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Rusty Cage (Alt-Country Acoustic Trio)

Field Value
Status Active
Type Personal / music

Description

Alt-country acoustic trio formed 2024 in Shoreline, WA: low-volume covers and originals for patios and small stages.

Key features / assets

  • Web: rustycagetrio.com
  • Cross-promotion: terracain.com — tie originals / recordings / narrative to the band push (links, posts, email handoffs as you define the split).
  • Social: Facebook page (posts, media, gigs)
  • Booking: Handled directly (Darcy) — not using the former Cloud Run booker.
  • Email: rustycagetrio@gmail.com — manual checks via gog CLI; daily inbox summary runs as a grok.com scheduled task on Darcy’s Grok account (Gmail connector) — 2026-05-10 (no longer Crusty/OpenClaw). See projects/crusty, Grok-Brief.
  • Set list: raw/Rusty Set List/Rusty Set List.md (~40 songs + keys)

Goals & ops

  • Cadence (2026-05): ~two gigs per month + full-band rehearsal every other week (steady rhythm vs one-off hustle).
  • Repeating gig: McMenamins Anderson School (Bothell).
  • Recent / upcoming (2026): Fri May 1 — Anderson School (played); Sat Jul 25 — Third Place Commons (Lake Forest Park).
  • Gig hunt since 2026-03-06: PNW venues (see source notes: gig-venues-pnw.md, Seattle north ~20–50mi / LFP); outreach drafts in flight.
  • Immediate next — one original: Finish Caterpillar Dream — mix/master + one release video — then cross-promote terracain.com and the trio (site, FB, show intros). Queued after that: Tangerine Sky, Technology (DAW notes in raw/).
  • Still parallel: press kit, cold emails to venues, FB + site upkeep.

Next steps — Caterpillar Dream recording + video (2026-06)

Scope (narrowed): One track, one video — ship Caterpillar Dream before picking up Tangerine Sky or Technology. darcymenard.com hub evolution stays parallel / light (don't block the drop).

Recording

  • Finalize mix/master for Caterpillar Dream (DAW notes in raw/).
  • Release-ready: consistent alt-country production (Neil / Willie / Cash lane).

Video (1–2 weeks)

  1. Reuse workflow: 90s clips + iPhone selfie + Grok Imagine visuals + remixes (cf. Feelin' the Rhythm).
  2. Caterpillar Dream: simple lyric video or terracain-tied narrative; harmonica/guitar in Tesla or home (low-volume trio aesthetic).
  3. Post: YouTube (@darcymenard), band FB, Spotify. SEO: alt-country Seattle, originals.

Distribution & promo

  • DistroKid / existing Spotify artist page.
  • Gigs: debut at Anderson School or Jul 25 Third Place Commons; ship FB/email capture (QR + stage ask) — see Reminder — Facebook signups.
  • Release → terracain.com + band site + channels.

Queued (after Caterpillar Dream)

  • Tangerine Sky, Technology — same recording + video pattern.
  • darcymenard.com music-first hub (embedded players, gig calendar, video playlist) — see tools-and-repos; /design stays polished.

Cadence

  • ~2 gigs/mo + rehearsal every other week; set list in raw/Rusty Set List/.
  • rustycagetrio@gmail.com digest via grok.com scheduled task (not Hermes).

Reminder — Facebook signups at gigs

Problem: Need a better mechanism to capture FB (page) interest while playing live — not just “we have a page,” but a low-friction path after the set (QR to like/follow, printed short URL, email list that feeds announcements, or a one-sentence stage ask + visible code). Decide the single default channel (e.g. FB follow vs mailing list) so stage patter stays consistent; test it once at the next show and iterate.

Tech stack

  • Static/marketing site, Facebook; no active Cloud Run booker.

Raw sources

  • raw/projects.md (compiled 2026-04-10 from USER.md / MEMORY.md / context)
  • raw/Rusty Set List/Rusty Set List.md — performance set list (titles, artists, keys)

Known issues / notes

  • Source mentions external files (gig-venues-pnw.md, learning-plan/*) not present in this repo; link or copy into raw/ when available.