Hannah Maier wears a lot of hats: musician, booking agent, and music director at WRUR. In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to juggle all of that—while still caring deeply about the scene. From fair pay for artists to the behind-the-scenes work of booking shows, Hannah shares what really goes into making local music happen. We also get into the importance of showing up—because a good scene doesn’t just magically exist. People make it. So… be one of them.

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Foreign.

Hello, everybody.

Welcome to Nights and Weekends, brought to you by the Sound and Lunchador podcast network.

I'm Kate Rogers and I am here with Hannah Mayer, who has done a ton for the local music community.

Can't wait to get into some great conversation with her.

And I also have co hosts Virginia and Joey and producer Chris here.

Hello.

Hello.

Beautiful day in Rochester today.

Sure is.

I'm happy to be here, having good conversation with good friends.

So I want to introduce Hannah.

Hello.

Hi.

How are you?

Good, good.

Thank you so much for being on the show today.

Could you give us a little bit of background about all.

All of the amazing things you do for our community here?

Oh, yeah.

You're so sweet.

Thank you.

Yeah, sure.

So right now I'm running my own business, Mom's Home booking.

I book shows all over Rochester and Semi beyond as well.

But mostly what I do is curate events.

I don't work for any particular venue.

I'm basically a freelancer.

So I work with the venues, I curate shows, plan events, stuff like that.

I also work at WRUR and with which is 88.5 in Rochester and 90.1 in Ithaca.

I am the new music director there.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

I'm loving it.

I spent all day on the microphone.

Here I am on the microphone again, and I could not be happier.

That job is really new for me.

I've been there about two weeks now, and it's going really well and I love it.

I'm on the air from 2 to 6pm I'm in a bunch of bands.

I play around town a lot.

I've worked at a bunch of different venues.

I mean, if we're gonna.

I'm diving right in.

Go for it.

When I first started talking, I was like, I kind of want to start from the very beginning, which was I started getting shows in Rochester and that's the reason why I moved here.

And then from there just kept getting shows and then started booking shows because I was like, oh, well, you know, I want to play with.

I want my band to play with this band and I want to play at this venue.

And then from there had a few different jobs working for specific venues.

But eventually what worked best for me and was most comfortable for me was just picking the bands, curating the event, and asking the venue if we could do it there.

That's great.

And so tell me a little bit more about.

You said you moved here because your band was getting shows.

What type of music were you doing and where were you located?

Yeah, I did.

So I was going to college at Alfred University.

And that's where I met my best friend, my life partner, my forever lover, Cara Mali.

Hello, Kara.

She.

She and I started singing together and started playing music together.

We started Hardwood, our comedy band, and we just.

We started getting shows in Rochester, which was really great.

But originally I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and then my parents bought a campground in the Adirondacks, raised me there, and then I went to school in Alfred and then moved here after that.

What area of the Adirondacks were you in?

The very, very bottom.

Okay.

Basically in between Utica and Old.

So technically in the Adirondack Park.

But, like, you know, I.

It wasn't that.

Not that deep in.

Deep enough, though.

It is weird up there.

Oh, yeah.

The whole High Peaks area.

I mean, the whole Adirondacks area is just a completely separate area of New York State that is entirely different than our.

Than the regular upstate.

And then downstate, it's like just a diametric opposite.

It is.

It's a very country.

It's very isolated.

The people.

You know, I've met some nice people there, but there was a lot of weirdness that I saw there growing up, for sure.

Yeah, I imagine.

I think Rochester has such a nice little.

I mean, there's a lot.

There's a lot of people and different people in the community, of course, but I think in our music network and everything is so supportive and so strong, and I think that's something that we should be proud of here.

Yeah, it really is.

And that's like, a huge reason why I'm still here and why I bought a house here and why I want to be here for a long time is because the art here is amazing.

The bands are great.

Everyone is so supportive of each other, and it still kind of has that small town feel, which I really like.

Yeah, definitely.

And I wanted to talk to you a little bit about booking, because booking, it.

