Keith at Laguna Beach -- 28May2012

With the shutdown of my main gig at the Food Court, I'm suddenly interested in "diversifying my portfolio" -- i.e., having more places to play. Jim & Warren seem to be enjoying their twice-weekly attacks on Laguna Beach, so I thought I'd give that another go.

On Saturday afternoon, we took the dogs down there just to check it out and it encouraged me to go back on Sunday with my guitar -- but mindful of the city law against amplification without a permit, just acoustic -- no amp or harmony box. To make it even easier to carry, I zip-tied my tip jar to a light music stand, and made a "poster" slipped into the pockets of the songbook binder. A stack of cards fit into the lid of the tip jar, and I could throw a few songlists down. Everything (plus a bottle of Dew) fit into a backpack, with my guitar (without the case) over my other shoulder.

But when I got there about 4:00, a locally famous lady named April was belting out her 40's tunes in "Acoustic Alley" (an enclosed foot corridor that focuses sound, making it essentially the only place where a quiet instrument (like a guitar or voice) can be heard), and a guy was making a go of strumming on J&W's corner.

I went down PCH to try out some of the other spots I noted the day before, but since I've never seen anyone else play any of those places, I was afraid to. I experimentally strummed a little bit in one of the courtyards, but there was nobody coming in anyway, so I gave up. It was becoming clear that even if I got permission to play somewhere, I was completely inaudible.

So after a while I wandered back to the main street, but April was still in the Alley, and Steven was still on the corner. You'd think that in the whole of Laguna Beach, there'd be more than two places to play street music, but it really does boil down to those two places.

Anyway, I went down the street a ways and played inaudibly on a sidewalk bench for a spell. I didn't get the stuff out of the bag though, so it was just an experiment in what songs I could do from memory. After a while of that, it was coming on 6:00, so I decided to just go on home, but on one last check, April was gone from the Alley. I quickly moved in and stayed the rest of the night.

It's an interesting challenge. Unlike normal amplified gigs, the zone where you can be heard is very small. And since everyone is walking by, you have a very limited time, maybe 5 seconds, to make an impression or you've lost them. It definitely behooves you to (a) sound good, (b) be singing, not flipping pages, tuning, or playing the instrumental verse, and (c) play songs that everybody can recognize from any tiny snippet at any given point in the song.

These rules were pretty easy to figure out since I was playing off to the side of the walkway, and people either would, or would not, turn their heads to look at me, depending on their immediate 1-second impression. The tendency is to just keep looking forward and just go by -- it took *something* to turn their heads.

After figuring that out, getting that instant and anywhere-in-the-song recognition factor narrowed my already-narrowed "Street Songs" list to about 4: "Hotel California", "Hey Jude", "Country Roads", and the clear winner, "Over the Rainbow". Of course I played other songs anyway, just for my own entertainment ("I'm Yours" works for the younger kids and a lot of people remember "The Boxer"), but the really deeply-well-known songs are the ones that make people reach for their wallets. And it's so satisfying to overhear someone tell their friend, "Oh! I love this song!", and even better if they stop to hear it to the end.

I played from about 6 until 9, when it was getting pretty thin, and I was getting pretty hungry. Surprisingly, there was 32 bucks in the jar, almost as much as a winter night at Spectrum, and enough to interest me in doing it again sometime. With school letting out soon, I think even weekday evenings might be fun, but only if I can get into the Alley. (Or if I get brave enough to build a small, camouflaged, and battery-powered rig...)

Keith at MV Farmer's Market - 25May2012

I was re-invited to play at the Mission Viejo Farmer's Market, so I ditched a half-day's work to do it. Unfortunately, it was cold and drizzling, but the weather report said that it was only supposed to be partly cloudy, so I went down and hoped for the best.

It never really got cold or wet enough to shut me down, but it did keep the shoppers away pretty well. I played anyway, 'cuz it's just fun to play, and the later it got, the more people showed up, so it ended up not too bad.

When I got there, the public sound system was on, playing some nice background music. When I was ready to start, the maintenance guy, Chris, was nowhere to be found, but I had prepared for this last time by following him to see where the system was hidden. So I went and shut it down myself.

But halfway through the morning, it came back on again. I tried to just ignore it, but it bugs me that somebody is bound to be halfway between where I am and where their nearest speaker is, and they'll be really annoyed by the "half of each" sound they're getting. So I had to quit playing and walk back to the far room where the system is and shut it down again. Next time (I'm already scheduled for June), I'll have to ask Chris to try to refrain from turning it back on until I'm gone.

But it was fun. Even though it was outdoors, it was nice and quiet so the sound was pretty good, which is always fun for me. And, although only a few people came over to sit and listen a spell, lots of people went to the trouble to walk over and put some money in the jar, so I guess they could hear me and were enjoying it as they were shopping, which is, I guess, the point.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum Myrtle Court -- 19May2012

The Irvine Spectrum Center management suddenly and inexplicably decided to stop hosting live music at the Food Court, though they're keeping the Myrtle Court stage. I've been playing almost exclusively at the Food Court, because they don't (didn't) charge a $50 "setup fee" for that one like they do for the Myrtle Court. This is presumably because the Food Court kinda sucks, and if they charged for it, no one would come.

