cake shop. mmmmm.
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as Bill, bischoffs, brushing my teeth, cake shop, Cause, conestoga wagon, delancy street, good vibes, Got, hand, Inwood, NBD, opposite, pamper, shop, stop, turtle shell, uke, wild wild west
You know how, in Star Trek, they do that thing where the stars become long lines because they are traveling faster than the speed of light? Or is that Star Wars? Well, it’s Star something-with-one-sylllable-in-the-next-word, anyway.
The subway was the opposite of that tonight.
And I had my musician-turtle-shell-on-her-back getup going on. The keyboard (IT’S GOT STAPS!) like a backpack, the stand in one hand, and the uke in the other. And all of that stuff makes me tired. And the train suddenly just skipped Delancy Street. Just didn’t stop. It was all, “NBD, I’m not stopping at a stop that I normally make. CAUSE I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.”
Must be nice, train; must be nice.
Sometimes I sure don’t feel like paying a bill or brushing my teeth or just plain getting out of bed, but do I just pamper my feelings? No. Cause I’m what some would call an adult. Unfortunately, I was riding on a little toddler train who just didn’t feel like stopping at Delancy AND SO DIDN’T. I bet Momma Train understood, but I sure didn’t.
Anyway, all that to say, I think it took about the same length of time to get from Inwood to the East Village as it did for the settlers to Conestoga wagon it from the east coast to the wild wild west.
I’m not sure, but it’s got to be close, at least.
But then I got to my gig and the place was just awesome. Lots of people, lots of good vibes, and, yes folks, the Cake Shop sure does have cake. I love it when a venue lives up to its name. I went on last and the audience was all listening and recording and swaying and smiling and saying inappropriate things.
Well, one guy did, anyway.
But I made it into a joke and we all had a good laugh.
AND!
The percussionist for the band that played before me (the Bischoffs; check them out, they’re incredible, actually) was happy to play with me for my set. He had never heard any of my songs before (with the exception of ‘ain’t my friend), and he just jammed with me like it ain’t no thang. Maybe it’s my niche; jamming with percussionists I’ve never met before, I mean. But, the coolest thing is that Amit wants to start playing with me around the city. How great is that? I’ll tell you (cause you might not have heard his beats): it’s super great.
Afterward, I met so many fantastic people and took pictures with them and just enjoyed them in general. There was talks of me being in a dance-off as the night got later, but that turned into more of a talk-off, which I was just fine with, to be honest.
And I am not setting my alarm but I AM going to bed.
Happily, I may add. And happy don’t always come easy, so I’m feeling mighty thankful right about now.
all dressed up with a ukulele.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, there are pictures here
as breakfast, breakfast meeting, care, catwalk, courage, dear friends, event, fashion, fashion event, first meeting, heck outta, japanese man, kind, kind lady, makeup, musical sense, someone, tomorrow, uke, ukulele, Voice
I am so tired right now and I have to get up for a breakfast meeting in the morning. And then I have two shows…so, right. This post will be short.
A very kind lady did my makeup for the pre-shows fashion event tonight. “I have googled you,” she told me, upon first meeting. “It does not look like you wear much makeup–are you comfortable with me doing your makeup?”
I assured her that I was.
And she got to work.
And then a very sweet Japanese man did my hair.
It was nice to sit back and let other people take care of me, actually. And this is what they did:
They also put me in a dress. Courage B is the designer. And they let me keep it. And I totally would have, too–had someone not stolen it. Which sucks, but what are you gonna do, right? I didn’t have that dress yesterday, so not having that dress tomorrow won’t be that different, anyway.
Here’ s a picture of me playing (in case you couldn’t figure that out). Oh man. I had to walk the catwalk to get to the stool and microphone to sing. People were so kind and cheering. Plus, I didn’t fall or even trip. Added bonus.
The mic situation was trying, though. They only had one and nothing to plug my uke into, so I had to somehow use one microphone for both my voice and my uke. I hunched over like some sort of creature to get my voice and uke as close together as possible for the mic to pic it up, and then I BELTED THE HECK OUTTA THOSE SONGS.
Here’s me and my wonderful, completely lovely friend Jes.
One of the best parts of the night was that two of my dear friends came with me.
And here is me and beautiful Bets.
Oh! Also, I had an awesome rehearsal in Brooklyn today with some AMAZING musicians I am collaborating with for the Sleep No More show on Monday. I feel so lucky to play my ukulele with these guys. Their groove and vibe is just plain dreamy. In a musical sense of the word. Plus they have a HUGE STUFFED LION in their apartment, just chilling. And they call him Aslan. Um, what’s not to love about that situation?
