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Event DJ PJS, headlines Sausagefest 2023!!

Paul Seiz on September 25, 2023

Event DJ PJS at Sausagefest, Fredonia, KS, 2023

Sometimes, being an event DJ has unusual perks. In the case of Sausagefest 2023, that included a front row seat to the wackiest festival in central KS.

Event DJ Management

Even before my official spin-time began, I had the esteemed honor and privilege of providing backing tracks for hot-dog relays, arm wrestling competitions, and a talent show! Talent show exhibits at Sausagefest included spelling the alphabet with American Sign Language, a dedication in Spanish from the country of Brazil (including a rendition of their national anthem), rapping the chorus of Humpty-Dance, and a strip-tease to I’m To Sexy. Not surprisingly, the PG-13 strip-teaser won the trophy. The win owes a heavy debt to his bikini top, brought to life by the splendid manscaping of his torso.

Between contests, I let some basic pop-40 bring energy to downtown Fredonia while people mingled, chatted, and ate sausage-on-a-stick. The nearby spa acted as a hospitality room so I could change into my shiny pants before spin-time. The shiny pants: big hit.

Time To Spin

When it was time to officially go on as event DJ PJS, I was primed and ready. My lighting rig covered the bloc, bathing the partiers in light. Highlights: a mash-up Semi Charmed Life with Ride Wit Me, and the Cupid Shuffle with Feel This Moment by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera.

Speaking of Nelly, the people of Fredonia couldn’t resist Just A Lil Bit with Florida-Georgia Line, and neither could I…

Event DJ PJS spinning at Sausagefest, Fredonia, KS

I’m hotly anticipating returning to Sausagefest to headline again in 2024! You can hear festival organizers Jen and Laura explain the origins of Sausagefest (and give me shout-out) on this podcast. Interested in more DJ PJS? Here I am spinning for a Carnival! Or hit us up for a booking…

Musicians For Events – The Washington State Fair

Paul Seiz on September 10, 2023

Miguel, BA3 and I are waiting for our shuttle pickup to take us from Puyallup, WA back to the SEATAC airport, and then home to Kansas City. We performed as a Songwheels trio this weekend on the Outpost 47 stage at the Washington State Fair. My friends, it ruled!!! But, the nerves of no-set-list didn’t really set in for us until it was just a few moments before downbeat. Scanning the audience, knowing full well that the opening moments of a show are critical. Setting the tone, setting the vibe, setting the energy. To start confident but not cocky. To leave just enough mystique that the audience is intrigued for more. All this is at stake. We’re professional musicians for events, so this magic is our responsibility.

So of course we opened with the Wagon Wheel song. lol

And yes, it crushed. I even worked in some material about Alaska, which went over extra well with the proximity to Washington. Most of Alaska jokes start falling flat the further south we venture in the continental US (known as the LOWER 48 in AK). Regardless, jumping up on top of sub speakers on honking on a harmonica is generally good fuel for a show.

Miguel and I were shocked how well the interactive request system energized the audience. So many requests came in that we simply picked what was the most fun. As professional musicians for events, we are constantly making decisions about the best flow for the night. Quickly, the new problem was fitting in as much material as we could within 90 minutes.

Some really great moments included inviting as many folks as we could to dance to Fat Bottom Girls by Queen, and then watching everybody go wild for Jump by Van Halen. Once Jump began, the dance floor was packed, and Miguel and I knew that we shouldn’t keep our foot on the gas pedal for the rest of the night. BA3 kept the same tempo for a medley of All The Small Things by Blink 182, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, and The Middle by Jimmy Eat World.

Once you’ve got that much energy on the dance floor, you’re really managing bodies and movement. So yes, sometimes professional musicians for events will actually start being gym class teacher, and the whole event looks like Physical Education. Nice.

I decided to check in with the Community app we use for managing requests, and was thrilled to see so many happy reviews. Check them out below!!

My journey with the Wagon Wheel song

Paul Seiz on March 17, 2023

How the Wagon Wheel song went from punch-line to a special moment between myself and my grandmother

The Wagon Wheel song, is a modern campfire classic and one of my favorite songs to perform live. Just a handful of chords, and some verses about being a traveling musician and missing a lover. Yes! The chorus is attributed to Bob Dylan, and Old Crowe Medicine Show filled out the verses. About ten years ago it got another push when Darius Rucker revived it as part of his solo-country career.

I first encountered the Wagon Wheel song while Brooke and I spent our summers in Alaska. At one of our countless campfire jams with fellow musicians, an actor friend claimed to be a novice on guitar, sheepishly admitting he only knew one song. And there it was, the first time I heard Wagon Wheel, clunked out next to the Nenana River on an endless Alaskan day/night.

The next summer, I joined up with several bluegrass bands as a bass player, and quickly learned how many of them considered Wagon Wheel to be overplayed to the point of exhaustion. The summer bluegrass season was populated with seasonal workers like me, many of them raft guides or cooks. The Wagon Wheel song was controversial. They hated it. Audiences loved it. I turned this tension into one of my favorite monologues in my shows:

“I used to play road-houses in Alaska. If you play enough road-houses, you learn two things.