The sudden change cancelled two already-booked gigs at the Food Court, but since I've been doing pretty well in tips lately (and rather than being suddenly retired), I signed up for the only remaining May opening at Myrtle Court, and with some trepidation, sent in the $50 fee. I'm not in this for the money, but it's kinda nice to bring home *something* for the trouble of going out there (not to mention the 40 years of practice to get to the point where I even *can* go out there). It's irksome to have to hand over a chunk of the tips, but I guess as long as I come out not-too-negative, it's the cost of a night out having fun.

Anyway, all day Saturday, I was freaking out about playing the "Main Stage", indeed now, the *only* stage, and having paid the fee, it seemed somehow proportionately Important to Do Good. And, having played the Food Court stage dozens of times now, I'm quite settled in, but I've only played at Myrtle Court a few times, so there was also the fear of the unfamiliar.

Myrtle Court has a long rectangular fountain with tables along the sides, and the stage is at one end, right in the middle of the main thoroughfare. You're essentially standing on a tide-breaker, where the traffic has to split in two around you. You also have to decide: if you face north, you're looking at (and singing to) the rows of tables and chairs along the fountain, but if you face south, you're facing into the foot-traffic flow, and might be able to snag a few interested parties from out of that tide.

But in the few other times I've played that stage, I pretty much decided to face the traffic, despite the temptation to play for people who are static and possibly demonstrably interested. But, facing south, there are two big planter-box benches for people to sit on and an up-close little plaza for standing people and dancing kids, so you can accumulate a little "audience", (not to mention that all those walking people are necessarily walking by the tip jar ).

I ended up kind of splitting the difference and set up with one speaker facing each direction. The "Court" is enclosed (except being open to the sky), and you get some good acoustic "containment" anyway, so the sound is good and loud enough everywhere. I mainly played into the traffic flow, but I also did a lot of turning around to face the tables when I knew the song well enough to not need the book and there were no harmony-box button presses.

And I had a blast! It was so different to have people, however mobile, that are close enough to actually see and therefore interact with. And the people on the planter boxes are close enough that they'll actually get up to take a look at the song list, unlike at the Food Court where even if they're listening, it's too intimidating to walk all the way across the big plaza to my table. And there were *lots* of people. Most of them just walk on by of course, but lots of them stayed for a song or three. And I almost never had that Dead Silence thing that's so prevalent at the Food Court. Several of the big groups at the tables seemed to be there for hours, though it's not certain if that was to hear me, or that they just had nowhere else to go...

I got one kid party going, though I didn't give out any fingerlights, mostly 'cuz I just never thought of it, it being so brightly lit there. I did have 4 or 5 little Muslim tweens that played my tambourine along with some newer tunes, and whom I "let" talk me into playing Justin Bieber's "Baby". And it was Prom Night for a lot of Seniors, so there were lots of them parading around the place, which was fun.

Especially toward the end of the evening, I had several couples that just sat down on the planter boxes and hung out, asking for song after song. I *love* that. Also an elderly Indian guy who was there for a couple of hours, and had an unerring ability to ask for my very best tunes, as if he had had a peek at the "Favorites" list. Dude, your fiver is in the mail.

Anyway, now I'm asking myself why I haven't been playing this stage all along. Obviously, it's the 50 bucks. It's especially bothersome if, at the end of the evening, "they" made more for my labor than I did. So I was anxious to get home and count up the tip jar, just to find out "the score". It came to twelve cents short of a hundred bucks. Twelve. Cents.

But let's round *up* and call it even! Not to mention that I had a great time! It's *way* more fun than the Food Court, so I'm definitely gonna sign up for more. Unfortunately, with no notice about the Food Court cancellations, the May and June dates for Myrtle Court are mostly full, but I'm gonna get what I can! Here I thought I was involuntarily just about musically retired, but I'm actually revitalized! Can't wait for the next one!

Keith at 5K Run -- 16May2012

A guy from Kaiser Permanente saw me at Spectrum and liked me enough that he called to hire me to play an outdoor meeting he was holding for some international guests. But the weather turned cold for the day of the meeting, so the gig was cancelled. A few weeks later, I was surprised to get a check in the mail, so I asked them to book me sometime to "work it off", and finally got a call to come play for the company's Health Fair 5K run. Weird, but since I'd already gotten paid...

It was in a park in Long Beach, but they set me up a little stage -- with balloons! Unfortunately, I wasn't really what the coordinator, Tiffany, was hoping for -- she wanted "Pump it up!" music, and that's not exactly what I'm good at. Of course, I tried to oblige anyway, and played my most upbeat tunes, and it wasn't *too* bad.

I was set up right across from the start/finish line, and I mainly played for the people waiting to get started. It wasn't really an "audience" kind of situation, but I did score one little fan, Ida, who listened for a while and then took advantage of the "Make a Poster" booth to show her regards.

Anyway, I'm glad I got paid, 'cuz it was more awkward than fun. But maybe it'll lead to some more appropriate gigs out there someday -- a lot of people heard me and threw some appreciative comments my way, and I gave a stack of cards to the coordinator to pass out to her friends, so maybe they'll seek me out for upcoming, lower-key, events.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 12May2012

An inexplicably subdued evening. The weather was nice all day, but turned surprisingly cold after sunset. Not much response from the people most of the night, for some reason.

