The best thing about playing a great Italian restaurant like the Villa Capri is the pizza appetizers
...and Darwin, Sophia and Malachi!
We're up front, with Malachi crammed into the corner just like a real jazz musician.
Darwin digs into his strings -
This was one of the best gigs we've played yet. We practiced two sets, but then we had to stretch our first 45 minute set into 1 hour and 15 minutes. So we played 3 songs in the first 30 minutes!!!!
Thanks to our friend Val at the Villa Capri Restaurant!
Sophia and I just recorded a quick professional demo CDof her favorite songs. I did the acoustic and electric guitar work with her, but some of the recordings were of Sophia singing and playing on a giant Yamaha grand piano. It sounds AMAZING. The recording and mixing engineer says that he's never recorded anyone singing so well, let alone playing such perfect and full pianoat the same time! He actually gave us an extra hour for free because he wanted to go the extra mile doing a really precision job on the mix.
This was a huge amount of fun. It was sort of scary how professional it all was! We usually did two takes of each song and the engineer did almost no editing, he just selected his favorite take and bumped up the levels as needed. It was easy.
Sandi, entertainment director of RMcDH asked us to playat their big year-end dinner they host at Ronald McDonald House here in San Diego. We said YES, ripped out the Christmas music books and practiced! I'm making sure I know how to playHark The Herald Angels Singon guitar:
The City Council of San Diegojust removed the restaurant entertainment fee. This means that restaurants or eating/drinking places that close by 11:00pm do NOT have to pay entertainment fees to the city anymore. Restaurants were paying the same price as bars and nightclubs - about $3900 per year to the police department, believe it or not, for a city permit to play music while people dined. This means we can now play live music in ANY restaurant in San Diego. They don't have to fill out any forms or pay fees.They just pay us and everybody's happy!
This all happened when the entertainment fee was pointed out to be a ridiculous expense and killing most live music performances; the City Council listened and just did away with the fee. It's part of a greater effort by the council and especially council member Carl DeMaio to promote San Diego's job opportunities and eliminate red tape.
A second meeting is planned to officially approve the decision, then there will be a 30-day period before the permit exemption is enacted. It will undergo a 1 year trial period before it becomes permanent.
Councilmen involved (click to view) with this decision are: Carl DeMaio
Melvis came to visit this Halloween.He's a member of the Church of the Latter Day Elvises. He takes two years off of his life to bike door to door with his guitar, singing songs to the people!
Here's to Melvis, Halloween candy, bicycles, and The Book of Elvis!
Jannel Rap and Maria Morris asked me to play the San Diego leg of the Squeaky Wheel Tour, which showcases new performers and also helps find missing persons. My improvisation is in the key of BLUEGRASS!
That's my new tie there, it's extra fancy, cost me 5 bucks -
Jannel Rap tells us all about the Squeaky Wheel Tour.
Adam Turbiner from Ovation and Takamine Guitars explains his companies' support of the cause. Adam was really cool.
How come nobody ever told be about The Talking Heads? Like I said, they're like a secret club that only some people know about!
FACT
David Byrne has a daughter named Valentine Byrne who is cute, smart, and lives in New York.
Here she is:
FACT David Byrne is a bicycle lover who rides a bike that looks a lot like mine. It's deep wine-red with a steel basket and low-rise handlebars too.
Here it is:
But I have a better bike because although mine is wine-red too, my wire basket is back mounted, I have custom Michelin City Tires, and it's a 21-speed cruiser. It's nice having Total Bicycle Superiority over David Byrne. See what I mean? -
FACT David designed these bike racks seen all over Manhattan, each one is different.
This is my favorite:
In the Financial District:
They encourage people to have fun using their bikes:
In the Fashion District:
FACT He's written a book about his travels:
And here's the cool poster he made for a speaking tour
he just finished in South America,
called "Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around."
Watch out. You might get what you're after!
"Psycho Killer" was the favorite phrase of a fellow art student
at the Rhode Island School of Design.
She called everything she liked "Psycho Killer."
Finally, here's the original "Take Me To The River" by Al Green.
