Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 23Dec2011

The parking structure was almost completely full, even as early as I got there, but there were hardly any people to play for.  I guess they were all actually *shopping* -- imagine that!  I guess two days before Christmas is the wrong time to be out there...

On the other hand, Spectrum has actually been pretty tough for the last several gigs.  I'd say that I might need to re-think playing there, but it's the only steady gig I've got (and I'm only allowed two gigs a month, at that), so I'll just have to keep going and hope it gets better as it gets warmer.

Not that it was a "bad gig" at all, there were just very few people to play for.  Few of the young families that I usually get, and hardly any roving teens.  But my brother and his wife came, and my daughter and her friend, and my wife, too.  I had one little toddler girl, and since nobody else was listening, I just played for her for a while.  She (and her mom) had fun with the usual "Rudolph" and "Frosty", and she seemed to know that throwing her arms up was required on "Hey!" in "Jingle Bells".  The really cute part was when I started playing "Twinkle Twinkle", she looked up at her mom with delight, while her little hands involuntarily started opening and closing -- the universal sign for "twinkling".

Towards the end, a couple came and were clearly listening, and clapping (albeit all alone) at the end of every song.  I played for them for a long time, but decided to call it at night at 11:00.  They came up and introduced themselves as the couple who post on my Facebook "Keith Comer, Good Music" page -- my (only) actual "fans".  It was really nice to have someone to play for to wrap up the Christmas season for the year.

Somehow I made $80 for the night, so I really shouldn't complain.  There were two twenties, and a ten-and-five folded together, so *somebody* snuck up and delivered some Christmas Spirit, even though nobody seems to have taken any CDs for their generosity.

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 21Dec2011

The lady who we may charitably refer to as "in charge" of the booking for Santa's Workshop was never actually clear on who was booked when, even when prodded directly, so I just gave up and went down there to see. There was, indeed, a Girl Scout troop, with three expected participants, (Really?!? Three unamplified Girl Scouts?!?) so the lady in charge (who knew me from the Holly Trolley incident) had them sing for the Cookie Decorating booth people, while I played for the line.

And I'm very glad I did I took the chance. Since it was the last night, there was a huge line, and we started early and ended an hour and a half late. I had *lots* of kids come down to listen, dance, sing along, and shout "Like a lightbulb!" during "Rudolph". And several parents, too.

Unfortunately, without the sanctity of the "not allowed on stage", the kids tend to come around until they're standing right next to me, "helping" me find the next song in the book, pointing at the words as we go along, stepping unexpectedly on the harmony box pedals, hugging my legs, etc. One kid decided to see how much sand he could kick up onto the pedal board, and another wanted to see what would happen if he dangled a dry leaf into the coils of the heater. I had to ask them, "Really? You want to be 'bad' with Santa Claus sitting *right over there*?!?", to much chuckling from the parents in line.

But mostly the kids were great. Lots of participation -- little girls doing preset hand motions to some of the songs, or just making up a dance on the spot. Lots of dancing, with the accompanying parents with smartphone video recorders. One little girl whose go-to dance move was shaking her hips back and forth, while her stiff car-coat looked like a ringing bell, clanging against her clapper-knees.

The stealth tip jar worked well again ($41), but after a while the presence of all the money made it confusing for the kids trying to get to the candy at the bottom of the box. And it turned out that the cranky guy who objects to my having an actual tip jar was being Santa (he's presumably not so cranky with the kids...), so I coulda been more overt.

But anyway, it was the most fun I've had playing for a long time. I love playing for kids!

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 17Dec2011

Now, that was fun. Not double-booked this time, and that helps...

The setup space was a little different, so I wasn't on the lawn, and had a fence behind me so I didn't have kids running around, tripping on the wires. And I was near a set of park furniture, so some kids and moms would come over and sit "up front". Lots of kids dancing and singing along.

One little toddler boy, bundled up so much that he was a immovable unit, staggered over, unsupervised. Cute, but potentially dangerous with the wires everywhere on the ground. Between songs, I inexplicably stuck out my hand, and he slapped it -- "low five". He seemed to be happy where he was, so I started the next song, but halfway through, he put up his fist for a "bump", which I managed to fit in in-between chords. His mom kept zooming over to snatch him up, but he'd be back in a few minutes. Some kind of junior Houdini, apparently.

I had a small table up, mostly to hold my Dew, but also with my little sign on it, and my "stealth tip jar" -- a small Tupperware with some business cards and wrapped candies, and a dollar bill. The kids discovered the candy, and the parents noticed the dollar, and it started to accumulate tips. I'd done it as a "candy dish" for plausible deniability if the cranky guy from previous years came along. Got away with it too, and made $34. Mostly I had to do *something* to prevent the parents from coming up and trying to hand me money while I'm trying to play, as they do, and it's awkward all around.

Got two requests for "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". These were most likely instigated by parents, sending the kids over with the request. I don't play that one -- not to be a snob, but that level of redneck humor is lost on me. Problem is: what to say when asked. I can't really say, "Sorry, that song is just too lame" to their face. I told the first kid "I don't do that song -- I *like* my grandma.", but he just looked confused by that explanation, which admittedly has faulty logic if you take the song's first-person narrative as a true story. The second time, I just said I didn't know it...

Anyway, I love playing these Santa gigs -- it's a shame that I only got three and got gypped out of one of them. The last one is this Wednesday evening, and the booking lady's incommunicative messages may or may not imply that even though I'm not officially booked, I can come down and possibly play the last hour and a half after a theoretical short "first act". It may turn out to be somewhat awkward, depending on who the first act happens to be, but it's definitely worth a try.

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 17Dec2011

Now, that was fun. Not double-booked this time, and that helps...

The setup space was a little different, so I wasn't on the lawn, and had a fence behind me so I didn't have kids running around, tripping on the wires. And I was near a set of park furniture, so some kids and moms would come over and sit "up front". Lots of kids dancing and singing along.

One little toddler boy, bundled up so much that he was a immovable unit, staggered over, unsupervised. Cute, but potentially dangerous with the wires everywhere on the ground. Between songs, I inexplicably stuck out my hand, and he slapped it -- "low five". He seemed to be happy where he was, so I started the next song, but halfway through, he put up his fist for a "bump", which I managed to fit in in-between chords. His mom kept zooming over to snatch him up, but he'd be back in a few minutes. Some kind of junior Houdini, apparently.

I had a small table up, mostly to hold my Dew, but also with my little sign on it, and my "stealth tip jar" -- a small Tupperware with some business cards and wrapped candies, and a dollar bill. The kids discovered the candy, and the parents noticed the dollar, and it started to accumulate tips. I'd done it as a "candy dish" for plausible deniability if the cranky guy from previous years came along. Got away with it too, and made $34. Mostly I had to do *something* to prevent the parents from coming up and trying to hand me money while I'm trying to play, as they do, and it's awkward all around.

Got two requests for "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". These were most likely instigated by parents, sending the kids over with the request. I don't play that one -- not to be a snob, but that level of redneck humor is lost on me. Problem is: what to say when asked. I can't really say, "Sorry, that song is just too lame" to their face. I told the first kid "I don't do that song -- I *like* my grandma.", but he just looked confused by that explanation, which admittedly has faulty logic if you take the song's first-person narrative as a true story. The second time, I just said I didn't know it...

Anyway, I love playing these Santa gigs -- it's a shame that I only got three and got gypped out of one of them. The last one is this Wednesday evening, and the booking lady's incommunicative messages may or may not imply that even though I'm not officially booked, I can come down and possibly play the last hour and a half after a theoretical short "first act". It may turn out to be somewhat awkward, depending on who the first act happens to be, but it's definitely worth a try.

Keith at Santa's Workshop, kinda -- 10Dec2011

Well, I went down to play for the kids in line to see Santa again, and as I was setting up, a college-age kid showed up and started setting up a keyboard stand. I asked him if he was playing there, and he said that he was, and he was the leader of a choir and had 19 people coming. He knew the name of the booking lady, and was sure that she'd given him the date, as well as the next Saturday (which she'd also given to me).

So, we decided that I'd give up this Saturday, and he'd give up the next one, and I started packing my half-deployed stuff back up. It seemed a lot easier for me to go home than for him to stop 19 people from coming.

