the dreaming tree

this is actually gonna be something like a guest post. this past weekend we (being father maple) were scheduled to play a show with andrew osenga. i was going to write something about it, but michael wallace (lead singer of father maple) wrote a post on his own site that i decided said exactly what i wanted and needed to say. i love being in a band with these guys, cause we have such similar philosophies on what we’re doing. anyway, here it is:

A near empty room on kirby street with two bands, a sound guy, and video guy, a girlfriend, a roadie, and a lifesize cardboard cut out of toby mac were the setting for what has turned out to be one of the saddest yet interesting nights of my life. A week ago, andrew osenga (amazing musician) emailed me about setting up a last minute show in little rock on his and his band’s way back to nashville. Luckily, I just started helping out with a church here in little rock who gladly offered the youth building to me. I just knew this was going to be an amazing night. This would mark father maple’s second performance with andrew and it would be the first show in a while that we actually even had a chance to sound decent with a decent system and room.

The band showed up, we saw a movie, we did load in and sound check and we waited….
The show was supposed to start at 7:30 with nick flora playing an acoustic set. then father maple then andrew.

As the room remained empty well past 7:30, andrew and the guys decided it really wasn’t worth it to play for no one when they had a 5 hour drive ahead of them that night (which was completely understandable). They decided to pack up and leave. I was able to round about a hundred bucks from fm and some of the few people that actually showed up, so that we could pay them something, and upon giving them the money, andrew didn’t want to get payed with out playing at all, so he played 3 acoustic songs. He does more with three songs and no microphone that most bands do with a full set and pyrotechnics. It was great.

Then nick played one of the best sets i’ve ever heard him play. It was phenominal, and if you haven’t heard his new stuff you should, because it is real. We then played for about 45 minutes or so and then it was over. The crowd ended up consisting of mostly girlfrieds, friends and parents, and by all normal standards was a complete failure, but somehow i’m beginning to look at it a little different. here are the things i learned

1. Even your heroes get homesick and even down about what you think they are great at. Andrew seemed like he was just totally down about the tour. I think maybe he thinks that people don’t really get into his music, or maybe that people don’t care, and i can totally i didentify with thinking that,but I wish i knew how to tell him he is wrong. i know for a fact that the four of us in FM wouldn’t be the musicians we are without his and the normal’s influence. and i know a ton of other people who could say similar things. It encouraged me to know that even or maybe especially good musicians have a hard time getting people to listen because of what popular music has turned into.

2. Sad nights allow you to be more honest than you normally are. Nick had a terrible weekend. this turned his normally jubilant and adolescent stage presence into a powerful and revealing honesty that allowed me to listen to his songs in a way that i never have before. I’ve always been a fan, but i’m even more of one now.

3. these are the times that are preparing us for tomorrow. Not the idealistic tomorrow which is far away, but the tomorrow that is the today of yesterday. I was devastated the after the show the other night, but i’m beginning to see beyond then to today. I learned today that saturday night was testing my dedication to what i believe. If i can’t continue doing what i believe i am called to do when there is no one there, then how can i expect people to take me sincerely when there is a room full of people. You can’t connect with people if you are not committed to being honest in every circumstance. For me, part of being honest involves playing music about my life and my beliefs. This is what i must do and this is the way i must do it, and so i will; even to 13 people crowds. We will continue to share ourselves with people through our music until the door closes in our face. On that day i will have no regrets.

-Michael