Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 20Dec2013

I used to think that gigs at Christmas time would be really great, and they are fun just 'cuz I get to play all that great Christmas music. But people at Spectrum are actually shopping (!), and in a hurry, and it's cold, so I really don't get to much response (except quickly passing smiles), and I guess folks are already destroying their budgets, so the tips are actually worse.

Not that I'll stop doing them, of course. The kids are cute, and now that I have the Jingle Bell tambourines, I get a lot of audience participation -- as long as I don't mind playing "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph" and "Frosty" ad infinitum. (Fortunately, I don't.)

But I did have some people stop to listen. And at the end, a strange guy who thinks I'm so great that he gets really frustrated that nobody's stopping and/or tipping me. So he jumps around and tries to gesture people in, and basically acts so strange that he scares people away more than brings them in. I appreciate his enthusiasm, but that kind of help I don't need...

Keith at Jolly Trolley -- 13&14Dec2013

I got volunteered to play for the reception (i.e., waiting room party) for the busses that take people around to look at the Mission Viejo Christmas Lights winners. I did it last year and the year before, so they just kind of expect me now. Made the papers, though...

And it's pretty fun. They have fire rings set up and let the kids roast marshmallows, but mostly it's older people so I get to sing the old sentimental ones, unlike the Santa line gigs where it's almost all "Jingle Bells", "Frosty", and "Rudolph".

But it's a little tough to get anything going. The receptions are from 5 to 6 when the first bus leaves, and then 7 to 8 when the second one does. I start playing when the first people wander in, but it's weird to play directly to just one couple, so I start off quiet. Then more people wander in, and just walk past me, and after a while there are lots of people, but there was no "start up", so it's hard to stop being Background Music and become Entertainment.

So the first three were kind of boring, so when a little girl walked by me on her way to get more cookies during the fourth one, I snagged her in to play some jingle bells, and so her little brother had to come over too, which brought their parents, of course. And then other kids saw something happening, and it turned into Big Fun all around.

You'd think that after 12 years of doing this, I'd learn that the passive approach just doesn't cut it. I'm just still too shy, I guess.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 07Dec2013

The parking lot was jammed when I got there, so I was expecting lots of people, but they must have been in the stores. But the people I did see were lots of families, so I played "Jingle Bells" a *lot*.

But apparently it was Weird Tip Night. There was a girl walking around selling roses, like you see in fancy restaurants sometimes. After a while, she came by and laid one on the stage. First rose tip I've ever gotten.

And later on, a guy came over and asked me to play Happy Birthday for his friend -- but not yet, she's on her way. So I eventually got the cue, and played it, no problem. Candles out, cake being cut, my job is done. But then after a while, he came over and laid a piece of cake on my table. I can't really eat while I'm playing of course, but at the end I tried it and it was an amazing chocolate thing from the Cheesecake Factory. Non-trivial to bring home, but worth it. First cake tip, too.

I was playing "Little Drummer Boy", and this guy was just staring at me. At the end he was very enthusiastic, and came over to the table and pulled out a Sharpie (he carries around his own Sharpie?!?), and announced that he was going to autograph a few of my CDs. Um, really? I thought *I* was supposed to autograph 'em. But off he went, and scribbled on one of each of the three of them, along with Bible verse notations.

I didn't catch his name, and his signature is illegible, but from what I could catch of what he was telling me and some Googling, he's some hyper-Christian football player who's played all over but considers himself a "49-er", despite not actually being on the team anymore. I guess he thought he was giving me some valuable items in those autographs, but I'm not sure how to cash them in. I can't really eBay some "CD cases with some probably-semi-famous guy's autograph on 'em". He said he was granting me this boon because I was "playing the Lord's music". Really? "Drummer Boy"?!? Well OK, I suppose Jesus is in there as a supporting character...

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 4, 8, 11, 18, 21, 22 Dec2013

I don't usually combine gigs into one blog post, but I had so many of these, so close together, that I just didn't have time to write 'em up individually. Not to mention that they all blur together in my head.

I emailed the lady in charge just before the first one to remind her to remind whoever was going to be setting up the line ropes to put 'em in the right place. And as expected, they didn't. But the guy was willing to push the 50 earlybirds out or line and re-route the ropes for me while I set up the equipment, so it worked out OK.

I almost always had little kids come up and start talking to me even before I was set up. They were ready to go way before I was. My biggest fan on that first night was Lilybelle, who made lots of cutely but entirely unintelligible song requests due to her spectacularly random assortment of in, out, and half-back teeth.

I started these gigs with an assortment of toy tambourines, jingle bells, and egg shakers. But the shakers tend to disappear, so I quit that pretty soon, and after a few gigs I realized that the tambourines were way louder or more piercing than the jingle bells, so I discontinued bringing them out, too.

Obviously, I get a lot of kids at this gig, so there's no way I can give away fingerlights to any of them. So I thought of another idea. I bought a bunch of jingle bells and some thin ribbon, and tied them up so the kids can hold the ribbon to "play" them, or put it on their wrist to keep from losing it. Or at least not lose it so soon...

