who just arrived a few days earlier so a got a touring partner for the next day.
HOw about that horrible cliffhanger? I really have to get to some other things right now hopefully it will not take me a month to get to it. Scotland, the oddities of Liverpool, my failure to book plane tickets......

Travelling Ontario

Good day!

How are you?

Ah, that's great.

What have I been up to?

Well let see...

I'm on a two day break from the Ontario Tour I'm on with Bob Charters. 

We've played Barrie, Brantford, Ottawa, and Bracebridge. If only Ottawa started with a B.

THe tour was to have 3 acts but we the third act dropped out last minute so Bob and I just altered the show a bit. 

We each play a set of our originals then the third we jam together and play some covers. 

Usually by the end everyone is drunk and just want to her stuff they know anyways.

Barrie was a good turn out.

Brantford was nothing crazy plus some guy tried to get me to take my shirt off. 

No Gord, No. just buy my CD. Which he did.

Gord stopped me on the way to the bar.

He gave me compliments on my music which I thanked him for.

Then he talked about my physique. 

"you must work out." says Gord touching my arm. 

"A bit." I respond

I think this guy I can get to buy a CD. 

after the last set I come by with CD's and he is willing to buy one. He asks me about the T-shirts.

"Any of them make me look like you?"

"Sure!" I said, "What size are you Large or Medium?"

Gord is somewhere around 45, kinda old lookin 45, too.

But Gord says "Really I'd rather see you with your shirt off."

"Sorry Gord shirts stay on."

"But you can buy this one and take it on and off your self."

Gord didn't buy a shirt that day. 

And Sure the thought did cross my mind, If I take off my shirt for a second, he's going to buy a shirt. 

But I stand on the moral high ground of staying clothed while making (or not making) sales.

Ottawa was pretty dead. 3 floors to this bar, and they put us on the one that did not have a bar, thus had no people. 

Great move.

Bracebridge was packed... but paid us the least. 

This tour is very educational. I'm learning what to do and not to do, by doing the exact opposite. But I am learning.

Posters if you want to have your poster up in a bar. DO NOT email it to them. They will not print it off. Mail an actual copy to the bar or bring your own and put it up your self. 

Also some places won't post your show on there websites (facebook, myspace etc) you've got to do it your self. 

I thought the bars would help out at their end to promote the show. Turns out, many do not.

When we showed up to Brantford, there was no poster plus they had some other band written on the chalkboard instead of  An evening With Lovers & Thieves Tour. Ah Well.

Also Being unknown people do not come to your merch area, no matter how much you talk about it during the sets.

It's almost like the one part of the bar people won't come around to.

So the best thing to do is grab some CD's and walk up to the groups of people and ask. 

Sure I get those uncomfortable looks and excuses "Uh I don't know if I can afford it."

I understand no one really wants to buy CD's. But if I can guilt them into it, I've done a good job.

I've also learned that I need to demand more money. Many bars when booking this tour, either agreed to my price which was probably cheaper than what they usually charge, or came back at me with a lower price, because they don't pay much at all. Which I accepted because I just think of the experience more than the money for the moment. But I can definitely say that next tour I will not be pushing for more be it  a larger bar tab, more cash, or a place to stay.

Finding a place to stay is hard when you do not want to pay for a hotel. 

We are relying on friends or people to take us in, which hasn't been lucky for us. at our Ottawa gig we had very few people come through the bar and no chance of some one letting us crash so we hopped in the car and drove towards the next city we made it about an hour and pulled over on a side road and tried to sleep.

The seats would not go back so we sat upright twisting back and forth getting colder and colder. 

Not the best experience.

We've got two more shows left one in Ottawa again at The Rainbow and in Collingwood at The Huron Club.

Shortly after that I will fly over to the UK and play some shows and travel around. 

Again I'm not going to be getting much compensation from the venues, some drink something to eat. I'm relying on finding generous people with couches and selling CD's and T-shirts to be able to survive my 2 and a half weeks. 