It's hard.

It's really difficult.

I've dabbled in it, and I confirmed that I don't like to do it.

And I think it's interesting that you, you know, you have your own business and you primarily do booking.

So why did you get into that?

Yeah, I mean, like, it sucks, right?

Like, it's not fun.

I think the reason I've had some really, really great experiences with it, and I feel like that has, like, grabbed me and made me really love it.

But I've also had experiences working.

You know, at one point I was working for a venue full time, so I'm doing All of their booking, which means I'm booking shows that I don't really like or don't really care about.

And I found out very quickly that that was not for me.

And even this year, I took on seven bands to manage well.

Well, it's hard because there's a bunch of different jobs that I felt like I was taking on when really what I should have just been doing was booking the bands and, you know, planning the events.

But what I ended up doing was sort of like managing a little bit more.

And it just was.

It was too much so.

Especially now with my new job.

But, you know, I was basically working full time and doing that full time, which was just so much work, and it was so exhausting.

But I think after doing it for, I don't know, eight or nine years now, I think I've finally figured out what works for me.

And I think what is.

What works for me is booking curated shows once a month, maybe two times a month, not managing the bands, but booking a show at a venue that I love in Rochester and putting a lot of time into just the one event or, you know, spacing them out a little bit more.

Because I find, like, it can get really difficult.

And it.

It's hard because it's kind of a thankless job, too, because people don't see all the work that you put in.

They don't see the emails you're sending or the phone calls you're making or anything like that.

And then when they're not getting shows, you know, I.

It's like, well, why.

Why.

Why aren't we booking any shows or what?

Why aren't we doing this here or whatever.

But I think for me, it's taken a while, but figuring out exactly, like, what works for me is.

Is why I keep going back to it.

Because every once in a while I'll get that one show that just does so well.

And people are so happy to be there and they're so excited and the bands are happy and people came out and they sell their merch, and it's just like, so exciting.

And in those moments when people say, I love that you put this show on, it just.

It just, like, feels good.

So I don't know, maybe I'm addicted to that feeling a little bit.

No, it's a high, I think when you do a great event and it's.

I think what you were saying before about just all of those lines being blurred when you're.

And number one in the planning process and if you're managing bands and Booking those bands.

Sometimes, you know, there's such crossover between like, you know, it's almost like, I don't know, you're over not overstepping boundaries, but you start to lean into getting involved with the individual bands more and you know, doing PR or like all the little things.

And it becomes so overwhelming because music marketing is, you know, I, I dabble in it and it's incredibly difficult.

Yeah, I think like through trial and error, in order to do something like that, to manage a band, do all of their booking for them, I'm gonna like, I would need a team of people to make that happen because somebody needs to do the booking, somebody needs to do the social media, somebody needs to make the poster, somebody needs to, you know, do whatever, talk to them on the phone.

It's just like it got to be too much where I was doing all of it and working full time.

So it was just like two full time jobs, you know, and it's just a lot.

It's a lot.

And I think that's a common theme that we have on the show.

Right.

Is the reason that we have a lot of great talent that are actually able to do what they want to be doing is because there's space in Rochester and there's room to take risk because it's a relatively low cost of living city.

It's.

There's so much, you know, vibrancy and opportunity and there's not like, you know, we, we, we just, we had a guest on Fred from Barbed Ending that said you can't spend.

If you spend a hundred dollars in my bar, you're having a good night.

And I think like that there's something to be said about being able to take financial risk and being able to have a little bit more time to do the things that you love.

You're working a full time job, but you're also running your business.

And I really think that's an important part of what we bring to the table with Rochester.

Yeah, I would agree.

You know, it does seem like if people are doing it, they're not just doing one thing, they're doing a bunch of things.

They're, you know, like, like Fred owning a, owning a venue.

I met with Fred early on when they were about to open and we talked about me doing booking there.

But again, I was just like, I just don't think I can take this on.

I think I'm just too busy right now.

And it is like that you got to set boundaries.

That's definitely really important.