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a way to have them handy except to put them in my pocket, and after fetching out a half-dozen, the rest were a complete tangle. And since the cheapest bells I could find were "assorted colors", I had to hassle of kids wanting to trade the one they'd gotten for a different color, and it just got way out of hand. So that only happened one night.

This year, I made a combined songbook for the iPad that has all my Christmas songs, and also the best of the Kids' song list. Makes it easier to mix it up when I start to run out of kid-friendly Christmas songs. There are really only about 5 that most kids are familiar with. Doesn't seem to bother them, though -- I frequently get loud requests for "Jingle Bells", even when I literally just finished playing it.

Last year a guy come by with his kids and a nice camera and took some great shots of me, and actually emailed me a link to go fetch them. This year, there he was again. See you next year, buddy!

Another repeat visitor was a little girl who told me "I saw you here last year. Last year I was only 5 -- guess how old I am this year!" She reminded me of Geneva at that age, totally confident and bold. She had learned a dance to "Feliz Navidad" at school, and was perfectly willing to do it for me while I played.

Several of the kids know the set of hand motions that go along with "Up On the Housetop", so that's fun. And one little girl did the hula while I played "Mele Kalikimaka".

The only downside to the setup is that, unlike Spectrum, when the kids come up, their parents may be quite a ways away. This allows for some occasional pretty bad behavior that I can't really stop, since my hands and mouth tend to be busy. It's usually the little boys. They tend to decide that the jingle bell tambourines are too quiet, so they bang them on the benches or they get two and bang them together, which ends up breaking them.

One little boy decided to toss a jingle tambourine into the air. Each toss was higher and wilder than the one before it, until he was liable to lose it in a bush, or mow another little kid down in pursuing it. And one little boy decided he needed to get the glow-ball that sits at the bottom of my tip jar, so he was determinedly digging away through the money.

But overall the kids are sweet, and it's so great to get a chance to interact with little kids again. Now that mine are all grown up, I miss it.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 26Nov2013

I had pretty much decided to quit playing Tuesdays until it gets warmer, but it was a nice day, and a pleasant evening, and we got a lot of people to stop and listen for a while. It was a bit early, but I snuck in a few Christmas songs when a family with young kids came by.

I watched as a car pulled into the very closest parking spot. A lady got out, opened the back door, and lifted a very old Samoyed from the back seat. She carried him over to the bench, and sat down with him on her lap, and just sat and listened, and petted him. I grew up with Samoyeds, so I went over between songs and petted him a little. She said he was 14 years old, mostly blind and lame, and she just liked to get him out once in a while -- 'bout to broke my heart. After while, she carried him back to the car and left.

We had a young couple from Brazil come by and buy a CD, and then a nice lady stopped and just kind of adopted us for a while. She asked for several songs, and then asked if I knew any "spiritual" Christmas songs. Not too many, as it turns out, but I do have "Oh, Holy Night" in the book for just such an occasion, I guess. And it's pretty much fun to sing (belt) -- and especially so when I'm warmed up after playing for a few hours.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 23Nov2013

It was pretty cold out, but a gig's a gig. Actually, Spectrum, although technically outdoors, is pretty well sheltered from the wind, and generates a bit of heat on its own, so it wasn't too bad. And, I did have my hat...

The parking lot was pretty full, so I expected a lot of people, but they must have been actually *shopping* 'cuz there weren't many people walking by me. But I had lots of cute kids and a set of teens braving the cold in their best micro-dresses for a birthday party came by for a while.

One little girl in a bear skin vest didn't know much of the rest of it, but she sure knew how to "*WASH* the spider out!"

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 16Nov2013

When Warren got there at 5:00, there was a girl just packing up her guitar. She was kind of a cowgirl, and when we got to talking with her, she claimed that Willie Nelson had stolen *her* style. She had a stick with a few "rings" from a tambourine in it, that she called a "Voodoo Stick", and she stayed for quite a while, playing along with my songs. And pretty well, too -- she had lots of finesse to play along appropriately for various styles, and she didn't speed up or drag the tempos.

Unfortunately, she and her friends jammed up the bench and kept the tourists away, so, although her contribution was nice, I'd'a rather done without it and had some space for a real audience.

But actually, even after they finally left, hardly anybody stopped to hear us anyway. There were plenty of people out -- they just wouldn't stop. Was it something I said? Even Warren noticed, and at one point said, "Tough crowd!"

One guy seemed to like us, though -- he came up and bought a CD, and then left. But about 10 minutes later, he reappeared and bought another one. I guess he figured he has his Christmas shopping all done now.

We had started around 5:00, and by 9:30 I was starting to think that we were wasting our time and might as well go on home. So naturally, people started to show up and hang out. We had finally got a pretty substantial crowd put together, when we heard a loud ruckus approaching. It was a group of Hare Krishnas, or kids playing at it, with drums and bells and singing. They got to the corner and circled the gate pole for a while, apparently oblivious that there was already someone there.

Then they went across the street, but settled into the alcove next to Fingerhut, where they were nicely projected, and so still too loud to play against. That went on for a while, and just when Warren had decided to go over to try to get them to move on, they left. Unfortunately, they went up the street, across, and back down to our corner again. But this time they circled the pole only a few times, and were finally gone.

