Valentine. Be my little Valentine.

Shortly after arriving in Mbarara I was introduced to an accountant at the University. He had heard that a muzungu musician was coming to town and was curious about what I might want to do while staying here. At the time I didn’t have an answer for him other than to enjoy not having to work constantly. Over time it has been shown to me that Ugandans love country music. It’s on the jukebox at the bar. It’s being played on the stereos for sale in the department stores in Kampala. There are country music radio stations to listen to. You can buy Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton cd’s at the music stalls in the market. Amber and I both realized at the same time that a country band would be a popular thing in Uganda. So I approached our accountant friend for advice on the matter. What he recommended for me was to go to the big hotel in town and try to setup a gig. If they are willing to pay for a country band then he would provide me with the musicians and instruments I needed to have a country band. It goes against my better judgement to try to sell a product before knowing exactly what the quality of the product is. And that is what I told him. His explanation was that the musicians will want to be paid and want rides and this and that from the start so it would be better to have the income first so I’m not investing in something that may not pan out. Ok, I understand that. It makes sense I suppose so I’ll trust him on this one. After all he has much more experience than I in promoting music in Uganda. His wife is a successful musician playing gigs all over the country.

Last Tuesday I approached the hotel with my proposal, to provide some light country music during dinner one night a week. Then something unexpected happened. They wanted my band to perform the following Saturday during their special Valentines day dinner program. I had to, embarrassingly, tell them that the band was not quite ready. But it’s hard for me to turn down an opportunity to play music to an audience so I offered to play solo. After a short conversation about the details of the gig we agreed that I would play this Saturday for about 40 minutes as an audition for later gigs with the full band. I went home excited but a little nervous since my repatoire did not include many love songs at the time. A few hours later the hotle called me back. “Can you bring us a sample of your music?” Doh! I don’t’ have a cd of my own and I can’t give them the very poor quality examples of my various bands playing at various weddings where the sound of the crowd is in the foreground and the sound of the band way in the back. I told them I would bring it at the end of the day. This bought me some time to learn a few love songs and record them on my laptop, albeit it only bought me about two hours. I pulled it off however and heard from them the next day that everything was good and they were excited to add me to the program.

On Wednesday as I was running an errand I ran into some friends in town. They had heard about the gig. ‘How?”, I had to ask. “They’re announcing it on the radio”. “What?” I went home and tuned in. Sure enough after about 15 minutes of listening there was the announcement that Dean Patrick Luce from America will be providing country music for the special Valentines Day dinner at the Lakeview Hotel Resort. Ironically they pronounced my name perfectly without being taught. That never happens in America. I didn’t know I would be that much of a draw though. I should have negotiated for more pay. Dang! This was pressure. I had to shine. I went to work learning love songs. If I was a hit they might want me to play for longer. By Saturday I had worked up 9 songs, mostly by Willie Nelson. I shined my boots and ironed my shirt and showed up to the gig on time. It turned out to be way too early. I was there before the PA had even arrived let alone been setup. In typical Ugandan fashion (sorry Uganda but you’ve built a reputation) things were running way behind schedule. I waited for two hours before sound check. No biggie. I started to form in my head witty things to say to introduce myself and to use in between songs. Then I was introduced to the MC. Oh great, someone is going to introduce me. That’s always nice. We work out a plan. Dinner is served and as people are eating I am introduced. I play one song and the MC comes up, “play three more songs.” Ok. Um. I just told you I could play for 40 minutes or so. I took this to mean play three back to back without talking in between. No problem. After two songs I’m interrupted by the MC again. I don’t think he’s comfortable with me talking. He neglected to explain the program to me. Instead of playing a full set of tunes like one would where I’m from, they had me play a couple of tunes, then the DJ played a few, then there was the photo of the contest winners (what contest? I didn’t know about a contest.) then there was a performance by another musician from Mbarara, and then me again, and then more contests, and so on. All in all it was a good experience, a little strange and off balancing, but good. I did receive many compliments, enough to feel good about the performance. I’m still trying to decide if I’ll do it again. By the way, I only played 5 songs.

Incidentally the other musician that performed did so in typical Ugandan fashion. She was a singer and didn’t have a band, just a CD. When you go to see a performance here it’s often of someone singing to their own CD like karaoke but with the original vocals present as well. They call it live music but it’s not what I would call live music. It’s not live music it’s recorded music with someone singing with it. I think this is due to the fact that instruments are expensive and most people can’t afford them let alone the lessons it takes to learn to play them. This makes someone with musical skills and instruments to show them a valuable commodity, something to keep in mind for the next time I negotiate a gig.