I've got a little bit of wiggle room on a credit card so worst comes to worst I'll get some room in Bristol or Edinburgh.

 

When I get back It's going to be day time work mode. I'll have to supply teach as much as I can to start paying off bills. What a horrible thought. Horrible indeed. But at least I have a Art Gallery showing in November. With Luck I will make some sales from my artwork. 

here's a little sample of some art in the gallery.

Now I've got to find someone who will let me eat their Thanksgiving dinner with them. 

Wish Me Luck!

-Neil

Hey I was unemployed!

...and I didn't know it.
turns out when I resigned from my 0.2 the school board took me off the supply list.
I had to call and see why I have not ben getting calls. Turns out it was because I didn't work for them anymore.
Neat.
I did get reinstated wasn't to hard but being a little skint and realizing I could have been working is a little frustrating.

Other than that

I received my CD's did I mention that last time? I can't remember and refuse to look at the previous post.

Anyway, I've got a problem with the company. They did not put on the bar codes. They also refuse to reprint them. It's an ongoing process.
Ooooh a cliffhanger! What will be the result?

I've been playing Friday through Monday.
In Toronto With The band Kangaroo Box Thief First time in a month It was a good show

Then had a cool gig in a Brewery in Barrie where  we played in the brewery amongst the equipment.

And An Evening With Lovers & Thieves Tour Kick off with Bob Charters at At The Five It was a really good turn out for a late night Monday gig. It was even better than some weekend gigs I've played.

It was a fun time and people were in a buying mood!

Honestly I'm trying to watch The Office Season 6 right now, so I am distracted.
And my writing is not so entertaining I will end this so I can focus on the television show.
At Least you have some pics with this one!
blah blah blah
-Neil

So I was in New York....

My CD has arrived, well really I went to pick it up but I've got it boxes and boxes sitting in my house!
It's pretty cool having a shrink wrapped little square that no body has use for anymore. Is it just me or did that sentence remind you of a condom?
But really not a lot of people buy CD's. people download. for free, quite often.
It's basically become an expensive business card.
Either way I'm glad to have my shrink wrapped business card!
It's got my picture in there I wrote all the songs I designed it I'm very proud!
So you should all buy one!


I've played two festivals this past weekend.
Starting on Thurs with The New Music Fest in Barrie which boasted bands such as The Trews and Big Sugar. The bad part was that everyone went to see that show and the sets I played at Hooters and The Mansion were quite dead. but I did get to go back stage and hang out with The bands in between my sets. It felt pretty cool the I run off to my gig with no one.
Thus is the life starting out in the music business, playing empty rooms.
The next day off to New York for...
 the MEANY fest I was offered the chance and I took it. No pay, just to go down and play meet people and hopefully get my CD out to anyone and everyone!
I had enough Aeroplan points to get me there so off I went.
Showed up on a Friday with no place to stay!
Hostels in New York are not like the one I've been to in Australia, Peru, Costa Rica, Canada etc..
How are they different?
They were all booked up!
Every one of them on Manhattan Island was booked.
So trudging around towards the area of my gig (the Delancey) sweating and tired carrying a back pack and a guitar, I got a call from my girlfriend that there was a place in Chinatown for $68 a night.
So off I went...
to find that this place was nameless, just the building number, 106, and of course no rooms for $68 dollars.
they only had $85. in i go to this closet with a square box for a bed.the hardest bed I've ever been on and I've been on some shit beds travelling!

I was able to get them into a lower priced room the next day. I asked what the diference was between them.

A window.

$20 for a window. 

my window looked to the back of another building. 

I hiked around the island early Sat. I checked out Ground Zero and must say I didn't get the chills or the awe I was expecting. It looked just like a construction site. I know what happened was extremely tragic. I was just expecting some kind of Wow this is where it happened  moment but it never came could also be due to the fact that it was a tourist attraction basically, I was there with my camera like all the others.

