Saturday was the slowest day down at the harbor so far, but Sunday at brunch time was pretty good. I'm still trying to figure out when the best times down there will be...
On my way walking down to the playing spot, I passed a young girl in the coffee shop employee T-shirt, and she said, "I just want to say that your music is wonderful!" Seems like all the employee kids like me, but I'm still afraid of the "restaurant owner" who came out to harass me the first time I was there. But on Sunday I saw a guy who I'm pretty sure was him and he went about his business without giving me any trouble, so he's either used to me being there or my paranoid volume level is acceptable.
About 2:30 on Saturday I got my first "competition" down there -- a guy came by with a battery-powered keyboard and set up down the way from me, right across from the restaurant. He clearly doesn't have the nearly-impossible-to-come-by Permit, though I think his keyboard qualifies as "amplified sound", even though he was singing without a mic. Because of that, he was pretty quiet, so I couldn't hear much of what he was playing, but what I did catch sounded pretty lame. I considered warning him that he might get kicked out -- both for amplified sound and being less than 40 feet away from a business's door -- but decided that he wasn't much of a threat, and since he'd arrived when it was almost dead on an already very slow day, he'd probably make no money and never come back anyway.
On Sunday, there was a scruffy homeless looking guy in a wheelchair, piled with blankets and with a guitar case strapped over the top. But he was pretty far away, so no problem. After a while, a guy came down to hand me a twenty, saying it came from the wheelchair guy, "extending professional courtesy" (apparently since he plays guitar too). He slowly wheeled closer and ended up asking for several songs, telling me some stories, most of which I couldn't hear, and handing me some more money, and eventually, another twenty.
He says that he lives in Catalina, and "did wars and policing", and recently came into a lot of money and wants to spend it "on music". He's setting up a big concert in Avalon, and wants me to come play and will pay me "three times my rate". Later on, it sounded like he wanted me to just come and play (where? and for whom?), again at three times. He took specifically two (?) of my cards, and said that he'd have his assistant call me. He didn't sound spun out or anything, but I won't be holding my breath. On the other hand, his generous tipping lent some credence...
More people around ('cuz it was earlier, or 'cuz it was Sunday?), but, as in Laguna, having scruffy homeless guys (another even scarier wheelchair guy (Tourette's?) showed up later) wasn't helping me accumulate much of a crowd, so I quit to go get some lunch myself after only (?) three hours.
Another pretty slow night -- maybe everybody's out of town for Memorial Day weekend?
For most of the night there were just a few people there, and they were more interested in talking among themselves than requesting songs. But that gave me a chance to play some stuff that nobody ever requests, just for my own amusement. Not that they're bad songs, just less obvious, and so less requested.
And then, of course, Heather and her husband came in, as they reportedly always do on Fridays -- and Saturdays for Karaoke Night, and several times during the week. She wanted to try "Since I Fell for You", and did great, though it was a bit too high for her. Then she did "You've Got a Friend", as always.
Then it occurred to me -- the song I'm *always* looking for someone to sing with me: "Baby, It's Cold Outside"! Completely wrong season, of course, but Big Chance. She did it great, and I didn't screw up too much -- it's quite confusing for the guitar player/boy part singer because the chords land in weird places during the girl part but I have to catch those and still sing different stuff while tracking her stuff. Anyway, it made the night for me.
Well, it's a good thing that I played a few hours in the morning at Dana Point, 'cuz this was pretty much a bust. Maybe it was the weather, or maybe it's that "Graduation Weekend" thing that made the wine bar so empty the night before, but hardly anyone was out.
I got there at 7, coming "late" in hopes that the Fiddle Kid would be done or at least nearly so. And that worked -- the corner was empty, unfortunately both of players and audience. Warren cleverly had gone to the Full Moon Drum Circle instead, so he missed the no-fun.
I did have a few couples and groups stop, briefly -- and I inexplicably sold four CDs. And my little local superfan Natalia came by with her little brother and new baby brother, all crammed into a two-kid stroller. She asked for "Lollipop Tree", which no kids these days have heard. Sometimes kids ask for it by the picture and/or name, but then they're bored 'cuz they don't know it. But Natalia has my CD, and it's her favorite, so it was fun to play it for her.