But it was also Acacia's Prom Night, and the theme was 40's "USO Show". At Daleen's suggestion, the kids met for dinner at the Spectrum Ruby's (which is 50's themed, but close enough), and then they came over to see me briefly before they went on to the prom. I played "Mister Postman" (I know: 60's -- but again, close enough) so they could warm up their dancing legs. They caused quite a stir for a while there.

Even before I got started, there were three Japanese ladies sitting on the planterbox behind me. I gave them a song list and let them chatter their way through it as I got set up. When I was ready to start, I asked which song they had decided on, and the spokesman for the group proclaimed "Reetahl Mahmaid!", by which she meant "Part of Your World" from the movie "Little Mermaid". That was unexpected, but of course I played it for them (after a few "grownup" songs to get started with). They were sweet and enthusiastic, and later on they asked for "Let It Be" before hustling off, presumably to catch "The Avengers" like the rest of the world.

I had a few little kids, and gave away some fingerlights to some teens, but never really got anything going. Still, there were at least a few people out there listening, so I kept playing until 11:15 when I announced that the next one was going to be my last song.

And just then, a young couple of my actual Facebook fans showed up, asking for -- and slow-dancing to -- some love songs, so I ended up playing for another hour. They've seen me play several times before, and they were the only ones left, so I had fun playing some different kinds of stuff for them: "To Make You Feel My Love", and "Ballad of Love and Hate", "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". I don't mind playing what people want to hear -- it's why I show up -- but it's nice to get to break out of that Top Twenty once in a while.

Renaissance Faire -- 06May2012

Two years ago, Acacia fell in love with the Ren Faire, as I knew she would, and this year she put together a van full of kids, and then some, for a full-on expedition. We left at 7:30am to pick up kids in Costa Mesa, Huntington, and Long Beach, on our way to make the Opening Ceremony in Irwindale.

Everyone was in costume -- even the boys -- but that's as you'd expect of OCHSA kids. Acacia's musical genius boyfriend, Reid, brought along his tenor recorder which we hung around his neck with some twine like it was a sword. He even had use of it when he jumped right in with some street music people in the afternoon, despite never having heard those tunes before.

The weather was perfect, and we practically had the place to ourselves for the first half of the day. The layout of the place had changed from the two years before -- a new "Golden Jubilee" stage was added for this 50th anniversary Faire, and some of the other stages moved, upgraded, and up-sized. They also addressed my biggest complaint (that the Faire was one long serpentine track that you had to wander into, and then all the way back out of) by cutting some paths through at the tops of the loops, so you can take the shortcuts when you're tired and ready to go home.

A new feature of the Faire this year is a group called "The Fantastikals", which are "fae, nymphs, fairies and spirits". They were several girls with elaborate makeup and costumes, scattered around the Faire, acting "mystical". They never talk, and don't directly interact with anyone. Acacia was enthralled, and desperately wants to "be one" next year. She might have a chance, too -- they were all tall, slender, and pretty, and their main requirement/skill is acting aloof and kinda strange. No problem!

Because of the lack of crowds, we were able to see most of the artisan booths before lunch. The kids could just walk up and see what they wanted to see, and they (and I, as The Dad for the day) could keep track of each other and not get separated and lost.

We went back to the van for lunch, and as I swung around to get back out, the backside of my ancient khaki pants split wide open. The cloth was just dissolving, and I'd already fixed several split-open spots the day before. Indeed, I'd *almost* been clever enough to bring a backup pair of pants, but forgot. I borrowed Acacia's apron, and just tied it around my waist backwards. She was actually somewhat relieved to be rid of some of the mountain of cloth she was carrying around in her three layers of skirting. It was a bit strange of a wardrobe feature, to have a "train" hanging out from under my shirt in the back, but less attention-getting at The Faire than anywhere else I can think of...

After lunch, we ran into an Elizabethan lady's man in the street. He proceeded to flatter and woo each of the girls (and Reid!) with hand-kissing and Shakespearean compliments, to much amusement of the rest of the kids. He was very good -- smooth but not too sleazy, comically forward, but not so much that it scared the girls away. Give that man a raise.

After that, we looked up some shows. First was a reunion of "Cock and Feathers", the most famous troupe/show from the early days of the Faire, back when we used to go in the 70's. The old guys still had it, but the venue was noisy so you couldn't hear the jokes, puns, and double-entendres that make the show unless you were in the first 3 or 4 rows, which we weren't. A few of the kids wandered off at that point, but the rest of us stayed, and afterward saw a great one-man show with Will Shakespeare himself recapping the story of "Hamlet" in everyday modern terms (who knew that Rosencrantz sounds exactly like Keanu Reeves?). Really well-done, funny, and incidentally educational -- I had never really grasped the whole complicated story there before.

After that, we saw "Moonie", who was just as funny the 4th time as the first, despite the show being identical, year after year. After that, the kids wanted to do some more shopping, and after a while I left them alone to go see the "Dread Crew of Oddwood" band. They're what a heavy metal band would have been in pirate days, singing about pillaging, looting, plank-walking, etc. Really great, rowdy, cacophonous, banging and bellowing stuff.

