Live Is Back...But...
You may have read on my Home page or one of the other pages that I spent a lot of time over the past couple of "pandemic years" bringing my music to you on line - in weekly livestreaming shows and their recordings , as well as streaming music plays on line (available on Spotify and Soundcloud now [links at bottom of page]). While that remains as part of my plan, I am so happy to be able to say that now, with live performances back again after covid, I've performing in person once again since 2021. But, my number of performances this year is significantly limited. A few months ago, I had planned carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists, with the result that I could not anticipate how quickly I would recover and how well, so I greatly limited the number of performances to only a few this year so as not to overdo it. I'm coming along, but need to space the shows out so I don't cause a long term problem with my hands. By next year, all should be back to normal.
In addition to booking "traditional" live performances at venues and festivals, I'm looking at doing "alternative" live performances. I am planning on developing a series of house concerts, and lined some of those up locally beginning in 2021. But developing those more regionally will take a while since I need to "link" several of them within a days driving distance of each other to make them viable. If you would like to consider hosting one of those, check out my /house-concerts page on this website for more about what they are and a look at what's involved and get in touch with me to discuss the details..
I'm also working on developing a few "pop-up" type performances where I'll find an unconventional place to play, promote a performance there, and play live...Places might be: a park, an unused bandshell, maybe even a campground or, hey, a truck stop or a seldom used train station ...who knows...Stay tuned.
As soon as the on line concert performances and on demand videos and concerts are up and running, you will be able to see them by clicking on the Live Streams & Video tab /live-streams-on-demand-videos on this site and selecting what you'd like to see.
And, if you'd like to get notified of any of these as they come up, subscribe to my email list at the bottom of my Home page /home and you'll hear about them as soon as they are scheduled or made available.
Beyond that, I'll continue to book performances selectively at listening room type venues and festivals from time to time, and those will be listed here when booked. Until a performance opens up near you, please drop by at one of my weekly livestreams when those resume (see below for links and details).
Upcoming Performances
Below is what I have scheduled so far for 2023. More may be added. Both because I'm recovering from recent planned carpal tunnel surgery in both hands, and because I want to concentrate on virtual music presentation, the creation of pre-recorded and live virtual small to full gig music performances, and writing and plugging songs for tv and film I only want to do a small handful of live performances this year.
When many venues permanently closed due to the pandemic and many of those remaining still significantly curtailed in what they can present and short of funds for performance fees, independent musicians (like me) started getting creative in finding ways to generate our own income stream to support our live performances. So I'm working on a plan, still very much in the early stages, for crowd funding some more performances. I'm not sure what sort of format that will take, maybe Kickstarter, maybe Indiegogo, but definitely one where a donor receives something in return for their support (like a CD, a ticket to a show, a back stage pass, lunch or dinner with me, a song written for them for a special occasion...).The basic concept will probably be raising tour support funding (contributions) from fans to enable me to present more live performances, or supplement those that offer performance fees too low to otherwise make it possible. In some cases, the funds would be used to supplement a performance at a venue that can't support a full "normal" performance fee. In other cases, it might serve to supplement ticket sales where a small audience is anticipated and ticket prices are kept at a reasonable amount. And in others, it might provide the sole funding for a "free" concert that I would produce myself....Watch for more about this.
I will also be working on creating a subscription service and an opportunity to become part of a group of my followers and fans who can come together to get things like closed access livestreams, meet with me in the virtual "green room" sessions, see and hear parts of the songwriting and recording process not available to others, and other special things not available to the general public. That may take the form of a Patreon membership, or something similar.
2023 Live Shows
January 8 - Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay Art Center, 12198 Route 9N, Upper Jay, NY - Short Set in a multiple performer show, 2-6pm
January 15 - Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay Art Center, 12198 Route 9N, Upper Jay, NY - Short Set in a multiple performer show, 2-6pm
January 22 - Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay Art Center, 12198 Route 9N, Upper Jay, NY - Short Set in a multiple performer show, 2-6pm
January 29 - Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay Art Center, 12198 Route 9N, Upper Jay, NY - Short Set in a multiple performer show, 2-6pm
August 5 - JEMS, Jay Green Public Park, Route 9, Jay, NY - 6pm - Solo performance; new and old original songs and a few covers
September 1 - Lake Placid Barbecue & Music Festival, North Elba Showgrounds, Lake Placid, NY - 7:20pm - Solo performance, new and old original songs.
