The Silver Age: Shows 1996-2001

Fewer Stages, Better Wages, and The Media Circus.


delaware set list

In August 1996 I moved to Tulsa for a better TV job. With 65 gigs under my belt, most of them as a solo act in Springfield, and some pretty solid material, I found myself in a town bereft of a coffee-shop scene, or even an open-mic night scene.

The future was iffy.

I found the occasional gig, of course — mainly an open-mic night here and there as they came to light — and I made the first ‘real’ acoustic recording, the long-since-out-of-print cassette Where Is Everybody? — and put my free time to good use. I practiced, and I wrote new material, and I practiced, and I recorded, and I practiced some more.

Despite the lack of frequency, the shows I did through this period — including return trips to Kent and Springfield — were fun. The TV appearances (sometimes the Day Job has its perks) in particular were a blast, albeit a terrifying blast, and the Austin trip was more fun than I’d hoped.

Except for the death-defying drive back. But that’s another story entirely.

This low-key stretch — nearly 5 years long — gave me some unexpected exposure, and set the stage for the summer 2001 emergence of the One True Acoustic Ross.


 

When Where Comments
March 17, 1997 “You’re on with Sam Jones”
KOTV6, Tulsa OK
interview & performance
“Over You Now” & “Idiot”
April 23, 1997 “You’re on with Sam Jones”
KOTV6, Tulsa OK
interview & performance
“Princess from Saturn”
(last apparance of the old version),
“Idiot” (by request of Sam)
& the debut of “83 Ribbons”
August 20, 1997 Brady’s CafĂ©
Kent, OH
open-mic
Vaguerants reunion set
with Mark & Ted,
plus a solo set
May 1, 1998 “Six in the Morning”
KOTV6, Tulsa OK
interview & performance
“Over You Now”, “83 Ribbons,”
“Idiot” (by request), “Tribute Album”
December 8, 1998 The Outland
Springfield, MO
open-mic
November 3, 1999 Delaware Playhouse
Tulsa, OK
The Great Stage Experiment
(open-mic)
January 24, 2000 Shaggy’s
Austin, TX
open-mic
January 25, 2000 Ruta Maya Coffee House
Austin, TX
open-mic
June 13, 2000 Uncle Bently’s
Tulsa, OK
open-mic
June 27, 2000 Uncle Bently’s
Tulsa, OK
open-mic
July 9, 2000 “The Dr. Demento Show”
national syndicated radio
he played “Idiot”
July 18, 2000 Uncle Bently’s
Tulsa, OK
open-mic
July 28, 2000 “The News on 6 at Noon”
KOTV6, Tulsa OK
interview & performance
“Idiot” & “Time For One More”
July 30, 2000 Uncle Bently’s
Tulsa, OK
Tom Skinner’s Songwriter Spotlight
February 25, 2001 Uncle Bently’s
Tulsa, OK
Tom Skinner’s Songwriter Spotlight

 

as seen on TV