K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 30July2016

I tried to get there early, but the summer traffic jam got me. When I got to The Corner at 6, there was a Digeridoo and Hand Pan band already set up, playing cool weird drone-y space music. Fortunately, they were just about done and turned the spot over to me.

I was near the end of the first verse of "Country Roads" when a kid came by whose dad said that it was his favorite song and that he knew all the words -- so I called him up, "Let It Go" style. And he did, too.

The bubble machine was, of course, a big hit. One family stopped and the kids asked for song after song, but none of them were from "Little Mermaid"! I finally resorted to turning it on for "Over the Rainbow". Close enough, right?

Another family stopped and the dad was completely thrilled that I knew "Moonshadow", reportedly a *huge* favorite of his little boy. But everybody *except* the little boy was stoked to hear it, despite their excited urging -- I think it was way past his bedtime...

Crazy local character David stopped by, with his wacky no-bones dance moves and caricature "business" (he gives them away for free, since he's still learning the trade). Somehow he always arrives when I'm in the middle of a slow mellow song (what are the odds?!?), and his herky-jerky chicken dance doesn't quite work, but he throws it out there anyway. He did a sketch of Warren and I, as shown. I'm sure he'll improve with time.

Anyway, a nice busy day and evening, with lots of people out. Strangely not as many in my Target Market as usual, which affected the audience and tip jar. But we had some fun and made some people happy, and that's what it's about.

Keith in Dana Point -- Sat/Sun, 23/24July2016

Last weekend I nearly died out there playing in the sun in this heatwave, so I found me a cleverly-adjustable sun umbrella, and attached an extendable window-washing pole to the amp's rolling cart to get it up high enough to clear me and my hat. Took some finagling to get it positioned right, but it worked great. A nice lady came by and said, "Oh good, you got an umbrella. I was worried about you!" Nice to have that one out of the way, but there are plenty of other reasons to worry about me...

I also finally broke down and bought an "Under the Sea" bubble wand the last time I was at Disneyland. Then in a perfect storm of happenstances, two sisters came by, each holding their Ariel Barbies. I showed them the list, and they chose "Part of Your World", my favorite song from "The Little Mermaid", and I fired up the bubble machine, as I played it. Four (or more?) more little kids appeared from nowhere, and it was a bubble party!

Of course, what I hadn't thought of was, once you start, how can you turn it off? I stood there for a while after the song was over wondering, "Why did I go to all that trouble to learn how to play this guitar?"

I went down from 9 to 11 on Saturday morning, just to try to determine when the best time to be down there is. And then I went down again in the evening and had a pretty big crowd around 7:30. And then again on Sunday, brunch-time. Somewhere along the line, a lady picked up a business card, and on Sunday afternoon she emailed me and hired me to play a birthday party in September. That's how it's *supposed* to work!

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 16July2016

Now that all the art festivals are open, it's getting tough (and expensive!) to park down there, but it's worth it. Nice night, lots of people. It never really "clicked" somehow, but fun anyway.

A couple of little girls with too-big ice cream cones wanted "Let It Go" (imagine my surprise!), and the littler one came up to theoretically sing along, but she was far too interested in the ice cream to actually do any singing. Cute, though.

It was the first weekend since the release of the global "Pokemon Go" phenomenon, and hundreds of people were playing as they walked by. You can tell who's playing (versus just texting or trying to find the next bar on the map) 'cuz they almost always have an external battery wired to the phone they're glued to, since the game is a huge battery drain.

Some of my old Indian Princess friends came by, and naturally wanted to hear my Princess campout greatest hit, "Waltzing With Bears". I never play it anymore, but it's still in The Book, and I mostly remembered how to play it.

Around midnight an older fellow showed up and hung around at the side bench, apparently waiting for us to finish, 'cuz as soon as I gave up at 12:30 and started tearing down, he came over to rant at me about how there are plenty of "number ones" and these musicians these days don't play them. I pointed out that this was pretty much *exactly* my philosophy too -- I play the most-known hits of the best-known bands (in an admittedly time-limited swath) -- but he kept telling me, again and again about the "number ones" like it was some kind of X-Files conspiracy. I'm with you, dude, and I'm on it!