A very "rock and roll" couple came by: big hair and makeup, leather, jewelry, etc. They were pointing and whispering about the various equipment Warren and I are sportin', but were clearly also enjoying the music. After a while, they even got up to dance. Then they introduced themselves, told me that they were also players, and wondered why we weren't playing someplace "real" -- something I've often wondered myself. The woman took my card, and her husband said "You've got management now!". I wouldn't mind that a bit...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 09Nov2013

Well, we must have been having fun, 'cuz we played from 5 to 10:30. Pretty great night, for "winter". It did get pretty cold later on, and my back gets all tense and really gets to hurting, but I don't much notice it until I stop playing...

Around 9 or so it got pretty slow, so I started playing some songs I don't do very much, one of which was "Still Crazy After All These Years". Just as I was getting to the end of it, a lady came running across the street and said, "Oh, I love that song! Can you play it again and let me sing it?!?" I figured she might as well -- there weren't many people around, so I gave her my mic and we ran through it again. She was pretty good, too.

A nice lady came by with her husband, and she asked for quite a few songs, and I played some stuff that I figured she'd like. I kept her there for a long time, playing songs she couldn't resist. When they finally got up to leave, I fired up "Over the Rainbow", and they turned around and sat back down. After a while, she started crying, which wasn't really my intent... I don't know what significance that song holds for her, but it's nice to get such a strong response, I guess.

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 3 minutes.)

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 08Nov2013

Better turnout than last time I played a Friday here -- must have been the nice weather. Lots of families out so I had several kids parties start up. I've gone by to hear the other acts that play there, and I've never heard any of them play kids' songs in the early evening, and transition to adult songs later on, and then mellow out for the later hours with love songs for dating couples, like I do. Don't know if they're unable or unwilling, or just insensitive to the crowd...

Anyway, I had the three toy tambourines and four egg-shakers all passed out, and I was playing "Mister Postman" which is my go-to kids' dance song, and I realized that nobody was dancing. Apparently, it takes all their bandwidth to just shake the tambourine or shaker, so they stand stock still. But they're having fun, so I guess it's OK.

One guy came by with his little daughter and they know me and must have my CDs. She danced with her beautiful ballet movements while her dad asked for a string of songs, including "Waltzing with Bears" which I never play anymore unless someone asks for it. It just doesn't work unless you're listening to the lyrics, which nobody does at this kind of gig...

Toward the end a fashion-model made-up Chinese lady was listening but too shy to ask for a song until I called her out. She wanted to hear "Your Song" and "Hotel California", though she was much too young to know them from their initial runs. Then her mom came over and the consulted in Chinese about the list for a while and settled on "Imagine", which took a while to decode from their accented pronunciation, but they seemed to really enjoy it.

As I was packing up, a drunk Aussie came over and asked if he could use my mic, as his friends kept walking on. I figured he wanted to say (or sing) Happy Birthday or some such, so I reconnected everything and powered the amp back up, and gave him my head mic. He started "beat boxing" into it, which didn't work with that kind of mic, and got a lot of beer spit all over the little foam ball. Yuck -- thanks, dude.

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 5 minutes.)

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 02Nov2013

The weather was quite nice, so there were lots of people out, and we got a good response just about the whole time we were out there. I sold 2 CDs and we pulled in $86, which is not bad for November...

A nice family stopped on the bench to eat their ice cream, and the two little girls knew all my Disney songs. When they finished their ice cream, I gave 'em some fingerlights -- I always have to wait until they're done so I don't get the parents mad at me for distracting the kids prematurely. Lots of people find it cute when there are kids playing and dancing to the songs, so a bit of a crowd had formed.

When I ran out of Disney songs, I decided to play "Puff, the Magic Dragon", which always goes over pretty well. I started it up, but then realized that (the way I play it, at least), it's pretty lively, and a perfect opportunity for the kids to play along. So I stopped and passed out the three toy tambourines to the three kids that (I *thought*) were tehre, but as I was doing so -- just like when I start giving out fingerlights at Spectrum -- more kids appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, I also had four egg-shakers, so I got those out and passed 'em around and covered most everybody.

By the time I re-started the song, there was a huge crowd gathered, and with all the added percussion, it was quite a song, and quite a scene. Definitely the highlight of the evening -- I'll have to try to remember how I did that...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 4 minutes.)

Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- 02Nov2013

Got a late notice to play the Farmer's Market again, but I'm always happy to do it 'cuz it's a paid gig and it's just down the hill from my house.

Only problem with that is that I don't have my usual amount of time to sing in the car on the way to the gig to warm up my voice. So I got there and started with "Hotel California" as I always do, but then I played my go-to "warmup song", which is (somewhat inexplicably since it's not actually that easy to sing), "Rhythm of the Rain". As I was singing it, an old guy came over and was inspecting the CDs on the table. He came over at the end of the song and asked me "Which one has *that* song?" I had to apologize that, although the "Favorites" CD has 25 songs on it, "Rhythm of the Rain" isn't one of them. He was affable about it, and bought one anyway.

