I built my own damn stage.

[jimmyjazz 46225]

Badass.

[Deej 76946]

I tried to lineup some gigs for my stage but the only person I could get was my neighbor with his machete and Bluetooth speaker..

[yoladu 4107]

On 5/12/2023 at 8:33 PM, Gil Bang said:

You need to hire a band that sidelines as a landscape crew.

that is greener than most these days in Austin.

[Nuge 1987]

I tried to lineup some gigs for my stage but the only person I could get was my neighbor with his machete and Bluetooth speaker..

I use sidedooraccess.com to book musicians. Set up your profile, list your open dates and musicians contact you to book.

[DougO 5256]

On 9/25/2023 at 5:13 PM, Deej said:

I tried to lineup some gigs for my stage but the only person I could get was my neighbor with his machete and Bluetooth speaker..

Bluetooth Machete is a great band name.

Y'all holler when you have Surlyfest GuitarPron All Stars. Maybe I'll come and take pics.

[dcbc 14525]

7 hours ago, DougO said:

Bluetooth Machete is a great band name.

Y'all holler when you have Surlyfest GuitarPron All Stars. Maybe I'll come and take pics.

Every orgy needs a witness.

[Deej 76946]

On 10/7/2023 at 11:54 AM, DougO said:

Bluetooth Machete is a great band name.

Y'all holler when you have Surlyfest GuitarPron All Stars. Maybe I'll come and take pics.

Thanks, Case. 

[Deej 76946]

Still need to put mine to good use. 

 

[Gil Bang 26048]

On 9/25/2023 at 6:54 PM, Nuge said:

On 9/25/2023 at 3:13 PM, Deej said:

I tried to lineup some gigs for my stage but the only person I could get was my neighbor with his machete and Bluetooth speaker..

I use sidedooraccess.com to book musicians. Set up your profile, list your open dates and musicians contact you to book.

I used backdooraccess.com and was contacted by south austin's mom

[Deej 76946]

Easier to just throw up the signal.

 

[Deej 76946]

23 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

I used backdooraccess.com and was contacted by south austin's mom

I'm not falling for backdooraccess.com, NowThis.

[tbone_ 14181]

Outstanding

[Nuge 1987]

First show of the season is booked for the backyard stage.

[Paul Wesley 3289]

On 9/25/2023 at 2:16 PM, Nuge said:

This was a passion project for me and was a great success.  I have a ton of artists reaching out to me to play on the stage.  I'm still trying to build an audience and am only averaging 20-30 people.  I'd like to get it up to 50 so the musicians can make some money.  With everything getting to be so expensive its driving the artists and musicians further out of town.  I'm just doing what I can to help.

Man, I'm impressed and happy for you.  Obviously, our stressed-out and isolated modern societies need to get back to having these shared, communal experiences.  I've thought of starting something similar in the vein of storytelling - like a "Moth" radio-hour kind of thing, maybe with a musician doing 2 or 3 songs as an icebreaker opening act.  

Anyway, kudos to you.  

[hullabelew 3724]

I wish I had a place to host these things.  I live in a suburb of Atlanta and a buddy was doing them for several year, but they recently moved back to Ft. Worth.  He would generally get about 50-60 at his house.  $20 a head, all went to the artists.  People brought food to share and drinks.  A couple of times, (Darden Smith, Jason and Courtney and Jimmy LaFave) he sold enough tickets to have the shows at a local church.  Darden even covered the cost of the rental of the church the last time he was through here.  

Other artists he had at his house:  Kim Richey, Walt Wilkens, Sam Baker, Bob Livingston, Gretchen Peters, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton among others.    He usually did 5-6 shows a year.  

@Nuge  With that location, you should check with Jeff Plankenhorn.   He spends a lot of time in SE Canada.  

 

Edited May 6 by hullabelew

[jimmyjazz 46225]

10 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Other artists he had at his house:  Kim Richey, Walt Wilkens, Sam Baker, Bob Livingston, Gretchen Peters, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton among others.   

My brother-in-law is friends with Walt, as they went to Anderson HS (Austin) together.  He took me to a show at a church on the north edge of campus a few years back.  I knew absolutely nothing about Walt.  Holy smokes, that guy is the real deal.  Gifted and humble.

