Grey Anne: Saturday Marketing (Eugene, OR)
Day 4 part I, Eugene part II
We woke up in Eugene, and went straight to Eugene Saturday Market, which is massive. It’s a farmer’s market and an artisan fair all in one. So much stuff to look at. Russian batiked egg ornaments. Soft-sculpture dolls. And I’m that one who wants to figure out how every craft is done. I ask everybody questions. I came across a guy in an excellently-sculpted hard-shell hat. It was shaped like a snail, with curling spirals over each of his ears, and blunt antennae in the front. Its eyes were little mustard-colored stars.
“I love that,” I told the guy. And he liked my hat as well, a Russian military hat with red piping and a big red star, that looks elfin and weirdly flattering on me. People stopped me on the street a lot in Eugene, to talk about my hat. I’ll post pictures; you’ll see.
“You should build your shapes over top of bike helmets,” I told the snail man. He said, “Yeah. [pause] YEAH!!”
“You’d make bank,” I said. “I am a muse. Free brilliant ideas. You’re welcome.”
We thought the market might be a good spot to busk, and I had my acoustic ¾ scale along, so after a little breakfast we went in search of a space to set up.
Let me make a confession: I used to work a day job in guerilla marketing. I drove a preposterous novelty can-car, and I infiltrated events with a combination of guile and charm. That was pretty much my job—overcoming objections. Having people tacitly reject me, and melting that rejection with the sunny force of youthful optimism. It’s a skill; it can be learned. That said, I’m used to The Kickout, too. I have spider senses for The Kickout, and I’m pretty good at staying out of its way. So. Every vendor we talked to, said, “Register. Talk to one of the guys in the yellow shirts.” But time was short, and Kickout could not be risked. An incense seller with a little dachshund finally caught my drift. “You could play right there for 10 minutes,” she said, “and then you could move over there, and then you just keep on moving whenever you need.” Ten-four, Incense lady. I set up and began.
Busking is a good challenge, because it forces you to make every second compelling. I mean, people are walking by. They won’t stop unless something sounds really good to them. I like watching people do the calculation: stop and watch this, or keep walking? A lot of little kids locked eyes with me, and I tried to pied-piper them over. Stephanie heard one mother struggling to move her daughter along. “We can have ice cream,” said the mom. “But I wanna see,” protested the kid. This is probably the only time I’ve ever won out over ice cream. I won’t let it go to my head.
We took the incense lady’s advice and moved spots, and the busking got gradually better and better. A man with a big camera started taking photos, and a lady tearfully presented me with a green tree t-shirt. I coaxed some high school kids to stomp-clap to “Adelaide,” and sing along to “Paraguay.” At first, they were shy, and when I called out to them they treated me like a dork, but by the end I think they were having fun sincerely. I met a pink-haired girl named Ray Anne. When she told me her name I felt like a poser.
In a final stroke of luck, the producer of Fairyworlds approached me and invited me to play at his event sometime. I said yes, so—details pending. I look forward to being wildly outshone by many specimens from the fairy kingdom.
Fond fairywell to Eugene, off to Bend.
Links:
Grey AnneSpace
Photo courtesy of Grey Anne
Related posts:
- Grey Anne: Anti-materialist meanderings in Eugene (Eugene, OR) Day 3—Euge
- Grey Anne: A Tea and a Burger Bender (Bend, OR) Day 4—Bend
- Grey Anne: Some People Think It’s Gimmicky To Play Shows With Fake Animals, But To Me it Just Feels Like Company (Portland!) Sweet Jeho
- Grey Anne: We’re On a Frequency (with free mp3 download!) You super-
- Grey Anne: Eleanor Must Be My Go-To Fake Name (Oakland, CA) Day 5
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Portland's No Longer Weird, Hipsters
says:this ongoing hipster snooze fest by “Grey Anne” might be one of the worst content ideas WW has had yet.
“Busking is a good challenge, because it forces you to make every second compelling. I mean, people are walking by.”
like, totally? people are like, walking by and stuff when you busk? whoa.
“I met a pink-haired girl named Ray Anne. When she told me her name I felt like a poser.”
go with that feeling.
