Oh boy. What a day it’s been.
You likely already know how big a part of Carpenter Brut is for VSD, unless you missed the intro emails for the mailing list. Short story: Carpenter Brut is why Vampire Step-Dad exists. He’s how I found the genre, and so without him, no VSD.
So I was already excited to get to SEE him play in Atlanta. I bought my ticket as soon as they were posted. I even made some business cards to leave around the venue for people to find. But then something put a fire under my ass last week, and I decided to try to PLAY the show.
I emailed the promoters last Thursday and explained who I was, and gave them a sample of my music. No response. I tweeted at them. Nothing. Facebook message…doesn’t look like they even saw it.
Unfazed, I kept practicing and doing what I needed to prepare for the show.
On Monday, I decided to message them again, and continue every two days until they responded. Well, looks like second time’s the charm, because yesterday they emailed me back confirming I was on the show.
Holy crap, you guys. I’m opening for Carpenter Brut. What crazy-ass timeline are we on right now? Check the spelling on your Berenstain Bears books…
So, now I’m scrambling to get everything together. I’m going to be bringing a drummer with me, and I’ll be playing both keyboard and guitar during the show. So, needless to say, there’s a lot of prep to be done.
But that’s not why I’m writing this email. I was talking to someone about this, and they asked what convinced me to try to play the show, and when I thought about it, I realized something.
It was totally because of YOU.
I mentioned before in the Failure Heart story how your support is what convinced me to try things like making props and other things a step above just making music. Well, it’s now gone quite a bit further.
I can’t begin to tell you the confidence you’ve given me. All artists deal with a nagging sense that they’re frauds, and the other shoe is going to drop any moment, but every time that thought process starts creeping in, I just think about you guys. I look at the photos of where you’ve put VSD stickers, some of you wearing a VSD t-shirt, and it’s like “Who cares if I’m wrong, they think I’m right, so let’s try it.”
This show may be an utter failure. My computer night crash, I might forget my parts, who knows. But if it’s going to go down in flames, by golly I’m going to bring my flamethrower and make it a glorious failure. And that’s because of YOU. Your support is so uplifting and wonderful. I wish I was a better writer so I could come somewhere near describing it.
Anyway, I’ll shut up. But really, THANK YOU.
Hugs and Kisses,
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad
PS: In light of all this, there may not be a VSD Spotlight tomorrow. Sorry…SO MUCH TO DO.
