It may look like my friend Brian is paying close attention, awaiting the moment when he'll add some more harmonies. Actually, he's looking past me, at my iPad, attached to a nearby stand.

It's held there by an IK Multimedia iKlip mic stand mount. There are a number of products that do this job; this is the one I happen to own, and it does its one job very well.

So why is it there? I know folks who run GarageBand onstage this way, but in my case, it's just lyric sheets and/or setlists. So when I need a memory jog on a new song, the occasional cover or (as sadly happened last night) when I blank on an older song of mine, it's right there.

There's any number of ways to get those lyrics on there, but like any good nerd, I lean toward plain text files. Something I can edit on any machine I own, view on my phone if need be, etc.

The app used for viewing the songs is GoodReader. I like that it will read almost anything I throw at it, but especially like the way it syncs with Dropbox. I have a "Lyrics" folder on my laptop:

and I've told GoodReader to sync that folder and its contents. If I add a new song to that folder, it will automatically be mirrored to GoodReader. Tap a song, and off I go:

If I'm feeling particularly grown-up and professional, I'll "star" some of the songs ahead of time, and let GoodReader show me just those songs as something approaching a setlist:

That's it. No more binder of lyrics for me, and I'm pretty happy about it. I do recommend putting the iPad in airplane mode before your set, to avoid the temptation to tweet mid-song.

"Disappear"

"One Man at Best"

"The Great Unknown"

"Mind of Its Own"

All four songs are from my album "Acrophobe", available for purchase (CD or download) at music.paulroub.com.

Had the pleasure, last Saturday, of joining Michael Stock in studio on his Folk and Acoustic Music show. This is one of the songs performed therein.

And... uh... sorry about the sunburn. It didn't look that bad on the radio.

"A Little Bit Wiser" is $0.89 at Amazon MP3 - proceeds will go towards sunscreen and common sense.

From: Name Redacted <nredacted@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: The Domain: OpenMicNight.com

Using your ISP-given email? Always a good sign of a reliable business.

Paul,
Hello, my name is redacted. I am representing the owner of the web domain OpenMicNight.com and we are interested in selling the domain.

A web domain? How wonderful! Oh, but... what if I wanted email, too? Is this one only for the web? Is that why you're using the SBC address?

In a keyword search for "Open Mic Night" on Google your website came up as a related listing,

I'd expect so. openmikes.org is generally the first hit for things like that. Good job finding it!

So I wanted to see if you had any interest in purchasing the domain?

So I could have the second slot, too? Also, that's not a question. It's more of an 80s movie SoCal kid making a statement, if you throw a few "likes" in there.

I am contacting many different parties that have an interest in the name, or spend money on marketing and ads for these specific keywords.

"Dear SEO Douchebags: ..."

A response either way would be appreciated.

Wait, either way? What were my choices? Is this a way? I'm doing this one.

Thank you for your time,
Name Redacted

That was so nostalgic. Domain speculation. Because people type URLs into address bars these days. All the time. That would serve me better than years of content, trust, legitimate inbound links...

Oh, there's more!

Name Redacted, Nredacted Web Development
Phone: 555-55B-R549 Email: nredacted@sbcglobal.net

Wow, no hesitation at all throwing around the temporary email. And no web site, I guess 'cause you're selling your only web domain.

Hey, for the kids, can we get some authentic, silly, psuedo-legal spewage?

This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information.

You don't know? Dude. Read it over once before clicking Send.

If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose, or take any action based on this message or any information herein.

Can I delete it? Because that seems like taking an action. Is asking that taking action?

Also, how do I know if I'm authorized to receive this? What's the chain of command? I'm pretty sure my boss won't care, and the dog's utterly ambivalent. I'll ask Twitter in a minute, I think. Gestalt authorization.

If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation.

"Error" is slippery here. I certainly didn't want to, or try to, receive it. And it doesn't seem to have had the intended effect, but you got both my email and my first name right. "Whose error"? That's what I'm trying to ask. Now I'm wondering if that should have been "who's". See what you've started?

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

I like the heartfelt stammer of the doubled "P". I did consider the environment. Turned off lights in the next room, in fact. And now, I guess, I have to print the email. You did say "p-please".

I've had the same Peaches record crates since sometime in the early 90s.

They're not exactly built of reinforced steel, and at this point I'm afraid they'll cave in.

Do I have any scrap plywood that might be useful?

Yep.

A well-spent 10 minutes. I feel better. Now to alphabetize them...

The results have been amusingly... mixed. I may or may not release them into the wild.

A few of those involved actually chose songs they liked, rather than those that would make me regret my decision. My friend Michelle was extra-nice and asked for a Dylan tune, "Things Have Changed". I threw it together in about an hour last week; the lead guitar in particular is just me warming up and deciding "yeah, that actually feels good. Done." But people have said nice things about this, and I don't have new originals in the pipeline just yet, so...

Here's me, sitting at my desk, singing "Things Have Changed":

That was last week. 7 days later, this shows up:

I love that the guitar is recognizably mine. This just makes me happy.

Next up? Been having a lot of these discussions...

"Hey Paul, when are you gonna be back at the Sun Shoppe?"
"Now that you're back, guess we'll be seeing you at the Sun Shoppe, huh?"
"When can we see you at the Sun Shoppe?"
"Hey, Mark, can I come play at the Sun Shoppe?"
"Hey, Paul, when can we get you playing here?"