There was a guy sitting on the bench most of the night with a tiny Pomeranian puppy with a bow in her hair, and people would stop to coo over her. They were almost getting more action than I was -- the guy should have brought a tip jar...
Oh well -- they can't all be great. And summer is a'comin'...
On Saturday I was afraid that I'd be shut out from The Corner in Laguna, despite it being "our turn", so I thought I'd put in at least a little time in Dana Point, just in case.
I also wanted to see how the attendance would be earlier in the day, so on Saturday, I started at 10 and played until noon (to not overdo it, in case Laguna *did* pan out). And it was just as nice as the noon to 4:00 shifts I've been doing, so that's good to know.
I was in the middle of "Hallelujah" when a tiny ancient Latina gramma came around, looking in the trashcans for recyclables. She decided that the song was "religious", and came over to reiterate "Hallelujah" and then "God bless you", and to reach out to grasp my right hand. Which was sweet, but pretty much shut down my ability to fingerpick for a few seconds there...
As always, lots of great looking and cute dogs came through. Unfortunately, most of them disappear before I have a chance to take a picture, but I did catch this very cute long-haired Dachshund with a "puppy cut".
A guy looked through the song list and finally called out something I'd never heard before: "There's not enough 'Boston' on this list!" By a weird coincidence, I'd just earlier in the week played through "More Than a Feeling", in hopes to make something of it (but, no, probably not). I love the guitar part, though, and remembered it well enough to hammer it out for a while, without the vocal, but the guy apparently found that to be Better Than Nothing, at least.
A lady came up to put some money in the jar and she picked up a card and asked me how much I charge for a "private event". I told her and she said she'd be calling me. And later, another lady came up and asked if I played weddings, and for how much. I told her, and she also said she'd be calling, 'cuz "We're engaged!", indicating her boyfriend. People seldom actually do call, but if they do, I just hope neither of them is in, like, Riverside, or Palm Springs, or you know, Utah or someplace.
Mysteriously low turnout this time. One of the bar guys said that it was because it was "Graduation Weekend". Even the owner, Romy, wasn't there for the first time, and she was, indeed, at her daughter's graduation in D.C., so maybe he was right.
So anyway, slow, and quiet. My regular guest star Heather showed up, as she always does, and sang "You've Got a Friend" again. Fortunately, I'd remembered to Google the vocal ranges, and asked her if she'd ever been in a choir, and if so, what part did she sing. It was "Second Soprano", which pretty much corresponds to Baritone (me), but an exact octave higher. So we did "Stardust", but this time I just played it in my key instead of foolishly trying to capo up to find her key, and it worked just fine.
I did have a lady at the middle table who up and decided that I was great and that everybody should be joining in -- my sentiments exactly. So she was out there cheerleadering for me, getting people at other tables to find their favorites on the request lists, and loudly clapping at the end of the songs. Thanks, lady! Come back any time!
But by 9:30 the place was empty and the manager "called it", and I went home. Disappointing, but still better than sitting home and watching TV.
I had time to play both Saturday and Sunday, from 1 until 5 each time. Saturday was a little better, of course, but it's just great to play there any time. Part of it is the novelty, I’m sure, but it’s really my favorite place to play these days. Laguna is more crazy, but that’s both good and bad -- it can be a blast, but sometimes the environmental factors make it feel like more of a fight than a gig.
Anyway, Dana Point is certainly a showcase for dogs. The rich people down there like to come down for a walk and to show off their fancy dogs. One free-spirited older lady had bright purple hair, and had dyed her little dog's flag-tail to match.
It tends to start off slow, and I start off quiet, but as people start to notice me and hang out on the benches, I get more confident that I'm not bothering anybody, and that the restaurant guy will have a mob on his hands if he tries to interfere. And once some people are listening, others get encouraged to join in.
For the last couple of hours on Sunday, a guy was there listening and talking to me about the music between songs. He finally asked, "Do you play anyplace in Laguna, like the Sawdust Festival?" So I told him my sob story about how I played there two years ago and the year before that, but that last year, and again this year, the booking lady has mysteriously overlooked me.