There are some songs, if you play them, you get your ass kicked.
There are some songs, if you don’t play them…you get your ass kicked”

Then I start the Wagon Wheel song, and the audience laughs, and I let them decide if it’s number 1 or number 2.

Since that first summer in Alaska, I’ve learned how to play the Wagon Wheel song on guitar, bass, and piano. I can do it any key. I can play a harmonica solo on it (but only in the key of G), and I’ve translated it to a reggae feel. It’s usually a highlight of my shows, sometimes the opener, sometimes the closer.

About a year ago, I visited my grandmother Mary in Cleveland. At the time, Mary was 101 years old, and had no instruments nearby. At 101, she’d lost nearly all of her short-term memory, and anyone around her had to frequently explain their identity. I was there with my parents, my cousin David, and my aunt Phyllis, and after several minutes of explaining who we were, I decided to break the tension with a song. With my guitar I’d brought all the way from Kansas City, just to have ready for this moment, I chose the Wagon Wheel song to play for my grandma. Once I began, I saw her face, with a look of utter serenity and calm. As I clunked out the chords on her patio, she needed no explanation of who I was or what was happening. She got to chill and listen to live music. She had peace. And I had peace. And I’m grateful for the Wagon Wheel song for bringing my grandmother and I together in the last years of her life.

Mary always adored music, and my children practice on the same piano she used to own in Cleveland. My Aunt Phyllis coordinated moving that piano from Mary’s former home on Parker Drive to our home in Kansas City. It’s an old piano, but it sees plenty of action. And here we find music, transcending generations, and linking the present to the past. Music, you are like a wagon wheel. You can rock me any way you feel.

Workplace Leadership: My Boss Résumé

Paul Seiz on February 1, 2023

How hard do I have to smolder to get this done?

Workplace leadership has been a fascination for me since my time at UMKC, studying nonprofit management and innovation. This lovely, fledgling company is expanding, and Alaina will be taking the role of social media manager and booking agent.

To dispel any mysteries and/or awkwardness around my persona as a manager, I’ve prepared the following document for her.

Paul as a boss

Expressing Appreciation

When I’m making an effort to see to, communicate with you, and find us projects to collaborate on, then I’m expressing my appreciation. Long periods of time might pass without me expressing my gratitude verbally, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. However, I will receive a verbal compliment deeply and remember it forever. I’m comfortable with high-fives, handshakes, literal pats-on-the-back, and brief casual hugs, but in professional relationships I avoid much physical contact beyond that.

GRUMPY

I’m liable to become frustrated if I feel like I’ve had to repeat myself several times, as I begin to feel my time is being wasted. Similarly, I’ll get confounded when someone “ghosts” me in the middle of a business relationship. I’ve had multiple colleagues tell me that my standards are too high and I take work too seriously. A good way to reassure me is to encourage me to “look from the balcony”, and everything’s going to work out. :-). Even reminding me not to get too hung up on pushing my workplace leadership agenda…that’s helpful.

Skewed Encouragement

I very much enjoy artists who take risks and find authentic, honest ways to express themselves. This is an ideal I also try to cultivate in myself. I have much respect for these people, and I frequently encourage the people who work for me to find ways to express their own identify through their art, or at least find something joyful in what could easily be mundane. When fellow musicians report to me “this is just a job”, or they prioritize drugs & alcohol, I can get crestfallen quickly. I sometimes struggle to find a healthy detachment from my music career. At my lowest, I always find solace in my family. At my highest, I’m collaborating in a healthy, vibrant community of artists, and I’m helping musicians support themselves financially.

Communication and Boundaries

At 42 years old, my communication-ettiequte is both elder-millennial and young gen-x. I will not text or email negativity, and I prefer to administer feedback and/or criticism in person, usually in private. If the criticism is especially pointed, I’ll ask for a third party to monitor the conversation. Sometimes there are fun ideas or dialogues that will flow faster in a zoom-call or phone call, and if a text conversation is becoming too cumbersome for me, I’ll request to port it over to a different method of communication. I’ll utilize text for brief exchanges of information, and I prefer a response by the end of the day. I’ll utilize emails for sharing broader information or focused computer work, and I prefer a response from emails within 24 hours. Show-time is a bad time to try to reach me, unless in an emergency. I’m not a fan of group-chats and will nonchalantly exit them if the information doesn’t pertain to me. I want to detach from social media, using my day to focus on health, exercise, and coordinating creative projects and production.

Songwheels

I’m the band-leader for Songwheels, my favorite party-band in Kansas City, and I’m used to being around people with big, quirky personalities. I love them! A band, like or not, can sometimes feel like a workplace, in need of workplace leadership. Being emotionally aware of our quirks and flaws allows us more grace, and the good times can keep rolling.

Adventures in Weston, MO

Paul Seiz on January 30, 2023

Last Friday, Traveled to O’Malley’s pub in Weston, MO to hear Miki P play guitar and sing. Incredibly unusual music venue, inside abandoned bunkers and fallout shelters, long winding tunnels. Great vibes and music.