I’ve gone out and bought myself a second guitar. And yes, it’s a Gurian, just like the first one. Y’see, I broke a string at a gig a while back, and if it weren’t for the kind sideman for the headline act, I’d still be standing there with my jaw slack, in the
dark, wondering what to do…
My new baby
February 25th, 2006
My New Gu(ria)n
February 24th, 2006
Many years ago, I saw a movie called “My New Gun”. It was a pretty good movie, but its most notable feature was that I saw it during a weekend in New York where I made an ill-advised pass at an old friend, and deeply disappointed another friend in the process. As I grimaced at the wreckage of this particular weekend, I knew that this couldn’t happen again. Read more »
A Bigger Glass of Empty
February 3rd, 2006
My new feature Song Stories goes into a little background about one of the songs I’ve written. This month’s Song Story, fittingly enough, is about “A Bigger Glass of Empty”. Read more »
My name in lights
February 2nd, 2006
I’m pleased to report that my name came up twice in Scott Alarik’s fine article about the Boston open mike scene in the Boston Globe’s January 26 edition of the Calendar. Here’s what he said about my song “A Bigger Glass of Empty”: “Sam Bayer sang a lovely twist on songwriters’ penchant for self-pitying ballads, confessing he’d whine more but keeps seeing people with a ‘bigger glass of empty than me.'” He also mentioned my open mike site in the sidebar which listed open mikes. He also spelled it right.
The Upside of Vanity
November 10th, 2005
One of the first lessons of stage performance that we all learn is a lesson in humility, as preached by folks like Don White. My version of the lesson goes like this: a performance is an opportunity and a responsibility. It’s an opportunity because the audience is ready to like you, and that is a gift from the audience to you; it’s an responsibility because your job is to ensure that the audience is rewarded for that gift. Your performance is not about you, so the lesson goes; it’s about making the audience feel good about the investment of time and attention they’ve made. Read more »
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back In the Studio…
June 21st, 2005
Many years ago, a friend of mine gave me what I thought was excellent advice: “Don’t record an album”, he said, “unless you think you can sell it”. This is no longer excellent advice. In fact, it is essentially an exhortation to enter, unarmed, a room populated with AK-47-toting three-year-olds. That’s what the digital revolution has done to acoustic music. Read more »
IT upgrades at headquarters
April 29th, 2005
I’ve moved my website over to Midphase, which is a real site hosting organization. So it should really say sambayer.com in your browser window, and I’ll soon have a real mailing list and all sorts of stuff. Just like a real live boy.
A lovely sentiment
August 16th, 2004
One of my performance idols, Julie Woods, has this to say (blush, dimple).
I’m being compiled!
June 4th, 2004
![[BOB album]](/images/sampler5.jpg) |
I’m proud to report that I’m joining Julie Dougherty, Joe Kowan, Deb Pasternak, Steve Gretz, Kate Redgate, Lisa Bastoni, Tom Driscoll, Thea Hopkins and a bunch of other very talented folks on the Boston’s Best Singer/Songwriter Showcase sampler CD for 2004, put together by the folks at Bay State Sound. This is a promotional CD (you can’t buy it, from me or from anybody), so of course, I’m expecting the phone calls to come rolling in any day now. |
Open mikes in the news
November 30th, 2003
I’ve recently been interviewed about the Boston open mike scene for two publications: by Jo Charest, host of the Folk in Harmony coffeehouse, for May 2003 issue of the New England Entertainment Digest, and by John Winters, for the November 20, 2003 Weekender section of Attleboro Sun Chronicle.. Don’t worry, I won’t let it go to my head.