October 22 - Whitcomb’s Garage, Rt 22, Whallonsburg, NY 3pm - A showcase of some of my new original contemporary folk/jazz songs and a discussion of how they came about and how they were written; 25 min set plus Q&A about the songwriting process.
Trestle Street, Saranac Lake, NY - Fall/Winter 2023 - dates and times TBD
November 17 - Wood, Wire & Voice Coffeehouse, 127 Beekman Street, Plattsburgh, NY - 7-9pm - Solo performance, new and old original songs
2022 Performances
June 4, 2022 - Jay Village Green, Route 9N & 86, Jay, NY, Solo performance, many new songs.
June 15, 2022 - Wilmington Farmer's Market, Harvest Park (Visitor's Bureau), Route 86, Wilmington, NY Solo performance, many new songs.
June 30, 2022 - The Gazebo, Memorial Park, Court Street, Elizabethtown, NY Solo performance, many new songs.
July 14, 2022 - Keene Arts, 10881 Route 73, Keene, NY Solo performance, many new songs.
July 16, 2022 - BluSeed Studios, 24 Cedar Street, Saranac Lake, NY. Solo show, with lots of new original songs.
August 18, 2022 - “Songwriters In The Round - Phil Henry, Carl Rubino, Ray Agnew, Douglas Irving”, The Strand Theatre, 210 Main Street, Hudson Falls, NY
September 3, 2022 (Labor Day Weekend) - Lake Placid Barbecue & Music Festival, North Elba Showgrounds, Lake Placid, NY - Solo performance, new and old original songs.
November 19, 2022 - Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay Art Center, Upper Jay, 12198 Old Rte 9n, Upper Jay, NY - Fundraiser for the Art Center
Representative Past Performances
SONGWRITERS NIGHTS (Invited Songwriters Only):
Douglas Corner, Nashville , TN
The Commodore Lounge, Nashville, TN
The Broken Spoke, Nashville, TN
Quality Inn Hall of Fame, Nashville, TN
The Bitter End (BMI Songwriter's Night), New York, NY
BMI Acoustic Roundup Songwriters Showcase, Hotel Gabez, New York, NY
“Songwriters In The Round", The Strand Theatre, 210 Main Street, Hudson Falls, NY
FEATURED PERFORMER:
Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY High Peaks Base Camp, Wilmington, NY The Back Door Cafe, Glens Falls, NY
Palmer Street Coffeehouse, Plattsburgh, NY The Galley, Westport, NY French Mountain Playhouse, Lake George, NY
Jay Village Green Bandshell, Jay, NY Boathouse Theatre, Schroon Lake, NY Ballard Park Concert Series, Westport, NY
Recovery Lounge, Upper Jay, NY Williston Community Coffeehouse, Williston, VT Java Blues Coffeehouse, Burlington, VT
Burlington Coffeehouse at City Market, Burlington, VT Samsara Cafe, Burlington, VT Vermont Coffeehouse, Burlington, VT
The Gazebo, Elizabethtown, NY BluSeed Concert Series, Saranac Lake, NY Keene Arts, Keene, NY
FESTIVALS:
First Night, Burlington, VT Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY
Adirondack Folk Festival, Schroon Lake, NY Field, Forest & Stream Festival, Elizabethtown, NY
Festival of the Lakes, Saranac Lake, NY Flo & Whitey's Country Music Festival, Riverview, NY
Chilson Hill Music Festival, Ticonderoga, NY Music Festival of the Adirondacks, Paul Smiths, NY
Life Quest Festival, Lake Placid, NY Covered Bridge Coffee House Free Flow, Jay, N
Lake Placid BBQ Festival, Lake Placid, NY
OPENING ACT:
Fast Folk Cafe (for Richard Shindell), New York, NY
Vermont Coffeehouse (for Peter Mulvey), Burlington, VT
Caffe Lena (for Jack Williams), Saratoga Springs, NY