As I'm getting older I'm realizing, like, you can't do everything.

Han stops just saying yes to everything.

But, you know, like, him, he.

He not only owns the venue, but he's running it.

He's bartending, and he's running sound while he's there.

That's just.

It's.

It's crazy.

I'm also doing the same thing.

Like, when I book at Daily Refresher, I have to bring all the sound equipment.

So I bring the entire PA and run all of the sound equipment.

And by me, I mean my husband runs it.

Now.

I was gonna say setting.

Setting up for that has to just be a complete chore every time.

It is.

And it's, you know, you're taking the equipment up steep stairs.

And thank God, like, I used to do it all by myself because it was smaller shows and the PA was smaller.

But I've started booking bigger shows there.

And thank God for my husband, Mike Mayer.

He has his own company, Rockworld Audio, and he does sound engineering full time.

So he.

He.

He does a lot of work for me, which I really appreciate.

That is such, like, the perfect pair.

Yeah, it's a pretty good duo, the booking and sound guy.

And, you know, I do all the book work stuff.

I do all the promotion, I do all the setting up of the show.

He comes, he sets the equipment up, he runs the sound for the events, and it's great.

I love it.

It's a good pair.

That's really great.

I think there's something special about having somebody supporting your creative passions, though, because, you know, all of us have had those moments, you know, at one time or another, where we're just so in the weeds of being obsessed with these things.

And, you know, I wouldn't be where I was without, you know, my wife being tolerant of three and a half hours of recording tonight or when I get dragged along to a furry convention to go help her sell there, you know.

But I think being exposed to these things that your partners are passionate about and supporting them does, you know, help too.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, I've definitely heard of and had friends and, like, friends and people I know talking about their partners being like, oh, they're on tour for so long, and, you know what I mean?

Like, if you're going to be in, you have to be supportive of that 100%.

I mean, yes, I am going to go on tour sometimes.

He's going to go on tour sometimes.

And he has.

He went to Spain last year for 10 days, you know, and that was probably the longest and farthest we've ever been away from each other.

But you know what?

Sometimes you just got to embrace it.

And, like, yeah, being supportive and having support groups, family partners, people that understand the art that you're making.

Like, my mom always.

My mom and my dad always come out to my shows.

And, like, even the comedy stuff, which is so funny to see my mom out there, a lot of the parents come to those shows.

I don't really.

I'm like, okay, there's a lot of parents here for this, like, inappropriate comedy show.

But you know what?

I guess they created this.

So what do you want?

Well, there's something to be said about that support system, too.

It's.

You know, I've been in, I think, three different music communities in my life, and there's been no support.

Like, there has been here with just, you know, even the random.

Even just how Virginia and I met.

We've been going to shows.

Turns out we're neighbors.

I met Joey through going to shows because he was photographing my band.

Like, all of the things that you're just, like, people just show up, and then you become friends with them, and then, you know, automatically you have that support.

Mm.

Mm.

Which is nice.

So how did you get your job at the radio station?

Tell us a little bit more about that.

You know, did you always want to pursue something like that?

Like, give us the scoop?

So I've always known that I've wanted to pursue a career in music, whatever that may be.

I wouldn't say that I have been trying to get on the radio my whole life, but I think it was just a perfect storm in the perfect situation at the perfect time.

And honestly, I got really lucky.

That's like.

I am going to be honest and say that that kind of feels how it is, but that is really just how I live my life.

I always tell myself that everything is going to happen exactly the way that it needs to happen.

And I'm a very much, like, just let the wave take me kind of a person, which I'm super grateful for, because I know that a lot of people aren't.

It's really hard to, like, get there, to, like, let go of the control.

But basically, I was working at Sound Source, the music store here in Rochester.

Rochester's best music store.

Shout out to my voice at the source.

Sorry.

I love.

I loved that job so much.

So it was.

It was really hard for me to leave.

And there were definitely some tears shed.

But the previous music director, Ryan, reached out.

Well, we're neighbors, and we were walking our Dogs.

