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At last you can get your Jazzed Desserts!

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After much fumbling about and a truly hideous number of hours editing, I’ve finally put together a show based on an idea I got from Fran Snyder of ConcertsInYourHome.com.

They’re essentially a “mini house concert.” A brief gathering of friends for food, conversation and live music in an intimate and approachable setting. They’re easy and inexpensive to host. They’re strictly acoustic so you won’t upset the neighbors. (But you should invite them, they’re a great way to strengthen existing friendships and forge new ones.)

I’m available solo for these shows and with my duo, Hobbit & Hare. Currently we’re limiting this to the greater Seattle area, but we could be convinced to roam a bit farther in the future.

Find out all the details here.

Hobbit & Hare rehearsal tape

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After a long dry spell, I finally have something to share with you. A little while back I talked on them social medias about learning the Cindy Walker western swing tune, Miss Molly. I promised I’d upload at least a “rough cut” as soon as I could.

Yesterday Sketch and I got together to work on some tunes. I got my trusty Zoom H2 out and we recorded a couple of our efforts. Miss Molly is the first of them.

You can click on the little embedded player to stream the tune or right click where the title is linked and download a copy. It’s a high-quality (320 kbps) mp3 file and weighs in at 4megs for you downloading pleasure!

Recorded live to stereo in my living room and only lightly processed! And now, for the mere price of… free!… you can have it for your very own.

Not that I’d object to the odd dollar deposited in my online tip bucket. Hell, you could throw in $100 and I wouldn’t fuss, but I would think you were extremely sweet, or possibly barking mad. Maybe even all of the above.

But seriously… if you like it, leave a comment and/or pass the link to this post around! You know, the usual social media things.

Thanks for listening.

Busking Surprise

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This past Monday Hobbit & Hare busked at Pike Place Market. The first set was pretty much like one would expect for a Monday in January, to wit, bleah. So we hung out for about an hour and started another set.

While we were tuning up two young couples stopped. One of the guys is a bass player and was fascinated with the upright Sketch plays. He said if we could play a jazzy tune he’d tip us a Jackson.

Well. Fish in a barrel and stuff.

He not only tipped us the $20, he also bought one of my $10 CDs. This interaction drew a crowd and, by the time we’d finished our 4th song, we had been tipped by several of them and had a flurry of CD sales.

When the dust settled from all that activity the hat held more than twice the money as it did at the end of our first set.

we finished the set and went home with a total that was more like a pretty damn good summer day.

who’da thunk it?

another test

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OK.I believe I’ve gotten the problem fixed and I’m now able to post here from my tablet. This, in theory anyway, will allow me to get back into more frequent posting since I’ll be able to do so from nearly anyplace.

So, for instance, instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs between sets at Pike Place Market, I should be able to actually do something productive.

Time will tell. Push the button, Frank.

a little test

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Don’t get excited. I’m just testing the WordPress android app on my tablet.

If (I say if) it works, I’m hoping that I can be a bit more regular with the posts.

(edit: my old tablet died and I tried to get the new one working with the WP app with no joy whatsoever. now I’m just seeing if it’s possible to do this via the browser.)

Street amp

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Street AmpThis is a “street amp” I bought yesterday from my friend Thadd. He’s just upgraded to a Roland Cube.

(Click the pic to embigify it.)

You can plug in an instrument and a microphone. It runs on 8 D cell batteries or a wall wart. It’s just under 15″ square and a bit over 8″ deep. It weighs in, fully loaded with batteries, at 15 pounds. I tested it and it can get really loud even before you turn it all the way up.

My plan is to buy one of those cheap, folding luggage carts and bungee cording the amp, a mike and stand, and my “electric” ukulele to it.

On those days that I get a ride to Pike Place Market — as opposed to taking the bus — I’ll pack both my acoustic and amplified busking kits in the car. I could then play an early acoustic set at the Market and, while I’m waiting the 2 or 3 hours for my next set, I could wheel the amplified kit to one of the downtown busking spots and maybe make a bit more filthy lucre. I’d be doing something like that already except the downtown busking spots are stupid loud and I don’t feel terribly sanguine about pounding the shit out of either my uke or my voice.

I’m sure there will be other uses for it — as a “for instance” it could be used as a “powered monitor” for my new sound system… at least until I can afford actual monitors and their cords — but right now I’m just happy to have this option open up for me.