 

Went up to Rockefeller Centre hoping I would see Tina Fey (not really, but kinda)

and wandered through Central Park. I decided I would go busking for the first time on Sunday. 

The show that evening was nothing crazy I had to go first instead of second because one band cancelled and another was shifted to another venue. I played my songs and people liked what they heard. Sold some CD's met some cool bands (Ghost Ghost and Ekros) and some cool people, Kelsey and Dee who were running the show and Tim who works on a show called World of Jenks on MTV. 

After the show with more drinks and off I went to drop off the guitar and wonder some more. 

I love this poster on Bowery rd.

THe next day I decided not to stay in the hotel and go to the airport to sleep to save money.

THe plan was to spend the day in Central Park busk hang out and hike down to Grand Central to catch the shuttle to La Guardia Airport. 

Busking was a little nerve wracking at first. 

I've never done it and I've got a breathier voice, I was worried it would not travel very far. 

slowly got my self set up sat on the bench and looked down as a strummed an instrumental. Right away a mom and her kid were dancing. people would sit, hang out, listen dance, take pictures, and talk to me (sometimes mid song). It was great. 

My camera was broken so I asked one old gaffer to send me the shots he took and here they are.

In just over an hour I had $30 and my CD was in the hands of some new potential fans.

the rest of the afternoon I laid in the park and read. 

The airport sleeping arrangements were not quite what I hoped it would be. there was no carpet or padded seats. I may have gotten 2 hours of off and on sleep. I mainly read. 

I was exhausted the next 2 days, because of it. 

So. New York, by myself, for one show. Would most people do it? No. A lot of people wouldn't think it was worth the time. I on the other hand think any new experience is worth it. I had offers for other gigs later in the week but sadly was leaving on Monday. But there could be more New York for me in November. I really enjoyed the city and I really enjoyed playing. I'm not a big draw yet so I need to take whats offered to me for the moment. And if that means traveling all over the world for small club gigs I'm all for it. 

Up next is a Southern Ontario Tour with a couple of friends. 

More soon.

-Neil

Constant, I am not... Lets talk about booking a tour!

It appears that after two blogs, I was unable to keep them coming regular.
So in honest I suppose it will be written sporadically.

Recent stuff...
I've been told that my deoderant smells like a maxi pad.
and  totally unrelated.
I have changed my deoderant from Old Spice Showtime to Old Spice regular.

Lately I've been booking (trying to book) two short tours for October.
the first around Ontario and Quebec, the second in the UK.
Lets talk about the first.
I don't have many conecctions around by means of promoters or venue owners so I found these bars and venues by following where musician friends I know and bands I liked. Where they played I made a note of it. that was my start point.
I thought If you play similar music you would have a good chance of getting something at that venue. Funny thing is though. I don't know who I sound like. I'm not folk, but I play only the acoustic, it's verging on pop rock. but pop rock venues tend to book full bands, which I am not.
THe second thing I did was go to google maps and type in "bar" and you slide that cursor around ontario and hundreds of venues pop up.
Checking out all of thses was very time consumming.
I decided it would be quicked to email the bars and venues. A quick email gettting right to the point of what I'm doing what's involved and how much I want.
Here is what happens
1) some emails will not work.
2) many bars will not respond
3) bars will be booked up
4) I'm not the right fit for the venue
5) a few that say yes
It was frusterating going sending  out emails and have them come back "delivery postponed, email does not exist" and sother such wording.  A lot never bothered to get back and since this is really my first attempt at booking a tour, I thought 4 weeks would have been agood enough time period to get some shows booked but a lot of the venues that responded were booked well up to Dec and Jan.
Afte exhausting the email I began calling bars and got similar results.
1) no answer
2) They only book cover bands
3) Booked up)
4) He'll call you back (only to not get called back)
Fun Times So for a wek or so. I had two gigs booked. both in Ottawa.
"Hey guys! the tour begins and ends in Ottawa!"
I've got a few more added since then and the other guys involved are checking into their resources to fill out the dates.
So that's a to be continued.

