As I write this anectode–on a cold, dreary Saturday afternoon–I’m sitting in a funky hotel room in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh, Pa, having just returned from a brisk 10-minute walk to Trader Joe’s in search of a ripe avocado, a box of Fig & Olive Crisps, and butter.
It’s been a while since I’ve strolled an urban downtown such as this, and I wished for sunshine, just enough to shed more pleasant lighting on the historic structures and the faces of the people who walked past. Looking out the window now, there are no shadows, no vibrant colors, just shades of gray–except for the once-blue-now-faded green dome of Motor Square Garden.
Aside from the cacophony of shoppers at Trader Joe’s, (seriously, why do we not have one of these in the Lehigh Valley!) it’s very quiet. There’s very little traffic, no car horns, no sirens, nobody shouting. In fact, it’s quite surreal. The only sounds I hear is a rhythmic ‘knock-knock-knock’ and the patient voice repeating, “housekeeping, housekeeping”.
The whole experience just seems like a metaphor for the past two years.
While I had a nice run of gigs over the spring and summer of both 2021 and 2022, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to what I would normally be experiencing. Over the course of many, many months, I’ve spent most of my time repeating what might appear to be a futile exercise of reaching out to my contacts–only to be met with silence. There have been a couple of bright moments, of course, but overall I’ve never seen anything like this in my nearly 25 years of booking.
You might have noticed the shnarky tone of some of my social media posts, and I hope I don’t sound too much like a broken record.
It’s a puzzlement, but rest assured, I will keep up with the ‘knock-knock-knock’…“houskeeping” part of the job.
My main goal now is to focus on songwriting, and bringing this new record to fruition in mid-2023. We’re well on our way, and I’ll begin posting updates in a couple of weeks.
For now, I repeat my appreciation for the incredible success off my Kickstarter campaign. I’ve never done anything like that before, and I was surprised to recieve such an outpouring of support. Y’all are very kind people, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
In gratitude,
DH
*Oh, and in case you were wondering, none of the avocados were ripe.
DINA HALL 