Yesterday was crazy, but worth it in the end. So this is how my day went. I was working for IMTA (International Model and Talent Association) up in New York City the week before the show. My band Cure for Caska was selected as one of five bands to compete in a battle of the bands presented by “OurStage”. After some debate, I changed my flight to fly out the morning of July 23rd, in order to make it back to Florida for the show.
After working the night before, I decided to stay up for the staff party and pack, leaving for the airport by 4:00am. My flight left JFK at 6:40am and Arrived in Orlando at 10:30am. I picked up my bags and rushed home to load my instruments and all the gear I needed for the show. I made it the practice space by 12:00pm unloaded, ran the set for that evening and re-loaded my stuff as well as the drummer’s stuff. We left for Tampa at 2:30ish and made it to Tampa, FL by 4:00pm for load-in and soundcheck.
The Ritz in Ybor (Tampa) was a great venue and the production and venue staff were great to work with. We drew names out of a hat and ended up with the first slot that night. It was bad that we had to play early, but it was good that we ended up with a good sound check. Sincere there are a lot of different elements to our group, it always helps to have a great sound check. We lost to a local band from Tampa, and ended up in 3rd place. We had some good exposure to a fairly new market. I finished up the night stopping by Mema’s Alaskan Tacos for food before heading back to Orlando at 1:30am. After dropping the drummer off at home, I made it back to my house by 3:45am to finish a long but eventful day.
Cure for Caska is a Rock Band based in Orlando, that features strings (Violin, Cello, and Stand Up Bass). They incorporate melodic string arrangements into their material, which ranges from Acoustic Ballads to Edgy guitar driven rock songs. Their latest album “Wait and Hope” is available on iTunes. You can check out some of their material in the Media Section.