I went back and found the kids, and walking past, we were drawn in by "Paleo Circa", an anachronistically amplified but rockin' fiddle-tune dance band. The girls were swept up in the rhythms, and danced with glee, dragging the boys along. One of those terrific, "Only at the Faire" kinds of moments.

I finally managed to herd the group back into the van, stopped and bought them some dinner on the way home, deposited them all back at their respective houses, and got ourselves home a little after 9:00. Quite a day -- I'm in to do it again next year!

P.S. Lots more pictures -- click here.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 28Apr2012

Although it was supposed to be warmer yet than last night, a cold wind kicked up and it was quite a bit colder. But there were lots of people out -- fooled by the weatherman, I guess.

This was the "make up" gig for the double-booked Friday last week, and I chose the only open Saturday that was offered, but it meant that I had two gigs in a row. I was afraid that I'd be too tired or sore (fingers, knees, feet), but it wasn't too bad at all. I guess I'm not as old or wimpy as I think I am.

I usually don't play a Friday and Saturday on the same weekend to compare the two side-by-side, but they were interestingly different. Saturday had more people out, but they all seemed to be Doing Something and so hurrying by, where Friday's people seemed to be more Strolling, so they had time to stop and listen. Way more kids on Friday, too. Not sure why, so maybe the differences are just luck-of-the-draw and not really date-dependent, but it was a surprisingly different feel.

Indeed, expecting as many kids as the night before, I had actually worked up a new Dance song ("It's My Party" -- one of my favorites due to the very clever chord progression), but never got a chance to pull it out 'cuz there just weren't enough kids. Maybe next time.

I also decided to set up the video cameras again. I'm not really sure what I was thinking -- it's been quite a while since I've built a song video, but I don't have access to the Mac anymore, so I really can't do one anyway. I guess I'll have some raw footage to work with if I ever get ahold of a decent computer again. Or maybe I'll see what I can do on the iPad.

Anyway, I had people out there listening most of the time (and my brother and his wife for a while), and although it didn't seem like a lot of people were coming up to the table, I had $136 in the jar by the night, and had sold five "Favorites" CDs and three "Waltzing with Bears". The high point of the gig was when I was playing Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight", and a couple jumped up and started slow dancing. That happens once in a while, but this time it kind of choked me up to where it was hard to finish singing the thing.

At one point late in the evening, some people were (finally!) up at the table, asking for songs and standing there to actually listen to them and scanning the list to ask for more. Other people noticed them and came up too, 'til I had a bit of a Request War going on. I spend hours just begging for someone to request a song, and then suddenly I get three groups of people fighting over me. People are funny.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 27Apr2012

Finally! Wonderful weather, and the people were out accordingly. I had way more little kids dancing than ever before, to the point where I was running out of dance songs to play for them, and after the initial set was gone, a whole new set of kids showed up and I had to repeat a bunch of them.

Fortunately, I love playing for kids. I had one little thee-year-old blonde girl come over and stare right at me with a completely blank face, as only tiny kids can do. I stared right back and started up "Twinkle Twinkle", and watched her dissolve into an ear-to-ear grin, with a delighted glance back at her mom. You can just see their little brains click: "Hey! I recognize this!"

With the summer coming and the time change, I had to use the newly-printed paper copies of the iPad music book for the first couple of hours. It definitely feels primitive to have to flip though the pages looking for the right song alphabetically, but the pages/fonts seemed *huge* after I was able to switch to the iPad, so there's that trade-off...

Late in the evening, the Cutest Thing Ever happened. I was between songs and a young family stopped over at the side. The curly-headed two-year-old in the gigantic fuzzy purple coat wandered forward with a big smile and her little hand up in the air, in the universal "Hold my hand" gesture of all toddlers. I went over to the edge of the stage to meet her, and took her little hand for a couple of seconds, which seemed to be enough 'cuz she smiled even bigger and toddled back to her family. Made my night. Heck, made my *month*.

She and her big sister stayed for a long time, and were joined by a few more toddlers. Since it was finally dark enough, I crouched down and beckoned her and the rest of them over to give them some finger lights, including "Kimmy", who introduced herself with a classic quarter-turn, head-down, one-toe-up gesture that they must have studied to animate Tweety-bird, and who asked for "'Laddin and Jasmine!" over and over the rest of the night after I had played it the first time. Anyway, the lights delighted the lot of them and I got to watch them run and dance and play with them for a long time. Worth every nickel.

The night went by really fast -- by the time it was starting to feel "late", it was already 9:30. Since I'm playing two nights in a row, I didn't want to overdo this one and be too tired for the next one, so I knocked off at 10:15, the "earliest late" in a long time. It sure is nice to finally have some warm weather, which brings out the people.

Keith at "Arts Alive!" -- 21Apr2012

On Friday afternoon, I got an email from Dru, the lady who books the Mission Viejo gigs (Santa and Farmer's Market), inviting me to play on Saturday for the "Arts Alive!" event that they do. It's a little event for kids that exposes them to all kinds of arts, apparently since the schools don't, anymore. There was various booths for the kids to do painting, play with band instruments, get an airbrush tattoo, and a little violin concert in the afternoon. She offered to let me play until the violin guys started, so I did.

