Greetings Friends!
Well, I am back in NY after almost 2 weeks in California. Wow, what a great time, what nice folks and what PERFECT weather!
On the last night of the very successful Cali trip I played at a place in Ben Lomand, CA called “Henflings”. Yep, I scoured the net for venues in the area I knew I’d be…lo and behold they gave me a gig….thanks guys!
One of the tricky things about playing solo is the anticipation of a gig right before load-in, (although I am getting better at anticipating only the best!) When I showed up it was a happy-hour, beer drinkin biker type crowd and I basically hoped they’d dig the music. Ben Lomand is a quiet place so I just hung out on a bench in the great outdoors and warmed the fingers up.
As an audience started to collect and the sun went down it felt more and more like a gig. Here are some of the highlights:
A good friend and fabulous blues player named David Crane stopped by to sit in and play a few tunes. Dave and I were childhood best friends and he came to Cali at age 12….serendipitously he became a guitar player, and it was special to connect with him on a musical level.
Go ahead youtube!!! I was encouraged and delighted by how receptive the audience was. A fellow named John introduced himself and said he’d seen my youtube vids and was excited that I would be in his area! Yeah!
“Billie Jean” had people in the back movin’ & groovin’….I even had a die hard fan on crutches up and dancing during “I Wish”…yes my fans will dance even with broken ankles…that’s dedication!!!
I got to test the waters with some new songs as well…Gershwins “Someone To Watch Over Me” is brand new. I am working on balancing out the firey songs with lush ballads…
The sound system was great. There’s no better feeling for me than to look out and see smiles. Ahh, the curse of the musician! š
And, just when I found myself questioning my own sanity as to why I am shlepping across the country to play there, driving and flying endless hours, John told me that years ago he saw Tommy Emmanuel play there for a small audience.
Cool! I must be doing something right!!! š
P.S. Gig pictures will be up on http://www.myspace.com/adamraffertytrio – just go to pics & look for Henflings…
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