John Here,

I'm pretty unplugged from the world of TV, but a couple of years ago I was kicking back with the family watching the tryouts for American Idol. You know the drill - Simon, Paula and that other dude go from city to city, and a bunch of local hopefuls show up and give it their best shot. For someone who has endured WAY too many hours of open mike nights and poetry slams, this was pure, sweet catharsis. There was none of this polite, semi-interested applause, and no feelings were spared for the sake of protecting fragile artistic self-esteem. If an act was shit, they got told they were shit. If an act was half-way there they got told they needed a lot of work.

I remember there was this one guy who came in dressed as the Statue of Liberty, complete with torch held aloft. With no introduction and in a half-decent voice, he began to sing:

"Staaaaart spreadin' the news...."

Simon: "Thank you."

Statue Guy: "What?"

Simon: "Thank you. You're done."

Statue Guy: "But you haven't heard my..."

Simon (to the other judges) "Do you need to hear any more?"

Other Judges: "No."

Simon: "Goodbye."

Sometimes I think there's a bit of that nerdy statue guy in me. I get all gushy and tingly and crushy over New York. I can't be blase about that town. When I see the skyline in a movie or something I get chills. Real. Not metaphoric. There's an energy there that I feel from the moment I hit the streets. It just seems to be dripping with possibility from every stinky concrete pore.

The Wet Spots will be working in New York City for a month this summer. This was a dream we started cooking up in our heads last October, and events have been conspiring to allow it to happen. We have a steady gig at one night club already set up, and we'll be doing our first big theater show in town at a beautiful venue called The Zipper Factory on July 27th. I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to really throw down in the entertainment capital of the world. And I am even more grateful to have the time to spend with the exceptional people we've met in that city. You just have to bask in these moments, and give thanks whenever you remember.

Who knows, maybe this will lead to better things. Or maybe we'll get told "Thank you. You're done.". Either way, I want to be a part of it. It will be way more fun than auditioning for American Idol.