Headlining in Dallas
Pretext:
In April 2024, my brother convinced me to apply for the LAUNCH MUSIC FESTIVAL in Dalla, Texas. Fast forward to September, I received an email stating that I was accepted to perform for the festival. Later, in October, I found out that not only do I get to perform for the festival, I would be a headliner on Friday night. My family was so excited, but after considering our financials, we decided I would go alone. Luckily, my dad would have some time off and go up with me. 
Context:
Launch is a music festival: LAUNCH Music Conference is a developing artist and industry professional conference that takes place over three days and three nights biannually in Lancaster, PA in the spring and Dallas, TX in the fall. LAUNCH features educational panels and conference programming during the day and a festival consisting of 130+ performances at night.
The venue I was placed to perform at is called Manic. It's a fun artistry music venue with every inch of the wall graffitied. The sound system was top-of-the-line, and the audio engineer was super nice. 
Launch is more than a music festival; it is also a music conference and networking opportunity. My dad and I went to a few of the conference panels, such as audio engineering, recording, and social media marketing. I gained a lot of good information and was able to talk to the panelists about my dilemma of finding an audio engineer coming from a smaller town.  
Traveling to the showcase:
I opted to fly out to Dallas with my dad. The only problem with that is my father has anxiety with flying, so much so that he has had a panic attack on the plane and ended up having a vagal response and passing out. So he told me we have to fly priority or better for the leg room and amenities to help reduce stressors. Upon checking in, we had the option to upgrade to first class, which we did. This would be my first time flying first class, but I didn't realize that not all airlines are the same in class. Let me say Frontiers' first class is comparable to Alaska's or Delta's economy class. I could gripe in detail about the trip but I'll just leave it to, it wasn't as expected. Landing, we ended up in a very turbulent thunderstorm, with bolts lighting up the sky very close to the plane. Luckily, we made it, of course. 
Canvas hotel:
We stayed at the Canvas Hotel, which describes itself as:
When we checked in, my dad was pretty impressed with the décor and layout of the building, stating, " If I could build my house, it would look like this." It had an infinity rooftop pool that had the best view of the city. The rooms were spacious, and the beds were nice. I liked it so much that I did some photo shoots and took some video clips while staying there. 
Day of the gig:
I hadn't practiced my set once because I had come down with the FLU the week before this gig. So, the morning of, I went through the set and had my dad take a few videos. We had breakfast at the hotel, dipped in the pool, walked downtown, attended the early conference, and finally returned to the hotel to get ready for check-in. At the venue, I met all the artists and the sound guy. The first artist was Jenn. She is one hell of a musician, playing three different keyboard-type instruments and having backing music. I was very impressed with her sound. Visit her Spotify account to get a glimpse of what she does Spotify Link. Second on the lineup was Griffen Handshake, a pop/punk band consisting of brothers and their best friend. These guys have something going on. They did an acoustic pop-punk version of Paparazzi by Lady Gaga that made me think of the pop goes punk albums from my younger years. Here is a link to some of their songs (Spotify Link). They said three new songs are coming out next year, so if you like pop-punk music, you'd enjoy following them. Next was Elle; her dark emo/grunge sound reminded me of an artist I follow called SayWeCanFly. With her funny one-liners between sets and bubbly personality, the crowd warmed up for me (no Spotify Link). Finally, I got to go on.  I am happy to say my voice held up, and I was able to deliver a performance that represented myself and the community well. My set list consisted of songs I noticed I have better interaction through the last year at my Wenatchee Valley Brewing gigs. The setlist included Modern Day Zombie, Hold On Cinderella, Phone Calls To Mom, Cherry, Margarita Getaway, Kerosene, Purple Rain, The Father Who Raised Me, Cowboys Gospel, and Finished with If Dorothy So Can I (Spotify Link). I made excellent contacts, sold merch, and hung out with new fans. After the show, my dad and I found out our hotel has pool parties from 9 pm-2 am on weekends, so we celebrated a little and then called it a night. 
The following day: 
The following morning, I told my dad I wanted better coffee than the hotel offered. So, we went on an adventure and found this cute coffee house. While sipping our coffee and looking around, I discovered that this coffee shop has open mics on Saturdays from 3-6. Today was Saturday! I told my dad I'd like to capitalize on our trip to go to the event and sing a few songs. So, we left for the conference for another day of learning, and then around 3, we attended the open mic. The rest of the day and the trip were uneventful, but I have posted a gallery of my trip at the bottom of this blog, along with some of the videos I took. Thank you for reading about my adventure. Please message me if you know of any Festivals you think I would be a good fit for. I'd love to hear from you.

Rylei Franks