Later on, a little girl in a Tae Kwon Do outfit and her parents came by. I started playing my kids' songs, and another family heard that and came over, and the kids were thrilled to recognize me from Spectrum. I did a bunch of Disney songs and the kids' favorites, and then the mom looked at the list and exclaimed, "Oh! Do 'Rhythm of the Rain'!" That was weird.

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 4 minutes.)

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 29Oct2013

Well this'll probably be my last Tuesday for a while -- it was completely dead. Of course, in a few weeks, we'll cross over Thanksgiving, and it should pick up again as people come down for Christmas shopping. That's my theory, at least...

But since there was nobody there, we got to play a bunch of songs that I never pull up when there's better, or more practiced, songs to play. And I'd learned two (or three) new Simon & Garfunkel songs. The first one was Mrs. Robinson, which I'd learned before, but the guitar part eluded me (and still does, but I'm getting nearer), and it just sounded flat without the vocal harmony. Now with the box, it sounds pretty good.

The second one was "Hazy Shade of Winter", which I've always loved, but again, never sounded right without the harmony. Now it sounds great, and after I discovered adding a "rhythm track" by stomping my foot-tambourine up and down to get a Ching-Chee pattern on the down and upstrokes, it sounds *terrific*. And it's an aerobic workout...

The third one, kinda, is "59th Street Bridge Song", better known as "Feelin' Groovy". It's really easy to play, and the essence of its cheesy time, so it's embarrassing to play, but I thought it might be nice to have "in the quiver" so to speak, in case the right circumstance comes along.

We did have some fun when Mikey the Greeter came by. I'd heard that he's been frequenting the karaoke night at a local bar, and his favorite song to do is "Like a Rolling Stone", with customized Laguna-specific improvisations. So I learned the chords and put it in my Book, and since there was nobody around anyway, it seemed like a perfect chance to let him sing it and see how it went. I put my head mic on him and let him go for it, but he's not very musical, and can't "feel" the gaps between vocal lines without the karaoke monitor showing him his place, so it was a challenge to try to skip forward in the chords to keep up with him.

He had a great time, though, and thanked me profusely for letting him do that.

At the end of the night, we had two dollars in the jar -- one for me and one for Warren. A new record low, obviously. First time the tips didn't even cover the parking meter...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 5 minutes.)

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 26Oct2013

Warren was still on vacation so I went down to see if I could get The Corner and do a solo Saturday. When I got there at 5, though, there was a young girl sitting on the bench, strumming a singing, mostly inaudibly. I stood back and listened to her, but I didn't recognize any of the songs, either because they were her own, or because I'm too old.

I talked to her for a while, and she's just starting out, has done some open mics, but she's "so nervous!". I told her that she sounds great, and besides, being just acoustic here on the street corner, nobody could hear her anyway...

After a while, she said that she wanted to hear me play, so I set up my stuff, and played a few songs. Of course, with my amp, I was about 10 times louder than she had been, so after 3 or 4 songs, I beckoned her to come over, and I strapped my head mic onto her and plugged my guitar interface into her guitar. She was blown away by all the sound, but managed to play a few songs, and people were stopping to listen, too. She finished with "I'm Yours", and I kicked on the harmony box and really blew her mind.

Her parking meter was running out, and I think she was out of songs, too, so she thanked me profusely, and left (I fished the tip money out of my jar that had been put there while she was playing -- it's only fair). I'm actually not sure why I as helping and encouraging her so much -- I don't need to create any more competition for The Corner down there...

After she left, I did quite well -- lots of people came by to listen. I guess all the drunken rowdies were somewhere else, 'cuz I didn't have much trouble with them at all. Except at one point, a probably-drunk tourist came up and stood right in front of me and asked me to play "that song they do in Vegas... 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon'!"

I told him I didn't know it, and he thought of another one, then: "Moon River". I actually learned "Moon River" for the CD I made for my dad, but I don't remember it well enough, and I thought this would just be trouble anyway, so I declined again, and said "How about this one", and started "Hallelujah". He'd apparently never heard it before, but tried to sing along anyway, clumsily sliding notes up and down, trying to keep up. By the end of the song, he'd gotten ahold of some of it, but it was weird to have him singing right into my face from 3 feet away. Thankfully, at the end of that song,his buddy dragged him away.

After he left I said, "Well, that was interesting..." and all the people on the bench laughed.

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 8 minutes.)

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 25Oct2013

Fridays are getting slower and slower at Spectrum. It really felt like the 10:00 hour the whole time. But it was kind of nice to have less of a rush past me -- people were able to go slower and were more likely to stop.

I brought out only the three toy tambourines and four of the new little shaker eggs, and kept all the glow balls and stars on the table so they wouldn't look like toys. This worked *way* better -- nothing broken and I didn't need to divert so much attention to keeping track of everything. And that made enough noisemakers that no little kids were disappointed when the dance parties started up.

I noticed a bit of irony -- when I have a toddler come by, I play "Twinkle Twinkle", and I look directly at the kid so that anyone who's wondering what the heck I'm doing can figure it out by following my gaze. And lots of adults notice the anomalous song and stop to watch the baby. And they smile and smile at how cute this all is, and at the end of the song, such as it is, I get a huge round of applause -- bigger than my "real" songs. But I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed at being unable to compete with the cuteness of babies -- who can?