There seems to be a general agreement that this is a very good idea.

So... next Saturday, 8pm until, oh, let's say 11... I'll be at the Sun Shoppe in Melbourne once again.

Will I play all of the CD and then some? Sure!
Old songs I barely remember? Bet!
At least one Jonathan Coulton cover? Undoubtedly!

It's gonna be fun. All the more so if you're there.

Saturday, October 23, 8pm

The Sun Shoppe
540 E New Haven Ave, Melbourne, FL
(downtown Melbourne, nearly across the street from the Henegar Center)

Want a flyer to print out and plaster hither and yon? Sure you do! here (PDF).

Info on this, and all gigs, can be found at paulroub.com.

So after a brief flurry at the beginning, sales of my CD have pretty much dropped off. Instead, lots of free downloads are happening. I like this very much, and I'd like to see it continue. And you can help.

If you're reading this and haven't yet downloaded Acrophobe, by all means head to music.paulroub.com, click "Download", and enter "0" as the amount you'd like to pay. Then download away.

If you like what you hear, tell your friends. That's what this blog post is about - how to share. Sharing is good. Sharing is nice. Sharing gets the music heard, which is ultimately the point of the whole thing.

If you want to let your Facebook friends, your Twitter followers, etc. know about the whole CD, head over to the CD page and click "Share":

Follow the instructions from there. Thanks!

Have a favorite song you'd like to point them to instead? Here's how.

Let's use "Mind of its Own" as an example - I'm kind of smitten with that one at the moment. Click on "Mind of its Own" in the tracklist:

Then click the "Share" button on the song page. Thanks again. You rock.

If you, or your friends, want to know when gigs are happening, or other (occasional) updates, please either "Like" my Facebook fan page, or head to my front page and join the Mailing List. Or both.

Thanks again for helping me give stuff away.

If you pre-ordered, you should have your CD by now. If not, please let me know.

If you'd like to order a CD, you can order them directly from me at music.paulroub.com - they're $6 plus shipping. You can pay more if you like, but that's up to you. $6 is fine by me.

You can also order the CD at amazon.com if you like — although that'll cost you more, and Amazon keeps most of it. Hint, hint.

It's solo, it's acoustic, it's essentially a live set without the audience. No overdubs, no edits. If you like what I do live, you're in luck. If not, you'll really, really hate it.

There's a tip jar; pay what you want, or pay nothing. Seriously. Please. Free for the taking.

How can I do that? First, it's a selfish move - "free" means easy, means shareable; which means more people hear the music. The whole point, no?

But more practically, I can do it because these people? They rock. They're awesome. "Hey guys, would you pledge some money so I can make a thing? And later, you'll get the thing, even though it will also be free?" Apparently, yes. I can't say "thanks" often enough.

$1050 in one month seemed like a stretch, which is why I chose that timeframe. Deadlines work for me. I assumed that come the last week of March, I'd be begging people to donate just a bit more, handing flyers to strangers... Instead, the whole thing was funded 10 days in. Friends are wonderful things, especially when they're glad you've finally gotten off your ass and done the thing they've been telling you to do for years.

I'd love to see more people just pre-order the CD (you can still do that), just because the ultimate point of this is to make music and have it heard.

But I highly recommend Kickstarter's tiered rewards setup, especially the fact that you choose your own rewards. You know your audience (if you don't, figure that out first). Gordon knew that music geeks (like me) would want the limited-edition vinyl. JigGsaw knew their fans (like me) would want T-shirts and their back catalog.

I knew my friends would want to make me sing songs that I hate.

I can't take credit for the original idea. In December, at a charity live-band karaoke, Mike Ingram promised to sing any song on the band's extensive list for a donation to the cause. Making my fellow indie-acoustic-singer-songwriter sing "9 to 5"? Worth it, and many others agreed.

I knew that people who had been in bands — or high school, or the workplace — with me were well aware of my pointed musical opinions and dislikes. If you've been around me even once when Journey came on the radio, I imagine forcing "Open Arms" on me must be enticing.

Know your audience.

Which brings me to the second interesting facet of this project, vs. any I'd done in the past: I haven't touched my mailing list yet. Like most artists, I have a good-sized email list I've built up over the years. More years than most, dating back to when I had to explain what email was.

And I know some, but by no means all, of those people. And many of those emails are out-of-date, or silently bouncing, never checked...

Instead, I talked about the project on Facebook (both my personal profile and my fan page) and Twitter. Where I know who I'm talking to — the exact same people most likely to show up at an eventual release party. The exact same people most likely to take me up on the "tell your friends" request. And they don't just sign up for a CD, they chime in and taunt me with song requests, rubbing hands and discussing the possibilities. These are the people who will listen as work-in-progress mixes are shared (a backers-only bonus). Feedback rocks. Feedback inspires.

It's not news: conversations are better than announcements, for both sides. I'll have the CD soon enough, and it will be available from CD Baby, and for download on iTunes and elsewhere, and I will hit the mailing list, and that will be fantastic. I'm not sure it will be as fun as this part has been.

Now back to concentrating on the CD itself. I find myself practicing and thinking about guitar parts I've played for years. I'm more excited about my music than I've been in years.