He was aghast, and said that I'm better than lots of the bands he sees there. Yup -- I don't get it either, buddy...
The weather was nice on Saturday - just a little overcast so it wasn't too hot. Sunday was sunny, so I had to forego my uniform vest, and kept my sleeves rolled up. When I got home, I noticed that I'd sunburned the underside of my left arm and the top of my right, corresponding to the way they're positioned when I'm playing guitar. Kinda funny, but I'll have to be careful from now on.
Another pretty good night at the wine bar. It started off pretty quiet but as more people came it got louder and louder, so I had to.
It seems like the way the night will go is dependent on how recently each group of friends has seen the others. Some groups come in and they apparently haven't seen each other in a long time, so they end up in loud happy conversations. Other groups come in and they don't have much to say to each other (or they're "work friends") so they end up listening to the music instead. It's nice to see the former happy type of group but the latter is much more fun to play to.
My Friday regular guest star Heather was there again. At first she tried to sing "Stardust", but we couldn't find a key that suited her range. I am completely mystified by the vocal range of women. She does sing "You've Got a Friend" in the same key that I do it in, but she must be an octave higher. I guess I'd better Google it...
Anyway that failed big time, so we fell back on our reliable favorite "You've Got a Friend'. Later on I coerced her into singing "Part Of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid". She remembered it pretty well and will do even better next time, I'm sure. It sure makes the owner happy for me to let her friend come up and sing. I just hope that's because she likes to hear her friend sing, and not that she's sick of hearing *me* sing.
Still no sign of the guy who was there a few times ago and asked for "Crystal Blue Persuasion". When I said I didn't know it, and probably couldn't pull it off anyway, he decided to ask for it again and again all night as a running joke. So I learned it (but only the first verse) so if he comes in and pulls that joke again, I got him.
Now that I'm playing the senior daycare twice a month, I may need to stop reporting on each one because they go pretty much the same every time. Seems a shame though, since I've done a blog post for every gig I've had for the last 14 years.
I did add a new song to the Senior list: "Charlie on the MTA". It's an old Kingston Trio song, and the chords are trivial, though the words go screaming by. Of course, the song sheet has the chords and the words, it does not indicate *how* the song is played in various ways: speed, picking pattern, how the words land in the rhythm, etc. So I started out one way and that didn't seem right so I tried a different way, and something else, and maybe went back to the first way, and kind of stumbled through it until I figured something out.
You know, it's *hard* to have the unwritten particulars of all 370 songs on the top of my head at the same time at any given gig.
Based on my experiences the previous times, and considering that it was Mother's Day, I decided to go down at noon this time. The parking lot was full, but it looked like that was mainly attendance at the restaurants, 'cuz the promenade and patio areas were not much more crowded than usual. Which is still plenty good enough for my purposes.
It occurred to me that this always plays out like meeting people at, say, a party for the first time. I start out quiet and shy and playing my best stuff, and people start to notice me. Some of them move a little closer, or quit hiding their gazes towards me. I get braver and play a little louder, and more lively songs. Then they get braver and some of them come and sit on the benches closer and closer to me. I get braver yet, and start talking to them and bringing out song lists, and they start making requests... All just a little dance we do.
Anyway, the way this place is laid out, I'm pretty far away from even the closest people on the benches. But the sound carries surprisingly far, and people at the far away tables can hear the music. What's really amazing is that lots of people that are very far away, and could totally get away with just walking away when they're done with their coffee or ice cream, will walk twenty or thirty yards to come put something in my tip jar. Flattering!
There were lots of nice people out on such a fine Mother's Day. Unfortunately, I don't know any Mother's Day songs -- unless you count that Paul McCartney song about his mother, Mary...
Plenty of families with Mom in tow, but lots of the usual walkers, dog tenders, joggers, and bicyclists, too. After a while, the close benches that always start out empty were completely filled up. And by four o'clock when I had to go before they ticketed my car, people were begging me not to leave ("Where's your car? We'll move it for you!").
So, a really nice day. Nice area and scenery, nice (and generous) people, easy and free (if time-limited) parking, quiet environment, no competition for the best spot (so far), and no bums.