Late in the night, a Persian couple came by with their little 4 or 5 year old daughter. (What is with Persian families and their disregard for bedtimes?!?) I've seen her before -- she's totally cute, and totally crazy. She grins at me, and tells me stuff that I can't hear and can't decipher, and dances, and hops around, and it's amazingly cute. She grabbed one of the tambourines, and played with it for a while but then noticed that I have one on my foot (the special one that has an elastic strap on it). So she started trying to put the toy one on *her* foot, and ended up flinging it up into the air when she'd kick. Which, of course, was big fun, so she did it again and again...

I'm usually so busy playing that I never even stop to wonder what time it is, but it was so slow that I checked and it was only 8:15. I thought, "Well, this'll be a first -- me going home at the actual 10:00 stop time." But I guess I started having fun after that, and time fly-ed, and when the maintenance guy came for the lights, I checked again and it was 11:00. I just can't help myself...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 6 minutes.)

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 22Oct2013

I went down straight from work and had dinner at the yummy gyro place next to the ice cream shop. Digger was on the corner, but his heart wasn't really in it, and he packed up and left before I was done eating.

It seemed like "Couple's Night" somehow -- we had a couple come by for a while, and as soon as they left, another couple came, and after them, another one. And an older guy came by who was a big James Taylor fan, and asked for several songs, and then asked me if I gave lessons. I turned him down 'cuz (a) I don't have time, and (b) I've tried teaching before, and it's too frustrating.

After the tambourine success/fiasco at Spectrum, I broke down and bought some small "shaker eggs" so I could have lots of them available and not have some kids disappointed. I didn't get any kids this time, but there were some young people and the guy was slapping his knees to the song, so I figured he must be a drummer. So I offered the shakers, and his girlfriend wanted one too. They had a great time, and stayed quite a while, playing with them.

But about 9:00 a bunch of the local drunks showed up and were shouting at each other and being way too boisterous, so I decided that I'd just call it a night. I was hoping that they'd notice that bad behavior just causes us to quit, but they probably didn't...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (3 minutes)

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 20Oct2013

It was a really nice Sunday afternoon (and sunset!), so I went down to play. Not a lot of people out, though, except a nice Muslim family. The matriarch wanted to hear "anything by Cat Stevens". I've seen this before -- I guess now that he's famously and extremely Muslim, they all like to hear music by somebody on the home team. Suits me, I like his stuff.

Unfortunately, around 7:45, the homeless people started to show up. One nice young engaged couple was there (I wish they wouldn't monopolize the whole bench storing their camping gear, though). After a while, a belligerent tough guy appeared, and started facing off with the boyfriend. He must have said something unforgivable about the girlfriend, 'cuz as he walked away, the boyfriend tackled him from behind, slamming him up against the metal box that holds the traffic signal electronics.

I was in the middle of "Hallelujah", and tried to keep going for a while, but as the tourists scattered and some other guys tried to pull the combatants apart, I gave up and decided that the song, and the evening, was over. I packed up to get out of there as fast as possible, but it takes a while, and by the time I was able to roll away, it was all over. I guess I could have resumed, but the corner was now empty, and the magic was kinda gone...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (3 minutes)

Keith at Chino Marketplace -- Saturday, 19Oct2013

Chino is really far away, but it's a paid gig, and it turns out to be a pretty nice place to play. It's not even really a "mall" -- it's what we used to call a "shopping center". Just really a bunch of stores that share a parking lot. And the gig is at the "food court", which isn't even really a "court", it's a linear row of restaurants with outdoor seating in front of them. I set up in the center, looking at the fountain (grrr) and the parking lot behind it, and people come and eat on the tables to the left and right of me, mostly obscured by pillars so I can't see them, and they can't see me.

All that, and there's no foot traffic at all except people coming by to eat. The potential audience is probably 10 or 20 times smaller than at Irvine Spectrum. But, unlike Spectrum, where I'm lucky to skim off a couple percent of the constant tide of people streaming by me, at Chino, almost everyone who comes by wanders over to see and hear me better. I get almost the same number of listeners, from a far smaller number of people, and make almost as much in tips (plus I'm getting paid, not charged, to play).

Lots of people came up from who-knows-how-far-away tables, just to smile or give me a thumbs up, and frequently put some money in the jar. A pair of bicyclists stopped to listen in for a while, and then walked their bikes across the plaza just to tip me. Toward the end, a couple came by and sat down, listened for a while, and then got up to move their chairs 10 feet closer, presumably to hear better and be able to make their requests easier. Nice, nice people out there.

Of course, the downside is my old nemesis, the fountain...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (5 minutes)

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 12Oct2013

Nice weather, nice crowd. Lots of teenagers, and lots of young families. My brother and his wife came by, but their expected group of friends failed to show up.

I'd bought some more of those glowing balls, and some glowing stars, too. I figured that if a few glowing toys across the front of the stage was cool, lots of them would be even better. And they were quite an attraction. It didn't take long before there were lots of kids, rearranging them along the stage, playing with them, and then inevitably running off with them.