That made my shift from 11 to 1, and there were very few people there, but I'm getting much more OK with that 'cuz, you know, it's kinda fun just to play real loud with all the equipment. And a few appreciative people (mostly from the other booths) came by and smiled or said nice things, so not a complete loss. Also, Dru came by to buy a full set of CDs from me, which was unnecessary but nice of her.

Of course, it's worth my while in the long run to get in good with her, so she'll book me for more (paid) Farmer's Market gigs, and better shifts for Santa -- and whatever else she's in charge of that I don't know about.

Keith (not) at Irvine Spectrum - 20Apr2012

Well, I was *supposed* to play, and the weather was finally terrific so I was really looking forward to it. But when I got there, another band was already set up on the stage. And it was the "Peruvian" band, with 3 guys and a ton of equipment, so they had gotten there really early and were completely deployed.

The Maintenance guys somehow thought that the kid at the other stage wasn't really supposed to be there, and offered to send him home and let me play there. But Security brought down the booking lady's boss who confirmed that the kid was OK -- it was really a double-booking on the original stage. So I went home with a promise that he'd convince Laurie to suspend the "Only 2 per month!" rule so I could get a "make up".

And she did email to apologize and offer me some alternate dates, of which I took the only Saturday (this coming up, next one), even though I'm also booked for this coming Friday. I'm not sure I've got the stamina work a full week and then do two gigs in a row anymore, but we'll see!

The best part of the mix-up is that I've now met The Boss, and can copy him on my email exchanges with the Laurie, and maybe she'll be a little more civil -- though she did completely ignore (as usual) my email suggestion that double-booking mistakes were impossible in the old days when the schedule was publicly posted, and maybe she could think about re-implementing that. Oh well.

Keith at MV Farmer's Market - 06Apr2012

I scored a new (paid!) gig as a result of my playing for the families waiting in line to see Santa Claus at the Mission Viejo "Winter Wonderland" every year.  They've started having a Farmer's Market on Fridays in the same area between City Hall and the Library, and are having Live Music every first Friday, so I got the lady that books me for Santa to set me up to play for the "farmers".

Unfortunately, the first Friday tends to immediately follow the first Thursday (which is Laguna Artwalk), so I ended up playing two gigs with nothing but a night's sleep between them.  Not actually a big problem -- in fact it makes it a bit easier since I can leave most of the equipment in the car overnight -- but my voice wasn't really up for it at 9am, especially after singing for 3 hours the night before.

But I warmed up after a while and had a pretty good time.  Not a lot of people came by the stay and listen (more so because they hadn't booked the usual Lunch Trucks "because it's Good Friday" (Is truck food even more of a sin then than usual?!?)), but lots of folks walked by and dropped money in the jar.  I hadn't really expected to make anything in tips for this kind of thing, but ended up with $60, on top of the city's check -- not bad at all!

This was the first test of using the iPad in broad daylight, which I was afraid wasn't gonna work -- and I was right.  Not only is the image washed out in the bright light, the shiny glass makes it easier to see my own face than the songsheet.  I don't think any kind of "shade hood" would have helped enough, either.  Of course, I can and did fall back on the paper version, but the songs evolve a bit over time as I scribble performance notes and tweaks on the pages, so the iPad versions are somewhat different than the paper copies.  I'll have to print up a new set of sheets before my next sunlit gig.

As I and the farmer/vendors were packing up at 1:00, several of them came by to tell me that they liked my stuff.  And that public consensus wasn't lost on my city hall friend who will probably be inclined to book me again sometime.  Besides, I couldn't hardly be worse than the octogenarian ukulele orchestra that she booked last month!

Keith at Laguna Artwalk / Twig -- 05Apr2012

Susie let me play at her shop for the Laguna Art Walk again.  The weather was finally nice, and the auto traffic was definitely "up", though the in-store foot traffic was about the same.  It's still a lot of fun for me, though -- watching people go by the shop, even the ones that only look in and smile.  Of course, even better are the ones that slow down, stop, and decide to come inside to browse and listen.

The peak was around eight o'clock when 6 or 8 people came in.  The older guy was clearly impressed, and after reading through the list, told me confidentially that if I could play "Here Comes the Sun", his daughter's British boyfriend would be impressed.  I can play it pretty well, but only if I've been practicing the heck out of it all week, which I hadn't, so I declined.

But I offered "In My Life" as an alternative, and had the lot of them singing along, and the dad slow dancing with his wife, too.  When it was over, the mom told me it was her favorite song (hence, I suppose, the dancing), and the boyfriend came over, shoved up his sleeve, and showed me the tattoo on his wrist: "There are Places I Remember" in script.

Toward the end of the night, I watched a couple walking along across the street as the visibly pricked up their ears, spotted me, and made a beeline across the street (jay walking!) to come into the shop.  It's still unclear if they wanted to hear me better, or if they were just in need of more shopping, but they sure were determined!

24 bucks in the jar this time, a new record, but I think that most of that was Susie being needlessly generous again -- just letting me play there is "gift" enough!

