Gigging Again - and catching up

Well, it's been awhile. Let's get caught up.

First thing's first - my mother, Sachiko Lewis, died on January 30, 2005. She was 75 years young. She suffered a massive stroke which pretty much destroyed all motor activity. She lasted two days before she passed away peacefully in the night. All-in-all, she lived a good life and had two sons whom she loved very much, and who loved her equally back. I will miss her dearly, but she lives on in my heart...

Musically, I am going to be gigging again. My good friend, and former bandmate, Ed De Caro decided to start playing solo as a singer/guitarist and procured a gig on March 8 at our old haunt the Metaphor Cafe. Now my plan all along was to take all of 2005 to "hone my craft" so to speak, but Ed approached me about sharing the bill that night. Ed has a way about him that causes me to be nudged into a certain direction, and that's a positive thing. My creative juices started flowing again, and I agreed to do it.

I have about 16 original songs, with about 1/3 of them I need to memorize. So I have work to do, the gig is a little over two weeks away. No worries, I think I have enough time. My set amounts to about an hour's worth of material, so we think we can pretty much split the load that evening. Format is to be determined, and I will just follow Ed's lead as this is really his gig and I consider myself a guest on the bill. I'll take however much time he gives me.

This will be a good gauge as to where I am at. The pressure will be minimal as a) I will have a friendly face out there in Ed, b) it's a Tuesday night and I don't expect much traffic and c) it's the Metaphor, my favorite place to play. I consider the Met my "home turf", so hopefully I won't be too nervous playing up there all by my lonesome.

I'm hoping this goes well, if it does, I may have the courage to hit up some open mic gigs aroung town. Lestat's, Just Java, and many other coffee houses has an Open Mic. And if I do ok, maybe I'll play the Met again, if they let me. We'll see...

Anyway, I'm stoked about this and I'm praying my voice and playing holds out ok. I'm really a rookie when it comes to singer-songwriting, but I really love writing and performing my own tunes. If I can pull this off it will be a dream come true. I hope that I have enough foundation to build upon for future playing. I do know I am still in need of work, but I'm hoping I can pull it off.

I have been playing exclusively in Open E tuning, and I find my voice is best suited within the key of F-Sharp, which is a capo on the 2nd fret. I love playing the open tuning because it makes it real easy to play licks while resolving the notes against the open chording.

Well, I'll write back with any updates, and for sure after the gig. I hope I have good news to report.

And one last thing, Ed is also playing drums again with a local group called "Arroyo" and I managed to catch them tonight at the Metaphor. Bunch of good guys, they play all original music, and they sound really good. Ed's drumming is top notch, and his style meshes well with this group. I plan on catching them again in the future.