Keith at Senior Center -- Thursday, 23Apr2015

My monthly gig for the old folks again. Pretty much the same as always. No thigh-drummer, though, so that was nice.

I do feel like I'm playing the same songs over and over for them, but I only know so many songs that are old enough for them to remember. I've been pushing the envelope though, figuring that, even if they were "too old for rock and roll" at the time, surely they've heard "Yesterday" and "Fire and Rain" and such by now.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 18Apr2015

I knew the Tommies would probably be down on the Ice Cream Corner, so I waited until 7:30 to get there -- and sure enough, there they were. I set up on the Fingerhut side, and did miserably, despite the pretty large crowds. Those crowds kept the Tommies at it until almost 9:30, so those first few hours were mostly a waste.

The Tommies were actually driven away by some young guys that set up in an entryway alcove a few shops down PCH -- two acoustic guitars and a full drum set. You couldn't hear the guitars or vocals, but the drums carried all too well, and made it impossible for the Tommies to continue. Of course, that was pretty late for them anyway.

So when they left, Warren and I moved over in front of the ice cream store, but we couldn't start right away because as we were moving our stuff, two 11-year-old girls had suddenly appeared with a ukulele and were singing songs while the dad was buying ice cream inside. It was very cute, and after maybe 15 minutes, they had $24 in their dad's baseball cap on the ground. They were thrilled to have paid for their ice cream so easily, but quit playing to eat it and listen to a few of my songs, and then wander off.

The rock band noticed that we had moved, so they moved to take over the Fingerhut side. That made the drummer way louder and very distracting for us, and that combined with the reappearance of Drunk Dancing Larry almost made me give up and go home at 10 or so. But we had people listening, despite the interference, so I gritted my teeth and kept at it, and was eventually glad I did.

The week before, we had a birthday party stagger through, and had me sing Happy Birthday. I considered giving the birthday girl a fingerlight, but figured that, although those are very popular with the little kids, probably not so much for adults. That led me to wonder what might work for adults, and I came up with, found, and bought a "Fancy Princess" tiara set, just to have on-hand.

I didn't really expect to need it right away, but when a bachelorette party came through, I said, "Oh, I got you a present!", and handed the bride-to-be the tiara set. 'Cuz, c'mon, a bride-to-be *needs* a tiara.  They were all completely thrilled, and the bride was overwhelmed, and gave me a big hug. For some reason they were all big Billy Joel fans, so while I sang "Piano Man" they installed the tiara and necklace on the bride.

The dance party had begun, and as more and more people assembled to watch, they asked for "Sweet Caroline", which went over well, and then "Jenny Jenny", which I learned almost as a joke, but works great if the crowd is receptive to it, which they were. That dance party alone, and one of the girls' comment that we had "made the party", made the previous three miserable hours worth it.

Even after the bachelorettes left, the dance party kept going for a while, and when the rock band across the street finally gave up, we started having some good interactions with the late-night crowd (and ended up playing until after 1am).

A group of high school girls came by and they got all excited to tell me that their friend was a "really great singer". So I got out the spare mic and had her sing "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid". I'd say that her friends were a bit generous in their assessment, but she was game, and that's half the battle.

We had a group of three young men from Germany, two of which bought CDs, and three people from Mexico who didn't seem sleepy at all, despite it coming on midnight. The guy was probably kidding when he mentioned "La Bamba", but I fired up my "Twist and Shout/La Bamba" medley and they hooted and hollered.

And when a slightly drunk lady came by and asked for "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", I dug up my partly-working version of it and played it anyway. My "blue eyed soul" voice is passable, and the harmony box does a good job with the Righteous Brothers sound, but imitating a full orchestra with just my guitar is pretty much impossible...

Keith at Golf Party -- Wednesday, 15Apr2015

The thing you fantasize will happen, finally actually did: Standing on the corner playing in Laguna, a lady comes up and asks if I play parties. I said yes and gave her a card, and she actually called. And actually hired me.

It was the party/dinner after a women's golf tournament at the fancy schmancy Mission Viejo Country Club. She had decided on a "Mission: Impossible" theme, complete with movie poster and Tom Cruise cardboard standup. Many of the ladies in attendance were dressed as "spies". The coordinator had asked me to learn the Mission: Impossible theme song, but it can't be played on solo guitar, so I downloaded the MP3 instead, and they were very pleased when I played it as background music while they were announcing the winners of the tournament.

