Hi! I’m Lois Fein, IndieFlix Play It Again Podcast Host.
I’m in Cambridge, Massachusetts right now sitting in the legendary folk music club called “Passim.” Musical greats like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan have passed through Passim. There’s terrific energy in this intimate, acoustic-listening coffeehouse. It seats about 95 people.
I used to come here as a college student and watch the guitar-work of singer-songwriters like Shawn Colvin and David Wilcox, hoping that one day I could muster up enough courage to move from audience member to performer on the Passim stage.
In college, I dreamed of this. I longed for this. Many years after college, I actually did it. I was 38 years old, and, finally, I played at an Open Mic night at this renowned folk music club.
I remember that night. I entered the packed coffeehouse. Photos of Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel lined the walls. I had waited two-and-a-half hours to play my one song. My nephew and I warmed-up in a room the size of a coat closet in the back room just before we went on stage. Then, the emcee announced my name. We left the closet, and eagerly wedged our way from the back of the room to the stage up front, cheered on by the enthusiastic whistles and applause of the crowd – a great feeling.
I was walking on water.
I played my song “Dialogue With Joan of Arc” on my maple Martin guitar with confidence and sang “So dream all you dreamers into this fiery night/A thousand voices will sing with you/We can hear it/We can feel it/We are standing here with you/You’re not alone…” My nephew accompanied me on the African djembe drum. That was my “crossing of the threshold.” I was a fire-walker.
That night of performing at Passim gave me the confidence to begin a 5-year journey of recording my own music – a path that culminated in the release of my debut CD, STEP INTO THE WATER (www.LoisFein.com).
What brings me to Passim today is another leap into the “larger life.” It’s afternoon and the club is not yet open to the public for the evening live performances. The chef and manager allowed me to come into this incredible performance space so that I could conduct an interview for Indieflix Play It Again Podcast in quiet, without the street traffic of Harvard Square seeping into the podcast.
I just finished an interview with Scott Kirsner, author of Fans, Friends and Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age. Scott is a wealth of information and insight – in his book and in-person. Scott gives wise, practical advice on “how to build an audience and make money at your creative endeavor” citing examples from the myriad interviews he conducted with indie filmmakers, musicians, comedians, magicians, and writers highlighted in Fans, Friends and Followers. I can’t wait for the podcast to be broadcast. Scott is a kind person and a lively interviewee who has much to share with independent filmmakers, creative artists, and entrepreneurs about “what works.”
Earlier this week, I was in Brooklyn, New York at “Hi Christina” – the creative-arts space of “tothehills2” filmmaker Fritz Donnelly. Fritz has an amazing presence – someone who looks at you with magnetic, warm, brown eyes – an artist at peace with the world, and understands his place in it. Fritz experiments with improv, live-audience collaborations, and film-performance. I can’t wait for his podcast to be aired, as well.
It’s been a terrific week of meeting with upcoming IndieFlix Play It Again Podcast guests like Fritz Donnelly and Scott Kirsner, hanging out with family, and swimming in Walden Pond – the home of Thoreau’s experiment in nature/simple living. The joy of swimming in fresh water at Walden Pond, talking to creative people, and sharing dinners and late night conversations with family has filled me up. I hope you enjoy my interviews with filmmaker Fritz Donnelly and author Scott Kirsner.
Their podcasts will be broadcast on IndieFlix Play it Again Podcast at the end of summer and later this fall as the leaves turn from green to fiery orange, gold, and crimson.
Tags: Cambridge Mass, Fritz Donnelly, Indieflix Play It Again Podcast, Lois Fein, Passim, Scott Kirsner
I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about all this do it yourself stuff, but I figured what the heck, and I downloaded a free sample of Scott Kirsner’s book for my kindle. An hour later, I bought the rest of it, and I’m glad I did. There’s just so much insight and information about getting your work out there and noticed.