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 31March2012

The weather had been nice all week, and I was hoping for a big turnout at Spectrum, but Saturday it turned all cloudy and threatening. It wasn't really all that cold, but it did send me packing in a light rain/drizzle about 9:20. (But at least it wasn't a repeat of the scheduled but totally-rained-out St. Pat's Day gig two weeks ago. Because of that, it's been 6 weeks (!) since I've played Spectrum.)

Got a really late start, too -- after I'd gotten 3/4 set up, I noticed that the power was dead, and to make matters worse, my phone's battery was also dead so I couldn't call Maintenance. I put the obvious valuables back in the suitcase, and carried my guitar and iPad out to find somebody. By the time they got it working it was already 6:40, which, with the early "called for rain" end time, made it my shortest Spectrum gig ever.

But fun. Seems like I had a few people standing around the sides of the stage most of the night, and one little dancer that dragged her parents back for more 3 or 4 times over the evening (and kept bringing me "another money"). I was another big Persian Social night, and I had a bunch of their little kids hanging around, so I brought out my give-away shakers (plastic easter eggs with hard red beans taped inside) and gave away 4. As I had suspected, they were a bit too young to get any rhythm going, but whatever.

After a while, I decided to also give them some of my "finger lights" (little LED flashlights in various colors). There were 4 kids when I started giving them out, but suddenly another half-dozen appeared from nowhere. But that's OK -- the kids were having a great time running around playing with them, and while they cost me a quarter apiece, the parents invariably put many times that into the jar, so it's win-win for me and the kids.

First outing for Daleen-recommended, newly-learned, Green Day song "Good Riddance" (a.k.a. "I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life"). I was skeptical, because it's a bit too high for me to sing in the original key, and has a distinctive guitar sound via a particular altered chord. Transposing such a thing is usually impossible, but I figured out a clever way to make it work. And the song seemed to go over pretty well, so I guess the effort wasn't in vain.

Weirdest part -- a guy I recognized from before came up and again asked for some ELO or Bee Gees, and again left a fiver even though I was unable to oblige (he settled, both times, for Neil Diamond's "Play Me"). I had actually taken a look at some Bee Gees tunes in the interim, and although none of them called to me much, I guess I'll have to learn one before the next gig there in three weeks.

Anyway, I came home with $87, even with such a short playing time. That and the joy on the kids' faces as they ran and played with the Finger Lights made it a great night, and worth the electrocution risk as I finished up "If I Fell" in the rain...

Keith at Roy's House -- 03Mar2012

I didn't have any gigs this weekend, nor next, so I thought I'd get a music fix by inviting myself over to my brother's house to have a long-intended Music Night, just sitting around the living room.  The original idea was to have a chance to play some of the more obscure songs that I don't play at Real Gigs, but that I know, and know that he knows.

He liked the idea and accepted my self-invite, but it also seemed like it wouldn't hurt to have some friends listening in, so I suggested that he and Keri invite some other folks over, and they found two other couples that were available for "dinner and a show" on short notice.

So it turned into a "Comer Brothers" night -- my brother showing off his cooking, and me showing off my playing.  The "concert" setting kind of killed the "Not just the greatest hits" idea, but not entirely, 'cuz it was prime for constant dialog with everybody picking their favorites, and I threw in a few that they wouldn't'a picked, but that I wanted them to hear.

I did have a bit of trouble, snapping the same tuning button as last time, and this time it wasn't nearly in tune when it happened. Fortunately, being at someone's house, a pair of vice-grips was available, as seen in the video capture above. I've since abandoned the new tuners entirely and put the good old, buttery smooth, ones back on. Shouldn't be any more problems.

So other than that, it was really fun, even with a "crowd" of only 6 people.  Heck, that's 6 more than I get a lot of the time.  Let's do it again! Monthly!

And we can do an "obscure oldies" night sometime, also!

Keith at Laguna Artwalk / Twig -- 01Mar2012

Another nice, low-key, time at Susie's "Twig" gift shop for the monthly Laguna Artwalk.  Not many customers, but sufficient. And Susie, her sister, and both husbands were there the whole time, so I always had at least them to play for. They're a great audience, too, always appreciative and picking songs for me to do.

I'm sure the slight cold snap kept traffic on the sidewalk and then into the store down, but it can only get warmer from here.  Looking forward to next time.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 18Feb2012

Got to play on the big round stage this week, which gets a lot more traffic (being out in the flow) than the little stage tucked back over by the food court.  There's still no seating near the stage, and I actually think it's less conducive to people just standing (or dancing) out in   front of me, but I sure get a lot of people streaming by.  Unfortunately, not a lot of stopping to listen awhile (probably due to the sudden cold snap), except the anonymous (and silent) people sitting back around the tree's planter box.  (Though I have a feeling that there were more people listening than I'm aware of, due to the 360-degree configuration.  There were some occasional bursts of applause coming from weird angles, and I'd turn to find a group out behind me somewhere.)

I guess I'm getting used to the silence, though -- it didn't bother me much this time.  And I suppose I should just assume they're really listening, and talk to them accordingly despite their silence and distance.  I *am* the one with the amplifier, after all.  (Though nowhere near the amplifier that Movie Girl has, with her Way-Too-Frequent and Very-Loud "Theater X Is Sold Out" and "No Outside Food" announcements.)

