The Gift of Confidence: “Gretchen Wing with Chicken Biscuit” Now Feels…Legit

Posted on November 16, 2013 by gretchenwing

This is what I’m doing tonight:

This is my second annual “Gretchen Wing With Chicken Biscuit” concert. The year before we were simply Chicken Biscuit. Then I started writing songs, and something changed.The story’s a little longer than that, but I’ve told it before.

Right now, I just want to compare two Gretchens:

October 2012
Lopez Community Member: “So, you’re giving a concert?”
Gretchen: “Yeah, I know, it feels so weird, I can’t believe I’m actually asking people to pay money to come hear me, I’m just, you know, I’ve never done anything like this before.”

November 2013
Lopez Community Member: “So hey, another concert?”
Gretchen: “Yup! So excited! Hope you’re coming!”

What changed? I’m only a marginally better guitar player than I was a year ago, and I have a long way to go before I reach the level of the wonderful Biscuits who play with me. My voice is probably a little stronger, from a year’s worth of singing.

But the main ingredient of change is CONFIDENCE. By now enough people have told me I am a good singer and a good songwriter that I have finally stopped thinking they are all extra-nice folks with low standards.

I believe I’m good: therefore I am. WHOA. Talk about a life-changing Blinding Flash of the Obvious.

I could probably run with this theme, and who knows where it would take me? But I’m kinda in a hurry here…gotta walk the dog and get the house ready for the post-performance party before heading into town for set-up and sound-checks. (I meant to post this yesterday, but our internet went bye-bye…so it goes!)

So I’ll close with the obvious question: Have YOU had an experience where someone telling you you could do something made it happen? Are you having such an experience now? Please tell me all about it!

Spirituality on the Radio, a.k.a. Shame-less Self-promotion

Posted on September 12, 2013 by gretchenwing

A sweet guy from Wisconsin interviewed me for the radio a few weeks ago. Since I live in Washington (which, granted, has a few similarities with Wisconsin except that they don’t call their U of W “You-Dub” like we do, and our hills are a tad higher), this really is as random as it sounds.

The sweet guy is Mark Helpsmeet, who turns out to be aptly named. He runs a radio program out of Eau Claire, Northern Spirit Radio, which focuses on non-denominational spiritual journeys. Its offshoot, Song of the Soul (title taken from a Chris Williamson song), deals with the musical side of that issue. A friend on my island who had previously been interviewed for Northern Spirit gave Mark my name. After Mark You-Tubed a couple of my very amateur performances, he decided I was a good fit for his program and gave me a call.

Random photo of Mt. Baker at sunrise, inserted because, well, it seems kinda spirity…

I sent him MP3s of some of my songs ahead of time. Then we spent a cheerful hour-plus phone conversation discussing my music. Since I consider myself an accidental song writer (see https://gretchenkwing.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/sure-i-have-a-website-just-a-sec/ for more on this) this was an easy conversation.

Mark: So where’d you get the inspiration for that term you use, “sufferometer”?

Me: Oh, I just made that up.

See–not exactly Bob Dylan.

So a few days ago Mark sent me the link: “Gretchen, your Song of the Soul is up!” and encouraged me to send it to everyone. He needs to promote his radio program even more than I need to promote my music. Much, MUCH more…since I’m really not feeling any need to promote my music.

So here’s my dilemma. I do want to share Mark’s program for those who are interested, and I do want to share my interview, because, let’s face it, it was FUN to be interviewed for the radio–in WISCONSIN!–while sitting out on my own sunny deck with my dog.

But the program is about spirituality, and the intro, if you listen to it, is VERY, well, spiritual-sounding. NOT churchy, NOT preachy, just…spiritual. And, well…this is my blog. I try very hard not to alienate folks who wander into Wing’s World. My rule is, if I wouldn’t have brought it up in my classroom, I wouldn’t bring it up here.

Here’s what finally weighted the scales: Mark is a great guy who reached out to me. I’d like to help him promote his work. I’m just attaching this caveat so no one thinks, “Wait…WHERE is she headed now, and do I really want to go there?”

The interview itself? Not “spiritual” at all–unless by “spiritual” you mean family/social/political influences such as everyone has.

So, with me so far? Then here’s my suggestion: check out my interview at http://www.northernspiritradio.org/index.asp?command=showinfo&showid=631911164185

Then, if this is your kind of thing and you want to know more, check out the rest of Northern Spirit Radio at its main site, http://www.northernspiritradio.org/

You’ll be glad you did. Mark’s a good guy.

This post does give me the excuse to bring up this question, though, which is one I certainly would have asked my students: What does “spirituality” mean to you anyway? Give me your best definition. When handled respectfully, this is a wonderful topic to share, and it has nothing to do with self-promotion. 🙂

Sure, I Have a Website…Just a Sec…

Posted on August 26, 2013 by gretchenwing

Last week I launched my nation-wide radio career.

Well, that may be a TEENSY bit of overstatement. But I did do a radio interview with a lovely man named Mark Judkins Helpsmeet, who produces a show out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, called Song of the Soul. http://www.northernspiritradio.org/ He played a half-dozen of my songs, asking me about each one, and about my journey as a songwriter. A journey that is just beginning, I might add, as in–18 months, give or take. An unplanned, and so far, mostly unguided journey, with no particular destination in mind. Especially not national exposure.

Which may explain why, when Mark asked me if I had a website, I choked.

First I said, “No.” Then I quickly amended with, “I mean, yeah, I do…I mean it’s not a songwriting website or anything, but I do have a blog…I mean, I’m a writer, that’s my real career now, so, yeah…” Then I blurted out the URL.

Mark (kindly): Ah, are you sure that’s correct? URL’s don’t usually have @ in them.

Me (not at all flustered, on national radio): Oh. Yeah. Right. I mixed it up with my email. My website is…just a sec…

When I told this anecdote to a friend later, she asked me, “So if you’re starting to get attention as a songwriter, why DON’T you use that to promote your writing career?”

Ummm…because I’m ~~new to the whole idea of self-promotion and still finding my way in the dark~~ an idiot?

So now I’m thinking: Yeah, why DON’T I? The whole singing-songwriting thing is beginning to generate a life of its own. I’m putting myself out there on the stage, relying on a decent voice and a darn good writing style (I’m certainly not relying on my guitar skills!), so why NOT put myself out there in cyberspace as well? Let’s see what happens, shall we?

So, to begin: here are two clips from a recent community concert on Shaw Island, the next ferry stop over. I didn’t realize, when I accepted the invitation to participate, just how GOOD the other musicians were, and I had the interesting luck of following a FOURTEEN YEAR-OLD future phenom onstage–which explains the intro of this first song. My friend Bruce got totally jostled while trying to record me, so if you can’t handle the jumpy camera, just close your eyes and listen, ok? It’s a good song.

The second song’s intro got cut off, but I have to sneak it in here ’cause I’m proud of it. I said, “I wanted to write a good ol’-fashioned My-baby-left-me song, but my baby never has left me, so I had to use my imagination.” 🙂

So, hey. Whether you listened to the songs or not (how’m I gonna know? It’s not like I count YouTube hits or anything), I’d like to hear from you. Why is self-promotion so hard? Is it harder for women, do you think? Does it get easier? Or maybe it should never get too easy? Let me hear!