And he mentioned he was leaving, and I mentioned, oh, that could be a cool job.

And he said, I think you'd probably be pretty good at it.

So I threw a resume in and went in for all the interviews and got the job.

And it just sort of happened so quickly, which I am so grateful for.

It has been a huge life changer for me.

I feel really challenged there.

And I'm really excited to be playing music for Rochester and to be.

To be able to have the.

To have the microphone in front of me and talk about the shows that are going on in town, which is something that I do.

I try to do on the air every day.

You know, this is what's going on tonight, this is what's going on this weekend sort of stuff.

And I do use the sound as a huge source for the shows.

And, you know, I go to your guys Instagram page pretty much every day and tell the people of Rochester and Ithaca what's going on in the city.

That's amazing.

Thank you so much for.

For the shout out too.

And, you know, I think, like, that's why we started it is to create a, you know, awareness around what's going on because there's so much going on all the time, people don't know.

Yeah, there really is.

And, you know, I have a pretty diverse background, which I think is the reason why WXXI W R decided to hire me.

I have a background in I.

Some sound engineering, you know, running my own shows, booking bands, dealing with local bands, playing music.

I've done DJ gigs for people and weddings, and I've played shows.

And I have.

I don't know, I feel like I have a really.

I'm not just like.

I'm not like, oh, I've been on radio, you know, and that's the only job I've ever done.

And I think that they were looking for somebody that had a little more going on, a little more in the music director sort of vein, rather than just like a radio host.

Yeah, there's something to be said about having that kind of life experience too.

Because if you're gonna tell stories on the air, having real stories to tell is important.

I mean, like, when you bring up that, you know, you made the introduction, you know, by having your dog out there.

So shout out to your dog for making that connection.

And speaking of connections, we're gonna listen to some advert and we'll be right back.

Hi, everyone.

Welcome back.

We are here with Hannah Mayer, who is a music director on wxxi.

Well, yes, the Parent company is wxxi, the radio state.

WXXI is like the main peeps.

The main.

You know.

Yeah.

The boss, the dad.

Yeah.

And then WR and is the Rochester station.

W I T H is the Ithaca station.

That's a lot of things to remember.

I know when I first got hired I had to.

I have like a whole page of all of it written down because.

And I'm still looking at it just to make sure I'm not getting the letters mixed up.

Yeah, I was.

Thanks for clarifying for me personally because I just never knew the difference.

Now I know.

Yeah, it's a lot.

You know, WXI is actually pretty amazing.

There are a lot of businesses like under that parent company like Citi and the Little.

A bunch of stuff.

So they do a lot of really fantastic art here in Rochester.

Well, that's a good transition to my next question because I read an article that you contributed to for City Paper about local venues and bands.

Kind of skipping Rochester a lot of the time.

Yeah.

Thought it was super interesting.

Yeah, yeah.

They reached out to me about that and those things, they always make me a little bit nervous, you know, because in the modern age they're reaching out on Facebook.

I'm not going in, doing like a formal interview or anything like that, but I think that they were making a pretty decent point.

It seems like Rochester can't seem to keep hold onto those mid sized venues.

What was that?

I always forget the name of it because it's not around anymore, but the one on East Avenue Anthology.

I loved that venue.

I feel like that venue had a lot of potential.

The size was decent.

It seemed like the people working there were nice.

I liked.

I met the owner a couple times and he seemed like a good guy.

Did you meet his dog?

What?

No.

No.

He always used to take his dog to the venue.

I never met his dog.

And you know what?

Even more reason why I'm mad they're not still open.

That's ridiculous.

Sounds like you had a lot of.

Lot of times there.

Mostly when I was there and he would have his dog with him was usually on showcase day for Girls Rock.

Oh, nice.

Oh yeah, yeah, I remember that.

I don't.

I never remember seeing the dog.

But I was working for Girls Rock at that time as well.

And I remember, I mean we were there with the bands and everything which shout out to Girls Rock.

Absolutely amazing organization.

He would show up late, usually in his convertible and his dog would like jump out.