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 7:42 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkGrey Anne
(post author) says:It’s a diary. Posted in public, but nevertheless, the point is for it to be personal.
And, apparently, you’re taking it personally. So I guess it’s…working?
I’ll admit this particular entry isn’t the best one of the bunch. There were lots of distractions, as indicated in the slightly prosaic story. But if you don’t like it, don’t read it.
That goes without saying almost as much as my comment about busking…but some people need to be told the obvious.
~GA
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 8:28 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDucky
says:GA, I think No Longer Weird was freaked out by your excellent grammar.
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 9:29 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkB.Ray
says:Just disregard the blatant troll: sad, lonely, spiteful, beastie. <3
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 10:02 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBrennan Novak
says:Re: PNLWH
You obviously know nothing about Grey Anne, the person or her music.
Whatever has inspired you to continue read her “[her] ongoing hipster snooze fest” is most likely a bizarre form of masochism or a severe case of boredom- both of which are unhealthy.
Also, research the term “hipster,” using it describe Anne is about as absurd as going ice fishing in Death Valley.
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 10:26 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkPortland's No Longer Weird, Hipsters
says:Ahh, a “personal” diary posted on the Web by a performer. Understood.
“as indicated in the slightly prosaic story.”
You’re overestimating your writing ability. Filling the page with cleverness and coy feints isn’t prosaic–it’s just insincere.
“But if you don’t like it, don’t read it.”
Too late. And honestly–you expect publishing your “personal” views to be criticism free, because they’re “personal”?
C’mon. Roll with it. Tell a real story. One with a little soul in it.
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 10:39 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBrennan Novak
says:Wow. Just barely refreshed page and PNLWH fired back with an even more obtuse and down right mean comment.
Did Grey Anne offend you in real life somehow? Did she not wanna give you her phone number? Or are you just mad about being an unemployed 30 something with not much going on?
I find it funny that someone hiding behind a fake name has the balls to call a performer “insincere.”
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 10:52 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkGrey Anne
(post author) says:Okay, punk, here’s something real: people are constantly presuming because of the way I look and sing, that I’m some sort of vain debutante, when really I’ve been kicked around quite a bit throughout the course of my life–mostly by people like you, who guess that they’re the first to take me down a peg.
“Oh, you think just because you’re…that everyone will just…well, I’ll teach you a lesson.” Yeah, why don’t you all line up to teach me this incessant lesson? Everybody chop a notch into the presumed princess.
I’m not going to tell you my life story, because I’m remaking my life in the present. If I told you a bunch of sordid true soulful doleful tales, you would think I was lying anyway, or that I was trying to capitalize. I could bust out some Oliver-Twist-type shit, and it’d be true, but you wouldn’t buy it, you’d just wield it to further harm me.
So, no. This is what you get. A lighthearted and detailed account of what happened on the west-coast tour. And if that doesn’t slake your bloodthirst–well, I’m sorry.
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 11:55 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJon Ragel
says:yo PNLW,H: what’s with the nag-ativity? what good does it do? Anne is a very unique member of the local music community. a lot of us like her quite a bit. she’s got mass creative spirit.
the cutters, in there infinite wisdom, have given us musicians a chance to share some or our fav anecdotes and work on our chops a bit. why be a player hater?
Posted @ June 15th, 2009 at 11:57 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJon Ragel
says:oh and I messed up the word ‘their’. dammit. I hate it when I do that. btw—I spelled ‘dammit’ like that on purpose. looks more tuff that way.
anyways—you go, Anne. wish I could have had drinks with you guys in SF.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 12:06 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkGrey Anne
(post author) says:Thanks, Jon! I like your music and your spirit, too. And I stand behind your decision to eat that drum machine.