As I was packing up, though, another lady from the Recreation Committee, Cathy, came over and said she was glad that I was there, so I told her that I wasn't really there -- there was some kind of mix-up and I was going home to let this choir play instead. She said, "Why don't you come play for the reception, then?" She was running a side event where people came to ride on the "Holly Trolley" to cruise around the city and see the winners of the house decorating contest.

I wouldn't normally have agreed to play a half-hour gig -- it's just not worth the hour of setup and takedown time -- but since I was already there, what the heck. I had to go into the men's room to get out of the longjohns, but then it was quite pleasant to play indoors where it was quiet and warm for a change. And the people who were coming in to have some coffee and cookies before their bus left were, by definition, in a holiday mood and a great, (captive), and quiet audience. Most of them were older (you know, my age), so I got to play the prettier, and more interesting, sentimental Christmas songs instead of only the kids' ones.

And after they left, there were plenty of cookies to snag as I was tearing down...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum - 09Dec2011

Another kinda slow night -- I don't remember it being this slow last winter.  I did have a pretty constant stream of packs of kids, and some isolated young families to play to, but a general "sit a while" audience never materialized.  Maybe people just aren't really prepared for the cold yet, so I get some people to pause on their way past, but they're not ready to sit in one place for any length of time.

Or maybe it was the plague of Jesus people who were hassling folks and chasing them away.  It wasn't just some isolated prosthelytizers either -- there were several groups covering the place.  This *is* the U. S. of A., and they're free to believe what they want, but their freedom to swing a fist ends where my face begins, and I'd just as soon they'd swing somewhere else and quit scaring my audience off.

But I had fun playing to the people who braved the phalanx to come listen to a few tunes.  "Jingle Bells" hauls distant little kids over pretty well -- along with lots of teenage girls, who are also inexplicably into "Holly Jolly Christmas", apparently.  A young couple came up and the lady asked me the million dollar question: "Do you know any James Taylor?"

I got to sing my new "Merry Christmas, Darling" a couple of times, though nobody was there to hear it.  But the setup was sounding unusually good and I was having fun just singing, people or no.

Somehow I made $62, though half of that was a ten and a twenty.  I'm not sure how that happened -- usually I can tell when someone likes me enough to put in a decent tip, or when they're buying a CD, but nobody really seemed to be hovering over the table this time.  A nice surprise, though.

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 03Dec2011

It was a pretty small turnout for Santa, but it's early, and maybe some parents are smart enough to avoid starting up the kids' Christmas Anticipation Engine with three weeks left to go.

So an actual line never really materialized -- just a constant clump of a dozen or so people waiting at the gate. I played anyway, of course, and actually got to play some of the non-kids Christmas songs, since it was mostly adults waiting in line.

The kids were running loose, playing with the toy train setup, or watching the projected kids' Christmas shows (Frosty, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, etc.) behind me. The setup is a little strange now, 'cuz there are people milling around behind me as I'm situated to play to the line. I may try to come up with another setup, but there aren't a lot of options.

Anyway, it was fun, and not too terribly cold -- yet. In previous years I've set out some CDs and the little standup signs and a candy basket (as a stealth tip jar), but the card table has mysteriously disappeared, so I didn't do that this time.

But, one grampa came over and slipped a fiver underneath my cup of water so it wouldn't blow away -- that was nice. His 2-year-old granddaughter was fascinated by the guitar, so I had let her strum it a few times, despite how sticky she was getting with the Christmas cookies and candy canes. I'm about to need new strings anyway...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum - 19Nov2011

Awfully slow for a Saturday night, caused, no doubt, by the disruption from the very loud generator running next to the Hurley promotional truck parked over by the movie theaters.  I guess I'll have to give the booking lady the benefit of the doubt and presume that she didn't know that the Hurley people would be running a generator to power their big TV screens and such, making so much noise that the scheduled performer would be mostly drowned out, but it was pretty bad.  And the worst part was that the truck was in the main flow of traffic -- usually, people can hear me from across the plaza as they go by, and wander over if they like what they hear. But with that generator going...

Anyway, I was singing and playing well, for those that did come over, but mostly I felt pretty alone.  Until suddenly a group of little kids came running across the plaza (trailed by their various parents) to jump around right in front of me, and it was *on*.  I played all my kids' dance tunes, and a bunch of the regular kids' songs, and didn't have to feel weird about boring the adult audience with the kids stuff, 'cuz there wasn't one.

The Hurley people finally shut the generator down at 8:30 or so, and it was suddenly luxuriously quiet.  It was great to suddenly sound so good -- I wish there had been some people there to hear it...

I made a possibly-record-low $27, but that's understandable with as few people as I had. The only question is: What am I paying dues *for*?

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 05Nov2011

It rained most of the day, but it looked like it was clearing up for the evening, and I don't get many chances to play there anymore, so I decided to take the chance. I was afraid that they wouldn't have even bothered to put out a stage for me, but was surprised to find that they'd built the big round stage over the fountain. This is a double win: the stage is great, and of course the fountain and its wall of white noise was necessarily turned off.

But the threat of rain and the unseasonable cold kept most people away, especially the young families with little kids. I do get lots of people in the dead of winter when it's even colder, but I guess people weren't expecting how cold it was, so although a lot of people came by, not very many stopped to sit and listen for a while.

I did have one little kid, three or four years old, whose mother kept telling me that he "loves the guitar". I tried to get him to come up and strum on mine but he was too shy. So I just played some songs for him but naturally, it chose that moment to start to rain. Finally having an audience, I didn't want to stop playing so since it was pretty light rain, I just kept going, even though it was making the ink run on my song sheets. Luckily, it didn't get any worse, and quit after 3 songs.

Anyway, I only made $28 since nobody really stopped for long, but I had a great time 'cuz I could hear myself really well with the fountain off and the mic working correctly, and I had a pretty constant stream of people slowing down on their way past for a few songs. I quit around 11:15, 'cuz I was just getting too cold to play, but while I was packing up, I gave a card to the friendly maintenance guy and asked him to call me anytime there was a no-show at any of the stages, and I could be there in 20 minutes. Maybe that'll bear some fruit in extra gigs this winter.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 29Oct2011

My cold was a lot better, and I was looking forward to doing a Saturday night again, but it didn't go very well. For one thing, the stage was next to the loud main fountain again, so I couldn't hear myself.

And worse, the battery in the transmitter of my new wireless microphone was going dead. The fountain noise made me think that the sound wasn't really bad, it was just covered up, so it took me a long time to realize that the more and more muffled sound -- like when your ears won't pop it -- was only the mic, and not the guitar. I finally swapped the battery and it cleared right up. Hopefully, from now on I'll recognize that "need a new battery" sound.

But I played a lot of the night with terrible sound, and a terrible performance while I was distracted by it. Luckily, my brother, his wife, and a friend were there pretty early (while the sound wasn't so bad), and the last hour was OK after I found the problem. But I certainly wasn't connecting with the audience while the sound was so awful.

I had a pretty great Kids Party going early on, but the highlight of the night was when a mom encouraged her little daughter (7-ish) to get up and dance. She marched right up, spun around to face the audience, and started her dance, which was: feet planted, then right fist straight up with left hip shot out, and then left fist up and right hip out, back and forth like a pendulum. It was the Cutest. Thing. Ever. Her little bottom slamming back and forth and her little fists pumping up and down -- she had her Move, and she was stickin' to it. For the millionth time I wished I could operate a camera while I was playing guitar, but, sorry...

I didn't get to play "overtime" like usual, 'cuz the guys had to tear down the stage itself before they went home, so I got shut down at 10:15. I didn't sell any CDs at all, and only made $65, but I suppose with the bad sound and "short" time, I was lucky to get that much.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 21Oct2011

I was at the peak of a really nasty cold, but since it'd been 5 weeks since I'd had a Spectrum gig, there was no way I was gonna miss it. So, despite my usual shunning of pharmacology, legal and non-, I chugged some cough medicine and went "on with the show".

The medicine, plus a steady stream of Mountain Dew, worked pretty well for a while, but the throat tickle nearly derailed a run-through of "The Boxer" (the downside of a head-mic is you can't turn away to cough), so I took some more cough syrup, and then more sips as the tickle came back, again and again. I managed to keep the cough at bay, but the medicine (I drank nearly all of the 4 ounce bottle by the end of the night), plus the alcohol therein, the sugar and caffeine in the Dew, and the adrenaline and serotonin, all snuck up on me after a while.

