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Living on Key West Time

Nov 1st, 2012
by ldavidson.
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It’s my fourth day in the Keys, and I’m taking advantage of a spare hour to jot down a few random thoughts that have been floating through my brain as a result of this time here.

First: I really like being in Key West. I’m not sure it’s at a “time to move here” level; it’s certainly at a “I really need to figure out how to spend more time here” level. How I’ll manage that is, as they say, an exercise for the advanced student. 🙂

Second…being here when most of my Parrothead friends aren’t is a very different energy from when they are, and I like that energy. I love hanging with my friends – just spent the morning at the Casa Marina, getting registered and catching up with various and sundry good people. But for lunch, I tried out a local fried chicken place on Flagler, partly because all the shady seats down by the Casa pool were full.

This is my tenth Meeting of the Minds (MOTM), and each one has been interesting and fun in its own way. I remember a moment back in 2005 when I thought, “Oh, am I just going to keep doing the same stuff over and over and get bored?” Well, that didn’t happen. I started trying out different places and exploring more. I still haven’t seen it all. And i keep finding new places to try, and new things to see. Because I decided I *wanted* to. And my intention created this very fun reality.

I’m also playing a fuller schedule of gigs this year, which has been way cool. I’ve been making notes on what I need to do differently next year, of course…but life is an iterative process. And I enjoy having the ability to tell people where to find me. I forgot to print up reminder cards with the schedule this time…but I trust that people will show up where they need to.

The feedback I’ve been getting on the new album has been very positive and encouraging. According to several people, it survives repeated listenings. 🙂 And those folks who’ve made it to my shows have been having a very good time, and hopefully telling *their* friends.

And the best part is, I’m only halfway through the week. 🙂

On another, more serious note, I almost feel guilty having such a good time here when so many people in the Northeast are without power, and some without homes. My prayers continue to go out to those people, and I hope that life returns to normal there soon. It feels funny to be sitting in Key West watching hurricane damage in New York and New Jersey. Fortunately, most of those who were trying to get here for the week are here, and others are getting out today and tomorrow. And those of my friends I’ve talked to seem to still have homes to return to, and this is good. Then again, if things are worse for someone, odds are I won’t hear from them for a while. 🙁

I love my life and love my world, and I am very thankful to be in this place with so many wonderful people.

Posted in: Loren's Travels.

Packing for Paradise

Oct 26th, 2012
by ldavidson.
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As I write this, I’m three point something days away from hopping a Southwest flight, on my first leg of a weeklong trip to the Conch Republic, mka Key West. Hurricane Sandy is very considerately staying out of my way, so I expect a safe and relatively uneventful flight east, followed by a lovely if not leisurely drive down Highway 1 on Monday.

What does one pack for a trip like this? In his book “A Pirate Looks at Fifty,” Mr. Buffett devotes an entire chapter to talking about all the cool goodies he packed his seaplane with for that particular trip. It was an entertaining read.

I, however, don’t have an entire aircraft at my disposal. I get two bags, plus the guitar in its case and my “portable office” shoulder bag. And I have to keep each bag under 50 pounds, or a) Southwest will charge me a small fortune for the privilege of hauling it for me and b) I will hurt myself trying to schlep it. Until I have a significant fraction of Mr. Buffett’s money, that’s how it’ll have to be.

So…what *does* one take, on a week-long journey to Paradise? I’ll spare you the details of the entire list, but share some highlights:

Guitar case – I take the soft case with shoulder straps; on Southwest, I can carry it on-board and put it in an overhead bin:

  • Guitar – Martin HD-28V, my “go to” guitar since roughly 2004
  • Spare strings
  • 1/4″ coax cable to plug into someone else’s amp, for when I need to do that
  • Songs I’m learning, in case I feel like dragging something out that ain’t completely baked
  • Capos – the regular full-neck version, and the “short cut” capo I use on “Green Flash.” I’ll eventually write and/or cover more songs that use it, maybe re-learning “Piece of Work.”

“Portable office:” CDs to sell, stickers and sampler CDs to hand out, sign-up sheets for my newsletter, coasters, pens, Sharpies, CD opener, Square widget for my cell phone, mini recorder(s), change envelope for events where someone else is selling my stuff. Paperwork folder – air reservations, hotel reservations, car reservations, parking coupon, MOTM confirmation for my membership, printed schedules. (Yes, I’m old-school about that. And in the habit of marking up the printed copy with where I have to be and where I want to try to be.) Music journal, because I always write something new while I’m in the Keys.

It will also contain my iPad. This will be my third trip without a laptop. I can do pretty much everything I *need* to do with just the iPad, and they don’t make you take it out of the bag going through airport security.