Keith in Dana Point -- Sat/Sun, 09/10July2016

I decided to try some different times, to see when the best time to play is. So I went from 9-11:30 and also in the evening 6:30-10:30. Neither was great, but both were OK.

In the morning, the Harbor Patrol/Sheriff/Fire boat came and docked right next to where I was playing. I thought, "Oh boy; here we go.", but decided to just keep playing and let them interrupt if they thought they had a reason to shake me down. I have my Permit, and am following (most of) the Rules laid down, so I should be OK. So I just kept playing, and playing, and they never even came by. Must have just come for some coffee.

And then on Saturday night, another heavily belt-accessorized guy came tromping up the Promenade towards me in his mil-spec boots, but he cut across the patio and never even approached me, either. Now, I'm glad nobody's called me out (yet), but why did I go to all the trouble to get that Permit if nobody's gonna check it?!?

(I actually think that I'm doing it so brazenly, and sounding completely professional, that they just have to assume I'm legit, so they don't hassle me. Which it great, I guess.)

I decided that I had to try Saturday night, just as a place to play when it's not Our Turn in Laguna. But it was kind of tough to gather an audience, because the patio space is owned by the coffee/ice cream shop, and they take the chairs away in the evening (even though they're still open!), which seems kind of mean.

But I can still play to the people strolling (and jogging, and dog-walking) by, and I had a pair of moms come by with their two bestie daughters. After I roped the girls in with my picture-menu Kids' request list, they just plopped down to listen. Some college girls came by and decided that they could do that, too, and we had us a great little concert there for a while.

A family came by who had recently relocated here from Pennsylvania, so they wanted all the "California" songs: the one about the hotel, and "Ventura Highway", and then they mercifully branched out into other types of songs. They stayed for at least an hour, and while I was playing for them, I looked over and there was a little dinghy docked over the railing, and the people were just chilling and listening to me like they had front row concert tickets. Apparently they could hear just fine from over there, although I'm theoretically not supposed to send any sound out over the water.

A 12-year-old kid came up to me and asked if I knew "Peaceful Easy Feeling". I do, and after he had sternly instructed his dad to take pictures and video, I played it, and he stood next to me and acted out the words in gestures -- I don't think he was even singing. Not sure what that was about. After the song, as he was walking away, he stopped and asked, "Can we order you for, like, a party?" I suppose so, kid, but I'm not a pizza...

On Sunday, I went down again in the morning, though it was already too hot. A nice old lady was up at the tables and she waved, then blew me a kiss, and stayed the whole time I was there, reading her book and clapping loudly between songs. Sweet.

I've been putting business cards down next to the tip jar, and lots of them disappear when I play down there. I hope something eventually comes of that...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 02July2016

Another pretty great night -- summer's definitely finally here. A lot of traffic on the way down there and parking was a nightmare, but worth it. Lots of friendly listeners, requests, dancing, free ice cream, and tips. We must be getting better -- we seem to be inspiring lots more five-dollar bills these days, and somebody slipped in a five Euro note. Cool.

Had another "Let It Go" singalong, and also played "Do You Want to Build a Snowman", though a teenaged girl on the bench was vastly more thrilled about it than the little girl I was playing it for.

Near midnight, a couple showed up and the guy was delighted to find "Your Song" on the list because it was "their song". He's shown here applying chapstick in anticipation of some smooching during their slow dance to it.

It was delightfully free of bum interference all night, until the very end when sweet but addled and Way Too Friendly Wendy came by. But it was almost midnight and time to quit anyway -- I couldn't get any of the Woo Girls to stop, despite my best efforts.

I sure wish we could play there every Saturday, but at least Tom seems to be holding to the deal of trading off every other one. It could be worse.

Keith at Uncorked -- Friday, 01July2016

I've finally broken my "Every Gig" rule for these posts, in that I didn't post one for last time at Uncorked, simply because nothing novel happened. But this time was different...

Not *all* that different, but it was really fun because there were *some* people there, but it wasn't full, so it was quieter and people were more inclined to listen and request songs. I had some appreciative people at first, and one guy asked me to play "Vincent", which *never* gets requested, and a lady wanted me to play "Lemon Tree" because her husband had never heard it. Um, OK.

But as it got later, it mostly emptied out, and then a couple came in and Mister Big Beard was *totally* down to pick some songs. And he did, wall to wall, for an hour or so, until an older couple came in and he insisted -- no, demanded -- that they pick some.