The only real flaw is the fear. I'm still just waiting for someone from the Harbor or Parks Department to come up and challenge my right to play where/when/how loud I'm playing (possibly by inventing some arbitrary new Rule), and that restaurant guy who came out to grumpily ask me to turn it down the first time didn't help. Every time I see someone striding forcefully toward me, I get a jolt of adrenaline -- even though, so far, it's always been to put some money in my jar. But hopefully after playing there a couple (dozen?) more times -- assuming no unpleasant incidents -- I'll relax.
The fiddle kid that blocked me two weeks ago was back, but Warren was there earlier and negotiated him giving way when The Guy With The Top Hat showed up. And he did.
This time he was playing an electric violin through a little amp. A sign in his tip-collecting case said "Graduate School". He must have some amazing hidden chops, 'cuz down here he plays just simple melodies: "Titanic", "The Wedding March", and Christmas tunes (?!?), "Silent Night", "Away in a Manger", "Joy to the World", etc.
Anyway, we had some pretty big groups early on, but not so much as the evening progressed. One of my kids' friends came by with his mom, just out for (pre) Mother's Day. Mom immediately asked for "American Pie", without even looking at the List, and they stayed for 3 or 4 more songs.
Our old "Lagunatic" friend Silly Patty came by after a long recuperating absence. She always asks for an eclectic selection of songs, and then chats up Warren while I'm playing them. Great to have around anyway.
A sweet local lady who's apparently a big fan came by again, with her two little boys. She didn't seem to mind/notice when one of them zoomed across the crosswalk on his little bike -- but the "Walk" signal was on, so I had to assume that she knew that he knew what he was doing. (And I had to remember that Laguna people have a different standard of parenting than the rest of us -- as further evidenced by the 17-year-old, twirl-dancing, self-proclaimed "Canyon Girl" that came by later on).
That was, until he zoomed out again when the Walk signal was *not* on and made an incoming car screech to a halt to not hit him. That finally got her attention off of the iPhone videos she was taking and on to keeping her kids alive. It would have been a pretty sad Mother's Day spent at the hospital...
Anyway, we had some nice groups form, but it wasn't a very lively night. And although I was hoping to rope in some passing-by bar-hoppers in the late evening, it just wasn't happening -- though it *almost* worked with "I Will Survive" and "Purple Rain". And the quiet gave me a chance to play through a few new songs: "When Doves Cry" (which segues into the aforementioned "Purple Rain"), "Ain't No Sunshine", "I Think We're Alone Now", and "Nights in White Satin".
The city of Laguna Beach has three "sister cities", one in France, one in Mexico, and one in England. They put on a May Day tea as some kind of gesture to the English one, St. Ives, and the lady in charge hired me to play. It was held in a (desert) garden at the art college, and there were about 25 people there, mostly older ladies and a few dragged-along husbands.
They had tea (of course) and lemonade and champagne punch, and cookies, finger sandwiches, and (of course) scones -- carefully pronounced "skaahns" to be properly British.
I started off trying to play British songs, but I only have so many of those and after the first 5 or 10 they're not my best material, so that went out the window pretty quickly. Especially since, as soon as I passed out some song lists, the requests weren't aware of the attempted theme.
So it started out like a typical party gig, with me being "background music", but after a while, some ladies migrated to the table in front of me, and got into making requests. More ladies came over, and the chairs all filled up and got moved to become a semi-circle around me, actual audience style. Nice.
I played out the rest of the afternoon with these ladies making request after request. At one point I grabbed a handful of business cards and tossed them on the table, saying, "In case you want to find me again...", and those disappeared into purses, so maybe something will become of that.
Finally, a lady in charge came over and said, "Don't hate me, but can this be your last song?", which was perfect 'cuz it let me quit (nearly) on time, without it being my fault. (Not that I really wanted to quit on time, but I had a date at Disneyland afterwards.)
Overall, it was a perfect gig for me -- nice setting and weather, with rich old ladies with nothing much else to do (and in its first outdoor trial, my new amp "worked a treat", as we say in Old Blighty).
Sign me up for more of these!
