Keith at Laguna Beach -- 25Sept2012

Warren meant to meet me down there, but he was detained by a sudden work emergency, so I was solo. There was, of course, almost nobody out anyway, especially early on, except some locals zooming by. But hey, once the stuff's all set up, it's fun to just play.

The dilemma, when nobody's listening, is whether to play instantly-recognizable stuff to try to drag in the passers-by, or whether to just have fun playing new and/or obscure stuff for my own entertainment. I chose the latter, for a while, but when more people started to appear (after dinner, I guess), I started playing my more popular stuff.

The last hour or so was actually pretty great -- I had one *very* appreciative guy (who left a $10), and a nice couple of ladies who clearly had somewhere else to get to, but who I detained by playing some of their favorites. They even bought a CD. And I had a lady come up and tell me that it was her 31st anniversary, and could I play "their song", which was James Taylor's "Up on the Roof", which I do happen to know, so that was pretty sweet. I followed it with some more love songs and they stayed and cuddled for a while.

Had a few odd requests: One guy asked me if I knew the theme from "Love Story" ("Where do I begin, to tell the story..."), which, yeah no. Another lady asked me if I knew "that song from 'Ghost'", which is "Unchained Melody". I've looked into that song, actually, and considered it, though it's so "showy" that I'm afraid that I'll never have the chutzpah to do it in public -- kind of like "Bridge Over Troubled Waters", which I have in the book, but seldom perform. And a little foreign dude asked for "Moonshadow" (which I've poked at, but is hard for me because of the odd guitar style), but he settled for "Wild World".

I was surprised to find $50 in the jar, most of which had to have appeared in that last hour. Now that there's nobody else trying to play down there, I'm thinking that I could still "get" The Corner and do almost as well, audience-wise, even if I show up at 7 or 7:30, and just play that "sweet spot".

K&W at Laguna Beach -- 18Sept2012

I keep thinking that the traffic down in Laguna will be so thin that it won't be worth going down there, eventually. But we had fun last week, so I agreed to go again. And it was pretty desolate, but that gave us the chance to play some of the fun but obscure ones, and try out some new stuff that's not ready for an audience yet. So that was fun.

And some people do come by, and I noticed a couple of fivers getting dropped in the jar, so I figured it was at least gonna pay back the gas and parking meter money...

I noticed this tall lady watching from across the street with her teen-age daughter. She kind of smiled and waved at the end of the song, and walked on. Later on, they were on our side of the street, but up the sidewalk a ways. And later still, they finally came over, and I pulled out my most popular tune, "Over the Rainbow". They clearly loved it, and it was an inadvertent bull's eye 'cuz the mom told us that the daughter had sung that song in a fifth-grade talent show. And the daughter said that she hears that song a lot in the Hawaiian BBQ place where she works. The mom wanted to take a picture of us with the daughter, which we did, and she wanted to know our names, and shook our hands and left something in the jar before leaving. Sweet.

We played some more, and I decided that I was warmed up enough to chance "Piano Man" again, and it went quite well this time. I'm not sure anybody could hear the low notes, but I was at least not screaming on the high ones.

Around 8:30 there was nobody left in sight except the homeless guys, so I decided to break off "early" (only 3.5 hours) for once. Counting the tips on site so I could split the take with Warren, I found 4 ones, 4 fives, and - What the heck?!? - a *fifty*, right there on top. I'm pretty sure it was from that tall lady, and I guess that makes us professional photography models, 'cuz it surely couldn't have been for that one song...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 14Sept2012

For some reason, they put the stage up at the opposite end of the fountain. It didn't make much difference, except a change of scenery for me as I stood there staring at Oakley instead of Old Navy. But the cool part was when the maintenance guys came to turn the fountain down, they opened up a trapdoor right there in the sidewalk, and went down a ladder to the tunnels that are apparently beneath the whole shopping center. The fountain's "volume" is definitely not on a timer, but the fact that the valve is underground explains why it comes up at random, whether I'm playing or not -- they just don't know what's happening up above. So they turn it back up to full volume when they assume I must be done, and shut it off at 11 before they go home.

Anyway, it went pretty well for the hottest Friday on record. I didn't expect anybody to come out in such heat, but it wasn't really that bad after the sun went down, and there were plenty of people. I had several little kids, but never enough at once to get a dance party started. One cute little girl who stayed a long time, and dragged her mom back later on for seconds, had only one dance step -- straight up and down pogo bouncing -- for any and every song.

I sold lots of CDs at the new fixed $5 price (for a total of $127 in the jar), and managed to give out some bubbles and lights. I even got rid of one of the not-coveted white fingerlights by giving it to a kid in a play SWAT outfit, and telling him that this would help him fight crime. He proceeded to thoroughly investigate the various planter boxes, turning up nothing suspicious, so I guess we can all sleep soundly.