Merch bag: New for this trip, this will hold T-shirts, swag, and probably some CDs. It’s a rolling duffle from LL Bean in a Hawaiian shirt print; it should be impossible to miss coming off the baggage conveyor. I won’t put anything in here that can be broken. I *might* pack some costuming in, as I’ll be in Key West for Halloween.

Suitcase:

  • Clothes for a week. I expect to do laundry sometime around Saturday, so I don’t have to carry clothes for the duration. There’s a great laundromat on White Street that has a Cuban deli attached; they make a decent Cubano sandwich. Clothes will mostly be Hawaiian shirts, 1-2 pair of shorts, and a waterproof windbreaker in case it decides to rain.
  • Pills and remedies. I ain’t twenty-something no more, so I schlep along the stuff I need to stay healthy and comfortable while I’m away. Also toiletries, sunscreen, similar stuff.
  • More CDs and/or shot glasses. This trip, I need to give out some of the extra “goodies” that people who supported my new album on Kickstarter get. And I might sell a few shot glasses along the way; they’re kinda cool. These go in the suitcase, so that Southwest has a harder time breaking them. 🙂
  • Headset mic and cabling. I *think* I’ll have what I need everyplace I’m gigging this time. But just in case, I want to be prepared. I don’t need the rest of the portable PA, which has its own suitcase, but I’m going to take the mic.
  • Ear plugs. I need to preserve what little of my hearing is left, and some of the music is *loud*.
  • SunPass transponder (Yes, I got one!), maps of FL and the Keys.
  • Possibly an insulated cup to carry my own potables in.
  • Hat, to keep sun and/or rain off my face.
  • Power cord(s) – to recharge my iDevices, mostly.

It’s not an exhaustive list…but some items just really aren’t “need to know” for the Internet. 🙂

Posted in: Loren's Travels.
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My MOTM 2012 schedule

Oct 25th, 2012
by ldavidson.
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This handy-dandy graphic tells you where I’m playing:

Picture showing Loren's 2012 Key West tour schedule

Subject to change (my Monday night gig now begins at 6:30, f’rinstance) and me showing up other places in town.

Real-time status of where I am will be posted as follows:

  • Short notes: Twitter
  • Longer stuff: Facebook personal page, music page if I can get there using my iPad
  • Retrospectives: Here on this blog

The text version, with links:

  • Monday 10/29 early afternoon: Pit Stop Party, MM 101, Key Largo
  • Monday 10/29 6:30-10:30 PM: Rum Barrel, Front St. Key West
  • Wednesday 10/31 9:30-noon: Catamaran concert, with Dani Hoy & Key West Chris
  • Thursday 3 PM: Team drink and “Usual Suspects” group photo, Casablanca at Bogart’s, 904 Duval St.
  • Thursday 4 PM: Tropical Songwriters Showcase (runs noon-8) at T’s Bistro, 1114 Duval St.
  • Friday 1 PM: Green World Gallery, 712B Duval St. (Webcam available for remote viewing)

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Thank you! :)

Oct 3rd, 2012
by ldavidson.
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At this time, as I’m very close to having my new CDs in hand, I want to give special thanks to those of my Kickstarter friends and backers who’ve gone “above and beyond” in supporting this project:

Ben Reynolds

Amy Hanson

Robert Adams

Tom Backus

Eric Stone

Barb Hammett

Carl Debevec

Bill Zilberman

Ronnie Tsunami

Susan Fabula

Theresa Miyashi

Bee Gentry

Diane Rutledge

Geo Mealer

Carole Parker

Turk Sims

Tracey Blackstone

Trader Scott

You are a fine and wonderful bunch of Usual Suspects. 🙂

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On the Road: Partying with Parrotheads in Utah

Aug 31st, 2012
by ldavidson.
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I spent last weekend hanging out with the Wasatch Mountain Parrothead Club in the Salt Lake City area. And I had an incredibly good time.

I’d been hired to play for their summer party, along with a local duo called Marmalade Chill. They played a lot of cover songs exceedingly well, with two-part harmony and good guitar work.

My outbound flight ran about an hour late. This was a good thing, as I was somewhat less than fully-organized and needed the extra hour at home (thank you, Southwest, for the phone notification before I left for the airport!) to get everything done, including a couple of press kits into the mail and my Day Job stuff to a good finishing point.

I always arrive early at the airport, because one never knows how long the security lines will take. As my gate was right across from the Gordon Biersch micropub, I stopped in there for a Marzen and some garlic fries. Tasty!