Okay, that's kind of amazing.

Yeah, that venue was great.

I saw some really cool shows there.

And they were not just, you know, national touring acts.

They were also local bands and benefits and girls rock and stuff like that.

Now we have Essex, which I thought was closing.

Everyone thought was closing.

Everyone thought they were moving, then they were closing, then they were moving again.

There's been a lot of rumors about that venue, so I'm not really sure, but it seems like they're actually.

They are decidedly not closing.

Okay, thanks for the inside information.

One of my friends works there.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, I don't want them to close.

That's a great.

Another great venue.

It's that it's at mid size.

I don't know what their capacity is, but it's got between five and I think it's eight.

Eight.

That was a number in my head as well.

Yeah, it's a little smaller than Water Street.

That's perfect.

That's exactly what Rochester needs.

And there isn't a.

There aren't really venues like that here.

You know, it seems to be either the small ones or the big mega ones, like the Do Marina.

Sorry I had to do that.

I'm glad you did that.

It's true, though.

It's like in.

In the article, they were referring to that, like, you can't go see a show that would draw like 3,000 people and they skip over the city, which is sad.

Yeah, it is sad.

And I wish that there were more shows like that and reasonable price ranges too.

You know, I'm trying to pay 35 to go see Dr.

Dog or Mac DeMarco or something.

Somebody like that that has played Rochester, you know, when they were a smaller tier, just like King Gizzard and Lizard wizard played at the Bug Jar, which was amazing and a totally packed show, but they couldn't do that now because they're just like way too big.

That's how they.

They exploded.

Yeah.

And it was crazy.

But anyways.

Yeah, no, I hear you.

It's.

It's like, I love Bug Jar.

I think it's great, you know, the vibes there.

But.

Yeah, where's that middle level tier?

What is the.

What is the mid size venue that we, you know, I don't know.

But that leads me to.

My next question is, you know, with all the good things happening here, where is there more room for change?

What can we be doing better in the city?

I think it's.

It's hard because when money Gets involved, people get greedy and things start to get a little bit weird.

But the reason why the smaller venues and in like the smaller bands or the booking people like me, who aren't like huge bookers, I think the reason why we're successful and why people like working with those types of people is because we care about the music and we care about the people.

You know, it's, it's more so about having a good event and making sure everyone's taken care of.

I think it's, I think it's, I have no problem talking about money.

First off, it's super important that the bands get paid.

They're there to work.

They've been working all for, I don't even know, three months practicing for the show or whatever it is.

That's a full time job.

So if you want a band to play, the band needs to get paid.

And that is super important to me, which is one of the reasons why I pretty much only with some exceptions, but 90% of the time I work with venues that do guarantees.

And that is, that's really important to me because like, I just, I don't know, I could go on and on about it forever, but I think the relationship between the band, the booker, the venue needs to be a family affair.

It's not, oh well, we're not paying you a guarantee because you never bring anybody out.

And it's, you know what I mean?

It's not, oh well, we're not playing there because you don't pay me a guarantee.

Like, why can't we all figure this out and work together on this?

I, I think that there is, I think sometimes there can be like animosity and resentment and I think people have been doing it for so long that it's hard to let go of that.

But if we let go and think about what would be best for the community and how we can work together to make sure that everyone feels good about what's happening, then every single show will be the best show ever.

Do you think that's communicating more?

What do you think would spark, start to spark that change?

I think so.

I mean, I found that that works really well for me, one of my close friends.

Early on in our friendship, I started like asking him to book shows and he was the first person to ever be like, I would love to play it, but I want X amount of money and that's it.

I won't play if you don't give me X amount of money or if the venue won't give me X amount of Money.

And I was like, whoa.

At first I was like, wow.

I kind of felt like.

It felt like an aggressive approach, but now I'm like, you know what?

No, he's right.

He's not being mean about it.

He's just saying, hey, I'm gonna be practicing, I'm gonna be promoting, I'm gonna make a poster.