K&W at Laguna Beach -- 11Sept2012

Last Tuesday went better than expected, despite the end of Summer, so I figured I'd give it another try. It was pretty dead, but fun anyway, due to the eventual arrival of Silly Patty, who is about my age, and therefore loves all the same songs as I do, and appreciates my versions of them. And it only takes one appreciative listener to bring out the best in me, which brings in other people as they pass, too.

People sometimes ask me to play some Billy Joel, or specifically for "Piano Man", which is the same thing. I usually say, "Does this *look* like a piano?!?", but mainly I don't play it because I've tried before, and it's really hard to sing, due to the incredibly wide range it requires (because half of it is sung quite low, and the rest is up a whole octave from there).

But my voice is getting stronger and higher after all this exercise it's getting, so I took another stab at it, and found a way to play it on guitar that works for me, and transposed it to center on my presumed "well warmed-up" range. I meant to try it out on Saturday, but I put it off over and over until I just never got to it. This time I just made myself play it, and, well, I definitely played it. The low parts were definitely low, but maybe the mic helped pick up those notes. And I was able to sing the high parts, but I sure felt like I was screaming more than singing.

But, during the song, several people stopped in their tracks to listen. I'm just not sure if they stopped because it was great, or because it was a train wreck...

Keith at Laguna Beach -- 08Sept2012

I don't normally get to do a Saturday night at Laguna because Jim & Warren have a "standing date" there, but they weren't going to be there this time, so I decided I ought to do it in their stead, even though I've been playing way too much lately.

I was halfway set up when my new nemesis, Bluegrass Boy, came up and asked me if I was just setting up, or tearing down. I told him I was setting up, so he and his bass playing sidekick went on across the street to the opposite corner.

I should have just relinquished the main corner and asked when he'd be done (and I will, if this happens again), 'cuz as long as he's playing that terrific, novel, happy, catchy, bluegrass stuff, I'm chopped liver. We both started at 5:00, and by the time he quit at 8:30, I'd played to an empty corner half of the time, and made like, six bucks in tips.

Fortunately, I'm just plain tougher than he is (or his tip jar couldn't hold no more), and in the hour and a half more that I played, without the competition, my tips-per-minute skyrocketed for a total of $53 for the night. Of course, my stuff works better later in the evening anyway, when people are winding down, but I have to get there early to secure The Corner.

Anyway, I did have some fun. A local family that I'd seen before (and whose 3 girls love me) came by again, and this time it was dark enough that I gave them fingerlights (instead of the bubbles last time). They're pretty crazy kids, bouncing around the area, tripping people with their unpredictable movements.

After a while, another family showed up, and I had the older crazy girl take some lights over to their two glum-looking kids. The little boy perked up and ran around "beaming" stuff, and then suddenly just took the river rock that I use as a paperweight for the song sheets, sitting on the cover of the concrete trashcan next to me. His dad yelled at him, and he just dropped it there in the middle of the sidewalk. (I'm, of course, in the middle of a song, and can't do anything but watch. But I really never *have* to do anything -- the parents (almost) always take care of whatever their kids are up to.) The dad (quietly) yells some more at the kid to "put that back", and the kid finally picks it up, brings it back to the trashcan, and throws it in!

Dad flips out, jumps up and grabs the kid, who commences screaming, and off they go, with Mom and Sister chasing after. I spend the rest of the night wincing every time anyone throws something away, knowing that my favorite rock is getting more and more buried. But at the end of the night, I opened up the can to find that the rock had landed right in an ice cream cup, and was easily fished out, if drenched in melted vanilla.

Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- 07Sept2012

It was awful hot, and I was pretty tired from playing the night before, but they had brought out an Easy-Up for shade, so it was OK.

Since school has started, mostly what I got was housewives with under-school age kids in strollers -- which is pretty much my core target audience, so that worked out fine. I'm sure the people behind me were wondering why I was playing "Twinkle Twinkle" so much, though.

The layout is such that I'm near the outside of the Market area, playing outwards at some tables that they set up so people can sit and have lunch. Last time, I turned one of the speakers around backwards, so I might be heard back in the booth area. Unfortunately, to be loud enough to be heard throughout the place, the bakery booth that's right behind me gets it pretty loud, and the younger guy kept coming over and spinning the speaker back around.

So this time I spun the *other* speaker around, so it wasn't pointing directly into the bakery booth. That apparently worked, 'cuz even though I was pretty loud (especially after some other booth people came over and flatteringly asked me to turn it *up*), the older bakery guy came over near the end of the day, handed me a grocery bag full of yummy bread, and said, "Thank you for bringing back such good memories!" in his thick German accent.

Which was doubly nice since I had had breakfast at 6:00 so by the 1:00 stop time, I was starving and wolfed into a big chunk of the Apple Cinnamon Bread.

Keith at Laguna Beach Art Walk -- 06Sept2012

Since I'd had such a terrible night at the last Art Walk, playing on the street (but not The Corner), I decided to go back to Susie's "Twig" shop this time. We both figured it was going to be slow, since all the tourists have gone home, and we were right.