The old guy decided that looking at the list was "cheating", so he just named stuff, songs or artists, that he wanted to hear. I knew a few of them, and had "adjacent" songs for the rest. Like, he asked if I knew any Marty Robbins, and I played "Cool Water" instead. I ended up playing a bunch of stuff off of my "Seniors" list that I created for when I play at the old folk's home: "Tennessee Waltz", "South of the Border", "Today", "I'll Never Find Another You", "Moon River", etc. It was refreshing to get away from my Top Twenty for once.

When it was closing time, the lady went up to one of the guys and told him how great it was to come in there and hear some soft, nice music, and how they'd definitely be back. Sometimes I wonder if I'm "worth my salt" playing there, but I hope that helps them feel like I'm justified.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 25June2016

Wow! That's more like it! That's the Laguna gigs we used to know and love! Lots of people out, young and old (my target demo!), generous with their time, attention, requests, and tips! We played virtually all requested songs from 7:00 until a little after midnight when the batteries gave up.

For some reason it was a big night for "Hey, Jude" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Had a great "Let It Go" singalong, with two little girls being watched by at least 20 cute-struck bystanders. Requests were stacking up three deep at times. One guy asked for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", and when its turn came around, I announced, "OK, I'm gonna play 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' for this guy, though I'm pretty sure he only asked for it to see if I could pull it off". He laughed hard at that, so apparently I was right. Fortunately, I pretty much can.

I was playing "Hotel California" to a pretty big crowd, and during the last verse, two VERY LOUD Harleys pulled over at the curb right behind me, completely drowning me out. I turned around and pointedly gave them several dirty looks, but kept playing, hoping they'd leave soon. But they didn't, so during the usually-fingerpicked final instrumental verse/outro, I gave up and switched to exaggeratedly slam-strumming the chords as loud as I could instead, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Warren had gone down earlier than I did, to make sure to snag The Corner, and he brought his mic and stand to do some tunes before I got there. Once I did, he went off for a snack, and a teenage girl saw the mic and came up and said, "Can I sing a duet?" I said sure, and she sang along, kinda, to "Hotel California". Fortunately, Warren had left the thing off...

But then again at midnight, a pair of drunk Woo Girls showed up and one saw the mic and wanted to sing. Since almost nobody was around that late, I let her sing along to "Landslide", one of the few Obviously Girl songs on my list (though I do it a minor third lower than the recording). She wanted to do another one, so I fired up "It's My Party". She was game enough, but, you know, drunk, and I guess the batteries decided to play critic, 'cuz just before the end of it, the amp just died.

Keith at the Fête de la Musique -- Saturday, 18June2016

This actually turned into three events this time. There's a party the night before, the Fête itself, and I played at the reception after the Fête. In order:

The party is always at a mansion up on the cliff overlooking the city and ocean. All the musicians are invited, and the members of the Sister Cities Association that puts on the Fête. Some of the performers play at the party, and the talent recruiter, Ken, always asks me to. The first year I came to the party, the sound system was terrible, so last year I brought my own. This year I told Ken I'd be bringing my own stuff and he swore that I didn't need to because another group (gypsy music) was bringing theirs, and it's a good one. It wasn't. Yes, partial fault of the loud and boomy room, but I did a lot better with my own stuff last year -- and I won't fall for it next year, neither.

The performers stand against the all-glass wall, with paper shades blocking the blaring sun. But as I was playing, the sun was finally setting, and the owner opened the motorized shades so people could watch it. While the little motors were grinding away, I quickly fired up the guitar parts of "Here Comes the Sun", which everyone recognized as Pretty Clever. But then they turned on me when the shade opening was done and I quit playing it. Sorry folks -- it's a great song of course, but I only have time for 5 or 6 songs, and it's regrettably not one of my best.

Inexplicably, I spent most of the night hanging out with the youngest people there, a 5-piece R&B (!) band called "Caramelle". The singer just graduated from high school, and the rest are early collegians. Nice bunch of kids. A subset got up and did a few songs, including their trademark mashup of "I Will Survive" and "Fly Me to the Moon". Very clever.

