Weekend Recap: When Childhood Dreams Come True
As a child, I always dreamed of traveling to great European cities. I’ve had the great fortune to visit most of the cities I’ve dreamt about, and this weekend I performed in one of my greatest childhood dream cities: Athens, Greece. My road trip started on Thursday, when I spent two days in Mannheim, Germany teaching at the Popakademie. It’s getting close to semester exams, so I spent the time preparing my students for their big day; a 45 minute live looping performance. After my time there I travelled to Aschaffenburg for rehearsals and a gig in the evening. The gig itself was fine; I performed with a talented up-and-coming singer named Jennifer Washington. After three hours of sleep in my hotel it was off to the airport and my highlight gig of...
Road Trip Recap: Here Comes The Sun
It’s been a few days since my last road trip, and it’s often difficult to find themes that make each and every gig experience unique, because frankly, most of my shows follow similar patterns. What I like to report on are certain subtleties I notice at each show or block of shows. One of the more interesting subtleties is the observation of how people tend to party during certain times of the year. With summer just around the corner, people are definitely getting into party mode. How did this change in attitude affect my job on this latest road trip? Let’s take a look. Gig 1: May 20 – Session Werk, Walldorf I’ve performed in many, many venues in Germany over the last 15 years or so; from bars, clubs and restaurants, to city and village festivals, to...
The Last Two Days: No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn
I feel like the gang in the movie “The Warriors” must have felt as they fought their way through the streets of New York, desperately trying to get back to the comfort and safety of their home turf; they had to endure numerous hardships until they got back home (the movie was reportedly the basis for the hit song from the Beastie Boys, “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn”). The same thing could be said about my last two days on the road, albeit in a far more positive context. It was a typical two-day blitz; Thursday afternoon I take the train to Mannheim (about 150 km, or 95 miles from where I live) to my teaching job at the Popakademie, teach until about 9 PM, take the train to Frankfurt to my regular gig at the King Kamehameha Club, one of Germany’s most...