But I had a nice quiet night, playing for and talking with Susie, and we did have a few groups of nice locals come by. And I had cleverly brought my "Street Rig", which doesn't sound as good, but is *way* easier to set up and tear down.

I played until 8:30 or so, and gave up, mostly so Susie could go on home. On my way past The Corner, I saw that Jim & Warren were still at it, and an empty parking space presented itself, so I pulled in and walked down to see them. They were almost-inaudibly holding forth, with a lithe dancer-lady squirm-dancing to a beat only she could hear, and perpetually bucket-hatted homeless kid Shane (or is it Shawn?), endangering passers-by with his own brand of flailing stumble- (break?) dancing. Crazy scene.

"Mad Patty" was there, too (though she calls herself "Silly Patty"), and I sat with her for a while, as she told me of her Bad Old Days in New York and Austin. Suddenly Jim had to go home, and Warren invited me to step in, but I had to get up early to take Acacia to the bus stop, and then go play at the Mission Viejo Farmer's Market, so I reluctantly declined and went on home.

K&W at Laguna Beach -- 04Sept2012

Well, it's after Labor Day, school has started, the tourists have all gone home, and Laguna Beach is a ghost town. Mostly. We did have some nice people come by, and local resident "Mad Patty" (as Warren calls her) was there most of the night. She's a sweetie, and fun to play for. She tried all night to get up and leave, but I kept playing songs that she couldn't resist, and kept her there until we all decided we'd had enough at 9:30.

I don't normally take my iPad songbook to Laguna, because I'm right there on the sidewalk and I don't want someone to bump into the music stand and break it, or to have someone just decide to snatch it and run (like the famous Top Hat incident).

So I've been using a printed version, with far fewer songs in it. But now that it's (much) less crowded and crazy, I brought the iPad along, just in case. Which proved prescient, because I was able to play "Billie Jean" for someone (poorly remembered and badly, but whatever), and to satisfy Patty's thirst for Cat Stevens songs with "Sad Lisa" and "Trouble", beyond the two that are in the paper version of the Book.

Tips, at $30, were less than half of the same night last week, but as I keep saying: if I was there for the money, I wouldn't be there.

Keith at Private Party -- 02Sept2012

My brother decided to have a Labor Day "Driveway Party", with me as the musical guest. There were 30 or so of his friends there for his pulled pork sandwiches and peach cobbler, and I set up and played for three hours to a very appreciative audience.

It was outdoors, but in a nice quiet place, so the sound was good. Maybe too good -- I had to set the amp's volume so low that I was almost playing acoustic-only. Which is great, except that it leaves the harmony box out. Apparently, the audience could hear it singing along, but I couldn't, and had to wonder whether or not I'd kicked it on or not. And these days, a lot of my songs rely on that "other guy" being there.

Anyway, it was really great to have an actual audience for once -- people who were there on purpose, listening and responding. I'm up for that, anytime.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 01Sept2012

It was the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, so I didn't know whether to expect lots of people, or none -- but I guess it turned out to be kinda lots. The weather was great -- not hot at the beginning, but not cold at the end either. And a lot of people didn't seem to be in such a hurry, so they stopped to hear some songs.

I had lots of little kids, but none of them seemed to want to dance much -- just hang out and listen, which is OK, too.

Then some teenagers stopped by, and the boy dragged one of the girls out and they started dancing. Amazing, full "routine" dancing like you see on the TV dance shows. Instantly there was a huge crowd circled around them, applauding when they stopped. The kid came up and asked me if I had any songs with some kind of beat, but I didn't know what he meant. I offered my new "calypso" song, "Kiss the Girl", and they danced some more, though I couldn't tell if it was the same routine or a different one. I should have asked them if they went to OCHSA.

The cute part was that, when they quit and left, all the little kids in the crowd came out and started trying to dance like that -- holding hands and pulling each other around.

Later on, I had two or three little kids that had been hanging out for a while, and were dancing a little, and I thought I might get them more involved if I gave them some fingerlights. As soon as I did, more kids appeared from nowhere, then more, and more. I probably gave out 20 lights in 3 minutes, and only stopped because I ran out! But it was worth it, 'cuz all their respective parents also came over, and I suddenly had a huge crowd to play for. I ran through the dance songs, and almost every Kids' Song I know, with a huge crowd of kids playing with their lights out in front of me. Big fun.

My old high school friend Valerie was in town and came by to see me. I gave her my camera to take some pictures, but I was even more glad that she was there to see some of these crazy magic moments.

My sister told me that my "just feed the jar" policy (and sign) for selling CDs would cause her to just not buy one, since she wouldn't want to pay too much, nor too little. With that in mind, as an experiment, I changed the sign to say "just put five bucks in the jar". It seems to have worked, 'cuz the seven "Favorites" CDs sold out right away. And overall, I sold 14 CDs out of the 20 I brought -- presumably at five bucks each, which must have contributed to the $184 total, which beats the old record by 1 dollar. (Of course, technically, I should probably subtract $14 for the CD materials cost, and 5 bucks worth of fingerlights.)

I guess I'll keep the new sign...