I want to thank everyone for all of your very kind comments and warm words of encouragement!

Hey John, I do remember hanging out with you on the just plain folks east coast tour. we had a good time!your songs rocked! thanks, man!

So a few updates..... since the big day the following things have happened, all in this last week:

I was asked to sing my song and tell my story at an Antje Duvokot / Chris O'Brien concert at the Me and Thee showcase in Marblehead MA. That's a room I've been working on getting into for awhile now! It's run by a wonderful woman named Kathy Sands-Boehmer who is sort of like the guardian angel of songwriters out here.

please allow me to inturupt this update to give some pertinant links:

www.meandthee.org
www.chrisobrienmusic.com
www.antjeduvekot.com


One of the performers from that night, Chris O'Brien had a similar experience to my swell season break when he won a contest to be on the Garrison Keiler show and got to play live on the radio to the millions of listeners of the Prairie Home Companion. I've been able to better understand my situation thanks to chris.

So, Chris and Antje Rocked the show. They both blew my mind. i now understand why they are a couple of the fastest up and coming artists in the Boston area.

The next day I was invited by Ellis Paul's management (same managers as Anjte)to spend the afternoon with Ellis before a show in new hampshire. I received the invitation from one of Ellis' mangers, the wonderful Rachel Klein. Rachel, along with Brian and Kathy, has been helping guide me through the decisions I have before me now. Rachel saw me playing the street in harvard square about a week before the big break and offered me her card then with an offer on some tips on breaking into the boston scene. she's been great since and has given me some fantastic advice.

Spending the afternoon with Ellis was an AMAZING experience. Ellis spent a couple hours with me in his green room at the show, pregig, trading songs, giving me advice, and generally schooling me in the craft that he is a master of. if you don't know his music, you NEED to hear him! He will blow you away. if he is in your town then GO SEE HIM! You'll see what i'm talking about. go to his site.. it's www.ELLISPAUL.COM

Other News:

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Since then I've been in touch with another down to earth and wonderful woman who is very well connected in the songwriter scene and........is interested in managing me! I'm all for that.

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I've been in touch with a band in the last few days who are interested in having me open for them in a notable 1,000 person size venue.
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so yesterday, i was busking in harvard square, spending the day with a girl from the boston globe who's going to be doing a story on me. her and i first met while i was busking a few weeks ago. then i didn't know she was a writer, but she told me she sang, so i taught her a few of my songs and we sang together for the bums, the harvard law students, the homeless punk rocker kids, and the affluent shoppers. she happened to also be at the swell season concert.

we were breaking down the gear when a woman came up to ask that I sing one more song... i was running late for the club passim open mic, but there was something special about her, so I set back up my gear and sang her the song I sang at the Swell Season show.

somehow ,it turns out that she's a Hollywood producer. a real one, not an aspiring one. she's also a songwriter who's had a platinum album and hit single (she gave me her card and I googled her). she has wonderful inside advice to give and she's so in tune with her creative process and making her own dreams come true that i'm very excited to learn from her.

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this evening I did a podcast with CD Baby and talked about being a busker and what it was like to play the swell season show. Of course I mentioned JPF and Brian, and there will be a link to this website on the cdbaby download page of the podcast. CD baby will let me know when it's going to air and i'll post it here.

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So...many of these things are happening because I've taken Brian's advice to heart.... about being the most persistent and aggressive about following up on leads then I've ever been. it's really paying off!


i'm beginning to feel like you have to put your entire heart and soul into your art and wait for miracles to happen... ask and you'll receive, knock and it will be opened. you ask by devoting yourself to your dream and it's a process of taking big emotional risks. when things started to happen to me a few weeks ago, i was feeling like less then nothing in terms of who i am in the songwriter world and the professional world in general. on some days i felt like no more then a begger. it's SCARY, but don't be afraid to be afraid.

wait a minute... ok, it sounds like my cat, ralphie, is eating tape in the other room... must go and intercede on his little kitty stomach's behalf. hang on ralphie, daddy's coming!

until next timem

-Steven Bacon
www.stevenbacon.com
www.myspace.com/stevenbacon