Picture of The view from Gordon Biersch, at Oakland Airport

The view from Gordon Biersch, at Oakland Airport

Well, they finally let me on the plane, we left the gate, and off we flew! I was looking out the left side hoping to see the America’s Cup races going on, but apparently they were done for the day by the time we took off.

Upon arrival, I was whisked away by Kathleen to the home of my friends Mike and Rene, who were also going to be hosting the party. Several other WMPHC folks were there, having helped set up the stage and various other stuff. We then hung out until it was time to get a token amount of sleep so that we would be ready to party the next day.

Morning dawned with a few unexpected sprinkles. This worried us a bit, as a downpour would make it a bit harder to have a big outdoor party. But the storms went around us all day, so we were good. I even made myself useful, hanging lights and such:

Picture of me hanging lights

“Just a little to the left…”

The place looked wonderful, as we awaited the arrival of a bunch of fun people:

Picture of the party yard

Popcorn beneath the willows 

 

picture of the stage
My “office.”

We had a good bunch of people there, as the day wore on into night. I played about three hours’ worth of music, with Marmalade Chill taking a few hours in the middle. After the raffle prizes were given out, some folks wandered off, but we ended up with a hard core of partiers who stayed right to the very end, and even demanded a couple of encores! 🙂

Here’s a shot of me from the middle of the day, taken by my friend Sharron Lukens:

Picture of me performing

“Good afternoon everybody!”

Alas, all good things do come to an end, and eventually we all crashed. The following morning dawned bright and sunny, and I got a couple of good pictures of the Wasatch Mountains on my way back to the airport. Here’s one of them:

Picture of the Wasatch Mountains from SLC

A beautiful morning in Utah

My flight home was reasonably uneventful. I had the pleasant surprise of running into an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in about six or seven years, and we spent the flight home getting caught up. That was enjoyable. And I got home early enough to get a few things done around the house!

Thanks again to the fine folks of the WMPHC for inviting me out to their party, and to Mike & Rene for their incredible and comfortable hospitality! Thanks also to everyone who bought raffle tickets, bought jewelry, or just made donations to Buffalo Blessings, our charity. We raised quite a bit of money for them!

Partying with a purpose. That’s how we roll.

 

 

 

 

 

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Booze Reviews: Parrot Bay Frozen Strawberry Daquiri

Aug 5th, 2012
by lorendavidson.
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I’m starting to see more of these pre-mixed, freeze-your-own, single-serving drink concoctions in the marketplace. I may previously have mentioned the Shark Attack frozen margarita pops – I know I did on Facebook. I can’t say I much cared for that one; they apparently used a fairly cheap tequila and the flavor was a bit on the nasty side. It *did* work well as “ice” for a properly-made margarita, when I squeezed it out into a glass and added my own ingredients.

(While you’re reading this, to get you in the mood, try my song “Margarita Monday.” If you like it, consider buying the album. End of commercial plug. 🙂 )

On a recent trip to BevMo, I noticed some packages by a company called Parrot Bay. They had several options – pina colada, mango daquiri, strawberry daquiri. I decided to sample the strawberry daquiri, as it’s the flavor I was most likely to enjoy from that list.

It comes at room temperature as liquid in a sealed pouch:

picture of Parrot Bay strawberry daquiri package.

It says to freeze for six hours and then consume. Well, I left it in the freezer for a couple of days before I got around to trying it.  Even after squishing it up in the package, it still came out with the consistency of semi-solid sherbet rather than a frozen drink:

Picture of the Parrot Bay daquiri in a glass

As you can see, it was pretty chunky. Not one to be daunted by this, I got a spoon and figured I’d eat it like sherbet, at least until it melted partway. Which it did, over the course of consuming it. In small bites, to avoid the dreaded Brain Freeze.

My opinion: It was flavorful, but not excitingly so. It definitely had a strawberry flavor, but not a fresh strawberry flavor. You would never mistake it for the type where you blended your own frozen strawberries with rum.

The package said it was 5% alcohol – about the same as beer – and a “malt beverage.” Which kind of makes it like the frozen version of something like Bacardi Silver. If it had been a bit less frozen, I might have tried adding a bit of real rum to it, just to see what the result was.

On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 7. Sort of like kissing your sister, if your sister was okay-looking, treated you well, and didn’t have bad breath. You’re still better off making your own if you can, but if you’re going out on a picnic and don’t have room for the gas-powered blender, this isn’t a horrible option.

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Self-Worth and the Internet Marketplace

Jun 28th, 2012
by lorendavidson.
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What makes something worth X dollars and not Y? And how do we determine our own self-worth, in this age of free downloads, crowdfunding, and instant everything?

