Keith at Naples - 23Dec2012

We had a kind of High School Any Year Caroling Reunion Party, and the girl who was organizing it suggested singing around Naples, an upscale waterfront community in Long Beach. It turned out to be just terrific -- ritzy houses decorated to the nines and lots of people walking around the tiny island to look at them. We had a pretty small turnout (as I'd predicted), so we weren't very balanced, nor practiced, but we still had people gathering around us to listen and even applaud. I was amazed, wondered how I could not have known about this before, and resolved to come back the next day with my overcoat, top hat, and guitar.

There weren't as many people on Sunday as there had been on Saturday, but still plenty. And everyone is in the mood for "a little Christmas", and in no hurry to get anywhere. Perfect for me to pull in some folks to hear a few songs. And, although it's basically a sidewalk, it's *not* along an actual street, so there's no traffic noise!

I had convinced my wife and younger daughter to come along to see the amazing decorations, and they brought the dogs, too. I played while they circumnavigated the island. I pulled my "Blitzen the Red-Nosed Reindeer" gag several times when families with little kids would come by, and had lots of groups stop for several songs, gathering pretty big crowds.

At one point, a lady asked for a song I don't play, and I spun the music stand around so she could see the Table of Contents of the Christmas section of my book. She noticed "Silent Night", which I had literally *never* sung before -- it was in my book so I could play it for the little kid that sung at the Santa Claus line a few nights earlier. I had no idea if it was even in my range, but she insisted, so I strummed and hummed through it quickly, decided it was close enough, and went for it.

She and her husband immediately started waltzing to it, right there in front of me. The crowd instantly doubled somehow, and two more dancing couples materialized out of it. I've had people dance before, but never more than a single couple. On top of that, after a few lines, most of the crowd was singing along! I'd been avoiding "Silent Night" on grounds that it's (a) too religious, and (b) slow and boring, but that shows you what *I* know. Or, possibly, how powerful the Christmas Mood can be...

Anyway, I was out there for two and a half hours, played for hundreds of people, and made $88 in tips. It's a bit of a drive from here, but I wish I'd'a known about this years ago, and I'll surely be down there a lot more next December!