I can fit all I need in my 2006 ScionXB. A piano and an organ. An amp, site stands and seat. Cords. A shoebox full of cds. And then some clothes in a bag with a couple ironed shirts and maybe a jacket that I’ll hang in the back. Now that makes it pretty full. Maybe a bike bottle of water and an apple. XM radio is important.
A piano and an organ?
Kinda.
They’re both digital and a fraction of the weight and size…..sounds like it too.
With all this loaded I can go for days. I’ve got a ring with 5 or so keys on it to different houses and apartments all over California. Friends who offer to let me stay. Anytime. Just let myself in.
I’ll stop at the Starbucks in King City if I’m going north. Wipe the bugs off the windshield and grab a cup of coffee.
Or in Studio City and do the same if I’m heading south. Maybe sit by the pool at The Sportman’s Lodge.
Usually a sandwich- turkey and harvati at Starbucks. Laugh all you want but the days are long gone of stopping at places like Gutierrez in Salinas for chicharron burritos. When you travel like this you play everything right down the middle. No dosage mistakes. Coffee or food.
Nice and simple.
I’ll listen to whatever music I was supposed to have learned. Make some mental notes about whatever session I’m about to do.
There was a time when I paid more attention to detail in the music before I got there but over the years it seems a better use of time (read- lazy) to give it just a glance and focus more on the intention of the piece rather than the part itself. It’s a lot easier to learn something once correctly than it is to have to unlearn it. How many times have I been married to the wrong idea.
That can make for a long day.
Late night driving in California is the key to eternal happiness. 3x this year I’ve driven to San Diego and then afterwards opted to drive back, levitra sometimes leaving as late as midnight, getting in well after 4:00 am.
It makes sense. Driving from SD to SYV during the day, especially later in the week, becomes an all day affair, it can take twice as long to get it done.
Misery.
A lot of times I work with people I’ve never met. Between the aging process and just general genetics there’s often trepidation meeting me that’s hopefully alleviated by my sparkling personality or as a last resort, my playing.
Finding places to sleep and shower is a constant pursuit. Continuously relying on the generosity of others gets old, eventually it gets used up- plus it’s really exhausting always invading a friends domain. Lot’s of awkward moments followed by forced smiles.
Screaming down 101 past places like Templeton or Paso Roblas at three in the morning, the radio blaring rancheros on KPFK coming in from just over the hill in Fresno. They play requests dedicated by families whose loved ones are locked up in Soledad.
This probably sounds like either a dreary or romantic way of life.
I can’t figure which.
OK, both.
It’s a new/old way of living for me.
“Ain’t No Other Place I’d Rather Be Than In America.”