I met a kind Italian man who spoke to me for a while tonight. Considering the music was thumpin’ and his accent was pronounced, I did a lot of smiling and nodded without totally understanding what it was, exactly, I was smiling and nodding about, unfortunately. But, there were two things that stand out from that conversation:
1). I kept thinking that maybe my Italian grandfather (who passed away before I arrived on the scene, but worked in 30 Rock as the senior VP of RCA) sounded a bit like this guy, and the thought warmed my heart.
and
2). At one point I noticed liquid pouring down the side of his pants. I was really afraid that I was witnessing him peeing during our conversation…Until, with some relief, I realized that he was just holding his bottle of beer upside down. Thank goodness that’s what it was.
no small people.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as apology, bump, course, eight inches, five feet, idea, iphone, kind, naked eye, out of sight, painful reminder, person, reminder, sight, subway, uke, ukulele, vantage, vantage point
Lately, people have told me, “Please! Don’t forget the little people!” Which makes no sense to me. Unless, of course, they are literally talking about people who are littler than me. Which is quite possible, as I am on the taller side of the spectrum. So, perhaps if a person is so small that I [...]
how it happened that we played on the subway that day and you all know about it now.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as And--before, anything, blah blah, case, case in point, commute, drummer, exposition, finger positions, firewood, glamour, grocery, grocery shopping, gym, hair, hipster, holes, jamming, kind, life, Live, part, point, seat, series, someone, subway, sweat, sweat pants, sweatpants, time, tirade, train, tuesday evening, uke, ukulele, video, world, youtube, youtube video
The next time you decide to wear your hair in pigtails, think long and hard about it. Because, see, you might just become part of a little video that gets to see more of the world than you do. I’m actually not upset about the pigtails, I just think it’s a little funny. And not [...]
sticks and stones.
in Loved Ones, MP3, Performance, video
as chicken, christmas day, claps, clucks, computer, favorite quote, INDEED, life, luck cause, Merry Christmas, oven, ovens, People--the, pop, quote, record songs, spiritual, sticks and stones, turkeys, uke
Christmas day made me smile. People–the ones in my life, specifically–helped a lot with that. And my parents got me a microphone. One that I can plug into my computer and record songs in such a manner that they don’t sound entirely terrible. MERRY CHRISTMAS, INDEED. Favorite quote from church this morning had to be [...]
in which I use caps locks generously.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as deaf man, ELEVEN, family, friend joe, girl, gratitude, HEAR, HOW, humility, l train, landenberg, mail, package, post office, posture, time, uke, ukulele, Voice, way
Today was a gem. And now I feel all shiny and gem-like because of it. I got to go mail a package at the post office. And listen to a mostly-deaf man try to listen to a post office employee tell him how much it will cost to mail the package he was sending. “Eleven [...]
It’ll do. All of it.
in Performance
as behavior, body, brooklyn, business, cheese, good behavior, grand idea, grilled cheese sandwich, Honestly, kind, Leão, nobody, open mic, rap, subway, tomato, tomato soup, uke, ukulele, Village
What a night. I got a Facebook message from a guy I met at an open mic in the Village a few weeks ago. “I’m hosting an open mic in Brooklyn,” he wrote. “Will you come and play? There’s no piano, but we sure can mic a ukulele like nobody’s business.” So, first I hung [...]
and this, this is life.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as 8th avenue, close ties, date, hand, kind, latent, legs, life, minstrel, mob, parents, person, second, six feet, smell, song, sports, uke, ukulele
It’s hard to think too highly of yourself when you’re the kind of person who manages to hit yourself in the head with a ukulele while strolling down 8th Avenue. Though, the word stroll might be misleading. I walk fast in New York. I don’t know why, but I try to pass just about everyone. Maybe [...]
he tried it.
in Funny Stuff
as asian man, bus, bus stop, chinatown bus, dinosaur, Mac, moment, plant, potted plant, respecter, serenade, song, stop, street, tennis racket, uke, ukelele, white steed, Yep
I’m at the bus stop on 34th Street, sitting on the rim of a potted plant. Really, the rim, cause I’m a respecter of flowers, see, and will never sit on one if I can help it. “You got a tennis racket on your back?” asks the man sitting on the other side of the [...]
show. uke. commas. creepy.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as beautiful song, bitter end, choice, city, damn girl, doorman, end, girl, grand finale, home, kind, martin guitar, question marks, show, singer, singer songwriter, tennis player, uke, ukelele
Today was a momentous day. And I got home early. Like, before midnight. Whoa. First, Larry from The Bitter End here in the city called me to schedule me to play at one of their Sunday singer songwriter shows. It’s going down July 31st, folks. I mentioned it tonight to some of my capoeira friends, [...]