I'd had "loopy" gigs on cough medicine before, but this time I was refusing-to-ride-on-double-decker-busses Out There. And since it hit me while I was playing, I had to just keep going. Part of my brain was able to sort of "watch from the outside" as the automatic, muscle memory part kept playing the songs and singing the words, and a third part was asking, "Did I just play that right? Am I the one making this music? Do I still have pants on? Is my tie on fire?"

But people kept coming in and hanging around, so I guess I was playing OK. It was "standing room only" for most of the night, and people stayed so I played until almost 1am (by which time the effects had pretty much worn off so I could drive home). Fortunately, I had brought a stool to sit on (expecting fatigue, not loopiness), so for a while when the world felt like the slant-floored Knott's "Haunted Shack", I could sit down before I fell down. If this is what drunk/high feels like, I'm glad I've been avoiding it all these years.

They'd set up an exhibit of custom playhouses in the space where the stage usually goes, so they moved the stage over where the big fountain was right behind me. That was good because it put me closer to the furniture/people than any other arrangement has, but terrible because the fountain makes a huge amount of white noise so I could barely tell what I was doing. But I had a couple of big Kid Dance Parties, sold out of the new "Favorites" CD plus some of the others, and made $116, so I guess the audience could hear, and must have liked what they heard. I had surprise visits from two old Toshiba friends (Linda Ta and Bill Damron), and I'm pretty sure I had a great time, overall, but I'm a little hazy on that...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 17Sept2011

A really good night -- great weather and lots of people out. Of course with the distance between me and the audience in the comfy chairs, there was the usual difficulty getting any audible response from anybody, but I'm getting used to accepting "attention" over "applause", and a lot of people stayed for long periods, and by the end of the evening almost all of the furniture had been adjusted to be pointing my direction, and that's a good sign.

It was the first trial of my new wireless microphone, which worked out pretty well. At first I was getting some "untuned radio" noise, but I moved the receiver around a bit and it seemed to go away. After a little while, I didn't even notice the difference, which I guess is the whole point -- there's no cable to fight with and "notice". Usually I'm fiddling with the mic cord on one side, and the guitar cord on the other -- with the mic cord gone, there's a lot less hassle. Win.

I could even get the matching wireless thingie for my guitar, but the guitar cord is a lot less trouble (since it's not hanging off of my head!), so it's probably not worth it. It's not like I do a lot of Mick Jaggering around the stage...

Earlier in the week, I got the notion to learn "She Loves You", for some reason. I usually feel like playing rock songs by myself on an acoustic guitar is kinda lame, but since I only play them for the little kids, I'm getting more comfortable doing it. And if the kids are happy, the moms don't mind. And the harmony box goes a long way to making the song sound "realer" (especially Beatles songs), even without bass and drums.

The first hour went by and it looked like the hoped-for crowd of kids wasn't going to materialize. But finally I got a pair of little girls dancing, which prompted some others to come out, and after a while we had a whole thing going, with a chorus of kids shouting "Another one!" after each song. I have 5 or 6 songs for this purpose now, but I may need a few more, since this is turning out to be a regular (and fun!) thing.

It was also the first outing for the new CD that I recorded, but I don't really hype selling the CDs, so I only sold one, to a sweet little Asian lady. I made exactly $100 (and 48 cents), and that was all in ones and fives, which means a lot of people "contributed". Unfortunately, with our cruise coming up, and a gig canceled because they're putting on an undisclosed "special event", it'll be 5 weeks before I'm back there again. So naturally, I played as long as I could, running over the 10:00 stopping time by an hour and a half.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 02Sept2011

A really great night! Perfect weather finally -- not too hot, and didn't get too cold, either. My brother and his wife were there even before I got there -- I'm afraid they got to see more of me setting up than singing, but they had to get to a movie. Daleen and a friend came by with some dogs, and our neighbors from up the hill were there for a long time, too. They'd never seen me before, and were apparently impressed a bit.

There were lots of young families out, and I had a small one of my famous Kids' Dance Parties early on, and then another huge one around 8:30, with the most kids I've ever had -- probably a dozen families joined in, with all the moms, dads, grammas, and kids dancing, singing along, and taking pictures. Big fun.

I'd been recording at home to make a new "studio" CD to sell, since it's been 5 years since the current "pop tunes" one. I was surprised at how well the singing went, and how accurate my guitar playing was -- apparently playing all day, all week, makes a difference. I didn't really think I was "losing it" when I only play once a week, but I guess I am.

I (mostly) finished the CD that afternoon, recording the last two songs and putting it all together, but, although each song is OK, they're all at different volumes so it's uneven as a sequential CD. I can fix that, but didn't have time, so I only burned 4 copies. I gave one to my brother, and two more got bought during the night. After I quit, a group of people came up, bought the last CD, and told me that they were from New York and that I'd "do great in Central Park". Great idea, if a bit impractical, commute-wise.

It did get cold enough that I needed to put on my jacket towards the end, and in doing so, I dropped the mic. It's been dropped a million times before, but it's very light and it's never gotten hurt by it. But when I got back up and running, the vocal sounded *really* treble-y to me -- almost like a deliberate "singing through the telephone" effect. I asked the crowd if it was sounding funny to them, but, as always, no response, so I don't know if something is broken, or if the amp freaked out, or if I was just imagining it. I played another hour or so, feeling like it was sounding terrible, but people didn't get up and leave, and in fact, I was accumulating more and more people. But I'll have to check into what's up before my next gig in two weeks.

I sold the four new CDs, and one each of the other two, and made $77 for the night. Played for a lot of groups of kids, and lots of older couples that didn't respond much (it's that distance thing), but stayed a long time. And it was great to have the amplifier and the harmony box again, after the struggle-to-be-heard of playing acoustic-only in Laguna. I usually grumble about the hassle of setting up and tearing down the equipment, but it's clearly better than the alternative...

K&W in Laguna - 30Aug2011

For our second attempt at street busking in Laguna Beach, we decided to forego the corner where we got busted last week, and just start up the street. I was purely acoustic, but Warren braved the use of his little amp, with, this time, the more valid excuse of just amping up to match the volume (such as it is) of his acoustic partner.

We played at the big green bench/art thing on the corner, directly towards the sidewalk passers by, and elicited a few smiles, slow-downs, and stops-to-listen. One lady with a toddler in a stroller stopped to have him hear us, as they do, but was talking to the baby in a strange language, which turned out to be Hebrew. My challenge, therefore, was figuring out what American song she might know. I usually go to The Beatles for that, but for some reason, settled on John Denver's "Country Roads" instead, which she seemed to be mouthing the words along to, so I apparently guessed right.

Then a guy came by, listened for a while, and asked if we knew any Russian songs. I'm not sure I've ever even heard any Russian songs, much less learned any. Cosmopolitan, I'm apparently not. He was up from San Diego for the art festival, but originally from the Ukraine. For some reason, he was *sure* we'd know the song, in Spanish, from the Antonio Banderas movie "Desperado" (no, not the Eagles song of the same name), but we struck out there, too. Where *have* we been?

He left to find his friends, and brought them back with him, and started asking about the "Desperado" song again (apparently, with some research, "Cancion del Mariachi", which Antonio performs himself in the movie), disbelieving that we'd never heard it (though I guess I'd actually heard it once, having seen the movie), and making guitar-playing gestures while singing snippets from it. So I handed him my guitar and said, "Show us", and he did, while Warren played along. Then he launched into a Russian song, which his wife sang along with. The perks of street music -- no rules, no audience, no equipment, everybody's "in it".

Warren went to check on The Alley, and while he was gone a couple came up and the lady took one of my business cards, saying, "You have a beautiful voice". I said, "Thank you", but was thinking, "How can you *tell*, out here?"

They left, but came back later on to ask about where else I play and stuff like that, and then she asked "Do you play any Christmas music?" My favorite question of the month!

We did manage to get down to The Alley later on, but most of the action was down on the corner where a 6 or 7 piece string band was blasting it out. They were very loud, and very good. But it was getting late and we decided to pack it in after not too long. As we were packing up, the lady from the shop next to The Alley came out and told us that our music had made her evening enjoyable. That was nice, 'cuz I imagine she hears *lots* of different musicians there. We made $20 to split, and had fun. I reckon we'll do it again, pretty soon.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- 23Aug2011

Busted! We were aware that amplification isn't allowed on the streets of Laguna Beach, so I'd given up even trying it, 'cuz my fingerpicked guitar style wouldn't stand a chance on a busy street corner. Jim & Warren have been managing, somewhat, but Jim strums his big Gibson, and six strings at a time make a lot more sound than only one.