How about the UK?
similar but only involves emails since a 5-10 min phone call would cut deeply into my wallet.
I'd scour google maps, visit uk bands I knew of to see where they were playing asked friends that live in certain cities where the music venues were, etc.
I was hoping that the novelty of being a Canadian Musician would help me get some gigs, but really I don't know.
I've got no more gigs than I do in Canada.
I also came up with similar results, no response, booked, not the right style. And a few yes's.
THe odd thing I found was that mainly in London, bars that had open mic nights would try and book you for that, as a gig. 15-20 min set for free. And honestly I have taken one of them right before I return home.
Going over seas I was able to get intouch with a few booking agents that were advising me on certain things.  one was don't come over with out a plan.
I was reccommended to one fellow who does alot of Canadian UK shows. I heard lots of good things about him and asked for some advice.
First off I got questions like
What are your sales like?
What Lable are you with?
What's your goal?
How long are you staying?
How much money do you have to spend?
What's you r fan base?
Ummmmmm, my CD is not out. No Lable. My goal is to play music. No idea. almost none. And fan base is so small you wouldn't even call it a fan base.
I was recommended to not come over with out a bigger plan or I would lose my shirt.
I chose not to take that advice, and still fly over.
The promoter is helping me get my VISA and was very kind and informative. I'm glad to know that I will be broke by the end of this, but I kinda had that in my head anyway.
A friend of mine was recently over around London, and well he came back broke, but the stories he had and the experience was worth it. Plus now he has connections for a future tour.
And that's pretty much what I'm running on now.
I'm nobody right now I'm not known anywhere outside of the city I live in and even then, not such a draw.
But that's what I'm working on I need to go out where no one knows me meet people (potential fans, venue owners, promoters) and get known.
Sitting in a comfortable spot is not going to help me grow.
SO I plan on being broke for a while now. Maybe I'll get lucky and start to make a bit outside of the day job. But right now, that's not the task. The task now is going out, getting visible and meeting people.
So let's see how I do....

As a side note, I don't proof read these. I know my grammer and punctuation is probably attrocious, what are you gonna do?
Also I'm on a computer that does not have my photo's and videos on it so next post I'll load them up!

-Neil
http://www.eyeswide.ca/

I'm a 30 year old man, but sure I'll model your back to school fashion

I've written a new song, at first I started out with the riffs and added in words but they didn't make sense. I finally changed them and now I have a sense making song. I will go try it out at Sticky Fingers tonight.

So this was an odd weekend with a couple of firsts. 1st up I went a modelling. Walking the runway. pose. walk back up the runway. So elegant, I was. Like a sexy gazelle, or water buffalo.
So I have no pics from the day so use your imaginations of me,  strut strut strut pause turn pause strut strut strut exit.
It was at The Hill Crest Mall in Richmond Hill I was asked to be in it because they were short on male models. I thought it would be a cool experience plus I've only worked one day since the end of June and could use the money. (I have now worked 3 days since June... but have yet to get paid from any of them)
Good thing I really like supporting major corporations like VISA!
So I got 5 outfits from GAP, Guess, Le Chateau, Boat House and The Bay.
There were kids teenagers and people round my age, but prolly younger slightly. We are getting make-up on, changing in a bathroom that people kept using and not washing there hands. (the Mall rats not us.) finding different sizes.  All that jazz.
But while this is going on I really don't know what to do. Sure I know walk, stop come back. But I didn't know how fast to go, how long of a pause, I didn't even know what kind of poses to do. So I had Chris, another model who knew what to do, instruct me.
It was all very quick. It seemed like minutes.
We got back stage, got out walked, came back and ripped off the clothes as quick as possible to get ready for the next store. It was so fast I couldn't even watch the girls changing next to me. And that's just sad, beautiful girls in their underwear and I'm like " I need to get this shirt buttoned and wrap the scarf  around my neck."
I was told to slow things down. So I thought I'd unzip my jacket and take it off on one of the runs, Sure sounds easy but when I couldn't get the zipper down with one hand, and I couldn't look down, (I was in pose down mode) it got a little stuck and I awkwardly shrugged it off and walked back.
So that was my day of modelling. pictureless. maybe I'll find some later and post them.

