hey dudes! i live in Rhode Island, and i was recently hired for a new york gig. so i rented a car ahead of time, everything is cool, and then i find out that it's supposed to snow on that day. so i figure, who cares, i'll leave early if traffic is bad. so the thing was supposed to start at 7:30pm, and i left at 11:00 am. the trip is supposed to take 3 and a half hours. i got there at 6:00. yes, seven hours later. and then the trip back was another four. nuts! but the gig went well. it's really good because i'm starting to get my name out there! just watch, today the neighborhood and tomorrow the whole east coast! ;-) that's my tale. thanks for listening! oh, by the way, my psr1k still rules. (i don't sing!) out. Zack

Zack ...... Hey, neighbor.... where you located? .... I'm in East Greenwich, relocated from Staten Island NY in '84 ... still feel like I'm visiting ...
Where did you play in NYC?... What type of music you interested in? ...
The first couple of years after the move, I continued to play some gigs in the NY area, but I have family in SI so it wasn't that bad.... neve knew how long the trip would be though...
t.

cool! look at that. it's a small word after all. i'm in east providence. i dont actually live here, im here for college. my tromping ground is Baltimore. i primarily play jewish stuff for the various occasions that spring up around here. NY was a similar shebang. maybe get together and jam some time, yeah? speak! Z

.. what school are you going to .... how many years left? ...
I play 'middle of the road' pop, light jazz, 'oldies' etc. ... I'm at least a generation older (61), but I realize that there are seldom age boundaries in music ... if you're interested, I could give your name to a Jewish friend of mine (he's older too) but he might have some leads for you....
t.

Zack,
Mazel Tov on having a good gig. When I recently played for the International Folk Dancing group over 1/2 the songs were Israeli. (Older stuff but still danceable).

I know the traffic problems down there. I once made great timing gettting to the city. I was on the other side of the George Washington bridge and called my family to tell them I might actually be early. Ha. 4 hours to get over the bridge. What a mess.
Good thing you had the foresight to leave early.

Congrats,
- Brian

All this talk about NYC traffic brings to mind the days BEFORE the Verrazano Bridge (Staten Island to B'klyn) ... If you had a gig in B'klyn you had to take a ferry from SI to 69st in Bklyn ... On a Fri or Sat, the line for vehicles could be 2 - 3 hours long!!! ... We would have 1 or 2 guys take the van with all the equipment and get in line a few hours before ... On the way back we just had to wait our turn .... The only options (which were not better) were to take a bridge into New Jersey, a bridge or tunnel into NYC and take a bridge or tunnel into to B'klyn ... OR, take the ferry from SI into NYC and tunnel or bridge to B'klyn!!! .... The things we did for love and $15 bucks a man for the gig!!!.... Those were the "good ol' days"????
t.

whoo! what a month! sorry for taking so long to reply! i manage to get to the library as often as i have free time, and what with full time rabbinical college and secular nightschool, free time is a rare treat.
tony: thanks a lot, but quite honestly, i got more than enough on my hands as it is. gigs are more of a side thing in my life. hopefully that'll change later on! thanks anyway! as for the whole age thing, i gotta tell you, one of the coolest things about the music community is that all musicians have this unspoken bond that reaches across any barriers laid down by age, race, etc.
Brian: 4 hours?? dude! did you drag out your board and get some serious practicing in? man! anyway, i gotta sign out. speak! Zack

Zack,
When do you find time to play with a schedule like yours?!?

I just had a friend of mine graduate from JTS in NY. He is also a singer/musician.

I wish I could have had something with me. Everytime I thought I would just park the car the traffic would move a few feet and then stop again. I don't miss living near any cities. I enjoy the rural life.

- Brian