Warren plays a hollow-body electric, though, and has been getting away with using a small amp, on the premise that it's just bringing him up to match the volume of Jim's acoustic. And lately, since they seldom see cops on foot to catch them, Warren's been using a mic on a stand as well, which is clearly over the line, but, so far, so good.

So I decided the give it a try, and rigged up my little battery-powered amp for my guitar and head-mic. I even found a way to add reverb to the voice by running the mic into, then back out of, my iPod. Sweet.

The idea was to just barely enhance the volume so we *seemed* to be acoustic-only, but be loud enough to be, you know, heard. But apparently somebody in the ice cream shop that we were set up in front of decided that either (a) we were interfering with their hip-hop radio jams, or (b) The Rules are The Rules, or (c) they just didn't like us being there. So they called the cops.

We managed to get through one whole song ("Hotel California"), and The Man showed up and asked to see our "Amplifier Permit". Obviously, we didn't have one, but he let us off with embarrassment served and a warning, but also a promise to cite us if he caught us using the amps again. ("Amplifier Permits" are issued by City Hall, but, he said, "They're stingy with them.")

We briefly half-tried to play acoustic, but my guitar was drowned out, and Warren's was totally inaudible. Warren suggested a place he calls "Acoustic Alley" up the street, so we packed up and walked up a ways, but it was occupied. So we went up to the next corner, where there are some little "conversation pit" benches set up, and the traffic noise is much less. We played there for a while, where we could at least hear each other, and basically played for ourselves for a while, garnering an occasional smile from passers-by, so I guess we weren't *completely* inaudible.

After a spell, Warren decided to go check if the Alley was available, and while he was gone, I launched into "Over the Rainbow". As I started the verse, one of a pair of old ladies blurted out "Oh! I love this song!" and they stopped to listen. Then, halfway through it, up comes my high-school friend (and fellow member of the Spanish Armada, but that's another story), Susie Elliott!

Susie stayed and clapped loud and long after every song (best shill ever!), and we started to accumulate a (single-digit) "crowd". (I assumed that she had seen my announcement on Facebook and decided to come down since she lives in Laguna, but nope, just coincidence.) It was quiet enough to almost hear me, and Warren's "acoustic/electric" was surprisingly loud (if you can call it that). I was playing as loud as I could, at first with my "strummy songs", but then, embarrassed by the lack of finesse that those feel like to me, graduated to some fingerpicked ones. I was picking as loud as I could, and wondered what would happen first: ripping the strings off my guitar, or ripping the fingernails off of my fingers.

A couple strolled up and started talking to Susie like they were old friends, which didn't strike me as unlikely in Laguna, and grandly appreciating the music. The wife sat right down on the bench next to me, and they asked for their favorites, clapped loudly, and chatted Susie up a bit. After a while, they had to go, but needed a business card first, so he could call us up to play one of his backyard business parties, and also insisted on my digging out the Tip Jar, so he could put a twenty in it. And it turned out that they *weren't* old friends of Susie's, they were just super friendly.

After a while of that, Warren and Susie went to check if the Alley was open, and it finally was so we moved down there. What a difference! The narrow passageway and hard walls provide a lot of "focus" for the sound, and you can actually hear and be heard. We played there the rest of the night, and with Susie and the after-dinner strolling crowd to play for, I had a great time. A lady came up with a handful of change, but couldn't find our tip jar to put it in, so I had to dig it out yet again. We ended up with $32 to split, and decided to pack it in about 9:30.

So, after a quite inauspicious beginning for my first time out, it ended up pretty great. I'm up for another go.

P.S. Susie told us that she's up and bought a gift shop, right down the street on PCH, and will be happy to host some live music (inside, where amps are allowed!), once she opens in September sometime.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 20Aug2011

OK, I give up.  I get it -- nobody's out to hear some guy playing music at the mall in the afternoon.  Fortunately, I don't have any more afternoon gigs booked, and now that I'm fully convinced that they're *not*, in fact, "better than nothing", I won't book any more.

I was expecting the new big round stage over the fountain again, but apparently they're reserving the right to decide to just use the old little square one.  Makes sense -- that big one is a lot of trouble, and they'll probably only use it when it's appropriate, either a bigger band, or a "bigger" name band.  That's fine with me.

It was hot, but not miserably so like last time.  And there were a few people out, but it was hopeless to get anything going with them.  I had a brief fun time with one of the many young girl soccer teams that came by, but they took off to go get some overly-sugared juice after only a few songs.

And I had a guy perceptively ask me about the harmony box, and another guy came up and told me that he had been in a folk-song band back in the sixties, but that he'd never learned to fingerpick like me.  It's always fun to talk to other musicians, however briefly.

I did make $20, which is an all-time low, I think, but still not so bad.  Last time I had inexplicably sold almost all of the CDs that I had in stock, so I spent the morning making up a bunch of them, only to sell absolutely none.  Maybe it was 'cuz the fountain stage is out in the flow of traffic?  Probably just the random nature of the thing...

New Home Recording Rig

I was all set up to do some home "studio" recording using the MacBook Pro, but I had to give it back when I got laid off.  So I've been trying to figure out a new rig, since I'm determined to get a new CD made pretty soon (the newest one I have now is from 2006).

The advantage I have this round is the Harmony box, which, along with adding harmonies when needed, also has nice reverb and vocal compression, which as karaoke enthusiasts everywhere know, make you sound better than you really are.  On my previous recordings, I had to add reverb via software after the fact.  With the box, I'm less likely to overuse it, as I'm prone to do.

To do decent recordings, though, you need to be able to hear yourself (guitar and vocals) through headphones as you're recording, so you can hear your usually-unnoticed mistakes, and any outside noises that are getting into the recording (dogs barking, loud trucks, etc.).  I could use a Windows box, but they don't do real-time monitoring, and hearing yourself a half-second delayed is *really* confusing.  Fortunately, the iPad can do it with no detectable delay, so I've settled on recording on the iPad, and then transferring the file to my Windows laptop for trimming, editing, etc.

Unfortunately, the iPad (and Windows boxes, for that matter) only have mono microphone input.  On the MacBook, the mic was stereo, so I could record the guitar and vocal on separate tracks.  That's nice if you want to edit one part but not the other, or to balance the mix after the fact.  I could record the two parts separately -- play the guitar part only, counting measures in my head, and then overdubbing a vocal over that on a separate channel, but disconnecting the guitar and vocal just doesn't come out very musical.

So, I'll make do with performing both parts at the same time, on one track.  All I have to do is get the mix right before I start (by trial and error), and simply not make any mistakes.  Easy!  That'll result in recordings with guitar and vocals (with reverb and optional harmony already built-in, courtesy the box), exactly like what you get at a live show.

I might decide I'm clever enough to add some more stuff (bass, a lead guitar solo, keyboards, or even cello, like I did on my Christmas CD), or I might decide to keep it "honest" (i.e., "live equivalent").  I guess I'll try a few things and see how it goes -- I'll probably end up with a little of each.

I've found appropriate software for the iPad, and cables to run the output of the harmony box (which is guitar and vocals combined) to it, and then back from it to the headphones, so I'm all set up back in the bedroom, er, "home studio".  And it's kinda cool that the iPad can just sit right there on the music stand. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to keep the dogs from barking, the guy next door from mowing his lawn every other day, and the room from reaching the 90's in the afternoons...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 06Aug2011

I asked too late for gigs at Spectrum for August, and all that was left was the "early shift", so I took two Saturdays, 1-5pm, as "better than nothing". And with the demise of Borders, without *something* at Spectrum, I would have had literally nothing.

So, of course, it was hot, being a Southern California August afternoon. They did bring me the shade umbrella, so it could have been worse, but still. The fun part was that they've abandoned the old Food Court stage, and bought a custom circular stage that sets up over (!) the big round fountain in front of the movie theaters. It's really big (for just me), quite prominent, and up high enough that they have a little two-step staircase. It's in the same plaza as the old stage, and faces the same clump of patio furniture and big-tree planterbox bench seating, but from a different angle.

