Keith in Laguna Beach -- 10Aug2012

I got down there at 5:00, expecting to be early enough to get the main Corner, but there was already a guy I've never seen before playing there. I wanted to hear him play a bit, to see what kind of stuff he was doing, and hear him play the harmonica he had on a rack, but as soon as I walked over he said, "Do you want this spot?" I had to admit that I kind of did, and he immediately put his guitar in the case and took off. Apparently he was ready to quit, sitting there on the bench in the blazing sun, with only 8 or 10 bucks in his case, and just needed an excuse. I was glad to have the Corner, but I did kind of want to hear him play at least one...

And after an hour or two of plugging away myself, I can see why he was ready to quit. There were a lot fewer people out, and hardly any tourists with time to spend. I had one nice lady stand there and listen and sing along for a while, but hardly anyone else.

Until a high-school kid came zooming by with a djembe drum. He pulled up and decided to play along with my stuff, so I tried to find some songs that could use some drum reinforcement.

He stayed and played along for a long time, burning through all my rhythmic songs, and then some. He had some chops and mostly adapted to different kinds of song beats, but he was just never quite on the same beat as I was -- and was quite a bit too loud. And since he didn't know most of my songs, had no awareness nor sensitivity to where there were pauses or slow-downs. It just wasn't working.

I thought that he'd get bored if I just kept playing my mellow stuff, which I was forced to do anyway since I'd run out of fast stuff, but he was persistent. After a while of that, and since I was hungry, I just quit playing, found a snack in my box, and walked away to talk to some of the "regulars". He *still* didn't get the hint, so I gave up and came back to play some more. Mercifully, finally, some of his friends happened by, so I handed him four or five bucks out of my jar, and off he went.

I/we didn't really get anyone listening for the hour or two that he was there, but I don't know if that was because of his playing or not. I didn't really get much response after he left, either...

Until a family got in line for ice cream around 9:00, with the dad holding a little 4-year-old who was clearly fascinated and staring at me as I finished a song. So I fired up "Twinkle Twinkle", and they got all excited and jumped out of line to come closer, and the dad asked for "Over the Rainbow", which I not only know, but is one of my best tunes. Other little girls appeared from nowhere, and within a few minutes I went from playing to nobody to a full-on party with a half-dozen kids, their parents, and other passers-by smiling at the kids having fun.

Unfortunately, it was a really long evening of No Fun, to get to that Really Fun half hour. I only made $35 for the 5 hour shift, and only sold one CD (so apparently my clever sign isn't working). Maybe it's the Olympics on TV, maybe the tourists have all gone home already, or maybe it was that drum-"enhanced" period in the middle of the evening. But it's fun enough when it does work that I'll give it a few more tries before I write it off.