After being the sideman for a few other groups who had big concert productions this year, and having the opportunity to play a couple of gigs with my own guys, I must say that I think I'm starting to get "the itch".It's not the sort of itch that can be cured by using any kind of lotion. The only way to get rid of this itch is to put together a concert production for my quartet and monitor the ticket sales.
The last major concert production I had for my quartet was in 2007. I had the opportunity to put together a production at a 1,200 seat concert hall known as the Patchogue Theatre in 2008, but that fell through because of a lack of sponsors and the start of the economic down turn. Since that time, I've had my quartet in some high quality performances, but it's just not the same as having a box office dedicated to the sale of tickets to concert goers who want to see you as the headliner for a real live concert hall.
One thing I have to keep in mind though is timing. There are a bunch of factors that I must consider before setting the wheels in motion, and one of them is the fact that I would really like to have a new product (ie. album) available by that time because my debut album is now almost 3 years old and there's nothing new to offer my fans and listeners. I think I will have to concentrate on that first. But then, that means that I need to start writing some songs! I haven't written any new songs in 4 years!