It's really nice -- maybe too nice. I'm afraid that they'll decide to start charging for it pretty soon -- especially considering the 4 hour (according to the maintenance guy) setup time. It's really a far nicer place to play than the old "main stage" that they've been charging $50 for all along, and when they get people asking for this new one over the old one, they'll undoubtedly decide to start collecting.

But on a hot Saturday afternoon, the plaza is pretty deserted, except for people that are on their way somewhere. Nobody's there to just hang out that early, nor in that weather, so I played to a lot of stone silence. There were quite a few people to play to, sitting over there under the tree, but they seemed to be more interested in the shade than the music. Occasionally, though, someone would be going past that couldn't resist listening in for a while -- that's pretty gratifying, to stop somebody in their tracks.

And, for some reason, there were a surprising 11 CDs sold. Not sure why -- the tips weren't all that great. I made $55 in combined tips plus whatever people bought the CDs for. Just another thing that's more random than I'd expect, I guess.

I had a "hard stop" at 5:00 (just when it was cooling off and people were starting to hang out more, of course) to allow time for me to tear down and the next band to set up. I was grateful for it this time, though -- I seem to be able to play for 7 hours in the evening/night, but after just two hours in the heat, I was wiped out, and my fingertips were inexplicably already trashed.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 31Jul2011

Wow!  Great night for a Sunday!  After the poor showing last Friday, I was starting to think that "Summer" was over, but I guess it's a just a lot more random than I think it ought to be.

I started at 5:00 this time, instead of my usual 4:00, which worked out quite well, since it really starts to be "evening" at 6:00.  That's when the shadows from the buildings make it possible to survive in more than just the few seats under the shade umbrellas.

The stage was back against the big round planter box by the turtle fountain again, but literally every time I've come since they started putting it there, it's been further around the circle.  This time it was so far around that I decided to just set up "diagonally", since the corner was pointing exactly at the main group of furniture that folks camp out in to hear me.  It was a little odd, but actually worked out quite well.

Early on, a pair of Asian girls came by and tried to talk to me, though only one of them was brave enough to try her English on me.  They stared at the list for a while, but couldn't find (or read?) any songs they knew, so I fired up "Let It Be", which *everybody* knows, and saw some definite sparks of recognition.

I had lots of really nice people all night long (and made $84).  I'm supposed to shut down at 8:00 on Sundays, and the guy came and took the lights about then, but I kept playing.  About 10:15 or so, a nice 50-ish woman came and listened for a long time, and kept commening to anyone else around that I'm "amazing".  She asked me if I'd ever played any of the Folk Music festivals, which, um, I don't really play any "folk music", so, um, no.  But, I guess I don't know much about them -- maybe James Taylor qualifies these days?

She went to fetch her two friends -- "They just gotta hear this" -- and after a few songs one of them asked me when I'm supposed to stop playing.  I told her the truth, 8:00, which had them all baffled for a while since it was almost 10:30 by then.  I told them that I wasn't getting paid, and was there for the joy of it, so why would I "knock off early"?

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 29Jul2011

A surprisingly quiet night.  Usually Fridays are almost as busy as Saturdays, but nobody showed up this time.  Maybe there was a Big Game on TV?

Anyway, there were still enough nice people there to make it worth doing.  And my brother and his wife came by, as did my wife with the dogs, my daughter, and her friend.

At one point, two teenage girls were up at the table, looking at the list.  My brother started stage-whispering "Play 'Baby'!" at me, which I was confused by -- he probably couldn't tell from behind them, but they were 3 or 4 years too old for that.  The Bieber fans go from 8 or 10 to about 13, but above that they get too cool.  I've had groups of teens actually get up and walk away when I started up that song -- it's a big hit with the right audience, but a double-edged sword.

But it was quiet most of the night, though I seem to have finally stubbled on a setup where I can hear myself without feedback, so that makes it pleasant to just sing.  There was only $48 in the tip jar, which isn't bad, but low for a Summertime Friday.  But later in the evening, a group of people walked by while I was mid-song, and the lady looked at me and mouthed so I could read her lips, "Beautiful".  Made my night.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 23Jul2011

This was my last Summer Saturday Night before school starts up again.  I apparently asked too late about open dates in August, and only got a few "early shifts", which won't be nearly as fun -- the party never really starts until after dark...

I had an inexplicably tough time with the sound.  For some reason, they've pushed the stage back 6 or 8 feet, maybe because the power in the light post is dead, so now I'm plugged into the jacks in the planter box.  That's bad for two reasons: it puts me even further away from the audience across the plaza, and it puts me closer to the noise of the turtle fountain (and, these days, the very noisy kids playing therein).

It seemed like I couldn't hear myself, but when I'd try to turn it up to try to overcome the noise, I started getting feedback.  It was really keeping me from being able to get comfortable, and just settle in and play.

Still, I got some people interested, and had a Kid's Dance Party going for a while there.  And later on, I had a group of 8 or 10 high school kids who were counselors at a Summer Camp in Irvine.  They were just there to hang out, so they parked right down in front of me.  And, of course, being counselors, they were all outgoing, happy kids, so we had a great time.  One girl was a huge Beatles fan, so I did lots of their songs, and, of course, the Justin Bieber song, and the Princess songs.

And, surprisingly, (and flatteringly) when I got home, two of the kids had searched me out and sent me Friend requests on Facebook.  I accepted their requests, but suggested that they may want to "Like" my "Band Page" instead.  This is exactly why I started one, but I'm not sure what to put on it to make it worth peoples' while, so I haven't publicized it much yet.  I've put up my videos, and some pictures, and I'm announcing future gigs with the "Event" feature, but all that is better presented on my website. But, these days, if you ain't on Facebook, you don't exist, so I guess I'll keep it going and try to flesh it out as we go along.

(To check it out, just do a Facebook search for "Keith Comer, Good Music".  I currently have 9 "fans" -- when I get up to 25, something magical happens, but I can't quite tell what it is.  The Page somehow becomes more "real" -- gets a title or something?  I guess I'll find out when/if it happens...)

The odd thing about the Spectrum food court is that it's become a big-time hangout place for the local Persian community.  It's been that way since we started playing there a couple of years ago, but it's getting bigger and bigger.  And they don't seem to have the same ideas about appropriate bedtimes for the kids that us Western parents do.  Around 11:00 or so, it gets to be almost all Persian families, 15 or 20 of them, with the men sitting around one big table, and the women around another, and the kids, clumped up in groups by age, running around nearly unsupervised.

Sometimes that's pretty fun, but sometimes the kids get a bit overbearing.  And the little ones usually start to see how far they can push me with getting up on the stage.  It gets pretty distracting, but I don't mind that much, except when they're horsing around and about to knock over my music stand or accidentally unplug something.  And I keep wondering how I can be being pestered by such little kids at almost midnight...

But the "ringleader" of the little ones is a 3-year-old girl named Shadeen that's so cute it's impossible to get tough with her.  She's constantly asking me to play "Twinkle" (which I know, and do play for her), but also "Spongebob Squarepants", which I don't know, but may have to learn, just to quiet her down.

Anyway, a pretty good night, but not as great as I was hoping for, as my last Summer Saturday.  I made $93 in tips though, so I can't complain.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 17Jul2011

The first time I got booked for a Sunday, the booking lady unexpectedly asked me what time I wanted to play.  I figured that since the usual shift is 6-10, but the stores close at 8 on Sundays, the logical shift would be 4-8.  But after trying it a few times now, it's clear that (A) it's terrible playing at 4, and (B) the actual shop closing time doesn't really have much effect on the strolling people that come to hear me.

It was pretty darn lonely up there, playing to dead silence, from when I started at 4 until about 7.  That's also when the sun had gone down behind the buildings behind me, so it wasn't miserable.  And, once the evening set in, people started hanging out to listen, so it got really fun and I ran way past 8 (until almost 10).  I think I'll admit the obvious and start playing "6-8", which will really be 6-10, just like a regular Friday or Saturday (which actually turn out to be more like 6-12...).

But it did get better later on.  I had some young teen girls who were too shy to ask for any songs, but I asked them if they'd seen "Tangled", and they had (of course), so I did that song for them, then the one from "Aladdin", and then completed the Princess trilogy with the first public outing of "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid".  I've decided/rationalized that it's OK for me to sing it, even though it's clearly written for a girl singer, 'cuz, although I'm not a girl, I'm not a mer-person, either.