~Anne.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkThe Kelldicott Award
says:Hey, anonymous manure-hurler known as “Portland’s No Longer Weird, Hipsters”: shut your communcation hole. If the entire content of your post boils down to baselessly denigrating someone else to briefly cool your elitist rage, how about you simply don’t hit the “submit comment” button? The world is worse when you pour your bile on it than it would be if you simply refrained. And if making the world worse is what you’re going for, congratulations! You must live a lonely life, grumbling to yourself about how things used to be better ten years ago and namelessly, facelessly taking out your useless anger on those you place (seemingly arbitrarily) in that ever-convenient “hipster” category. (Oh. Your elitist rage is rather “hipster”, too. Or hadn’t you noticed?) I have some sympathy for you because, you know, times do change and it’s not terribly easy to accept the passing of things familiar…but not much sympathy. Try adding to the world rather than subtracting from it. You may discover it feels alright.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 2:05 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkp.s. If a condition of keeping Portland weird is being a c*** to people you don’t know, count me out.
ryan
says:@ PLNW,H = As Mac Dre/Ice-T so eloquently put it, “Don’t Hate The Playa, Hate The Game”. I’m sorry your blog/band/life is going so terribly that you have to troll with it harder than John Carl Buechler. It takes hard work and guts to create, it’s too easy to hate.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 3:45 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCarls
says:Huh.. That guy seems to think a tour blog is supposed to read (and be read) like journalism. He’d like you to tell a real story though, perhaps he’s just lost looking for the fiction section? Either way, he’s clearly confused. I’ve enjoyed your entries and will continue to check them out.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 4:48 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkRenny
says:I like Local Cut, but these music blogs are pretty boring. Maybe the “Portalnd’s Not Hipster” guy (girl?) has one point anyway: these tour bloggings are marketing for small-time acts looking for a wider audience. They’re not just personal stories, but they are a bit vain. Everybody knows that. SO who’s hating who, then?
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 7:35 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkViva Cerveza, Viva Musica
says:More love and less hate, from everyone. More music, less talking about music.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 8:45 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkStuck in the Middle Again
says:Whoa, that “Keldicott Award” post was ironic. That’s some serious raging hate, dude, regardless of target. I re-read that first comment, and I didn’t see them calling people a string of profanities, at least.
Can we get back to the music now, and ditch the “I can out hate you because I’m righteous” diatribes?
Play on.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 10:28 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMichael Mannheimer
says:Dang, all it takes is one spiteful comment and everybody comes out of the woodwork to post here. If I would have checked the site last night, I would have echoed the same sentiments as Jon, Ryan, etc. Like Anne said, this is a tour “diary,” which means that of course it’s going to be personal and a little bit vain and honest. But nothing about it, or any of the tour diaries we post here, are insincere. I love the fact that the blogfather (Baumgarten, I assume) created this forum for musicians to open up a part of their lives—life on the road—that is often frustrating, heartbreaking, and funny. Some read better than others. But I’m just glad we have a section on the website for musicians and artists to really open up.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 10:32 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkHardly Matters
says:Aint everybody taking themselves a wee bit seriously here? Its just a blog, you know.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 10:40 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkPortland's No Longer Weird, Hipsters
says:Sorry. Maybe too harsh. I’ll go listen to the music linked.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 10:44 am (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkB.Ray
says:I for one, enjoy the LC tour diaries, and honestly the improved music coverage in LC and these diaries are what got me reading WW again, after a long hiatus of finding the publication as a whole rather stale and–um– less than relevent.
Granted, in this instance I speak as a Grey Anne fan, so this diary has been one of my favorites.
I’m surprised at the 2 commenters who find the LC tour diaries “snoozeworthy.” Why in the world do you read them then?
After reading Grey Anne’s Seattle post, I was certainly not bored. I WAS grateful that I didn’t have to play that venue that night, and definitely in admiration of those that did.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 1:45 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinktravis
says:BEEF!
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 2:07 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBrianne Mees
says:i love grey anne! and the local cut tour blogs! and i don’t think they’re vain at all. since when did sharing your experience with your community become vain? i think it’s a good sign that our local music scene is healthy, accessible and honest. just the fact that this many people cared enough to react to this one silly little insignificant comment, shows there’s some heart behind the music in our town. i hope those who have not been fortunate enough to witness it will give themselves a chance to do so.
Posted @ June 16th, 2009 at 4:05 pm (June 15th, 2009) | Flag this Comment | permalink