May Gigs and Mini Tour

May Gigs and Mini Tour

I've had a flurry of gigs in May.  Most fun was what I dubbed the "Central Coast Mini-Tour".  I was up in Monterey for some business, and managed to fit in three gigs over a weekend before coming home then three more here locally.  

I played a show at East Village Coffee Lounge in Monterey with friends Jade Elizabeth Taylor and Glenn MacPherson.  It was a great venue and a fun show!  I lured a few work friends in (who probably were stunned by all that).  Our friend Midyne helped in many ways, including running sound and fetching things from the stage when needed.  It was such a supportive and attentive crowd.  I never sleep well after those kinds of shows because the adrenaline and endorphin keeps flowing for hours.

The next night, my friend Paul Fifield was kind enough to share a gig with me that he had already booked at a coffee house in Campbell, CA.  The highlight of that gig, for me, was hearing Paul's new songs and meeting his Mom, just a few days before Mother's Day.  I made my way home to Sacramento that night so I could spend an early Mother's Day with my own Mom.

Saturday night was a layover in Santa Cruz.  What a treat that it worked out to be the night of friend and songwriter Nancy Cassidy's CD Release and House Concert.  And what a band she assembled for the evening, including Keith Greeninger, Dayan Kai and others (sorry I have such a poor recall for newer names to me).  They all sounded amazing as Nancy's songs were played for a large and happy crowd in her own backyard.  Magic.  

The final stop was the Touch of Green Expo in San Juan Bautista.  It was a street fair and full of kind people walking by.  My "neighbor" was a really nice water heater repair and sales business owner who spent quite some time on the phone trying to line up a backup amplifier for me.  He had his wife searching his son's room for that thing.  I could almost picture the poor lady sifting through piles of dirty clothing and other teenage room contents in search of the needed amplifier.  Despite the sound equipment snafu, it was a pretty town and a nice day.  The free range chickens are a hoot! I really appreciated the invitation to play here from Ray Rios, as it was the first of the Mini Tour Gigs to be booked, months ago, and it helped to have a base gig to work around for the others.  Next year, I'll pack the amplifier.  

Back home, I played over at Sol Grill in Newport Beach with the Paul Hines songwriter night.  Sol Grill is down by the pier.  Okay, the food is off the hook there.  Three words: Grilled Shrimp Scampi. Paul is someone I ran into recently.  A talented writer and performer, he has a deep appreciation for our musical roots.  His song "Battle" is both rhythmic and deep.  

Close to home, I had a chance to play an early evening show with Tim Moyer over at The Wine Company.  Tim graciously filled in for John Quint, who had a family emergency and was not certain he'd be back in time.  We got the best of both, as John was able to stop in later and play a few songs.  It was great to see him and I felt that chance to play was a help in the midst of so much going on in his life.

At the moment, there's nothing booked on the horizon.  I'll get to work on that soon.  If you have a venue you'd like to suggest, give me a holler.

- Matt