Also, since the last Harry Potter movie opened a few days ago, there was a "parked" line for the IMAX showing, right at the side of the plaza, so I had those people as a captive audience for a while.  Didn't get much reaction from them, though.

I made $84 in tips, which ain't bad for a Sunday.  I just think the first few hours, so early in the afternoon, are wasted -- nobody's really there to just "hang" yet.  That's what the evenings are for.

Borders Out of Business

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Borders has officially gone bankrupt, and it liquidating the stores. We were hoping to be able to do a last few gigs there, while the liquidation was happening, but I went past the Mission Viejo store and the tables and chairs were gone from the cafe, and this sign was prominently posted.

I guess that's clear enough...

Of course, they announced the optimistic "restructuring" a while ago, and lots of stores closed, but the two that we play at were spared that first round. Now they're all closing.

It hasn't really been much of a gig lately anyway, but when we were starting out it was a good place to play in public without much pressure, since there was usually hardly anyone there. But it did occasionally turn out to be a lot of fun -- Mission Viejo would sometimes unexpectedly be full of people who would join in, and the acoustics at South Coast Plaza were always amazing, even if no one was listening.

And, of course, the biggest benefit was just the experience, giving us a place to practice and to get used to playing in front of real people. We wouldn't be where we are now without it.

Keith at South Coast Plaza -- Fri, 15Jul2011

This is usually a monthly Keith & Warren gig, but Warren wanted to go join the crazies in the drum circle on the beach for the full moon, and who could blame him?

It was the usual quiet night at Borders, but it's been so long since I've played indoors that I had a great time just playing for myself.  And there were a few people listening, albeit quietly.  I had a little applause right at first, but once that library-silence sets in, it's tough to break through.

Indeed, I had anticipated the lack of response when I got there and decided to not even pass out the song lists -- just seemed like a waste of paper.  I had a stack available, though, for the few people who seemed interested enough to need one.  Like the lady who was looking for "some country", giving me a chance to play my newly-learned "Need You Now".

And a pair of young teenage girls who plopped down in the comfy chairs and asked for a couple of Beatle songs.  But after a while they seemed stymied by the all-unfamiliar songs on the list, so I confessed that I also knew "Baby", to which they squealed "We love Justin Bieber!"  I wasn't sure I really wanted to do it there in the quiet of the bookstore because it's meant to be loud, but I did it anyway, if a bit subdued.  They seemed quite pleased, and even dropped some of their hard-earned allowance in the jar on their way out.

Surprisingly, I made $40 -- quite a bit for a bookstore gig.  3/4 of that was a twenty and a ten, which had to be the 3 CD sales.  But I just had fun playing in the nice acoustics.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 09Jul2011

Can't hardly do better than a Saturday in the summer!  Started off slow, as always, but got really good after it got dark, so I ended up playing 7 hours for my 4 hour gig -- started at 6, played until 1am.

I'd'a quit sooner, but after 10 or so, it gets quieter somehow, so i can hear (and perform) better, and people get more appreciative, and that's the part I'm there for.  I guess I essentially suffer through the first half to filter down to an audience that wants to be there, so I can play the second half.

Anyway, I had several new songs to play, including the love duet from "Tangled", which works really well with my guitar style and voice, and goes over really well with the kids and teens.  It's essentially this half-generation's version of "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin", which I've been playing quite successfully for a while, so I'm sure this one will also become a staple of the act.

I also learned Justin Bieber's "Baby", because the mallrat tweens ask for it almost every week.  I'd'a thought that they'd neither expect nor want me to play the current teeny bop heart-throb's songs, but apparently they do, so I caved.  There's a lot of distain for poor little Justin out there, and I don't know about any of his other songs, but "Baby" is actually a pretty well crafted pop tune.

I ended up playing it 3 or 4 times -- though naturally, no kids came up and asked for it this time.  But just to give it a try-out, I mentioned it to some older teen girls, expecting them to totally reject the notion, but they jumped and squealed instead, every time.  (Their respective boyfriends, however, gave the expected disgusted reaction (which I ignored, of course).).  Daleen was there with the dogs again, and can attest to the huge reaction I got for it, so I may be embarrassed by it, but I guess it stays in.

Somebody out there musta liked me, with or without the Biebster, 'cuz I made $171.  And a couple of people musta *really* liked me, 'cuz there were 4 twenty-dollar bills, despite there only being one CD sold.  Usually I assume any twenties in the jar are generous people buying CDs, but if they didn't even take a CD for it, those are some *really* generous people.

Just before 1:00am, I decided that enough was enough and called it quits, despite still having at least a dozen enthralled listeners.  But I had just gotten several urgent calls from Daleen about taking Geneva in to Emergency because of a (come to find out) bad appendix (not that I could, or needed to, do anything about it), plus I was starving, so I reluctantly shut down.

As I was packing up, a guy walked by and said, "You have a nice voice."  I replied, like I always do, "Thanks, I got it from my dad."

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 02Jul2011

OK, that turned out to be a pretty bad idea.  I guess it at least breaks up the monotonous streak of "great" gigs at Spectrum...

With the booking lady limiting the number of "prime" gigs I can get per month, I decided to give the Saturday afternoon shift a try, as opposed to having nothing at all.  I probably should have noticed that I was signing up to play in the blazing sun in early July, but it was my only option, working around other stuff and against what was available.

Anyway, as you can imagine, it was hot.  Really hot.  And I'm right out in the middle of the plaza, where there's no shade.  Luckily, and amazingly, they had bought out a white canvas sun umbrella, so I thought it might be OK.  Nope.  The canvas creates shade, but it was only barely taller than me, and the canvas itself was getting hot and radiating heat onto my head.  At least the rest of me (and my guitar) was in the shade.

But the whole time, my voice was scratchy, and I couldn't seem to get enough breath to sing a whole line.  I've never encountered this before -- is it hard to breathe hot air?

Of course, I kept trying anyway.  I actually managed to capture a few people who were loyal or tough enough to brave the heat for a while.  My best audience was a pair of 5-year-old girls who were playing in the fountain behind me and impervious to the heat as only little kids are.  One was a big Ariel fan, and the other was partial to the new Rapunzel.  I played my "Toy Story" song, and the one from "Aladdin", and they decided that I must know every song, ever.  Flattering, but not *quite* true.

The Ariel fan wanted the song from "The Little Mermaid", which I kind of learned once, but it's far too "girl-singer" so I don't to it.  I did play the beginning of it, but couldn't remember much.  So then the other one wanted a song from "Tangled", none of which I know, yet.  They seemed to be genuinely mystified that I couldn't (wouldn't?) play the songs they wanted, but we compromised with the Winnie the Pooh song, and some Chuck Berry so they could run around, "dancing".

But it was a terrific (if inadvertent) suggestion, so I dug up and am learning the love-song duet from "Tangled".  It's really pretty, and actually played on a guitar until it gets swallowed up by the orchestra after the second or third bar.  Since the movie is out on DVD now, all little kids will have it well memorized by now, so it's sure to be a hit next Saturday (evening!)

Since I wasn't getting any response anyway, I got the chance to try out some other new songs I've been working on.  I've been learning Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now", which has been really tricky, 'cuz I'm letting the harmony box take the high (girl) melody, while I have to sing the lower harmony, hitting just the right notes to make it hit its notes right.  It's been a brain teaser, but I guess I've got it down finally, 'cuz I managed to get it all right.

And just an hour before I left for the gig, Geneva came in and suggested that I learn "Mad World" -- a hit from the 80's for "Tears for Fears", recently revived as a slow ballad.  I fired up the YouTube videos, found it to be pretty trivial to play, and quickly worked up a song sheet for it.  I tried it out when nobody was listening anyway, and it's do-able, but a slow moody downer -- more of which I need on my list like a hole in the head.  It might be usable in a quieter, mellower setting, but it was pretty out of place in the harsh light of day.

After a while, I was pretty wiped out, and found myself watching the clock wind down to 4:00.  It was getting a little cooler, and people were starting to show up, so it was probably about to get at least a little better, but I'd had enough.  I played my last song and signed off, and as I was starting to tear down, a guy from the next band showed up with some equipment, and said, "Take your time -- we don't start until six."  Wait, 'six'?!?  Oh, right, I'm actually supposed to play until *five*!  Whoops -- but too late now...