In this article, Doug Shineman talks about YouTube’s business model for embedding advertising. In it, he builds his case by talking about retail vs. auction methods of sales and valuation.

In the retail model, stores sell a widget for, say, $10. At an auction, the widget will sell for the highest bid. That might be $1 one day and $25 the next, depending on the crowd and how many people want it how badly. Same widget – different prices.

If you the reader have been following me at all, you’ll know that at the moment I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to help fund my newest CD, Of All the Rum Joints. As that campaign has developed, I’ve been learning some interesting things about my own self-worth and how I determine it.

It’s been eye-opening. I expect I’ll learn even more about myself by the time it wraps up next week.

You see, I don’t always have the strongest self-image in the world. This may surprise you, because I’m pretty good at “faking it ’til I make it.” And I’m not good at asking for stuff for myself like this, because I occasionally doubt I’m “worth it,” and like most folks I hate rejection. 🙂 But what determines that worth?

In the case of this project, it’s apparently the number of people willing to put their money behind me and my music, and how much they’re willing to pledge. I had a “panic moment” of “what happens if nobody signs up,” and how embarassing that would feel to me. But I went ahead and did it anyway, figuring I really had nothing to lose but a bit of time and perhaps a bit of face.

I’m fighting a lot of old programming to get to this place. My Mom, bless her soul, left me a number of interesting mental “tapes,” including “don’t make a fool of yourself,” “what will people think,” and “be prepared for disappointment.” She meant well…but these are exactly the wrong tapes to support me in doing what I’m doing as an artist. And I’ve had to put a lot of work into resolving those tapes and creating new ones that serve me better.

Well, so far I’m doing almost as well as I hoped on Kickstarter, and maybe better than I expected. I’m over 2/3 of the way to making my goal, and at this point even if I don’t make it, I’ll feel like I’ve given it my best and gotten a good response. And that my music really *is* “worth it,” at least to enough people for me to feel validated.

And for better or worse, that helps me to feel better about myself, doing what I’m doing.

Which I think might make Mom happy, even if she *was* a bit overprotective along the way.

If you haven’t already checked out my Kickstarter project, I recommend it. It’s good reading and you get videos of three new songs, whether you pledge anything or not.

But I hope you will. After all, I’m worth it. 🙂 And what I’m offering is well worth your support.

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Product Review: iKlip by IK Multimedia

Jun 3rd, 2012
by lorendavidson.
1 comment

I’ve had my iPad for a month or so now. I’ve been finding it increasingly useful, and when I go to Florida in a week and a couple of days, I’ll take it and not take my old Mac laptop. Even if I don’t have the remote access thing for my desktop totally debugged by then, I think I can manage for about a week without an actual computer.

One of the functions I’m trying out that I like is that of using my iPad to store and play instrumental “backing tracks” during my shows. I’d been doing this with my old iPod, but that’s not as useful, and the “click click click” every time you change songs or volume levels is really distracting during a show.

Enter the iKlip. It’s one of many devices designed to attach an iPad to a mic stand. After looking over a few online, I bought an iKlip. Overall, I’m satisfied with it, but there are a few things I wish it did better.

Pluses: It does exactly what they say it will. It attaches to my mic stands. It gives my iPad a place to live. It apparently handles all three generations of iPad, with the included adapter clips.

Minuses:

  • In order to install it on a mic stand, you have to remove anything else at the end of the mic stand. As I use boom mikes, I have to remove the boom and the little star-shaped nut before I can slide the mount down onto the mic stand. So moving it from stand to stand (which I do, as I’ve got a duplicate rig set up at home for rehearsals) is a pain.
  • It is not only possible, but way too easy to install the stand part of the mount upside down. I discovered this last night after getting to my gig and installing it. I made it mostly work, but the bracket piece doesn’t lock into position when it’s installed that way. It’s hard to describe in English.
  • I only just ten minutes ago figured out how to install the iPad 2/3 adapter clips, after trying to puzzle it out for the last couple of weeks. Yes, the diagram shows you where they go, IKEA-style. But they don’t tell you how to push the clips into place until they lock. I’d been trying to fit them every which-way, without success.
  • When installed, one of the top clips is so close to the volume rocker on the iPad that it’s hard to turn the volume down using that rocker. During a show, when I’m adjusting the volume of tracks, that’s an issue because I have to do this fairly quickly. I guess I’ll get used to it.

Overall, I have to say it’s worth the approximately $35 I paid for it. But I’m going to have to buy another one in order to have the functionality I want – being able to mount my iPad on two different mic stands at different times – without having to repeatedly disassemble and reassemble the mic stands.

