Hi VanceFan - A few future shows to mention:


Thu, 11/7, New London NH - Flying Goose Pub - www.flyinggoose.com/concerts-a-events/upcoming-concerts
Fri 11/15, Granby CT - South Congregational Church Hall - www.salmonbrookmusicseries.com
Fri 11/22, Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Pre-Release Soiree - www.WorldCafeLive.com

Stuff - December Private Holiday Parties are getting booked up. 12/8, 12/16, and 12/20 are gone, 4 more pending. Get you a date and soon. You’ll love me.

****FRANK - PICK A DATE ALREADY****(or a few to choose from… :-)

Them Holiday Parties, coaching of songwriting, performance, voice, model car detailing available upon request.

The CD “Good Good Man” while official release is 1/20/20 (streaming and download then too), youse can gets you one now.
• at a show
• directly - via PayPal to vancefunder@gmail.com
• directly via check for anything between $10 - $20 and up to Vancefunder P.O. Box 17 Arlington, MA 02476
• **If your name is on the CD, you’re a friend, family member, promoter, radio/podcast personage, cash strapped, or anyone else that thinks they should just have one, send me your address again and just ask for one and I’ll send it.**

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As I continue to waltz into and through this past weekend's Los Angeles Vance greatness - and in the future please don’t be trying to be in touch with me and such as I'll be unapproachable and famous and slightly above commonfolk even tho Budget Car Rental rented me an old black Nissan flatbed pick-up truck but never mind that- I seem to be meeting the most magnificent people. Idols even.

My opening set for Paul Reiser in Thousand Oaks CA was pretty decent. I sang pretty well through an allergy event, and I was funny. Paul’s set was terrific. I had however forgotten that Julia Fordham was a close friend of Paul Reiser’s. Julia Fordham. You remember her? You know her voice, I promise you. She and Paul even did an album together (Paul is a magnificent composer and pianist- that’s his degree from SUNY Binghamton, but I digress, as this is about my trip into fame). Her voice has been in my head as amongst the most outstanding instruments for on 30 years since her hit song Happy Ever After. Simple as that. A voice as standout, magnificent, original, and recognizably signature as Al Jarreau’s or Stevie Wonder’s or Aaron Neville’s or Adele’s. You know whose it is as soon as you hear it come out of the speaker. And the writing...🙄 Good lord...

https://youtu.be/f9qGur8eTUg
https://youtu.be/K5bdb15vyN8

Well she was at the show the other night, and bounded up to me effusive in her adoration of what *I* do. Of me. Vance with the Nissan truck trying to act famous. Julia Fordham hugged me. Julia Fordham wants to be in touch. I fumble for my phone to show her the album of Julia Fordham’s I own in iTunes. I can now officially not wear these pants.

Are you kidding me? Julia Friggin Fordham and I took pictures together (Her idea!!) of our shoes.

I will probably marry her and we will give birth and co-parent little Lisa Bonets and Alicia Key-lets and tiny little Lenny Kravitzeses.
Or just follow each other on Instagram.
Or whatever.
Julia Fordham Loves my voice and music!!!
Omg.

Alas, with all of this recent fame and fortune from my West Coast Soiree - OK with all of this fame…. ok with just living day to day, there comes a certain amount of responsibility and part of that responsibility is to be open to learning. Frankly, I’ve never played sung, or written better than right now. And I’m a pretty damn good programmer when it comes to putting myself together and entertaining the crowd… Entertaining being the operative word.
But you have to stay open. You have to stay ready you have to be willing to hear when your boss, whom you open for with some consistency, writes you a letter the next morning saying that the show was great but you played too many ballads giving a “cumulatively sedative effect”, and that he doesn’t want to have to battle uphill to do his job.
No matter how killing you think the evening was, no matter the accolades by others at the end of the evening, no matter the tears of joy, no matter the din of cheers as you walk off the stage, no matter the professional opera singing teacher who said I have the best voice she'd never heard, if you are part of an evening that involves more than you and your perception as to what’s groovy and good, you have to do the job at hand and be artful at the same time. Sometimes that’s the job, and you better get with the program if you want to do art, grow, and play well with others on the stage.

Sometimes it is indeed more cowbell.

It was a hard letter to receive and read and hard to take in but I’m still learning. I’m learning that I am valued enough that someone would take the time to still consider me part of their circle but as my employer they want things done a certain way – even as they opine that I’m a “spectacular extra added attraction to this show”.

The following night I played in front of a crowd that included people who have written tunes for Helen Reddy, Ricky Lee Jones, the New Christie Minstrels, and you can bet I took back part of my night by stringing a bunch of theee sloooowest ballads together that I could think of. Yeah I did that. It was a great night, but all the stuff you see written above was still on my mind. And that’s a good thing.

Learning aches sometimes. But it surely doesn’t hurt as bad as stupid.

Be kind, always, to each other please?

Xovg