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Ok, here's a first….

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  • #192631
    David Ice
    Participant

    I haven’t posted for quite a while–the crazy people have left me alone for a while. But I got this email today from a wedding planner I work with all the time. She was referencing a wedding show I was playing Saturday and Sunday last weekend, from 9am to 3pm each day.

    The ultimate irony is that I only got ONE phone call the entire two days…and that was from a bride who went on for an incredible 9+ minutes about how excited she was to have a harp at her reception……

    I guess I’m guilty of not being able to divine the Mother of the Bride (neither of whom I’ve met) the instant she walks by—out of the thousands of people who attended!

    “Hi David,

    I just wanted to give you a heads up I just spoke with the mother of the bride, Patricia, for this event. She was at the bridal expo this weekend and apparently walked by your booth when you weren’t playing and were on your phone (not a big deal we have our phones out at the expo as well which I explained). She seemed very concerned about your ability to play since you weren’t playing right at the very moment she walked by. I spoke with her over the phone to reassure her you are quite a talented musician! I come from quite a musical family myself an explained to her that musicians need to take breaks and that it was unrealistic to expect someone to play straight from 9am-3pm. I did tell her that she should have introduced herself as you had no idea with all the hundreds of people at the expo who exactly is a client of yours or not. I think I successfully reasoned with her and I encouraged her to reach out to you to maybe discuss song options. I just wanted to give you a heads up that they may need a little additional reassurance. I just wanted to give you a heads up that this mother of the bride may be calling you.”

    #192635
    Gretchen Cover
    Participant

    Oh, David, what a universe you live in. I missed hearing about your Christmas pageant with the tiger ready to swipe his paw on your back when the conductor gave the cue. I presume you did not play it this year? PS. Maybe this “potential” wedding should go by the wayside like the one in Mexico last year….as always, you liven up HC.

    #192636
    David Ice
    Participant

    Hi Gretchen! At least for this wedding I’m contracted through the venue–and they are great They know me and I’m first call for their package weddings, and I know they have my back. I will do a consultation with the bride about what professionals, etc., she wants….but I’m sorely tempted to play all “show-stoppers” for the wedding and make sure Mom knows I am stealing the thunder! No, I’d never really do that, but I’m tempted do play something like Queen’s BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY or something equally flashy and gaudy. Obviously it’s a Mom who thinks the whole world stops because it’s her daughter’s most important day ever–and the Universe is supposed to just somehow KNOW and worship this fact.

    And speaking of worship, I’ve not been back to the “tiger in a cage” church, and won’t be. They out-and-out LIED to me, barefaced, and I’ve never been treated like that. I will never grace them with my talents again, and from the scuttle I hear they have certainly lost their focus over the past year or so. Not only have they totally changed the church name–something like “Dreamscape HopeCity” or something equally weird–but they are now doing FULL OUT Broadway productions like MARY POPPINS–complete with sets and flying. They tried to get out of their contract with me because “the new orchestrations came in and there’s no harp part”–for a Christmas show?–but I found that out of 28 tunes, there were official printed, fully orchestrated harp parts on 24 of the tunes! They just wanted to save money–and lied to me. And they were very unhappy with me because I insisted they honor their signed contract with me, which was executed in May! So, you live and learn. But somehow, the weirdness always finds me!

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