Mostly I was just background music for the 100 or so rich ladies at this dinner party, except occasionally one of the ladies would suddenly applaud for a particular song. And sometimes one of them would walk up and whisper that, although it didn't seem like they were listening, they really loved my songs.

And toward the end when the place had emptied out to about 20 ladies, they noticed that I had song lists and I started playing requests and it got to be actual fun.

I don't really like being background music, but I did get paid, so I left a flyer and business card with the Event Manager there at the Country Club, and hopefully she'll call me when someone needs music at another event.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 12Apr2015

I went down on the off chance that the Tommies wouldn't be there, but they were. I figured I'd play on the Fingerhut side until they left, but the cops were out in force busting the crazy Hawaiian guy (Tom says he gets like this when he goes off his meds), so I thought better of it and just sat on the bench, talking with Tomi's little brother and big sister. I gave them a couple of the white fingerlights which none of the little kids want, but they're useful as pocket flashlights for these kids who are perpetually "camping".

They left at 8:30 so I fired up, but it was very slow. Last day of Spring Break. I did have an elderly couple sit and listen for a long while and buy a CD. The lady said that she'd "enjoy playing it by the fireplace and listening to my soothing voice". That was sweet.

I also had a family from Kentucky. I gave the kids some (colored) fingerlights, and the mom asked for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" 'cuz she "knew all the words". A lot of people think they know "all the words" but it turns out they only really know the chorus, but this lady really did.

Her daughter had ordered three scoops (!) of Cookies and Cream ice cream, but she could only get through two of them. They offered the final one to me, and I asked the little girl, "How did you know my favorite flavor?" She smiled and said that it was hers, too.

And another of my superfans came by. This time I got to talk to him a while (since there was nobody else around). He lives in the San Fernando Valley, and drives down for the atmosphere, the beach, and my music. I hope it's mainly the first two, 'cuz I'd hate to think he drives down just hoping that I'll be playing.

I played his favorite song ("Fields of Gold") for him and one other, and then a couple showed up, looked through the list, and asked for "Fields of Gold". I'm glad it's his favorite, 'cuz he got/had to hear it twice.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 11Apr2015

I went down to Laguna to talk to the guys at the Guitar Shoppe about ordering a guitar, so I got the ice cream corner really early at 5:30. Warren joined me about 6:30, and we played until 10:30 when the batteries died.

Lots of people out. We had one group whose requests were in a very strange accent so I asked where they were from -- Iceland. And we had a group of guys from Italy that bought a CD to take home. A couple of times we had people dancing, and that's always fun. A couple of teenaged girls were standing off to the side asking for "The Boxer" and "Homeward Bound" and other classic songs. Their parents are clearly raising them right.

And my favorite superfan Vietnamese couple came by. It's been a while since I've seen them, and it was great to get to play for their warm enthusiasm. Unfortunately, they got there pretty late, and my battery died after only a half dozen songs.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Monday, 06Apr2015

I wouldn't normally go down on a Monday night, but I thought maybe, since it was Spring Break. But no, not many people, maybe because of the cold snap.

Right at first there were some teenage boys, and one of them asked me if I was setting up or tearing down. When I said that I was setting up, he called to the other 3 or 4 guys, "Hey guys, let's stay. This guy's good!" That was flattering, especially coming from a teenager.

But probably part of the reason I couldn't gather an audience was that the street lady who usually quietly camps out at the farthest bench was up in arms about something. She was yelling at invisible people, explaining her grievances, but she'd only really shout while I was in the middle of a song. When I wasn't playing, she'd quiet down, so I couldn't really tell what she was on about.

I think maybe it was that she wasn't being able to get a taxi. Several of them came by and she'd go talk to the driver without getting in, and then they'd leave without her. I don't know why they wouldn't take her -- maybe she had no money. Or maybe she wanted to be taken to, I don't know, Kentucky. Or Venus. Unfortunately, getting belligerent with people who weren't there wasn't really solving the issue. It took a while, but she did eventually find a taxi that would have her, but while she was ranting, anyone who might have stopped, didn't.

Later on, a tiny little street lady I'd never seen before came by. She didn't quite have both oars in the water, and was rambling on about something, even though I couldn't hear her since, you know, I was singing. But she dropped a Chapstick in my tip jar and wandered off before the song was over. A while later, she came back, and this time she produced a shopping bag from a pocket of her pack, and put that in my jar. Again I was singing so I couldn't hear (or decipher) what she was on about, but my guess at the time was that there was a Pavilions coupon in the bag, and she was giving it to me as a tip.

