Back to Mondays!

Starting next week, I will be playing MONDAYS at the Carrabassett Inn instead of hosting the Wednesday open mic night.

Funny thing...as soon as you start getting a little success in building an open mic night, all the other bars in town decide to do it the same night to "compete". Nothing could be further from a good business move, but unfortunately good business sense is VERY hard to come by, especially during this recession.

Anyhow, we've pulled the plug on the Wednesday open mic and will begin immediately with Monday nights (their Mexican night)...while I probably won't bill it as an "open mic", friends are always welcome and encouraged to come down and jam.

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Gepettos + Myspace Update + New Years Info

My second Saturday "Apres" of the season at Gepettos is today at 3pm. Hope to see some familiar faces there!

Next Wednesday is New Year's Eve...instead of my usual Wed night gig at The Carrabassett Inn I will be playing a show at The Granary in Farmington from 10pm to 1am.

Also, there's a new calendar mini-feed on my Myspace page (www.myspace.com/jasonmancine) for anyone who prefers to look there for information. The only events it does not show are my weekly Granary (Tuesdays) and Carrabassett Inn (Wednesdays) dates.

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10 seasons and counting.

It's hard to believe, but on Saturday at 3pm, I kick off my 10th season of playing music at Gepettos. Last year was the first time we tried the Saturday "Apres Ski" and it worked out great. So, once again I will be playing EVERY saturday (3pm to 5pm) from now until the end of March.

I've also had the great pleasure of playing 3 shows in the past 3 weeks at The Phoenix House at Sunday River. I can't say enough good things about this place...a top notch, proactive approach to entertainment. For example, the existing stage was in a corner in the dining area, away from the bar...which made it difficult to interact with the Apres Ski bar crowd and to set an appropriate volume for the diners while still reaching the bar. But instead of letting this be a problem, the great staff and owners at The Phoenix House removed a corner booth near the bar and built a SECOND stage. The fact that they had one stage was cool enough. Brining in a second smaller stage to create a viable Apres Ski venue is brilliant! This makes the Apres performances much more interactive with the bar crowd, and also allows the evening bands to set up during the apres performance instead of everyone having to rush to transition between acts.

While I am sure there is some concern over the lost revenue from that corner booth, I really believe that they will make up for it (and then some) in Apres bar sales. It is just nice to see such proactive measures being taken to retain guests, and to allow the entertainers to "bond" more with the audience. Kudos!

More news on the horizon, but that's all for now....


J


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