Like, I'm gonna do the stuff, I'm gonna do the work.

But I'm seeing that this is like, work.

It is work.

It's a job.

It's not.

I think, you know, we work in this scene.

This isn't just a fun hobby.

Like, my entire life is music.

My whole career is based on it.

So.

And we all, we live in a capitalist society.

So, like, we have to pay rent, we have to pay our mortgage, we have to, you know, pay for our dog to get exquisite grooming haircuts.

Come on.

I'm trying to make Beasley look crazy.

Well, and I think that's, that's a great point because what you're describing is a real relationship that's for that time when you're working with that venue.

It's not about all the niceties, a real relationship.

You should be able to be clear about your needs.

So you can, you know, you can have bands that are sustaining themselves because they're going to be better bands because they're sustaining themselves.

They're not burning themselves to the ground hoping to make a dollar that they're able to clearly communicate what they want.

It makes a big difference.

Yeah, And I think that that is where my job is unique.

And I don't really know anybody else in Rochester that's doing what I'm doing, which is I'm the middleman between the bands and the venue.

I'm not working for the venue.

I like to say that I'm working for the bands.

But in the end of it, I am working for myself, you know, and working to curate a good event.

So I want to have a good relationship with the venue and I want to have a good relationship with the bands.

Most of my job in the beginning stages when I'm starting to book the show is like, okay, Mr.

Venue man, will you pay the band 600 to play for an hour?

And then they say yes or no.

They counter offer.

Then I go to the band and make sure, hey, they counter offered or they said yes or whatever.

If I feel like I have a pretty good idea, like I'm some.

Some bands are getting thousand fifteen hundred dollar guarantees.

Some bands are getting two hundred dollars, four Hundred dollars guarantees.

Maybe they can play more music.

Maybe this other band only has two people in it.

There's just like a lot of factors at play.

So I like to be the middle person that's being fair because, you know, the band wants as much money as I can possibly get and the venue wants as possible.

So I like to come in with a fair offer for both.

And I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what that looks like.

And as long as it's just important to ask, hey, will you pay them this?

Yes or no?

Or is there a number that works better?

And I've had venues that I've worked with, new venues.

I'm like, working with some bigger bands.

Like, hey, will you pay them 2,000?

It's like, oh, I don't know if we can do that.

I'm like, okay, well, let's have a conversation about it.

Well, what can you do?

What would work for you?

Okay, great.

I'll ask the.

I'll ask the band and see if that works for them.

It's just the conversation and being open and honest and just making sure everyone's comfortable, you know, it just.

And also getting that out of the way immediately and making sure everyone knows what's happening.

Yeah.

Good.

I feel like what you're describing is what my day job calls soft skills.

Oh, what's that?

It's where, like, you have a really good way of communicating.

You're like.

I mean, just from hearing from you, because this is the first time I'm meeting you, I think, hey, it's like, you're really good at articulating yourself and saying what you mean, but you're also very kind and, like, that's really nice.

Yeah, of course.

I just, I'm.

I obviously have, like, a lot of friends that are in bands and everything, and sometimes it's in intimidating to say the money question.

Yeah.

So it's really nice.

Nice.

I feel like to have an advocate in that realm.

Even if this is like a job for you, it's like, really important.

So it's crazy that there aren't a lot of people in this community yet that like, are doing that.

It sounds like.

Yeah.

I think because it's such a weird thing.

Like, normally people, either they're.

They're the band, they're working for themselves as the band, or they're the venue.

They're working as the venue.

And like I said, the band wants more money and the venue wants to pay less money.

But I don't know.

I think that that's why people like working with me because I can negotiate those things that people don't necessarily really want to talk about.

And I can keep the venue happy and the band happy at the same time.

And I think as long as, I mean, the only times I've ever had anxiety about booking shows or anything is when those things weren't clear.

So now that I've been doing it for a while, it needs to be clear.

And that's the first conversation that we have.

Like before normally what I'll do is I'll be like, hey, can you, can you play this date?

Yes, I can.

Okay, great.

