KC - RSM 24Sept2005

Well, it finally happened. When Warren and I started playing in coffee shops, 3 and a half years ago, I thought that probably, eventually, someone would come up and ask us to play a party. We did get a gig last November, but that lady had seen the article in the newspaper, and hired us without ever having actually heard us.

Anyway, last night, a lady came up as I was packing up, and asked if I did "private affairs". Her mother passed away recently, and she thought I would fit in to the memorial service she and her sister are planning in November. I told her that I'd certainly love to do it (despite it being "in the L.A. area"), and gave her a card so she can contact me. I gave her a CD, so she could play it for her sister (and to keep me in her mind). It'll probably never happen, but it's nice to be asked.

Otherwise, a nice, if sedate, gig. Started off fun when Isaac from Trailmates came in with wife and 4 little girls. His oldest daughter was visibly thrilled to get to ask for songs off the list, and I ended up doing almost all the kids' songs I know. That was fun, as was, later on, when I had a little boy that came and sat right down front, so I handed him the shaker on "South of the Border". He did all right on that one, but, of course, wanted to shake it on all the songs from then on out. I convinced him that it didn't really work on slow songs, though, and ran out of fast ones soon enough.

Geneva was there briefly, and did only three songs. She did well, and it's always good practice for her, even if it's brief. Altogether, I did 47 songs for the night, sold only 3 CDs, but, inexplicably, had another good tip night -- $42. It didn't really feel like a motivated crowd, but I guess you never know.

I'd been working up "Desperado" over the week, and didn't really know if it was gonna "work", since it's such a cliché these days. But I pulled it out at the very end, 'cuz I had a pretty good feeling about the 6 or 8 remaining listeners, and it worked quite well. It's weird -- some songs sound great at home, but just seem to lie there when I do 'em at the store, and others work fine. I can never tell which, until I try 'em. "Desperado" might be a keeper.

KC - La Habra *and* K&W - MV 17Sept2005

I played the La Habra Borders' "First Pour" party from 12:30 to 2:30, and then Warren and I played at Mission Viejo at 8:00. I was afraid that my voice and/or fingers wouldn't hold up for two gigs in one day (4.5 hours total), but I did fine. The 5 hour gap helped a lot, of course. I'm sure I couldn't do 4 hours in a row...

I'm feeling repetitious saying "It went pretty well" every time, but I/we really haven't had a "bad gig" for several months now. Actually, La Habra started out looking like it was gonna break that trend -- when I started, there were only 7 disinterested people there. And the setup is pretty lame, with the drinks pick-up station right next to the "band corner". But after 4 or 5 songs, my mom, dad, aunt and uncle came in and saved the day.

It's pretty clear that a small group (or even one person!) that's really listening can change the whole dynamic. For one thing, I play better when I have someone to play to. For another, the group that's clapping are modeling that behavior for the others. And when passers-by hear the applause, they're more likely to wander over to check it out, and possibly stay, and snowball the whole process.

Anyway, they really helped get the audience "working", and by the time I had to pack up the place was full and really with me. I made $30 in tips -- best so far for a solo, I think.

And there was an older lady sitting up front with her daughter, and she seemed to be *really* enjoying it. She recognized all the songs, and was really appreciative. When I started the distinctive guitar intro to "Scarborough Fair", she clapped! Like at a concert where people clap whenever they recognize a song from the intro chords or words. I've never had that before...

I hope the girl that followed me at 3:00 appreciated the warmed-up audience I left her. Us Borders performers don't often get the benefit of an opening act.

The Mission Viejo gig went well, too. My voice was a little weak at first, but actually warmed up as we went along. I was afraid that we'd have to quit early (i.e., when we're *supposed* to stop, not when they start closing the store), but my voice was OK, and my fingers seemed to go past hurting into numb, so that was OK, too.

The usual gang of regulars were there, of course, but they're starting to know and like us, so that works out OK these days. We've heard from them before that most of the bands that play there are loud and/or annoying, so they like it when Warren and I come in. And we made $35 in tips -- not as good as The $79 MV Anomaly last time, but better than the previous record otherwise.

The one unexpected issue with playing two gigs in one day was trying to remember which songs I'd already done. During the second gig, I'd look at a song sheet and think "Did I already play that one, or was that this afternoon?"

Lemonade Stand for Katrina

Acacia and her little friend Arielle set up a Lemonade Stand with the proceeds going to the victims of hurricane Katrina. They set up on the busy corner down the street, and brought in $15, which they split and took to their schools to put in the collection boxes there.

The sign says "Help the Katrina Victims! Buy Lemonade!"

New Blurb at Borders.com

I just noticed that I got a new blurb on the Borders webpage for my upcoming performance at the La Habra store:

Keith Comer
September 17, 2005 12:30 PM
Keith is an accomplished guitarist and singer whose performance is both stylish and musically fulfilling.

Wow. "Stylish" and "Musically Fulfilling". Where do they get this stuff? The guy's never even heard me play, but he obviously has a degree in marketing, and that's almost the same thing...

KC (and Geneva) - RSM 10Sept2005

Geneva managed to fit a little practice time into her schedule this time, so I brought her along to the gig again, and she did really well. That practice stuff appears to work...