[Nuge 1987]

Nashville guitar and fiddle aficionado Colin O'Brien will be performing in the backyard on July 27th.

[Mdhorn 5990]

Had a friend that booked bands at a gallery warehouse in DC they rented and he'd pay the band with a recording of their set.  Later, when they got bigger groups, they'd give them a percentage of the door.  All they did was just try to make rent which worked for the 10 years they were open.  Never turned a profit, however, but lots of great memories.  Did it again later on the border of West Virginia and Maryland with mostly Americana/Bluegrass musicians.  He converted an old barn into a recording studio and bands would play at the restaurant/venue and/or he'd record them at the barn. He just retired this last year.  When asked why, he said he could no longer take all the recording retakes.  

Good stuff. Awesome that you made it happen.  

Edited May 11 by Mdhorn

[Mdhorn 5990]

Through the years, I got to see a lot of bands play in rooms that could only fit one deep.  Future Islands and The War on Drugs are two that immediately spring to mind.  So many others were super, crazy talented but just never made it.  But those rooms were rocking and they gotta start somewhere.

Edited May 11 by Mdhorn

[Nuge 1987]

I'm really excited to host Loch Lomond. They have a pretty large following and are going to embark on a European tour shortly after playing in my back yard.

[Nuge 1987]

The hops are coming along nicely.

[Nuge 1987]

On 5/6/2024 at 8:52 AM, hullabelew said:

I wish I had a place to host these things.  I live in a suburb of Atlanta and a buddy was doing them for several year, but they recently moved back to Ft. Worth.  He would generally get about 50-60 at his house.  $20 a head, all went to the artists.  People brought food to share and drinks.  A couple of times, (Darden Smith, Jason and Courtney and Jimmy LaFave) he sold enough tickets to have the shows at a local church.  Darden even covered the cost of the rental of the church the last time he was through here.  

Other artists he had at his house:  Kim Richey, Walt Wilkens, Sam Baker, Bob Livingston, Gretchen Peters, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton among others.    He usually did 5-6 shows a year.  

@Nuge  With that location, you should check with Jeff Plankenhorn.   He spends a lot of time in SE Canada.  

 

Jeff is playing at my friend's house in Detroit this Friday 5/17.

Small world

[Nuge 1987]

My first show of the season is this weekend. Mike Vitale is a really talented musician out of Los Angeles that builds songs live with a looper.
He was my inaugural artist last year and really kicked off the summer in style.

[Nuge 1987]

My next show is Saturday June 29th and features Johnny Franco and his real brother Dom.
These two are from Brazil and are uber talented and hysterically funny.

They're making a name for themselves in the PNW so I'm really excited to host them. When I contacted their management I never dreamed that they would agree to play in my backyard.

[Nuge 1987]

Here's one of the songs that Mike Vitale played in the backyard.

[jimmyjazz 46225]

That's really nice.  Having that in your own space has to be a charge.  When I first started doing decent recordings I ended up with a few outstanding Austin musicians cutting tracks in my little central Austin house -- artists like Damnations, Scrappy Jud, Loose Diamonds, Spoon, all kinds.  More than once I had to pinch myself, because being around people with that kind of talent is not something to be taken lightly.

[DougO 5256]

I liked that tune a lot, Nuge and Mike. Will research more.

[Nuge 1987]

Johnny Franco and his real brother Dom killed it Saturday night. They are highly entertaining on stage and gentlemen off. Johnny has presence and charisma in spades. Definitely going to book them again next summer.

[Hornius Emeritus 12491]

Do you need a drunken Irish folk singer?

[Gil Bang 26048]

1 hour ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

Do you need a drunken Irish folk singer?

those aren't hard to come by.

[Nuge 1987]

Need?

[Nuge 1987]

My next show is on Saturday July 20th and features The Painted Hills. This is a side project of Topher Walberg of the Portland goth psych rock band The Black Doors. Topher describes his music as psychedelic Americana. I'm excited to see what he comes up with. He's been hosting a Tom Petty birthday party concert for the past 10+ years and also leads a Velvet Underground tribute band. Should make for a fun night.