Since it was pretty empty, I only made $44, which would have only been $24, except for the guy who came up after my last song, "Let It Be", and asked if that song was on any of the CDs.  It is, and he asked how much they were, to which I gave my usual "However much you want to put in the jar" line, and he left a twenty!  He really must have liked my rendition!

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 26Jun2011

So an hour after the end of the Foothill gig, I was supposed to be playing at Spectrum, but I didn't quite make it -- started about 20 minutes late, but who's counting?  I thought that playing 7 hours in a single day was gonna kill me, but it wasn't really bad at all, except that in the last hour or so, my finger muscles were so fatigued that they just weren't quite doing what I told them to do, so my playing got really sloppy.

I swore to myself that I'd quit at straight-up 8:00, no matter what, just to minimize the expected knee, back, finger, and voice damage, but at 7:50, my brother and his wife strolled in.  And, naturally, there were other people really listening by then too, so I kept going, even after my brother left, all the way to 9:35.  But frankly, I wasn't really doing anybody any favors butchering songs will my only-half-functional fingers.  And to make it worse, I (stupidly) started choosing obscure (and unrehearsed) songs to play for my brother, which I did even worse on.  I particularly botched "Copperline", by far my worst-ever performance of that one.  The very-cool guitar part has a particular clever srummy pattern and feel, and my almost-dead hands just wouldn't get into it.  Oh well -- I guess I can do about 7 hours, but not 8.  Good to know.

But overall, it went quite well. Daleen and Acacia came by and had dinner in the food court behind me. Lots of people were listening, and asking for songs, and buying CDs. A very cute little girl and her barely-mobile baby sister came and danced and danced. Sometimes it just kills me that I'm too busy to bust out a video camera and capture some of this stuff...

But the weirdest thing was the girl, looking, made-up, and dressed like a Playboy Bunny, who teetered up (with the requisite toy dog on a leash) and gushed "I'm a singer, too!". I was unable to make any comment on this revelation, since I was in the middle of a song at the time, and she was immediately distracted by a little girl who rushed over to ask if she could pet the dog. The dog wasn't hers, but belonged to her friend, but, yes, you can pet it. Then the friend came over, and the "singer" noticed my business cards, grabbed one and told her friend, "I'll email him", and off they went.  All within one song, so I didn't get to say a word...

She did email me -- a gloriously grammar-, punctuation-, spelling-, and capitalization-free message, telling me that she's looking for a guitarist, 'cuz, as noted previously, she's a singer!  I replied, as politely as I could, that I already have a singer in my "band", (me), and I'm pretty well booked up with the band in its current configuration. But, if she had some gigs lined up and wanted to hire me to be *her* band, I might have time for that.

Who knows? She might be a terrific singer, and with her looks, she might be able to get big-time gigs somewhere, though it's hard to imagine that she's looking to sing a bunch of James Taylor tunes.  So, I have a feeling that this'll go exactly where you'd expect -- nowhere. Which is pretty much all right with me.

I made $115, which, along with the $36 in tips and $100 in actual "pay" from Foothill makes just over $250 for the day, which feels pretty good to the unemployed boy. Not that it's a living...

Keith at Foothill Towne Center -- Sun, 26Jun2011

I was sitting at lunch with the guys on Thursday, and we were talking about where I'd been playing lately, and my cell phone rang, which it very seldom does.  It was the lady who books the Foothill Towne ("You can tell we're classy 'cuz we spell it with an 'e'") Center Food Court.  The girl singer that I met there and got the booking info from had had to cancel, and inexplicably suggested that they call me.  I already had a gig at Spectrum that evening, but for the $100 paycheck?  Absolutely, I'm available.

The Foothill gig is from noon to 3, and the Spectrum one is 4-8, so I could theoretically do both, but could my (in ascending order) knees, back, fingers, and voice handle it?  Only one way to find out...

It went pretty much the same as last time -- mostly empty when I get there, then the church people come in and ignore me, then later on the regular people come in and are quite nice.  One nice girl marched right up and said, "Play 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'", which isn't on The List (which she hadn't looked at), but I do have a sheet for it in The Book.  It's not on The List 'cuz it's just a bit too high for me, so I don't think i do it justice, but I was singing inexplicably high and clear, so I just said, "OK", and fired it up.  Except for a few mistakes from lack of recent practice on it, it went *really* well -- I was hitting the high notes like some kind of pop music singer.  It was delightful.  Or maybe it was just the incredible natural reverb in that place, making me *think* I sounded great -- like singing in the shower.

A guy came in and brought his lunch right to the table in front of me and asked for a bunch of Cat Stevens songs, and a dapper gent and his wife listened well past finishing theirs.  At some point, after "Wild World", he came up to look at The List, but also came up and said, "Cat Stevens ain't gait *nothing* on you!".  And when they finally did get up to leave, he came up, stood at attention in front of me, and gave me a long formal salute.  Odd, but nice.

On top of the $100 they'll pay me, I made $36 in tips, which is not bad for a Food Court.  The booking lady told me that they're already booked through the end of August, but she's got me down (and owes me a favor?) as wanting another gig sometime in September.  And hopefully, she'll think of me for any other cancellations she gets.

But for this one, fortunately, by 3:00 it was almost empty, except for a few new "fans". Sorry guys, I gotta pack up and get to another gig...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 24Jun2011

Yet another great night at Spectrum. Lots of little kids (and their families) right at first, since today was the opening day of "Cars 2".  And Daleen and a couple of her dog-therapy friends came by with various dogs in tow, and Acacia with one of her friends.  That's always nice.

I've been working up "The Only Exception" by Paramour, and it's starting to sound pretty good.  I can't sing it in the same key as the female original, so I had to work up a guitar part that retains the original "carried-through" descant note to make sure it had "That Sound".  The "How to play it" videos and tabs on the Internet don't get it, but I do.

Later on, there was a cute 2-year-old girl named Jamie (one of my favorite names for a girl) who just immediately became my best friend, asking me for "Twinkle Twinkle", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "another one" again and again, all in her completely unintelligible babble language.  I had to get her mom to translate, 'cuz I just don't speak 2-year-old anymore.  But she was very sweet, and too cute.

I've been specifically setting up with the cables laid away from the front edge of the stage, just so I can go sit down on the edge and talk to the little ones if the opportunity came up, which it hadn't until now.  I let her strum across the guitar a few times, which visibly thrilled her (and, in turn, me).

And I'm really beginning to like doing "House at Pooh Corner" these days.  My voice has been cooperatively high lately, and the high notes that used to be unattractively strained come out nice and clear now.  That, plus the addition of the harmony box, is making this one sound really good to me.

I made $76, and 14 CDs were missing.  That's some kind of record, and either flattering or disturbing, depending if you want to believe that they were all paid for, or if this is the first case of someone snagging CDs while my attention was diverted.  I can keep a half-eye on the table while I'm singing, but I can't claim to have round-the-clock surveillance.  On the other hand, if this is the first time I've been taken advantage of, I'm probably OK.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 18Jun2011

Another terrific night -- no wonder all the bands are vying for dates at Spectrum, here in the Spring/Summer, especially Saturdays.

These days, people see me setting up and sit down to wait for me to start up! It's a good thing that I'm getting much faster at setting up the stuff, what with all the practice. So I had people listening the whole time, start to finish (at, again, 11pm), sometimes *lots* of people. They were generous people, too -- I made $138.

The same pack of kids that parked in front of me the night before were there again, parked in the same spot. I guess they like me, even though they mostly ignore me.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 17Jun2011

A really great night -- terrific weather, and lots of people out enjoying it, and me.  I had lots of people listening the whole time, and I ended up running an hour over, and only quit then because I knew I needed to save some strength for the next night.  (This was a "pick-up" gig that I got because someone else cancelled -- I don't normally book two Spectrum gigs in a row (nor do they let me, anyway).)

They've installed a new stage; a nice, solid, professional one.  It's a little less rickety, but the surface is hard plastic, instead of carpet, so my harmony box slides around easier.  That's sometimes a good thing, and sometimes a problem, but I'll get used to it.