I had a pretty good idea after the last cold night gig.  Normal people combat the chill with a hot beverage, but I can't stand coffee (even though I *tried* to drink some of the un-asked-for Starbucks that a thoughtful guy brought me last time) or tea, and hot chocolate kludges up your throat.  I thought, "Maybe I can stand tea with enough lemon in it."  And then I thought, "Why not just drink the lemon-sugar-water, and leave out the *tea*?"  So I 'waved up some lemonade, put it in a thermos travel mug, and sipped it all night long.  Yummy, warming, good for the singing, and a lot less burpy than carbonated Dew.  Win-win.

And I had another left-field kind of idea -- it would be fun to give a little present to the little kids that came to dance for a while; specifically, "Finger Lights", little colored LED flashlights that you can strap to your finger.  They're cheap (4/$1 at the swap meet), and will be fun for the kids to dance with, and then keep.  So I brought a pocketful on stage, and, naturally and disappointingly, never got a Kids' Dance Party started.  I did give a few away to some tween girls who were hanging out (and doing gymnastic routines), and a little girl (3?) who kept coming up to the stage to tell me who-knows-what in not-only baby talk, but *Farsi* baby talk.  Anyway, it'll probably be a better trick back at the old stage location.  We'll see next time.

I also bought a little tambourine to see if I can get a little more participation going in the Dance Parties.  And it worked a couple of times, though with bigger kids than I'd anticipated...

It occurred to me that, since the iPad is sitting there on the music stand (being the Music Book) anyway, I could just fire up the recording program in the background, and let it record the evening's audio, albeit poorly, with its built-in mic -- just in case anything great happens.  It kinda worked, though it picks up the crowd chatter almost as well as me, and the guitar is over-loud because it's acoustically aiming right at the iPad all night.  Here's a song that came out pretty OK, though: Over the Rainbow

Probably because of the huge traffic, I seem to have sold about 20 CDs, which probably also accounts for the near-record $152 in the jar.  Also, I had a guy ask me if I play "corporate" gigs (to which I replied "I'll play anywhere!"), and as I was packing up another guy asked me if I'd play the 20 minutes before the Navy Seal movie (he'd rented the whole theater for him and his Seal pals), next Saturday.  Um, sure, I guess.  I don't know if either of these guys will actually call, but it's nice to be asked.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 06Feb2012

Finally a great night at Spectrum!  After the last few not-much-fun gigs here, I was frankly starting to think it might just not be worth the trouble anymore.  But the weather was warm and the friendly people were out, and I had a great time.  Looks like the warmer it gets, the funner it'll be...

I was determined to try to talk in-between songs, whether I felt like it or not, but there almost always seemed to be people involved so I didn't have any trouble just talking to them.  That probably helped bring in more people, too.  At one point, I had 30 or 40 people standing around me, dragged in by the dancing kids, and the phalanx of parents watching them.

In addition to all the attention, it was apparently Unusual Request night -- one guy half-jokingly asked for Jimi Hendrix, but I had just run through my acoustic version of "The Wind Cries Mary" earlier in the week, so I up and played it for him (and he was clearly impressed).  The rest of the requestors had a lot less luck -- a guy asked for some Alison Krause, and failing there, for some Don Williams.  I've never heard of Don Williams, so the guy promised to send me some links, which he actually did.  Don is an old-school country crooner, with lots of references to "the blood of the lamb" and such.  Sorry, dude, not exactly my style.

Later on a guy came up with a fiver and asked for some Bee Gees or Andy Gibb.  Oddly specific, and a complete strikeout.  I offered some Beatles as a substitute, but he didn't seem interested at all.  How can you like the Bee Gees and *not* like the Beatles?  Vice versa: OK, but...?

He kind of gave up and went back to his girlfriend, and I played some stuff that seemed to be at least in the same ballpark, and then he came back up, with another dollar, and asked for some ELO, with, of course, similar non-results.  Really?  ELO?!?  I guess I should be flattered that folks think I'm that good/versatile, but I'm mainly baffled.  I always wonder if I should go home and learn at least one song by these unusual-requested artists, but then I think: One request in 10 years of doing this?  A statistically losing bet, no doubt.

Anyway, I had the best gig there for a while (which, frankly, my lately-badly-bruised ego really needed), and took home $96 to boot.  The iPad Songbook is really working out well, speed and versatility-wise, and I may have solved the clipping-distorted vocals problem I've been having, too.  I even picked up two new "Likes" on my "Keith Comer, Good Music" Facebook page.  A good night, all around.

Keith at Laguna Artwalk / Twig -- 02Feb2012

Had a great time playing at Susie's "Twig" giftshop again. Susie wasn't there at first, but her sister was minding the store. I started playing and a girl named Madison and her mom came in. Madison's Mom (as she's apparently always called) was kinda crazy, knew the words to lots of songs, and wasn't afraid to use 'em. She sang along to nearly everything, couldn't resist buying and wearing a little red retro hat, and when Susie arrived, gathered everyone for a group sing-along, too.

Maybe not quite as many people overall as last time, but still plenty of people to play for all along, and most of them appreciative and willing to find a favorite on the list -- usually at Madison's Mom's insistence. She even went out onto the sidewalk a couple of times to drag people in off the street to listen. I need her to come out *every* time!