I'd also brought the three toy tambourines, and pretty soon I had to try to keep track of 10 different toys as the kids ran around with 'em. I'm not sure I was even playing the songs right, I was so distracted. At least with the tambourines, it's easy to figure out where they went, 'cuz no little kid can possibly hold them still and quiet, song playing or not, but I have too much to worry about already just keeping the songs going -- I can't be trying to monitor all these toys, too.

And to make things worse, a little girl sitting on the front of the stage had the idea of shaking a tambourine with one hand, and adding a drum beat by slamming a glow ball on the stage with the other. Those things are not actually designed to be used as percussion instruments, and as other kids joined in, pretty quick I had three of them broken, with the electronics module broken away from the body, (not to mention the ball lost up under the stage).

So, I've learned my lesson: more toys means more kids, but too many and it just gets completely out of control.

Anyway, around ten o'clock, some high school girls came by and were dancing with each other and boys pulled from other passing clumps of kids, and generally having a great time. They asked me how long I keep playing, and I told them the actual answer: As long as somebody's listening. They were flabbergasted by this, and said, "So if we're still here at midnight, you'll keep playing?!?" Yup, pretty much...

Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (5 minutes)

Keith at Tennis Benefit Social -- Thursday, 10Oct2013

The city of Mission Viejo is holding a Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, and they decided to have a "social" for the sponsors and whoever. The guy running it emailed the Assistant City Manager and asked if he ought to have live music. The Manager replied and said that he ought to get that Keith Comer guy, he's "a one man show, not too loud". Wow. Now *there's* a glowing recommendation! I'm gonna have to put that on my business cards.

I was playing on the patio out in front of the "clubhouse" at the new fancy Tennis Center. There were only about 25 people, even at the peak. But apparently my sound carried out over the 8 tennis courts to my left, 'cuz I'd get little rounds of applause from out there occasionally.

Towards the end of the party, they asked me to take a break so they could do some speeches. I unplugged and sat down to noodle on my guitar until they were ready for me to play some more. Some of the people playing night tennis on the courts were going home and walked past me, telling me how much they liked the music. Two ladies asked me to come back *every* Thursday, because they'd "played the best tennis of our lives" because they were "dancing out there". Who knew?

Click 'Play' if you've got 5 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 08Oct2013

Another very dead Tuesday evening. I think I may have to give up on Tuesdays for a while and maybe give it another try after Thanksgiving when I can play Christmas songs and there may be some people out shopping in the little stores along Forest Avenue.

Neither the German nor Chinese people who had promised on Saturday to come back to see me again actually showed up, of course. Fortunately, I had sweet little aging hippie Robin come by and stay for almost the whole night. She loves my stuff, and unfailingly reminds me that she has my CD at home. I tried to play other songs that I'm working on or that were at least different from what she's heard before, but she eventually complained that she likes "Original Keith" better, meaning, I guess, that she wanted me to play the songs from the CD. I guess James Taylor has that same problem with "Fire and Rain"...

There were two families come by with little girls, so I played some kids' songs and gave out some finger lights. A little while later a man came up and asked me if I "had any more of those". I fished a few out, presumably for his (unseen) kids, and then he asked me "How much are they?" Unclear on the concept. I'm not really there to sell toys, though that might be a thing that would work. Not sure the cops would like the idea, though.

I ended up with 20 bucks in the jar, 10 times less than Saturday night just three days prior. I think the numbers may be trying to tell me something: "Don't quit your day job."

Click 'Play' if you've got 4 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 05Oct2013

Since Warren is in Italy, I knew that he and Jim wouldn't be at The Corner, and although I'd already played two hours at the Farmer's Market at lunchtime, it was Saturday, so I went down. And I got there at 5:00 to make sure nobody else was already there.

Of course it was slow at first, but it got a *lot* better, and I ended up playing over six hours until it was finally dead enough to quit. And by then I pretty much *had* to quit because my fretting hand was starting to cramp up.

I had a young couple sit and listen to several songs, so I gave them a List, and noticed their German accents when they requested some songs. After a while they came over and asked me if I was going to be there again "this week". I usually go down on Tuesdays, so I told them so, and they said that they'd be back.

Then some crazy vacationing girls came by (with their boyfriends) and were singing along briefly, but they had to get to a dinner reservation.

Later on, some well-dressed Chinese people came by, and started requesting songs. The ladies got more and more involved until they were hooting and hollering, and competing with each other for the next request. And as the ladies were enjoying themselves, the men kept coming up and putting money in the jar, again and again. Sweet!

When they finally had to go, they came up to take a bunch of pictures with me, and asked if I was going to be back there again. So I told them that I'd be there on Tuesday, too. I guess I'm committed to Tuesday!

Then about 10:00, the crazy girls were back, crazier than ever. They came up and were singing (poorly, but enthusiastically), and their craziness caught on with the people on the bench 'cuz before long I had 8 or 10 people standing all around me, singing away (and yet more standing back, watching the fun). I actually have a "Sing-Alongs" section in the book, but I very seldom have a need to invoke it. We did "Hey Jude", "Sweet Caroline", "Mister Postman", and I can't remember what all else.