The highlight was when five women came out of the movies and stopped by on their apparent "Ladies' Night Out".  Clearly my Target Market. They loved my stuff, danced, requested, laughed at my jokes, and generally were out for a good time. I need more like that.

And there was a pack of 8 or 10 high-school kids that listened for a while, requested a few songs, and then just sat down in a bunch right out in front of me.  They weren't really even paying attention to me after a while, so I wonder why they'd want to sit in such a noisy area, but who can tell with kids?

I did pretty good for a Friday -- $82 in tips. But more importantly, it was a great night, all the way through.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 12Jun2011

Pretty slow at first, but got good towards the end. I wish I could figure out how to have the final hour of a gig last for the whole four...

I had come by the night before, just to see who was playing, and the guy there did a several Original tunes (to zero response), and then did "The Only Exception", which visibly drew in a batch of teenage girls. I've been meaning to learn it, so I worked it out Sunday morning, but I've only heard it a few times, so I'm a little shaky on the tune and how it fits to the chords. I did OK the first time through, but by the time I did it again later, I had completely forgotten how the bridge part goes, and just stumbled through it. Ouch. Good thing nobody was listening... I've been working on it some more, and I think I have it down for next time, though. Hopefully.

There was a guy there with a box of something that he'd bought (dishes maybe?), looking kind of frantic, apparently waiting for someone who wasn't coming. He finally came up and asked if he could use my cell phone, 'cuz his was dead. Really?!? Out of all the people here, you decide the guy up on the stage is the one to ask for a favor? But, whatever -- I let him use my phone. Twice. All part of the service, I guess.

And I had a family show up with a tiny little girl, couldn't have been more than two, who apparently knows the entire Disney music catalog already. Usually at her age, they only know "Twinkle, Twinkle", but she lit up with recognition for all the Disney songs I had. I was impressed.

Not a lot of response for most of the time, but there was a while around 6:30 where a bunch of people were hanging out and actually competing for Request turns. And despite the apparent apathy, I made $98, including one attached to a pipe-cleaner "dog?".

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 10Jun2011

Whoops.  I seem to have run a little long again.  The "shift" is supposed to be from 6-10pm, and I usually run over, but this time it got all quiet and mellow, and there were lots of friendly people listening, so I kept on playing.  But after a while, I was getting pretty hungry, and I figured it must be getting pretty close to 11, so I checked the clock, and it was *midnight*!  Six hours straight with no break -- no wonder my fingertips were starting to hurt and my voice was getting scratchy...

But actually, I'd had a short break at 6:30.  A lady came up and told me that they had scheduled a Flash Mob there, and could I stop playing for the length of their song.  I said, of course, and offered to help with the sound system.  They'd expected to be able to hear their dance number ("Dynamite") through a bookshelf iPod boombox.  Noobs.  "It's pretty loud", the guy said, but, no way --  they'd have been completely screwed if I hadn't been there.  We stuck my mic in front of his boombox, and were able to fill the place.

After that, I had the usual rush of little dancing kids for a while, and Daleen and Acacia came by with the dogs (and "guest dog" Macy) just at the right time, so my little dancing crowd of kids got to meet them, too.  And two of my Indian Princess dad friends showed up.  That's always fun.

It was a little like last time -- appreciative people, tip-wise, but not much clapping.  On the other hand, several people came up and told me outright that I was "terrific", "really good", etc., and I sold 3 CDs.  I guess it really is just the layout/distance that makes applause difficult at this place.

I guess it's officially Summer, 'cuz there were lots of people out, even on a Friday.  I made $177 -- pretty close to a record, and certainly the best Friday ever.  Can't wait to see how it is on a Saturday!  Next week!

But wait!  I'm also playing there this Sunday afternoon! I wonder if my feet, back, fingers, and voice can handle it.  Maybe I'll try to keep it down to just 4 hours...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 22May2011

The last Sunday I played here was pretty dead, so I wasn't expecting much.  And it was kinda weird - people were hanging around and listening, but there was hardly any clapping all night.  It was like there was a sign up or something.  I can see them mistaking a Borders for a library, but not the big open plaza at Spectrum...

There were lots of people out, so I had someone to play to most of the night, albeit totally silent someones.  I managed to get a few brave souls to come up and request some songs, and in the middle I had the now-standard Kid Party, with 6 or 8 kids dancing away.  Had one little boy ask if I knew "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee", and when I said I didn't, he proceeded to "teach it to me" - and all of the several verses, too, if he hadn't been mercifully pre-empted by his mom.

Despite there being a lot of people around, the sound was strangely clear -- I could hear myself almost as well as at an indoor gig.  Maybe I was just turned up louder than usual, though I wasn't having any feedback problems, either.  Anyway, it was great fun to play and sing with the clarity, so I felt like I was doing really well.

Although the audience was so oddly quiet, I came home with $83 in the jar, quite a bit more than the last Sunday I played here.  And I didn't get that "I should start later" feeling that I had last time, either.  In fact, it occurred to me that, although the stores close at 8 on Sunday (and the "shift" is theoretically over), the best audiences I've gotten on Saturday nights come after the movies let out, so I thought I might try to hang in there until 9 or so.  But my last "customers" left at 8:40, it didn't really look like another wave was forthcoming, and I was starving, so I packed it in.

Keith at Foothill Towne Center -- Sun, 15May2011

My first regular (as in (hopefully) recurring) paying gig! This place is where we usually go to the movies, so I'd seen people playing at the food court there many times, and felt sorry for them 'cuz it looked pretty awful -- lots of being ignored and kids playing tag around the tables. My only guess as to why there were people there at all was that they were being paid. Turns out I was right, and managed to track down the lady that books the acts, and emailed her to see what it takes to get on the roster.

Amazingly, she did what no one has done before, and just listened to the videos and MP3s on my website -- usually you have to send in a CD and a bunch of "bio"-type stuff. But she went for the "virtual audition", and surprised me by emailing back that I sounded good and asked what I charge for 3 hours! I told her that I didn't really have a fixed rate, gave her the old "it depends on the venue" line, and asked what they usually pay. She said between $75 and $100, I said I'd be happy to do it for the hundie, and she offered me a date.

The place is an open patio, but with a solid roof. There are several restaurants -- pizza, tacos, Chinese, ice cream -- and lots of tables and chairs in the shared patio. But the only non-food thing nearby is the multiplex, so it's not really a hang-out like Spectrum. I didn't expect many people...

I set up on one edge, where I had found some power outlets in the bushes. Looking at the pictures, that may have been a bad choice, since I was radically back-lit, so probably hard to look at. Guess I'll have to figure something else out next time.

Worse, it turns out that the place is one big reverb chamber. With the reverb that my rig adds already, it was way way too much -- that first song was crazy-sounding. So I turned off the artificial reverb and let the place handle it -- it was probably still too much, but sounded pretty cool.

The whole first hour was entirely people who had clearly just come from the nearby Mega Church -- you don't see ladies in dresses on a Sunday otherwise. Just a guess, but I think what He Would Do is give the struggling musician a break and clap a little at the end of the songs. Just sayin'...

There was also a big birthday party over at the side for a 4 or 5 year old Japanese kid, apparently all expat families. That was pretty noisy, but my Spectrum experience has taught me how to ignore that kind of thing.

For the last hour or so, my brother and his wife were there, and a super friendly couple who sat down right in front and kept me supplied with requests. The lady was wearing a name tag that said "Judy-something, Practitioner". I'm not sure what that is, since I've only ever heard it followed by "of the Black Arts", and she didn't look like a witch to me.

The highlight for me was when the guy asked me to play "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". That song pushes my skills and concentration to their limits -- what with the three different guitar styles, two languages, and elaborate harmony box button dance needed. By the time I was done, I was so adrenalined-up that I could hardly play the next-requested quiet song. But Judy liked me so much that she's hunted me down on Facebook and is hooking me up with another musician friend of hers who plays at Downtown Disney, and she thinks might be able to get me the info on how to get booked there. I'm not holding my breath, but wouldn't *that* be cool?!?

The first half of the show, with nobody clapping or paying any attention, led me to believe that I'd end up with an empty tip jar, but I just kept on smilin' and playin' 'cuz I was "gettin' *paid*, son!" But after the church people left and the normal lunch crowd showed up, people were more demonstrative and I ended up with $37 (including two origami "bow tie bucks"). That plus the $100 is not too shabby at all.