How much money do you want for it?

I'll ask the bands what they think they're worth.

If it's super low, I'll be like, I think you can get more for that.

If it's super high, I'm like, I think the venue's not gonna pay that much.

So being fair there as well, and then, okay, the venue will pay it.

You are confirmed for the show at this amount of money, like immediately.

As long as I have that in writing, all of my anxiety goes away.

And now I can just have fun and make the poster and promote the show, you know?

Yeah.

I mean, you say it's funny because it's like you're doing, you're doing this hard work.

It's hard work.

Bands cancel venues, you know, don't.

Like you're doing something that you're so skilled at and you're so good at it because you know how to dodge all of the things and make magic happen.

And I think you're discounting the amount of.

I mean, you're probably not internally, you know how much hard work it is, but you're making it sound easy when you're doing like really, really solid work.

I appreciate that because it is so hard.

This year for me was really, really difficult.

I mean, I was working full time at the music store at Sound Source and I love it.

But, you know, I'm there all day long.

I'm there for eight hours.

So I can't get.

I can't get booking work done.

So if I'm trying to like book or do anything, I'm gonna be.

I'm gonna have to do that when I get home or when I wake up.

So all day long just working and working and working.

And I think this year I was thinking I would be doing booking and pursuing mom's home booking as like my full time career.

But I don't think that that is just gonna be feasible.

And honestly, I'M I don't think I would enjoy it, which is why I'm so happy to be working for wr.

You are at the radio because every day there is like a gift.

I feel I'm so happy to be there and I'm so much happier now that I have let go of all of.

Because I was booking a lot of gigs and I was booking for somebody like I was booking for Les Green and the Swayzes, which is.

He is constantly touring.

He's going all over different countries.

He does this full time.

He's got high guarantees.

He's playing weddings for a lot of money.

He is.

I'm calling the bride.

I'm dealing.

The mother of the bride called me to ask me where to get sound equipment.

Okay.

I'm dealing with wedding people.

So that's how my whole year was and it was extremely stressful for me.

So I think next year.

I'm so happy to have this job.

I want to focus on this job and being really good at it and booking maybe one show a month and focusing on my band, the country band Candy.

I'm very excited about that.

I really want to be playing music again.

I want to be writing music again.

It is so hard because it's that balance where, like, you know, if you work all day in the cheese factory, you don't want to go home and eat cheese.

Right.

And that's kind of how like, the booking has been.

Like, I've been doing it so much, I don't want to book for my own band because I'm like exhausted by it.

So I really want to focus a little bit more on.

I feel selfish saying it, but I want to focus a little bit more on myself next year.

No, it's so important.

I mean, it's like, it's funny because I, you know, I post the, the weekly roundups on Reddit and people get mad that I don't include their shows.

And I'm like, I work 50 hours a week.

I'm in a full time band that travels.

Like, I'm.

This is not personal.

I'm tired.

I love music so much, but I'm so tired.

And like, I think like, you know, whenever you're so passionate about something, it's the cheese.

What did you say?

When you make cheese all day, you don't want to go home and eat cheese.

Yeah.

Also, why didn't you reach out to me and tell me to put you on there?

Your thing.

Yeah.

Right.

It's not one person's responsibility to monitor everything forever.

Yeah.

Well, it's about going back to what you said about communication.

It's like I, I am a one little piece of machinery and the big machine, like I'm trying to help.

You're doing a thing.

You have to communicate with, with the venue owners.

You have to communicate with, you know, the whole circle of people that are involved and to, to tie that up.

Before I get to my last question, I just, you know, it's.

It's down to the people.

It's down to this community to show up for the shows.

Because if you're not showing up and paying your $10 cover at a local venue, then the musicians don't get paid and the venues don't get paid.

And then we don't get to open those bigger venues because people aren't showing up.

It' the demand and I can't reinforce how important it is for all of us.

Even just if you can stay for the first band, which is what I do a lot.

Sorry everyone.

Yeah, listen, I'm out here.

I'm tired.