As I need another adapter, I may see what else is on the market rather than buying a second iKlip. Stay tuned.

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Taking it on the Road

May 9th, 2012
by lorendavidson.
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I’m going to be a bit busy with travel the next few months. Well, actually with travel *and* working on my upcoming album *and* the 97 other things that make up a Life. 🙂 But I’m really excited today about my upcoming trips.

May 17-20: Phins to the West, Laughlin NV

This just in: I’m performing on the Horizon stage (at Registration) on Friday 5/18 at 2:30 PM. If you’re out at PTTW, I hope you’ll stop by. It’s a short set, so it’ll be all-originals, and I’m thinking of weighing it a bit heavily on new material.

PTTW is one of the big West Coast Phlockings that happens every year. It attracts some extremely talented musicians and a whole lot of fun people. It’s at the AVI Casino and resort, right on the Colorado River at the pointy end of Nevada. I’m looking forward to a good time.

June 13-18: Meet Me in the Keys mini-tour, Key Largo to Key West

This is part of what I love about my weekend job. I get to go to the Florida Keys twice a year on business.

The Coconut Castaways, Howard Livingston’s fan club, has an annual weekend-long party in Key West. This year, they’ve invited me to join them and make some music. Being no fool, I accepted. I’ll be playing for them on Wednesday night, and then wandering around town doing my usual two-songs-here, three there thing the rest of the time if I can find friends who’ll share their stage. I’m still hoping for a house concert or some such in the Upper Keys on Sunday; if you want to help make that happen, give me a call.

This will be the first time I’ll be in Key West with some actual time to kick back. If you’re going to be there, let’s get together and have drinks somewhere.

July 4-8: Upstate NY – Trop Starz & Tiki Barz mini-tour

The third trip of my summer touring trifecta comes to my old stomping grounds of upstate NY on the Fourth of July. Anchoring this trip will be my appearance at Trop Starz & Tiki Barz, a Phlocking in Binghamton, NY. This will be another fun, fine event with lots of excellent live music. I’m still available for other shows on July 5 and July 8, anywhere within a couple of hours of Binghamton and preferably not more than a half-dozen hours out of my likely flight hub of Buffalo.

Three trips, time spent with friends and fun people listening to excellent music, and making a bit of it myself. All of it coming up in the next couple of months!

I hope to see you somewhere on the road!

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Exploring a New Place

Apr 30th, 2012
by lorendavidson.
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In my secret life Day Job, they recently moved us to downtown San Jose, CA. We’ve been here a couple of weeks now, and I’m starting to get out and explore in different directions on my afternoon walks.

At our old building, I had a nice creek trail that I could walk for about as far as I could walk, either upstream or down. And we were close enough to the Bay that we got to see tides in the creek. We were a bit short on manmade amenities though.

Now I’m right next to the San Jose Convention Center, which means I’m near lots of restaurants, hotels, and major corporate offices. It’s a big change.

I’m learning, or rediscovering, some things about my fellow humans in the process of learning my way around.

Today I went north along the Guadalupe River, which involved crossing the river twice and choosing from a network of trails – no more “just walk along the levee as far as you can go.” All of the signage talks about how proud they are of having maintained some of the “natural” state of the river. If you consider concrete webwork on the river bottom “natural,” anyway. They say that animals and fish can still use it, at any rate. Nature adapts, and so do people.

I came back on surface streets, just for something different. I passed a huge condo skyscraper, which boasted of selling “a lifestyle.” I’m not sure what they were selling, but it’s obviously a lifestyle that allows people to exist for long periods of time without interacting with the rest of the world, if they so choose, in a huge, sterile-looking building with parking garage, exercise room, and I have no clue what else. I didn’t bother going in to check.

Coming back, everything was traffic signals and walk lights, making the flow work for cars and interrupting it for humans. Once out of the river corridor, the only greenery was manicured lawns and street trees.

And of course there were those who’ve fallen off the economic ladder, some with their sleeping bags and everything they own in a shopping cart, hoping for a quiet place to crash and a few bucks for food. There but for the grace of God(dess) go all of us – I know quite a few people who are no more than a few paychecks away from the street. And it’s not a great time to be looking for work, no matter how experienced you are. I’m thankful for the Day Job, even as I write songs to poke fun at that life.

Is it any wonder people either go crazy or feel a need to escape? It might be a “lifestyle,” but it sure doesn’t feel like a life.

On the plus side, while I haven’t used them yet there are at least two bars within a block of here. Some night when the commute traffic between here and home looks hopeless, I expect I’ll hunker down for a round or two.

And it *is* a pretty creek in a lot of places, and a beautiful day to be out walking along it.

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