This time, rather than intersperse her songs among mine, we just played all her stuff in a block, mostly so she could go home early with Daleen, but it actually worked out pretty well that way. Last time, it seemed like the transitions between fiddle tunes and my acoustic pop were pretty awkward. This time, we had worked up "The Star of the County Down" as a duet (she plays some verses, and I sing some, and we're together on the last chorus), so we played that as the last song of her block, and it slid into me singing solo much nicer. Inadvertently clever.

She played well, and sang pretty well, though she's still too self-conscious to inject much of her own personality into the songs. I can't really expect her to at this early point -- you just really have to perform in public lots and lots of times to start to relax and "let it fly". I hope she'll stick with it long enough to get that feeling.

We sold 6 CDs, 5 "Bears" and 1 "regular", which seems odd since there really weren't that many families with kids there. The jar had 42 bucks in it, which is darn good. We reached a compromise on the distribution thereof -- I kept $2 per CD sold to cover the costs, and gave her the rest. That's still pretty good money for a 13-year-old. Especially for 15 minutes' work...

We/I had a very nice audience -- a lot of people seemed to wander in specifically to hear me play, and they were very quiet. I really feel like I play and sing better when I can hear myself, so quiet helps a lot. Usually it doesn't really fall silent until the last hour, or half-hour, but this audience was really listening so they were quiet just about the whole time. And genuinely appreciative at the end of each song. I had about 10 people stay all the way to the very end. I couldn't seem to muster up any of that interplay that Warren and I had at Mission Viejo last weekend -- these people just seemed to want me to go on ahead, and wouldn't even speak up to request songs. It felt oddly "respectful". Never got that before.

But, with the quiet, and my voice clear after the first 3 or 5 songs, my playing was oddly focused (and accurate), and I think I sounded pretty good. It'll be interesting to see what I can pull together on Saturday, solo for the first time at La Habra.

Another Paying Gig!

Hey! I got another paying gig! The Borders guys sent out a request for "mellow solo" acts to play the Seattle's Best remodel re-opening party at the La Habra store on the 17th, for 75 bucks, and I was the first to respond, and I got it.

Of course, since they were specifically asking for solo acts, I'll have to do it without Warren, which I've only, so far, done at nice friendly RSM. But, for 75 bucks, I'll tough it out. I've always said that the whole point of this exercise was to push myself -- like a roller coaster, if it wasn't scary, it wouldn't be fun.

The other tough part is that me and Warren are already booked for Mission Viejo that same night, so I'll be playing two gigs in one day. I've done two gigs on consecutive days, and it gets a little tough voice- and finger-wise, but I'm willing to risk it. The La Habra gig is 12:30-2:30, and the Mission Viejo one starts at 8:00, so there may be enough of a gap that I'll be OK.

We played the Carlsbad and Mission Viejo re-opening parties, and both were pretty awful, as gigs go. Less attention, more commotion, more coffee-making noise. I can see why they have to pay to get bands to show up for the afternoon ones. I'm not expecting this to be much fun, but even a bad afternoon playing is better than a good one sitting at home, and it's nice to get paid once in a while.

K&W - MV 03Sept2005

What happened?!? Mission Viejo is usually a "pretty OK" place to play -- the setup isn't very conducive to good audience interaction, and there's a lot of bored (and loud) "regulars" that just hang out there and talk, ignoring the band.

Last night *seemed* to go just a little better than usual, but apparently went *way* better. We usually sell a CD or two, and make between zero and 12 or 15 bucks in tips. I had brought 7 CDs, 3 of the kid's songs, and 4 "regular" -- the same 7 CDs I had brought to (and sold none of at) my solo gig last week, and the South Coast Plaza gig the night-before-last. Inexplicably, they sold out last night. We had people complaining as we were packing up that we hadn't brought any more!

And the tip jar was *jammed* full of money. Seventy-nine bucks! More than double the previous record (which was artificially inflated by the presence of over-tipping friends and family).

My singing and playing was essentially the same as the night before -- a little kludged up, but OK. The only explanation is that we had a better connection with some of the people. Since we start at 8:00 there (it's 7:00 at the RSM and SCP), there were already a lot of people there. I had brought a lot of the song list sheets, so I personally passed them out amongst the tables. That may have started something. (At the other places, I either leave a stack of them on the "tip table", or put them out on (empty) tables.) I was also a little more "talky" than usual, which is a feedback loop -- the more people seem interested and listening, the more I'll talk, which engages the people, etc.

Anyway, not the most fun night I've had, but certainly the most profitable. I guess I'll have to try repeating some of those "techniques", and see if we can duplicate the success. We're not really in it for the money, but it is fun to get some -- kinda validates the effort.

K&W - SCP 02Sept2005

South Coast Plaza isn't usually terribly friendly place to play, but it went pretty good, despite a rocky start due to my continuing throat problems. But after 8 or 10 songs the kludge cleared up some, and I was singing pretty well.

We were happy to see our crazy but sweet old Toshiba friend, Jean, who never fails to be surprised at how "healthy" I look, despite my heart attack of, what, two and a half years ago now. Nice of her to be concerned, though.

My brother and his wife came by, too, right in the middle of "Long, Long, Time". I think that was the best I've ever performed that song -- it was inexplicably getting to me as I was singing it. That happens once in a while, and it's quite a thing. It pays back a lot of the bad nights...