It is Monday and I am doing my office work today, so to speak. I won't get into that, but what I will write about is my recent happenings, musically speaking.
On Friday, I performed an hour long set on the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica with the Ryan Bradley Affair. It was ultimately an incredible hour of my life, but I struggled initially to find my groove and also to warm up. I had not played all day, so, my hands were like leather work gloves until I put them into use on my upright beauty. What happened onstage was magical, it went from mild struggle to catching the most beautiful wind in our sail, and took us carving along nicely in and out of beautiful harmonies, riding the rhythms, as if we were on the ocean itself. The audience was amazing, joining in on the exchange and showing their appreciation openly and kindly.
I must also note that my friend and amazing filmmaker Marie-Michele from Montreal and Albuquerque made it to the performance, which made it even more amazing. She took some snapshots on her phone, please do enjoy.
Later that evening, I made my way over to the Room 5 Lounge, a nice restaurant below, a little lounge above. I had a performance with Tommy Rickard's band, who are also members of the Ryan Bradley Affair, which is a good thing because I obviously love playing with them. Anyway, the show went very well, despite the sound being, well, bad to terrible, I am not entirely sure. But what I do know is that I couldn't hear myself until it was too late. Each note coming out and swirling around the room, then lazily finding it's way back to my ears. It's not good, particularly for playing an instrument with long strings and no frets! Alas, the audience was very attentive and the feedback was great. Despite technical issues, I was making music with awesome people, and I had an awesome time.
My next performance of the weekend was at the Los Angeles AIDS Walk. I had to suspend disbelief in a big way for the fact that my call time was 8am! I am in the music business, not the film business and 8am is much closer to the time I go to bed than the time I get up on any day of the week.
Caffeine fueled and breakfast filled, I drove over with my 2 twelve inch speaker cabinet and 800 watt amplifier, ready to make some people dance, and that we did. I played with a group of talented individuals from as far away as Miami, but mostly from the Bay Area, and we played some Hip Hop, and it was mighty fun, mwahahahaha! I almost never get to play Hip Hop, but I do love to and hope to find more opportunities to do so. We played for thousands of people marching for a great cause and it made 3 hours of working in direct sunlight seem like 3 hours of sunning by the pool with fancy drinks, massage and luxury. It was just delightful, I can say nothing else. The players were great, and the audience was as well. And I must also note that my friends Julie and Rebecca came down and surprised me, and that was awesome, I love them, I do.
My final public appearance of the weekend was at a block party in Santa Monica. I don't have a whole lot of recollection of that event, I think I was so burnt from all of the stimulation I'd experienced in all of the previous shows, and all of the getting about that goes on when you live in a city stretched out end to end like a piece of leather over a drum.
That's about all I've got to spill today. Tonight I perform with Sebastian Clark and the Facets, an indie pop group that is jam packed with strong tunes and a hell of a performance. We play at Obriens on Main in Santa Monica.
Peace and love,
-Sleep Seeker
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