This was my fifth year at the Fête, and I was at the same spot in front of Johnny Rockets. We're having a heat wave, so there were lots of people out for the beach, but it was more fun than last year because this time they seemed to be more willing to stop and listen for a while. Several couples that were at the party came by to hear a bit more, which was flattering. One Russian guy straight out of a John Landis comedy stopped and made his wife endure several songs before she was able to drag him away.

Two years ago, I just moved from "my spot" to The Corner after the Fête was over and played some more. But this year, Tom let us know that he was going to bogart The Corner, again, so I had an idea: I asked the Sister Cities lady to ask the restaurant if it would be OK for me to play during their after-Fête reception. I figured it could be a back-door audition to maybe play there for real, or at least more opportunity to see if these Laguna Beach society people might know of any coffee shops or wine bars or even just private parties that I could play at.

And that may have worked, a little. But the playing itself fell squarely into "Be careful what you wish for" territory. It was *really* loud in there, with the live room and all the people having their party -- which is fine, but it's no fun to stand at the edge and play into.

Afterwards, my friend made a point of introducing me to the Manager and General Manager, and they both smiled and nodded and made "Yes, yes, very nice" noises, but clearly they have no intention of dislodging George who's been playing there for, literally, 20 years.

But you know what? You're welcome to it, George. That doesn't look like any fun to me at all, and I'm glad to have it out of my system.

Keith at Artisan Faire -- Saturday, 18June2016

When the Artisan Faire lady texted me last minute to see if I was available to play, I told her that I was already booked in Laguna that day, and if I did come, I'd have to quit at noon to make it there on time. She apparently had no other options, so signed me up anyway, 10-12 instead of 10-2.

I was glad I only had to stand there for two hours because, as always, it was nearly deserted. And it got me out of the sun before the real heat set in. But it gave me a chance to try my new sound system in a parking lot setting. Turns out it's got plenty of power to do that, but I can't use three quarters of it because the guitar feedback sets in. But I could get it plenty loud enough to cover this ever-shrinking and ghost town-quiet event.

So I played for almost nobody, with occasional scatterings of applause from the vendors out there, and the very few customers. I did have one lady come by and buy one of my 25-song "Favorites" CDs. She stood there reading through the song list on it and sadly said, "I know every song on here; how bad is that?" And I said, "No, that's *good*!" I guess she thought it meant that she was old, but doesn't it mean the same thing about me, then?

The Mission Viejo "City Events" sign on the main intersection by City Hall is on my way home from Laguna. I was shocked to catch my name on it just as the light turned green. You'd'a thought the Faire lady would have mentioned that.

Keith in Dana Point -- Sunday, 12June2016

Saturday was rained (misted?) out, and Sunday started out the same, but finally seemed to be clear enough to give it a try. Indeed, a while after I started the sun burned through and it got downright hot. I had to take off my trademark vest! (But not the hat. Never the hat.)

My first song is always "Hotel California", and my second tends to be "The Boxer". As I was playing it, a guy saw me standing there alone doing Simon & Garfunkel, so he came over and started to sing harmony. I smiled in encouragement, but the harmony box is already singing the Garfunkel part, so he was confused at first. But then he seemed to figure it out, and jumped up a bit, inventing a "Nash", fifth-above, harmony. Then that got a little weird (and high!), so he jumped down and tried to fill in a third-below harmony instead. A noble effort.

When it was over, he complimented my "picking" and I asked him to choose the next song. He went for "Homeward Bound", and I offered to leave the harmony box off this time so he could take over. And he did a great job. It was hard to resist my now-instinctual left-foot reaching for the box buttons, but I managed to keep my foot on the ground. Turns out he's in several bands back home in Colorado, and this was quite a bit of fun for him on his vacation. Come by any time, Pete!

A family came by with a baby in a stroller and her music fan (and eyewear fashionista) big sister, so naturally I fired up "Twinkle Twinkle". That roped them in, and little Bentley pored over the picture menu and asked for "Under the Sea" and then "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?". Where's the Downtown Disney booking guy when you need him?

Three grandmas came by and stood by the rail to listen for a while. I offered them the list, and one of them read through it and surprised me by asking for "The Weight". I said, "By 'The Band'?!?", and she said, "Yes, of course. I know my music!" No slight intended -- I was just expecting her to ask for something more like "Georgia On My Mind" or "The Way You Look Tonight".

