My Performance on Sunday

I played music this past Sunday.  It was my fifth time playing at Second Sundays, an event hosted by my friends Anthony Martinez and Starr Saunders that takes place at Sweet Inspiration Bakery/Cafe (incredibly good cake) on Market St. in San Francisco.  My sixth open mic type thing ever.  Second Sundays is a cool open mic because it's not open.  Starr and Anthony hand select the musicians in advance.  They've created this incredibly warm, positive, special environment for music.  I'm amazed every time they say I can play again.  Now I'm getting a little better, but after those first couple, I guess they just wanted to show people the range of talent.  I represented the range of very little talent.  But this last Sunday was good.  I'm feeling better about my music.  Still a LONG way to go.  But bit by bit, I'm slowly improving.  I stood up and played for the first time at Second Sundays.  I played a cover of Don't Be Cruel by Elvis and two original songs.  I felt more confident "on stage", better able to interact with the audience, which just means saying things into the mic.  I'm not leading sing-alongs yet.  My friend Rebecca from work came and she brought a couple friends, which was so cool.  She described my set as "Elvis, Evil and Irish".  The second song I played, an original, is downright evil in my estimation.  Rebecca thought the third one sounded like an Irish ballad.  My sister, who watched the video because she is now living in Las Cruces, New Mexico again, said the third song was also a little edgy.  I was glad to hear this.  My goal for this show was to let it rip.  So I tried, especially in the third song.  I wore a bow tie that my sister made. I got lots of compliments.

Here's the video from the performance:

http://tinyurl.com/76yhos7

Today I spent some time talking to someone who's going through some difficult stuff.  Anxiety and depression that's making it hard to do anything.  I was reminded that my musical adventures are wonderful for me. Fun, terrifying, important. But it's important to keep it in perspective.

with love and awareness for those suffering close to us,
Anthony