And even after they left, the party atmosphere lingered, so I kept playing. One appreciative guy told me that I must be "The Psychic Musician" because I "always know what song to play". I think that it may be more likely that I've been doing this for a while, but thanks.

Anyway, I had a great time and scored an all-time record tips night at $210. That's better than I've ever done at Spectrum (and without the $50 "setup fee")!

Click 'Play' if you've got 7 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.

Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- Saturday, 05Oct2013

The Farmer's Market is actually shrinking -- even fewer booths than before. But I guess that's not my problem, as long as I'm getting paid...

Since I'd just been there two weeks prior, and mostly there's only the people working in the booths, I felt like I should try to play some different stuff. One song that I seldom play, but lately seems to attract people when I do play it by request, is "American Pie". I fired it up, and almost immediately two families came right over. The moms were trying to get the kids to dance, and singing along on the chorus ('cuz, how can you not?). I've been avoiding it 'cuz it's such a cliché, but with a few verses removed so it's not so darn long, it's consistently a big hit on the streets. I'm gonna have to play it more, and maybe even put it on the Request List.

The little girl in one of the families that I "captured" was telling me all kinds of stuff, but mainly demanding and endless string of "One more!" even though her mom was trying to get her to her haircut appointment. Such a cutie!

This blog post. Let me read you it.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 01Oct2013

It was my birthday, so since my daytime was a usual work day, I wanted to do something fun for the evening. Of course, it was our usual Tuesday night for Laguna anyway, although Warren's on vacation in Italy, so I was solo.

Unfortunately it was really, really dead. But lucky for me, Silly Patty came by even before I got started, and stayed all the way through (she probably felt sorry for me, especially on my birthday, having no one to play for).

But right at first, there were some young families getting ice cream. I had just bought some little toy tambourines, so I walked over to the little girl (maybe 7 or 8 years old) and handed her one, and asked her to help me out on the next song. She gladly came right over and stood on the curb/stage right next to me. There was also a little 4-year-old boy, so I gave him one too, but he just kind of ran off with it. I played "Mister Postman", and the little girl really went for it, shaking the heck out of the tambourine, ignoring any actual rhythm, while her parents took pictures and video with their phones. That was fun, but they took off right after the one song.

Later on a couple came by and cuddled on the bench while I played their two requests, but that was it for the evening -- except for Patty's "private concert". She's heard all my main stuff, so it was actually kind of fun to do some of the lesser-done songs, like "I'll Never Find Another You", "Mister Bojangles", "Love's Been Good to Me", "I Only Have Eyes for You", and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" for her.

I guess the upside was that although there was almost nobody to play for, there were no drunk rowdies, either...

This blog post. Let me read you it.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 29Sept2013

Warren's gone on vacation in Italy, but I went down anyway, and it was quite nice. I had nice people sitting on the bench almost the entire time. Indeed, I had gone down expecting to be mostly alone so I could try out some new songs and play with the drum machine (which Warren objects to), but I ended up playing requests almost the whole time, with no time left over to experiment.

I started off with Hotel California like always, but right away a lady on the bench bashfully requested "Kiss the Girl", followed by "A Whole New World", followed by "You'll Be In My Heart". She was clearly a big Disney fan -- and all those Disney songs quickly attracted a crowd of other people, who stayed and requested other songs, which attracted other people...

But unfortunately, basketball player by day / drunk by night Larry and his friend showed up all too soon. Larry was less drunk than usual, but he was still prone to repeatedly shouting out his requests (which I was obliged to ignore in favor of the wonderfully near-constant stream of requests from real "customers"), and trying to start up unwelcome conversations with the people on the bench. I watched him trying to chat up one girl to the point where she got up and moved over to the other side of her boyfriend to get away from him. It was gratifying that her solution wasn't to just gather up her boyfriend and leave, but a shame that she had to be called on to find a solution in the first place.

I finally asked him and his pal to move over and sit on the side bench "because you've heard me before" and to "leave the 'front row' for the tourists". They were pretty offended, but they actually did it, except when someone on the bench asked for "I'm Yours", and Larry slammed around the corner, "dancing" and flinging his long arms and legs in all directions. As the brave remaining people were scanning the list for a next tune, I quietly suggested that possibly a less danceable song would be a less dangerous choice, to knowing smiles from the bench people.

A nice elderly British couple came by with several requests, including "Puff, the Magic Dragon", despite there being no kids around. Then she asked for "Bridge Over Troubled Water" which isn't on the list, but it is in The Book. I don't normally do it 'cuz it's too high, but I was well warmed up and it was late and quiet so I went for it. And it went over quite well -- another group of people stopped dead in their tracks to listen. *That's* what I'm there for.

This blog post. Let me read you it.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 24Sept2013

The weeknights are definitely getting slow down on The Corner. We had a couple of nice ladies sit and listen and request a bunch of songs right at first, but once they left, it was pretty lonely.

Until Silly Patty and Mikey the Greeter showed up, but they've both heard all our stuff, so they mostly just chatted to each other, ignoring us, but keeping other people from being able to sit down. And as it got later, more and more drunk homeless guys came by, effectively shutting out anyone else.