 

Edited July 2 by Nuge

[Nuge 1987]

Here's a couple of videos from The Black Doors to give you an idea of what we're working with.

 

 

[Nuge 1987]

I'll be hosting Nashville 12 string and fiddle aficionado Colin O'Brien on Saturday July 27th.

If you're in the Portland area come out to the backyard and have a beverage with me. 

 

 

Edited July 17 by Nuge

[Nuge 1987]

 

[Nuge 1987]

Last night I hosted The Painted Hills for an intimate acoustic set.

The hot day turned into a beautiful evening for live music, cold beverages, and good friends coming to my backyard stage to support live music and the artists that create it.

[tbone_ 14181]

That’s a cool thing you do.

Love the fucking dogs just cruising across the stage…

[Nuge 1987]

I also create and print posters for the shows too. It's a lot of fun.

[WhatTheBuck 28806]

On 7/21/2024 at 6:16 PM, Nuge said:

I also create and print posters for the shows too. It's a lot of fun.

Do you give copies of the posters to members of the audience as they leave the show like they do at the Fillmore?

[Nuge 1987]

14 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Do you give copies of the posters to members of the audience as they leave the show like they do at the Fillmore?

Yes, with a package of seeds (flowers, veggies, herbs, etc.) 

I tell people my barage is the lovechild of The Fillmore and The Mean Eyed Cat.

[gofuckyourself 8386]

@Nuge This is amazing.

I have boring practical questions:

1) Parking? I assume all on the street and you've just given all the neighbors a heads up?

2) Equipment? Do all the musicians bring their own and you just supply power? No issues with power needs or extra juice needed?

But this is bad-ass and love that you're supporting local artists and a neighborhood get-together type of thing. 

[Nuge 1987]

It is street parking for the most part.  If necessary, there is a grocery store that closes at 7pm at the end of the street with a large parking lot.

Some musicians travel with their own equipment.  I also own my own PA.  I have two Bose L1 line array speakers, 2 Yamaha 10" monitors, mixer, snake, assorted mics/boom stands, etc.

I'm an AV tech by trade.  If I need anything that I don't already own I can borrow from work.  I haven't needed anything extra though.  Most performers don't even want the monitors - the 2 Bose speakers are plenty. 

I'm not pulling much power so no biggie on that regard.

 

My last performer is currently unemployed and walked away with over $500 - I could see him getting emotional while he was counting the money from the tip jar.  Helping musicians survive is exactly why I built the stage.  

[Nuge 1987]

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1069431437848179

 

[Nuge 1987]

Colin O'Brien put in a masterclass on 12 string magic. Unreal.

Edited July 29 by Nuge

[Nuge 1987]

Picked up my posters for the next show.
Really, really excited to host Loch Lomond in my backyard.
They are a legit band. I'm friends with the singer and he asked if they could play as prep for their upcoming European tour.
Uh, yes please!

 

Edited July 29 by Nuge

[Nuge 1987]

 

[Gatorubet 30321]

On 7/1/2024 at 12:51 PM, Nuge said:

Johnny Franco and his real brother Dom killed it Saturday night. They are highly entertaining on stage and gentlemen off. Johnny has presence and charisma in spades. Definitely going to book them again next summer.
 

Man!  Frank Zappa hasn’t aged at all!

[Gatorubet 30321]

On 9/25/2023 at 2:16 PM, Nuge said:

This was a passion project for me and was a great success.  I have a ton of artists reaching out to me to play on the stage.  I'm still trying to build an audience and am only averaging 20-30 people.  I'd like to get it up to 50 so the musicians can make some money.  With everything getting to be so expensive its driving the artists and musicians further out of town.  I'm just doing what I can to help.

i’m sure Anna Katerina appreciated your offer of free lodging and on-the-house massages. 

[WhatTheBuck 28806]

3 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

Man!  Frank Zappa hasn’t aged at all!

Can’t be Zappa without the soul patch.

[Nuge 1987]

16 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

i’m sure Anna Katerina appreciated your offer of free lodging and on-the-house massages. 

She's gorgeous, for sure.  Super nice and approachable, too.  We still chat.  She's from Vancouver BC but has family in the area - so she stayed with them sadly.