K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 19Nov2016

It was clouded over and seemed like it was gonna get really cold -- which made for a great sunset, but I wasn't expecting many people to be out. But it wasn't too bad, and we had plenty of people come by, especially a lot of families with kids. I think I hit a new record of "Twinkle Twinkles" per evening.

One little baby lit up with a smile so big that her dad had to grab the pacifier before it fell out of her mouth. She was so small that I didn't really expect her to even recognize it, but nope, she was All In.

A big ol' cowboy came up and asked me to sing a song for his girlfriend back in New York (?) to show her how much he misses her. Wanted me to insert her name, "Billie Joey" into the song. Uhhh, what now? So I tried to think of a "missing you" song, but couldn't, and had him scan the list.

He went for "Carolina In My Mind", which, OK, at least the syllables line up, but it didn't really make much sense when I sang it as "Gone to Billie Joey in my mind". But he seemed happy with the video he took of it, and dropped, apparently, all the change in his pocket into the tip jar. Now we know what I'll do for a buck eighty-seven...

I'd worked up two new songs to try, and both worked pretty well. One was a bluegrass-tinged version of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" that I stole from a YouTube video I stumbled upon. I've always liked that song, and I'm loving this version of it.

The other was "Seven Bridges Road" by the Eagles, which, for some reason, I've been asked for several times lately. The first and last verses are a capella five-part harmony, so I don't know why people keep thinking that there's any way a single guy could pull it off, but I guess it's flattering that they overestimate me to the point that they think I could.

But I decided to give it a go with the harmony box, not really expecting to get away with it, but it works, and it works *really* well. Indeed, the worst part of the song is the middle section where the flatpicked guitar comes in, and I'm terrible at flatpicking, so I'm faking/stumbling my way through it. But that might just be a matter of practice, and now I have a reason to.

Anyway, it's quite a rush to stand out there and just *sing*, unaccompanied and bald-faced. And not just "sing", but "belt". Dunno if it's exhilaration or fear, though. Is there a difference?