Except for an elderly couple from Switzerland who were either really brave or immune to crazy behavior. They asked for several songs from the list, but the guy kept asking for "Simon & Garfunkel, 'Bright Eyes'". I'd never heard of such a song, nor could I think of a song of a different title that might have those words in it, so I had to keep declining and offering alternatives.

All of which they liked, but I was curious about this "Bright Eyes" song he was clearly so fond of, so I looked it up the next morning. Turns out it was written for the movie "Watership Down" (the bunny war book), was sung by Art Garfunkel (credited right there on the poster), and the words refer to somebody's "bright eyes" turning pale. It's about the death of the main bunny character.

Now, sometimes I go home and learn songs that someone suggested at a gig. This one was the number one selling single of 1979 in the UK, while in the US, it barely cracked the Billboard 200. Apparently, we don't like songs about dead bunnies here in the States. And I'm pretty sure I don't need one in my act...

One suggested song I *did* learn is "Pure Imagination" from the first "Willy Wonka" movie. It sounds strange and unplayable, but I found some chords that weren't too wrong and fixed 'em up into a version that sounds pretty good. I tried it out in public for the first time, and it seems to work. Patty and Mikey really liked it, anyway...

It was getting pretty late and I was thinking of calling it a night when It's-All-About-Me-Gaby came by again, but when I wouldn't let her shanghai the act, she left in a huff. Again.

This blog post. Let me read you it.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 21Sept2013

Lots of people out on a Saturday night, and we had the bench filled with listeners with requests almost the whole time. It was really great, and resulted in $86 in the jar.

Speaking of jars, three Marines came by, only slightly Drunk and Disorderly this early in the evening, and requested a bunch of hard rock songs. None of which I can play, of course, but they eventually settled on "Hey Jude" -- and then wandered off before it was half over.

Michael (a.k.a. "Jax" these days), was playing on the opposite corner, with his profanity-laced "I'm Being Oppressed By The Man" songs and inimitable "catfight" singing style. A guy walked past him and then across the street to walk past us while commenting that "That guy can't sing! And I'm a singer, so I know!" I made some kind of "Agreed" noise, and suddenly he wanted to prove that he really was a singer -- by singing, right here, right now.

I'm not actually a karaoke machine, but I figured, "What the heck", gave him my head-mic (and *then* noticed that he was smoking -- ick, cigarette mic!). He decided on "The Boxer", and did OK, but with a lot more improvised ornamentation than I'm used to. I guess it's the modern style -- you're not really singing unless you're completely screwing up the tune...

Anyway, we had a great time until about ten o'clock when we had collected so many drunk homeless guys, hollering and dancing wildly around, that the "normals" were afraid to be there. This is really starting to become a problem. It's flattering that these guys all like my songs, but they park on the bench, preventing tourists from sitting down to listen, and their antics scare away even the people that are willing to stand.

But what can you do? It's a free country, and I'm pretty sure that if I called the cops on 'em for Public Drunkenness, I'd start a feud that would be much worse than this is...

This blog post. Let me read you it.

Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- Saturday, 21Sept2013

I was up really late at Spectrum the night before, but I woke up early to feed the cats and have my own breakfast, and then set an alarm to take a nap before the 11:30 Farmer's Market gig. I slept through the alarm and finally woke up at five 'til eleven. Whoops -- that gave me 5 minutes to pack up and get down the hill to get set up in time.

I didn't quite make it, but I came close. Fortunately, it's pretty quiet (empty) down there since they switched to Saturdays, so nobody noticed.

It was kinda nice, though, as I had a couple of groups come by to listen for a while. Inexplicably, I there were 4 CDs missing, and there was a twenty (and five ones) in the jar. Did someone buy *four* CDs?!?

At the end, the almond guy came over and said he didn't have any cash (he hadn't sold any almonds?!?), but would I like some almonds? Maple Orange -- pretty yummy.

And the lemonade lady came over and offered me a big cup of lemonade -- "We don't want to just throw it out". And it was yummy, too.

This blog post. Let me read you it.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 20Sept2013

The weather was kind of gloomy, so I didn't expect many people to show up, but it was a pretty good turnout. I had three separate kids parties start up, and got a lot of attention for, not the music, but the glowing balls that I lined up at the front of the stage.

Typically, the parents keep the kids from taking my stuff (it's great fun to watch their mortified reactions when the kids snag some money out of the guitar case tips), but I guess there were a lot of largely unsupervised kids this time. Some would just look at the balls, some would touch them but leave them where they were, some would rearrange them into "much better" positions on the stage, and some would just grab one and take off with it. I realize that the balls are what the lawyers call an "attractive nuisance", but that's mainly why I have them.

One pair of sisters couldn't keep their hands off of them, but were also eating ice cream at the time, so everything ended up very sticky...

And, sure enough, my super-fan Gabby from Barcelona showed up again. They either come to Spectrum every night, or they're stalking my schedule webpage, 'cuz this is three in a row. This time she wanted to hear "Lemon Tree", which is on the "Tribute to My Dad" CD, so they must have a copy of all three of my CDs. Right after that one, Gabby wanted "Lollipop Tree", and when I said, "Oh, so *all* the 'tree' songs", only her mom understood enough English to laugh...

This blog post. Let me read you it.