good, bad & weird

Ken Stringfellow

True tales of gigs gone strange...

I haven't really played any gigs that could be called "weird." I have played in museums, calzone restaurants, Fresno — all weird in their own way — movie theaters, YMCAs, jazz clubs, shopping malls, outdoors in Singapore to 2,000 people (you can sneak a solo performer into circumstances that might not accommodate a full band).

I've done spoken-word with Lydia Lunch, and been backed up by the Long Winters and Oranger. I've played just shy of the Arctic Circle in Norway and Alaska, I've played just shy of the equator in Malaysia, and I once did a New Year's Eve gig in Liechtenstein.

I opened for Hole in a 15,000-seat arena, and was pelted with about $25 in quarters (fact: this causes more than $25 worth of pain). I played in New York City on September 20, 2001, in a gig that was surprisingly full of humor and modest joy. I played a couple of days later in Washington DC, and was yelled at by a woman for playing music that was "inconsiderately sad." I played in a nuclear fallout shelter in Bratislava, where the backstage was an indoor shooting range, complete with a collection of WWI and WWII automatic weapons.

I've played in a brawling bar in Tasmania, a cabaret in Paris, and a blues club in Johannesburg. I did a piano duet with Heidi Klum. I had my daughter accompany me on xylophone. I've been on bills with some of my musical favorites — Bridget St. John, Elliott Smith, Robyn Hitchcock. I've played to fewer than four people.

But it never struck me as weird.

– Ken Stringfellow

Ken Stringfellow, Soft Commands
(2004, Yep Roc Records)

Got a good gig story to share? Tell it here.

Posted December 2006

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Comments are closed

jimritchie commented, on December 4, 2006 at 10:51 p.m.:

yawn............

jimritchie commented, on December 4, 2006 at 11:01 p.m.:

Maybe you should post in the "I have nothing of interest to say, but I thought I could promote my band here forum".

strings commented, on December 6, 2006 at 8:49 a.m.:

Or perhaps, "at least I've done something in my life more interesting than post whiny comments on an obscure blog" oh....but, jim, you haven't? What a pity. Maybe you should leave the house. I was invited to write the above, dipshit.

yoshi_wa commented, on December 7, 2006 at 12:15 p.m.:

no touring US atm?your stories sound cool

jimritchie commented, on December 8, 2006 at 10:37 p.m.:

OK, Ken, but you make many wrong assumptions. I have also played all over the world.I was just saying that if you had done all that, it seems like you would have a better story to tell. Seems more like a laundry list than an interesting experience. Deal with it, Big Boy.

anonymous commented, on December 15, 2006 at 4:11 a.m.:

Just wtf is your problem Jim? Ken was INVITED to write this. You may not have found it interesting but is there any need to have a dig? I myself did find it interesting. Never knew Ken shared a bill with Elliott. Would love to know more...

anonymous commented, on April 19, 2007 at 7:59 a.m.:

A song springs to mind when i think of this jim guy: "jealous Guy." if you have played all over the world as you said, where are your stories? hmm, i wonder...