Cupcakes Runneth Over

Someone's got a case of the Mundees. I spent my weekend singing songs. I played The Mint on Friday and Zoey's in Ventura on Saturday.

Here's an approximation of my set list at The Mint:

satellite
two times two
easy for you
princess
only a rehearsal
spicy streak
what if I
simple city
how many times
some of the time
one spin

I can't guarantee the accuracy of that order because I made a lot of audibles from the line of scrimmage. I can tell you that a good time was had by many, if not all. It was a throwback to yesteryear and Brandon Rogers sang harmonies on How Many Times and lead on Some of the Time.

Here's the set list from Zoey's:

how many times
some of the time
my addiction
only a rehearsal
princess of darkness
simple city
satellite
outside opinion
treat me bad
easy for you
one spin
what if I
couldn't I just tell you
-----
met a girl like you once

Saturday was a split-the-bill, acoustic show with Geoff Pearlman. Geoff is a native Omahanian like myself. He jammed with my brother back in the Big O and our paths have happily crossed out in LA. Geoff has joined me on a handful of gigs in LA and at SXSW in Austin. This time I returned the favor and played bass clarinet and acoustic guitar for him during his set at Zoey's.

We were bouncing ideas around for a cover and Geoff noticed my copy of Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything. Geoff started playing "Couldn't I Just Tell You", which is a fave of mine, so I spent the next few days learning the chords and deciphering lyrics.

Other than that I spent Saturday and Sunday teaching music lessons and bouncing around a chord progression for a new song while I watched Kobe not quite score 50 points for the fifth game in a row. It's been a fruitful few days. My cup runneth over, and for that matter, so do the cupcakes.

Friday's show at The Mint was a birthday party for my friend Emy. Julie G. graced us with forty million cupcakes. I was given two gigantic boxes to take home. If I can't fit out the door when I finally leave the house today I'm blaming the cupcakes.

Before my cup and cupcakes started running over I had a moment of extreme frustration this weekend. I'm not going to go into any specifics details. Suffice to say, I had an audition that could've been a major boost for my career. I wasn't supposed to hear anything back, but I accidentally did hear just how close this unnamed life-changing event came to happening. It was one of those moments you have as an artist where you start calculating how long it would take to get through med school, and what would happen if you hung up your myspace page and threw your guitar in the ocean.

Now, it wasn't that serious. I'm in this thing for the long haul come hell, high water, or extreme poverty, but it definitely brought down the vibe and I'm not above complaining. And since this is the internet, and what else is it for (except for looking at celebrity mug shots)?

Everything turned around for me while I was playing The Shins during a guitar lesson. I've briefly mentioned their song "Australia" in a previous blog. I've had a few different moments where a song just catches me in a profound way. These are snapshots of my life. One was listening to Joni Mitchell's "At Last" on a tour with the One O'clock Lab Band in college, another time was driving 85 while playing "Summer Soft" on the 405 when there was no traffic, and most recently there was this Saturday. That song, Australia... I don't know.... I just needed it at that moment. It helped me refocus on what I want in life. I want to make music that makes people feel good, music that's inviting, uplifting, and smart. If I can do that, and make other people feel what I felt during that moment, then I'll have all I need. Umm, but while we're on the subject, can I borrow five bucks?