Adventures of a CRBR Band
I tell you what... I mean it when I say that being a musician selected for the Cooper River Bridge Run is a whole adventure! I'd like to share a bit of that adventurous story from 2015 and 2016.[gallery ids="1216,1217,1218" type="columns" orderby="rand"]Applying - Back in 2014, I had just started as a musician in Charleston. I released my EP in November, and started looking for places to play. I saw the band page for the Cooper River Bridge Run, so I emailed them to see if they had space left for another musician. It turned out the band page listed the 2014 bands, and I had emailed them just in time to be considered for 2015. Then they chose me. Me. Out of 2100 bands. A musician unknown to anybody in Charleston, and who had only played a locally a few times before then. To say I was amazed and grateful for this open door is a huge understatement!Promotion -
- Then came their promotion efforts. Thankfully I had already prepared my biography and official photos!
- They also asked for a song to donate for fundraising efforts and the "runners' training soundtrack." "Say Go" fit well thematically, but they chose "Worth More" for how upbeat it is.
- I also had to send 5 items of merchandise for give-aways... all I had were the EPs I just released 2 months before they requested it. That'll do!
- There were various campaigns and fundraisers the bands participated in both years. Through donating for music and voting, we helped raise funds for CHARM and I Got Legs.
Preparation -
- The Bridge Run has bands play a mix of originals and covers, mostly upbeat. In 2015, I didn't have a ton of upbeat songs, let alone cover songs. I started on my journey to learn and memorize (and work on with my sister) a bunch of upbeat covers. I now have a list I pull from for gigs that includes 21 originals and 17 covers. (That's 38 songs memorized! ...to varying degrees, if I'm honest.)
- Preparation also involved being pre-screened by the FBI. They needed to know months in advance who would be in the band, and who would be our volunteer helping that day. It wasn't until the last minute when I figured out who my percussionist would be in 2016! (Thanks Evan!)
That Week -
- I am a night-owl, and can still sleep like a teenager. So leading up to CRBR, I worked so hard to move my sleep schedule back earlier and earlier. This part was a real battle.
- I also spent the week before reviewing the music and packing: all our equipment and sound system (gratefully borrowed from Ashley River Baptist in 2015), merch just in case, a tent in case it rained (borrowed from our friend), any food/drinks we might want between 4am-11am, and extra clothing and rain gear because of the ominous forecasts. (Of course I didn't feel good about leaving sound equipment in my vehicle over night, so my loving hubby actually packed some of it around 3:30am.)
- In 2016, I also got to throw an extra gig in there: playing at the CRBR expo for those picking up their race packets. I prayed about the weather all week, as it was supposed to thunderstorm at the expo and at the race. It did start raining after our expo set, but race day was nothing short of miraculous! The hourly forecast kept saying it would (like 95% chance) thunderstorm all morning up until the race started, and then it would be heavy rain throughout the run (making fewer people show, and making it very difficult for us and our equipment to stay dry). However, it ended up just occasionally raining until we set up, then it cleared up completely for the run! Turned out to be a beautiful day. Although poor Evan did have step in a puddle, we didn't even end up needing the tent or tarps!
[gallery ids="618,1198,1199,1200,1201,1202,1203,1205,1206,1204,1212" type="slideshow" link="file" orderby="rand"]That Day -
- 10pm: wish I was sleeping and didn't keep waking up
- 3am: rise and shine!
- 3:45am: drive over that lovely bridge on my way to meet the CRBR music leaders (This is Noteworthy)
- 4am: greeted by FBI/Police (can't remember... it was 4am). They checked our IDs and gave us "band" badges to wear all day.
- 4:15am: sit around in our vehicles for a very long time, occasionally being given items (our banner, a tarp, a parking pass). Sometime in there we also had our vehicles checked and cleared by a police dog.
- 6:30am: head to our location. Part of the pre-gig fundraising involved a contest to decide bands would get to play at the top of the bridge (where all the media is). I didn't win either year, but I still ended up happy with my spots.
- In 2015, it was soooo sketchy and dark (at first) at our spot, but I was honestly glad to not be on the open-air bridge because it was about 40 degrees! They put us in front of a beaten-down, boarded up house. I loved the symbolism of that: bringing new life and light to such a sad, dark area. That's what I do.
- In 2016, it took a while to find our spot and parking. I was amazed how many people were awake at that hour! ;) Cops were all around by then. I was placed near the finish line, as the second-to-last band. What a fun place to be! There were more people hanging around for the whole event, so bystanders heard more of my music.
- 7am: search for power. Pray there's a bathroom within walking distance (yay for gas stations and kind church leaders!). Set up.
- In 2016, it took our band, 2 CRBR leaders, and 4 cops before we finally found our power source: about 8 feet off the ground on a lamp post. Had to get a ladder and two extension cords to plug in! This was our first attempt though... before we moved spots.
- In 2016, the road where we were to set up wasn't closed from traffic until about 7:30am. While we waited, we learned that a DJ was hired by a nearby store to play music... about 20 feet away. I called our CRBR leaders to find out what to do. Apparently, there was nothing they could do about it because it was private/business property. We were all confused, because the bridge run hires 20 bands along the route. The store owner said last year, the band and DJ just "played off each other." That would NOT work for us! Folk/soul acoustic and pop/hiphop CDs just do not mix. And I was hired to play my music... not jam along with a DJ! But thankfully, we got permission to find a new spot. We walked down the street, but didn't see anything resembling public property. Power would be another issue. We came upon a gym, and asked to play on their porch. The girl wanted us to find another spot. We tried for a bit, then talked to the nearby cops. That's when we saw the same gym had a back porch that nobody used. We felt funny asking again, so one of the cops volunteered to advocate for us. (It kind of felt like we got "Dad" to come save the day! :-P haha) We got permission, and the cop told the store owner and us that if anyone said anything to us or had a problem with it, to send them over to him. What a guy! :) So we (mostly the guys) carried everything down the road. I had left my guitar on the sidewalk down the road for like 20 minutes before I realized it... thank God it was still there! We set up at LIGHTSPEED while the wheel-chair/bikers raced by. We had my EP playing so they could at least hear my music, even though it wasn't live. Thankfully we were able to start playing when the first runner came sprinting down the road! ...So fast.
- 8am: play a few 45 minute sets with brief breaks in between. Thank God for divine energy and throat coat!
- People were so enthusiastic in 2015! They were cheering for us! I was amazed by this... I know playing 3 hours takes a ton of energy, but they were the ones running at 10k! ;)
- The walkers cheered for us in 2016... My guess is the runners were too tired by the end of the race! :) It was fun to see some friends old and new running past or stopping by. That was a nice change for this year!
- 11am: tear down.
- 12pm: eat lunch in a complete daze.
- Thankfully in 2016, I didn't feel quite as terrible and out of it as I did in 2015!
- 1pm: collapse on the couch
- 2pm: reluctantly finish unpacking the car, loading everything in the kitchen.
- 3pm: body gives in, and we nap.
Week Following -
- Slowly put equipment away upstairs
- Try to catch up on sleep
- Let muscles and vocal cords heal
- Update friends/fans/family with how it went
- Allow life to resume to "normalcy." (Whatever that means... Fully aware that my life is not normal. ...and I wouldn't have it any other way. :) )