I hadn't bothered to put out any CDs or a tip jar -- it's not really necessary (and seems a bit tacky inside Susie's store) -- but when she noticed it late in the evening, she dug out a canister of some kind and put $12 in it. Someone else contributed a fiver, too. I guess I'll put a jar out right at the start next time -- Susie seems not only to not mind, but to insist on it...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 28Jan2012

Warmer, with gusty winds, but more people out.  Not a lot of interaction again, but I think it's finally sinking in that, especially as far away as the people are in this setup, it's really my fault.  I need to be talking a lot more, even though it's tough when you seem to be talking to yourself.  But as long as I'm just up there playing song after song, I'm seen as background music, not a person.  Definitely gotta work on that.

I had lots of little kids though (including the little dynamo pictured in this multiple-exposure), and from 10 'til 11, finally there were some nice people getting into it.  I had one guy come up to read through the list, but since I was in the middle of a song, he stood around awkwardly for a while and finally decided to write his request on one of my cards.  He kind of showed it to me and then tossed it on the ground near me, and went back to his seat.  When I finished the song, I picked up the card, and had to laugh -- it was "Hotel California", of course.  It just seemed like a lot of effort on his part for something that was essentially foregone.  I think about half the requests I get are for that one, and another quarter are for "Hey Jude".

I used my even-more-evolved iPad-based songbook again, and it's definitely working out well.  I specifically did some lots-of-words (so small font) songs, and had no trouble reading the words, wearing my blended bifocal "gig glasses".  The ability to get to new songs quickly is really great, and the multiple "views" of the list -- by name, artist, capo setting, etc. -- is really useful.  And the wind couldn't flip the pages on me, either.  Still worried about view-ability in the summer sun, though.

It's kind of freaking me out to have these nights with almost no applause, but then finding $75 in the jar.  It definitely indicates some kind of social issue with the distance (physical and social) that keeps people from "appreciating" me with simple clapping, but they do come up with their hard-earned cash.  They obviously like what they're hearing, but are somehow unable to show it by clapping after the songs.  Weird.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 14Jan2012

A pretty fun gig -- nobody wanted to stay out in the cold for very long, but I had lots of nice, if short, interactions.

Started off inauspiciously, when my D-string tuner peg button snapped right in two as I tried to turn it past an internal obstruction in the sealed gearbox, before I'd even started playing.  Fortunately, it was pretty close to in-tune when it broke, 'cuz I had to play the whole night with it exactly there.  These are my second set of tuners and they've always had this grinding issue from day one.  I thought it would lessen over time, but it hasn't.  Fortunately, I have 6 spare buttons on the old set somewhere...

It was also the first outing for my "songbook in the iPad" experiment.  I combined all the Word doc song sheets for the songs in current rotation into a big PDF, with a hyperlinked Table of Contents.  The advantages over paper are many: much smaller and lighter to carry, much faster to "flip" to the desired song, no booklight needed, almost infinitely expandable with no added bulk, 

The main disadvantage is that the screen is smaller than a piece of paper, so the words and chords are harder to read.  This was my main worry, but I put on my "gig glasses" (blended bifocals for distance and "3 feet away"), and it worked out fine.  Probably not as easy to read as the paper version, but serviceable.

Also, it's tougher (but not impossible) to scribble on the sheet with hints, notes, diagrams, arrows, etc.  I incorporated most of these from the existing pages when I created the PDF version, but I do tend to need to add stuff on the fly during gigs.  But I have a PDF viewer that allows annotation, so it'll be clumsy but do-able.  And of course, creating and maintaining the PDF itself will be a lot of work -- adding songs will be theoretically easy, but hard when the links get broken, as they inevitably do.  Just getting this "proof of concept" main list working right was a lot more trouble than it should have been...

I was also worried about battery life, but I played from 6:30 until 11, and only went down 25%, so that'll be fine (at that low level of backlighting, anyway).  It occurred to me, the next morning, that this solution is OK for indoors and nighttime, but may be completely unworkable for daytime (and "starts in the day") gigs.  I don't know if some kind of sun shade might make it readable, or if I'll have to maintain a fallback paper copy (with a reduced list?).

Anyway, it was pretty successful, so I'll definitely pursue and improve on the idea.  One great advantage not listed above is that I actually have multiple linked Contents lists: Everything Alphabetical, By Capo (I tend to try to play songs with the same capo setting in a row so I don't have to stop and retune so much), Kids' Songs, Dance Tunes, and By Artist.  At the very top is a List of Lists, so I can quickly get to the one I need.  In real life, this worked out even better than I'd hoped, so I'll think about even more ways of categorizing the songs, since the "What to play next?" question is of the toughest parts of this thing.  Maybe "Age Group", or a separate "Late Night" list?

It was pretty cold, so not a lot of people out, but I had plenty of people come by for brief periods.  Some young girls specifically asked for Justin Bieber, which had happened a dozen times last summer, just before I actually broke down and learned his big hit, and hadn't happened since.  Some older teenage boy came by and started asking for a series of kids' songs, which struck me as stranger and stranger until I figured out that he had someone else (girlfriend? little sister?) on the other end of his phone.  Concert by proxy?

But tips were up from previous weeks ($71), and friendly people are starting to come out, so I'm looking forward to springtime.