The guy who I'm reasonably sure is the owner of the coffee/ice cream shop(s) and who hassled me to turn it down on my first outing was there again, but he didn't give me any trouble this time, again. I'm either quiet enough for his taste now, or he's catching on that I'm popular and probably good for business. Most places have to pay a guy to come in and do live music.

But anyway, I'm feeling less paranoid, and getting a little braver about being a little louder. It's so blissfully quiet down there that a little is plenty -- I just really need to know if the amp is still working. If it's too quiet, I can't tell when the wireless transmitter batteries have died and I'm "off the air".

Keith in Dana Point -- Sat/Sun, 04/05June2016

I guess the fear of being shut out in Laguna sets me up for a "double header", even on "our turn" Saturdays. But I don't want to thrash my back, feet, and fingers too much, and I need to get the batteries back on the chargers so I'll have enough juice for the evening, so I just played 10-noon again. And I had a nice brunch crowd, so that worked out.

Weirdest thing: a big angry guy came stomping down the promenade towards me, knocking over the fancy (and heavy!) metal trash cans as he passed them. But he just kept going, so after a while a lady came over and put it back up again. Dude, what was that all about?

And apparently Jesus came by while I wasn't looking and left his business card wrapped in a fiver. But there wasn't any actual contact info on the card, so maybe it wasn't so much a business card as a musical opinion. Thanks, man.

On Sunday, I played from 10:30 until about 2 when my fingers felt like hamburger and I needed one for lunch. Lots of cute kids out.

A guy came up and said that his daughter was re-opening a closed coffee shop in Laguna Beach, and he was going to take my card to her because "You'd be perfect". Sounds great, but since the "comes through" rate on these kinds of things is pretty close to zero, I won't be holding my breath...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 04June2016

As feared/expected, Fiddle Kid was holding The Corner hostage when we got there at 6:30, but Warren negotiated its release so we could get started at 7. Somehow, maybe because I'd already played for two hours at Dana Point, I was feeling very loose about the whole thing -- playing and singing with abandon. Or as much "abandon" as this uptight white boy gets...

Also, after 30-some years of fingerpicking and essentially forgetting how to strum, the advent of the new guitar and its strumability is getting really fun to me. I'm still not willing to try to play full-on rock songs on my acoustic guitar (and I hope that the world is with me on that), but it's fun to get a little wild on the thing.

We didn't gather many big crowds, but it didn't seem like were all alone much, either. We had plenty of small groups to play for and fulfill their requests. A cute young couple came by and stopped to listen to "Moonshadow". After they said that they were big Cat Stevens fans, I started to read them the list of his stuff that I know, but the girlfriend stopped me at "How Can I Tell You" as the perfect song for them, and they cuddled all the way through it. Cute.

My old doctor (that I can't go to anymore because my insurance changed) came through with her dad and her tween daughter. She just stomped right up to me and started talking to me even though I was kinda busy singing. She asked for "Imagine" and after someone else's "The Boxer" request, she wanted "Puff, the Magic Dragon".

She may have been a little tipsy, 'cuz she was doing the Sexy Hippie Chick Wiggle Dance to any and everything, much to the consternation of her daughter (though it didn't seem to faze her dad). It's a little awkward to see your (ex) doctor out of context, but I actually kind of prefer having a Real Human. I'm gonna have to see if they've changed policies so I can go back to her next time I need some doctoring. She's way more fun than my new one.

We had quite a lot of dancing, for some reason. One guy came up and asked for "anything by Bob Marley", so I pulled out my version of "Three Little Birds" ("Every little thing, gonna be all right"), with less embarrassment than usual. I do have an active policy to try to have at least one song by Nearly Everybody (within reason of course), and it does work out every once in a while.

A big group of bar-hoppers came through and a girl called out "Play some Gwen Stefani!" I replied that that wasn't exactly in my wheelhouse, and she immediately blurted out "Beatles!" instead. That was impressively on-second-thought perceptive -- 60 to 0 in nothing flat.

Keith in Dana Point -- Sat/Sun, 28/29May2016

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.

Keith at Uncorked -- Friday, 27May2016

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.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 21May2016

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'...

Keith in Dana Point -- Saturday/Sunday, 21/22May2016

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.