I'm excited to announce my new 4th Saturday Listening Room Concerts with Joyce Luna & Friends!!

Hello music lovers,

The short version of this post is that I have started a new monthly Listening Room series every 4th Saturday (except October) where I will either share the evening with another singer-songwriter or I will do my own show with some special guests!

If you want to know why, keep reading. Otherwise, you can see the attached flyer. And each concert will be listed under the the Shows section of this website as well as on my Facebook page Joyce Luna Music

Tucson is an interesting place. There's lots of pretty amazing live music every night, but most of it is at restaurants and bars. I never played for tips until I moved here! And I have always been grateful for any opportunities I have to play music.

But this year, as I have gained more confidence, I have found myself wishing for places to play like the ones that I was used to in the Northeast, where people came specifically to hear the music. All those monthly coffeehouse series and small music venues that would seat up to around a hundred people . We don't really have places like that in Tucson; most of the Listening Room venues are much larger. The majority of the places to play here are outdoors, and we're competing with the blender sounds at the bar and the waiters reading specials of the day. And when music is more of a background kind of thing, of course people are chatting and socializing and enjoying themselves without really being able to play close attention to the music; I do the same thing when I'm at those places, even if I came with the intention of listening closely to the music!

This has made me acutely aware of how much the setting influences the experience of both the listeners and the performer. It has also helped me to clarify that, as a songwriter & a performer, I do what I do to make a connection with my listeners & my audience!! 

I also have allergies that make it harder for me to play outdoors-- including a mental allergy to playing outside when it's 104 degrees & 30% humidity like it was yesterday, LOL.

Instead of just talking about this as I did for a number of months, I realized that I should be proactive and do something! So I decided to look for a space that I could rent every 4th Saturday that is indoors, comfortable, with lots of easy parking and great sound. And I wanted it to be a place whose mission I support, if I were going to be paying rent each month. 

I found such a space at Congregation Chaverim, a synagogue that participates in multi-faith events and has a social justice perspective. August will be our second month there, and I think this will work out as an ongoing space for these monthly concerts.

And fortunately I have some volunteers helping me, because I honestly did not know how much work it takes to put on these shows! Which was probably good, because I might not have started otherwise :-)

So, that's why I'm doing this. My hope is that this monthly concert becomes a place for people to come together to hear music, sing along, support diverse artists, and find a sense of community with each other. A friend is already calling them my monthly Community Gatherings, and I love that. I hope that's what they are, and I hope that everyone reading this will put them on your calendar!

I have shows scheduled through January 2019 (please note that there's no October show!!). I'm following the model of those monthly coffeehouse/folk series I mentioned earlier, with a sliding scale suggested donation at the door, more if you can & less if you can't--no one is turned away for an inability to pay! And if you'd like to not just come but help set up before the show or break down after, please let me know.

If you're not in the Tucson area, I'm hoping to start live streaming these shows within the next couple of months. I'll keep you updated!!

Thanks for all the support I have gotten, especially in the past couple of years. It's funny, whenever I feel a little bit discouraged, that's when someone sends an email or a message on Facebook with some positive feedback. It lets me know that I'm supposed to keep doing this. And that's a good thing, because I love getting to create and play music for all of you! I hope to see you at a show soon!!

xoxo, Joyce

 

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