I had a spell of playing 3/4 days live continuously and I must say I enjoyed it. It's really been difficult to practice every day for an hour a day to build up confidence for live performance but I only managed to do it for 1 week in the last 2 months!
So my objective for 2014 is to try to arrange my working schedule to allow me to play and practice more consistently.
Florence
I recently visited Florence and spent an evening listening to great acoustic music in a cathedral. It reminded me of the hauntingly sublime sound of the Portuguese group Madredeus. Classical guitar, vocals, violin and backing vocals with a hint of piano echoing in the great acoustics of the building.
I popped into a cafe and was greeted by name, "Zack", the waiter said. I wondered if I had left a sticker on my jacket with my name written on it. After some time the waiter explained that his name was Alex and that we had played together in Brighton a few summers earlier. I was stunned and shocked because I couldn't remember him by his face... He had always worn a black Panama-style hat when he was in Brighton.
Then, when I met his girlfriend, it all came back to me. In fact we have more friends in common and we were already Facebook friends. He said he had been following my exploits in Bcn... 'Small world'! The couple regularly visit Bcn and now I have an excuse to visit Florence again. Here's Alecio's music profile: (nation page link)
BBQ
I was invited to a farmhouse Barbecue last weekend and played for the hosts. There was another guitarist there... We sang some covers and I played some original songs that my hosts insisted upon hearing. It was a glorious day and I was well fed and watered. Most of the guests were Sitges-based, so I have a few new contacts to set up some gigs in Sitges... We're looking towards the end of March 2014.
The Shamrock (Irish Pub Barcelona)
I joined my friend Larry Smith who hosts weekly onstage at the Shamrock bar on Friday nights. This night he had to entertain a group of merry and some completely pissed and rowdy tourists! I thought about making a run for it but it would have been difficult to escape without getting the shit kicked out of me. It turned out to be a great experience as I got them to sing-along to a rendition of One by U2 and Sitting on the dock of the bay. Then they were won over. The instinct is to run, but it's much more challenging to win them over! ;)
RADIO KANAL BARCELONA - RKB 106.9fm
I was invited as a last minute guest on radio kanal Barcelona to chat a bit about living in Bcn and a film I made here in 2000 called Tomandote or Tea for Two (English title). I've been offered the opportunity to start my own radio programme in Jan 2014, so I'm going to be able to indulge my two passions... Music (see www.redeyezack.com) and teaching English (see English with Zack). It's part of a 5-day English all-week morning radio programme from 9-10am Monday to Friday. Each day there will be a different host and I think my day will be Wednesday. Here's the page: ENGLISH RADIO BARCELONA
Tune in this Friday 17th 9am for an Interview with Lee Harris (Founder of Cinebar Meetup Group). We should also have podcasts available for those who miss the show.
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An eventful few weeks and I'm off to the look for more people to collaborate with. I've packed my guitar for the weekend so I'm going to see if I can catch up with friends for a jam and do some more open mics.
Useful Expressions:
a spell of - a short period of time doing something
build up - to increase
managed to do it - to achieve somethingconsistently - regularly
reminded me of - made me remember something similar
popped into - visited to say hello
stunned - very surprised
all came back to me - I remembered everything
In fact - actually / the reality
friends in common - mutual friends (see facebook)
The couple - The romantic partners
hosts - Opposite of guests
fed and watered - feed me and give me drink
merry - very drunk but happy
pissed - Very very drunk
rowdy - noisy
thought about making a run for it - wanting to escape from the situation
getting the shit kicked out of me - be beaten badly
sing-along - all sing together
won over - To like someone after not liking them
win them over - win people / the audience in case of performer
off to - going to visit a place
catch up with friends - meet friends and hear their news
jam (v, n)- improvise with other musicians
open mics - a host invites performers to do 2 or 3 songs on stage
