In every life, a little rain…

We’ve had a little rain in Northern Minnesota these past two weeks. Back home in Oregon, it would be cause for complaint. Here in the Northwoods, however, rain inspires thankfulness that the precep falling from the sky is not yet frozen. For me, it’s a reminder that sometimes, a little trouble is to be expected; even for a group as blessed as the Icebox Radio Theater.

‘Pickaxe Hill’, our next podcast, is slated to go up on the feed one week from today. Recording and basic editing is complete, and I have a pretty good idea what I’d like to do with the music, so over all I’d say this show is on its way. However, family commitments will take me away from the studio (and out of Minnesota) for all but two days of that period. That leaves us with a kind of tight schedule to work under. Plus, the play that follows in three weeks time is part one of our newest Dome Dog saga, which – sadly – I did not get started on last week when I should have. We might try and record Wednesday evening, but getting the crew together for this Dome Dog has been a trial. What makes it even worse is that Harley Droba, our star and creator of the series, is chomping at the bit with plenty of free time to go to work. Sorry Harley! I’m confident it will all come together.

Our Sound Effects Director Dave Erwin will be working on a few final effects for Pickaxe Hill today, after which I will have all the pieces in place. Part of the job here will be figuring out how much of the work can be done via laptop on the road. So, once again, organization is the key.

Another cause for worry for the theater this year is our grant situation. We went ahead and started this podcast studio with grants a big part of the finance plan. Now it seems like one grant we’ve applied for may be a long shot. It’s a frustrating situation in that the grant in question is from the State which is looking at more than doubling its arts funding in the next few years. I serve on a regional arts council, and the folks there are dealing with so many uncertainties, they are getting very conservative with existing funds. This means our grant, which looked likely about three months ago, is now in jeopardy. Luckily, our support from the community has been such that we might be able to continue in our new studio through this season. Still and all, I can’t help feeling like I made a mis-step applying for the state grant at all.

What do you do in this situation? You keep positive.

We WILL finish ‘Pickaxe Hill’ on time.

We WILL keep the doors of the studio open.

We WILL keep getting better and better at producing audio theater.

We WILL pay the rent this month.

That being said, if some of our blog readers wanted to visit the donation button on our website, I wouldn’t complain. : >

Thanks for reading, and remember to…

Keep Listening!

-Jeff