Clark Resident Gets a Private Show From a Favorite Musician

I first heard about Ace Enders in 2002. I was 15 years old and a frequent visitor to Sam Goody, a music shop in downtown Westfield. I was looking to broaden my music catalog to bands other than Dave Matthews Band, and I certainly had an odd way of selecting a new album. I usually would scan artist names and album covers to try to find things that looked relatively sad. I was big into the emo-alternative scene. I came across an EP for a band called The Early November with a green album cover showing a window. Inside that window was someone who had his head down, as if he had just gotten some sad news. Liking what I saw, I purchased the album.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, when a band released their first EP or demo, it usually did not sound great. This was definitely an exception. The Early November would go on to release their first full-length album The Room's Too Cold in 2003 and their final album, a triple-disc record, The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path in 2006. The band broke up in 2007 following their tour. I saw them live on March 1, 2007 at the Silo in Reading, PA.

After dabbling with different post-break up ideas, Enders decided to revive his side project, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business. With this, he would have full control over his music and how it was released to the fans. But over time, it was becoming harder and harder to support his family with just this project, and Enders dropped hints through social media that this may be it for him. Many fans, including myself, voiced their refusal to let such an inspirational artist fade without a fight. 

Ender's launched a new initiative, his Kickstarter program, where fans could help him put out another album with donations. If you pledged $10, you'd get a digital copy of the new album. Pledging at least $25, got you a physical copy of the album, $40 for a digital copy of the album and a one-year subscription to the Mess of the Month club, where exclusive tracks and newsletters would be sent to your e-mail. By pledging $50, you'd get a silk-screened poster plus all the rest. At $100, your name would appear in the thank you section of the liner notes of the new record, and you would also get an exclusive photo book that documents the making of the record on top of everything else. At $150, Enders would also write and record a song about the topic of your choice. One fan took advantage of that offer by having Enders write a song for his upcoming wedding. If you have a band that needs professional guidance, you could pledge $300 and have Enders produce two of your songs and guide you on the direction of your music.  Enders's goal for the Kickstarter program was set at $10,000, but he's raised more than $30,000.  

Me and a group of friends jumped on the opportunity to pledge $500 and have Enders do a private show. Sunday, April 17 was the date, and we were all very excited. We had spent the entire night before cleaning and setting up the basement like a little concert venue. My girlfriend Jamie and I had eight friends in a semicircle around the spot that Enders would be sitting in the basement. When Enders and his wife Jenn walked downstairs it was a surreal experience. Here's an artist that has touched my life musically in so many ways coming down to my basement to play us some music.

Enders had an email I had sent Jenn with a setlist in it on his phone for him to look at so he could play the songs we wanted to hear. He seemed nervous at the start. In a situation like this, I expected to be star struck and nervous but it was almost the opposite. I felt like Enders and Jenn were our friends and we had known them for a long time. I felt that it would be appropriate to invite them back for our next barbecue and I just might. Enders began to play for us...

Set List:

1. "Old Man..."

2. "Figure It Out"

Every song had me – and everyone else in the room – smiling. I expected that Enders would stay for about an hour, play a few songs, and it the night would be over. I could not have been more wrong. After the 11th song, Enders was really feeling it in his throat, as he had been battling a cold. He took a little break from playing and talked with us, laughed and told stories for about an hour.

Seeing how down to earth and normal Enders is makes me wonder why the music industry is the way it is today. Why does someone as talented and big-hearted as Ace Enders have to struggle while many acts with no talent are millionaires? It makes no sense. Enders touches on this somewhat in his song "Old Man," which talks about the changing music industry and the new generations of fans that emerge with new kinds of music. 

“I've got the lines if you'd like to hear 'em.
I can't decide if you'd like to be there, too,” he sang.

Enders closed his set with The Early November song "Every Night's Another Story." It was fitting that this last song was the first track on that first EP I bought almost 10 years ago – it was where the whole journey began for Enders as an artist and for me as a fan. After the song, we spent a little more time talking while Enders packed up his things. He thanked us for helping out his cause and we thanked him for the amazing experience. I will be seeing him on Wednesday, May 18 when he performs at Webster Hall in New York City. 

The best way to end this story is by urging everyone to support the artists so that they can continue to make the music we love. Without loyal support, the music will disappear. A world without creative music made by honest and hardworking individuals would be a shame. Ace will be releasing Gold Rush the new I Can Make a Mess album on May 5. The album also comes out on vinyl. 

For tickest to the upcoming tour, visit: http://tixx1.artistarena.com/icanmakeamess/

Find Ace's band on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-CAN-MAKE-A-MESS-OFFICIAL/133109963375531

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