Okay.

Yeah, I, I do that sometimes too.

And you know what?

I think it's really important that the people in the community support it.

If you're booking shows, if you own a venue, if you're trying to get your band out there more, you should be going to other shows, you should be supporting other musicians, you should be showing up for them.

Maybe you don't even like the music, but you like the people.

Like seriously, just go to the gig.

It's.

I think it's becoming harder for people because some of the shows are a little bit more expensive.

You know, we're kind of out of the five dollar gig day and all realms of things.

But it's really important.

Like you said, you know, I think most, most of us have a few bucks to spare.

Even if you just show up and.

You have a free show at the daily refresher.

Yes, some, most of them are free.

The Halloween show that we're having on the 31st is $10.

But there's like special stuff going on.

Sometimes the daily does because they're part of this like a large group of restaurants.

They do like special events and when you come, you get stuff or whatever.

That's a whole nother thing.

That's the thing with venues too is like I don't have control over any of that.

Like so it's hard to.

It's so hard.

It's such a hard job.

Yeah, it definitely is.

It's a very hard job.

It's the bottom of my list of things.

That I want to do.

But I'll get to our last question.

Who are you listening to in the local music community?

Oh, that is such a good question.

I'm really liking what Public Water Supply is doing right now.

I like what Shep Treasure is doing.

I've got all my old standards, like Televisionaries and Harmonica Lewinsky and people like that.

But what I've been trying to do is look at some of the newer bands and some of the people that are younger than me, specifically, like, Georgie's really cool.

It's hard because I keep trying to book them, but they keep being like, oh, we're out of town, or, oh, we have a show that night.

I've seriously asked Shep Treasured a book.

I probably asked him, like, five times.

And I'm just, like, embarrassed at this point for some reason.

I'm like, it hasn't worked, so I'm like, I shouldn't keep asking.

But, I mean, I'm like, a huge rock and roll fan.

I like something I can dance to.

I'm a little biased here, but my husband's got a new band, Texas Headphones.

And I just think that it is, like, the funnest and funniest band because they're doing, like, 90s country covers.

That's amazing.

Y.

So it's not original music, but everybody in it is a really good musician.

And it's people we've all seen a bunch of times, but they.

They practice at the house and, like, it's.

For them.

It's like, oh, well, we just, like, don't give.

Can I swear?

Can I swear on this?

I won't swear.

Yeah, but.

Yeah, I mean, we're.

It's indifferent.

We don't give a hoot.

I'm not the boss.

We don't give a hoot.

Yeah.

And going to swear because I spend all day not swearing.

So while I'm in front of a microphone.

So I'm going to continue that.

But they're like, we don't.

We don't care about what people think.

We just want to play 90s country tunes and get up there and have a good time.

And you know what?

Like, isn't that why we're all playing music?

It's true.

And I think Garth Brooks would agree.

Yeah.

Where are the bodies buried?

Garth?

Who knows?

Probably Toby Keith.

Keith's basement or something.

Well, thank you so much for being with us today.

We're so appreciative if you want to give a final shout out to tune into your show.

Yes, yes.

Monday through Friday, 2 to 6pm on 88.5 in Rochester and 90.1 in Ithaca.

The route.

I know.

Yeah, it's my radio voice.

There she comes.

Yeah, we're gonna pull the music by the Root.

So, speaking of, make sure you check out all the rest of the shows on the Lunchadore Podcast Network.

I am going to shout out one of our shows that is transitioning to a new format.

Refined Taste is transitioning to Think Global, Act Local, where host Dario Joseph is going to be talking to lots of people trying to build community from nonprofits to just people trying to grow organizations that are making Rochester a better place to be today.

So stay tuned for some of the first episodes of Think Global Act Local coming up very soon.

And we'll see you next time with more on the nights and the weekends.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.

Don't google mommy, please say you won't?

You might think you want to, you don't?

The more you look, the worse it'll be?

So please, baby, please don't google mommy?

Cause mommy writes comedy songs that are teensy bit obscene?