But when I got home and opened it, it turned out to be a bag of "treasures": a bottle cap, a quartz rock, a backless earring, some kind of seed pod, a blank nametag, and a little wad of clear plastic. It's so sweet that she liked my music enough to part with her precious things.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Easter Sunday, 05Apr2015

What's that thing about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? I was hoping that Easter would draw some crowds down to Laguna, but I was wrong. Again. Make a note: Holidays never work. Any holiday. All the holidays.

I played on the Fingerhut side from 6:30-8:30 when the Tommies gave up. But traffic was light on either side, so it didn't make much difference. I did have a few groups gathered; a big group of young kids from Chile, and a little family from Sweden. The Swedish girl came up and requested a song from the list -- Surprise! "Let It Go".

And at the end, a guy and his wife listened for a while, then he got up and bought a CD. They listened for a while more, then as they got up to leave, he came over and kind of showed me the CD and said "This will be played in Peru." Cool.

Keith at Bogart's Coffee -- Saturday, 04Apr2015

Somebody recommended I play at Bogart's Coffee Shop in Seal Beach, so I emailed them and got an immediate response and invitation to play! Apparently, they have music all the time, so anybody's welcome to come down.

It turns out to be a tiny shop, across the street from the beach and the Seal Beach pier, and just a few shops down from their Main Street. (Which I drove down while looking for parking, and saw a three piece band out on the sidewalk, with banjo, acoustic, and electric (with an amp!) guitars, in plain view of some cops across the street. Good sign -- maybe I'll give that a try someday.)

Anyway, the place was full most of the night, but that's not saying too much since there are probably 10 chairs in there. But friendly, and lots of requests, including the two baristas who wanted "I See the Light" (from "Tangled") and "Mrs. Robinson", respectively.

And there were apparently two ladies sitting on a bench just outside, listening to the music and enjoying the view. They came in to buy a CD each and recommend that I try another coffee shop in Long Beach called "Portfolio", but they had to go back outside 'cuz it was warm in there and they were too bundled up to sit inside.

And the lady who wanted to come hear me at CALB for her husband's birthday but never showed, finally did make it, and they stayed the whole time. Very sweet.

One of the coffee girls set up an iPhone and sent the night out as a Live Stream. At the end she said that 10 people had watched (at least a little), including the shop owner. Internet Famous.

I guess I'd play there again, but it's an awful long drive for such a small, mostly fixed, crowd. I don't mind playing for a dozen people, but on the street corner, I get a constantly revolving set of a dozen, not just one. And the parking was *terrible*!

When I was done, I drove down Main Street to check it out. Bars, restaurants, a psychic, souvenir shops, ice cream, pizza. A lot like Laguna or Santa Barbara, really, but no art galleries. A lady was out singing and playing an autoharp, so I parked (easy at 10, impossible at 7) and listened a bit. I put a buck in her can and asked for Joni Mitchell, so she launched into "Clouds", with mostly wrong chords. But she was sincere, and just being out there is half the battle, so good for her.

K&W at Laguna Beach Art Walk -- Thursday, 02Apr2015

I've sworn off Art Walk several times now, but I was hoping that it would be different, here in Spring Break. I was wrong.

I'd hoped that Sanchez would be on the Fingerhut side, but he had taken the ice cream side. I decided to go on over to Fingerhut, but as I walked past him, Sanchez growled, "Two guys playing on the same block doesn't work." I said, "Oh, well" and kept on going. To which he threatened, "OK, I'll see you on Saturday! And I'll bring the *big* amp!" And here I thought that when I grew up, there wouldn't be any more bullies on the playground.

I walked across the street to where Warren was and told him what Sanchez had said. We agreed that it wasn't worth the risk, so we went up the street to find that the Tunnel was empty and set up there. It's amazing that Sanchez can threaten and intimidate and prevent us from playing. But he just simply can.

It was already late, and the traffic was poor, so it was pretty awful. Definitely the last Art Walk for me.

But in our brief time playing, the high and low point was a black lady with her teenage sons walking by, but she stopped and said, "I want to hear these guys play something." I gave her the list, and she skimmed through it and said, "What's that song about the house of the rising sun?" Hmmm, lemme think. That would be "House of the Rising Sun", but I told her that I don't know it. (Sure, I can play it, but I can't (won't?) scream-sing like Eric Burdon.) So she checked the list again and said that there were no good songs on it. Wow -- first time anyone's ever said that.

So she walked away, and I started up "Bridge Over Troubled Water". She stopped, came back, pulled out her phone, and took a video of the entire song. Apparently there is at least *one* good song on the list...