Next Up......The Pizza eating contest.
I was able to enter in a an eating contest with Kobayashi The Tsunami, He's the guy that held the world record for eating a bunch of hotdog's. He also challenged a grizzly bear, and here is a fun fact. It was televised and lost. He was very disappointed, because in rehearsal. HE WON! They starved the bear for 24 hours before filming so it would win. Anyway Super nice guy, doesn't speak English his translator Maggie communicated for us.

                                           Maggie, Kobi, Gina, and Me
The place was packed, it was raining and people were outside with their umbrellas to watch us stuff our faces. It was weird, they put us in a limo van drove us around the back called out each of our names adn we run out up on to the stage with applause, it was pretty surreal, I mean all we are doing is eating. But some people obviously dig it.
So up there we were when the timer starts I begin mowing down I'm getting close to finishing the first pizza and all of a sudden the 3 people closest to me slide in a new pizza (one of them was this tiny girl). I am not doing well. My downfall was that I wouldn't soak the crust in water. everyone else did, but it grossed me out.
I  looked down to the end to look at Kobi he's eaten 4 while I have gotten through one. and Furious Pete another ringer form Mississauga is stuffing food in his face. Pre chewed food is allover his hands plate face the table. It looked like throw up. And I'm looking at that with my mouth full of pizza almost gagging. In the end I ate 10 slices 2 and a half pizzas(the girl beat me by 1) Kobi on the other hand ate 40 slices! Ten Pizzas! That means for each slice I ate, he would eat a whole pizza!
After the contest a few participants threw up. I did not. but I was getting light headed. I sat at the bar and I could not remember Gina's bosses name. just sat there in silence for 5 minutes trying to remember.
I can safely say I will not enter another eating contest.
That is off the bucket list.
but here's a video of the event: vimeo.com/14351005 where you can watch the action!
So this was not really much in the realm of music, art or teaching.
But what do you want.
I've still got to write about tour preparations.
A later date.
I'm off to practice some new songs.
-Neil
www.eyeswide.ca

The Intro...

Blogging.
There's something I never expected to do.
Yet, here I am.
Neil Crowe: Blogger. 
You get an inside look into the world of a part time teacher, musician, and artist.
Teacher. Ya I look after kids Sept through June. It pays well and I went to school for it.  So there.
Do I feel like doing it anymore?
No.
Not really.
But like I said it pays well. that allows me to do other things.
Like, be a musician and make art.
I've got music, go to www.eyeswide.ca if you want to be a looky-loo.
Actually I want you to be a looky-loo. Go There now.
I've got art.... well you can't go anywhere to see it unless you leave your computer walk out the door and drive to Art Appreciation in Barrie, ON or At The Five, also in Barrie, ON.
I make photo art. I don't like talking about photography, because I am not technical. I like messing around. I'll take a picture with a disposable. I don't care, you can get some cool grainy shots from those things.
So those are some things I will be writing about in blogs to come.
Lets tally it up:
A struggling musician.
               +
A struggling artist.
               +
An occasional teacher.
               =
An interesting blog. Maybe.
Lets see how long and often I can keep this up.
My next blog will be of the weekend past!
Featuring my first modelling gig!
A pizza eating competition with Kobayashi!
 And the frusterating task of booking a tour!
Thrills and Excitement!
Introductions Conclude.

-Neil
www.eyeswide.ca

                                                           I'm the one with the long hair.