Mundane Project Administration

The part of a project that rarely is presented to an audience — especially a jaded internet audience who can click away to a more exciting space in a nanosecond — is the administrative process. Right now, I am watching the summer weather slip away as I struggle with paperwork. So far, I have not received any grants, so I have had to keep working to support the project. Time spent working allows me to move forward in buying motorcycle gear and technology for the trip, but subtracts from the time I have to actually do the book.

The basic version of the book is almost in manuscript form and ready to start editing and moving forward to the next stage. I really want to spend time now recording the music and preparing a draft of the disk that will be a companion to the book. However, before I do anything else, I have to finish doing my taxes for 2007. This should not be a difficult undertaking as I do not have a lot of money to count, but I am always overwhelmed by book-keeping and even have trouble keeping up with invoicing for my work hours and keeping track of receivables.

This is where “CGA Man” should swoop in through a handy open window and say, “I’ll save you!”, but no. Accountants work in mysterious ways and I have to produce many spreadsheets to get the job done. I have to force myself to do this as the little neat piles of paper all over the studio are driving me mad.

If I can get my taxes done, I have prepared the draft of a business plan so I can get a line of credit to produce “The Live More Lightly Songbook and Workshop Guide” and have a financial cushion in case someting unexpected happens on the tour. As a responsible parent, I have to make sure that I can afford to be safe and I am not placed in dodgy situations due to lack of funds..

It would be nice to get sponsorship or a grant, but I can’t count on it. This project is my dedication to do what I can to help the environment and I am using every bit of my skills and some of my non-skills to achieve that goal. Time is not on my side here as July is coming to a close and August is making an entrance. It is foolish to plan to ride too late in the year, so I will not be going completely across Canada. I know the “iron-butt” endurance record is something like 72 hours for a motorcycle ride across Canada, but my purpose is different. I want to show the beauty of the country I know so well and have seen so many times.

As a touring musician, I have travelled over most of Canada, covering the geography week by week, as we moved to a new venue. The bands I was part of rarely played one-nighters, we were road wariors who pulled into town Sunday, set-up and played all week and pulled out Saturday night or Sunday morning. We drove vast distances sometimes to arrive at the next venue, sometimes hundreds of kilometers to play in another town. I would joke we got paid for driving at a dollar a mile plus for hauling gear and then played for free. I feel better when I’m playing for free, but it is usually not possible. I would like to give my music out and share it with everyone, but I have to make money somehow so I can make more music.

It is shocking to me how little I have produced of my own work and what brief hours I actually spend playing. I must remain dedicated to producing this one song as the first completed release. First I have to do my taxes.