Laugh Clown Laugh

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In keeping with a long-standing, self-deprecating (& honestly somewhat perplexing) tradition of making a fool of myself in the name of an album release (see here & here), I give you the video for "Happy", the single from my new album, "Queens English".

Obviously, it's one of those clips wherein you question whether this kind of behavior is beneficial to one's career... but since I'm never quite sure I actually have one, I figure I'm good to go; why not climb out on that shaky limb and have a little fun in the process?

Or who knows? Maybe I'm just one of those cryin' on the inside kind of clowns.

www.markbacino.com
www.dreamcrushmusic.com

The Gig

Ah, the gig... Simultaneously the thrill and bane of a performer's existence (or at least this performer's). A bubbling Diet Coke-meets-Mentos combination of nervousness and excitement - Will it suck? Will it be cool? Will five people come out or 150? Will the bartender cut off our free drinks?

In my case, all those questions are forgotten and invariably melt away as the first chord sounds and my attentions turn toward the simple joy of making music with friends and connecting with a live audience.

Such was, indeed, the case last week at our Pete's show in Brooklyn as a warm, summer Monday evening - not generally the recipe for record attendance - predictably yielded a small but loyal crowd while the band and I took to providing our take on the popular song format.

Later, during the after-set hang (sometimes just as much fun as the set itself), I found myself meeting, getting to know and having a blast with a very cool group of peeps who, flatteringly, care close to as much about my music as I do despite them being extremely intelligent and successful folks ;-) Always a humbling experience; one for which I'm eternally grateful and never take for granted.

Although the music business finds itself in a bad way these days, fraught with many pitfalls, I can think of very few "9 to 5's" (barring obvious philanthropic endeavors) that offer the kind of fulfillment and human connection described above.

Ah, the gig... Nice work if you can get it.

A low-res, iPhone vid from the show featuring yours truly and the band (from L to R): Matty Karas, Jay Sherman-Godfrey, John Lee, Cheri Leone and Bob Byrne



www.markbacino.com
www.dreamcrushmusic.com