Last night in Yokohama Harbor, at 10 PM, Mayumi and I boarded an overnight ship bound for Ohshima, a small volcanic island close enough to Tokyo to be included in its city limits, but far enough away to be another world, like Martha’s Vineyard is to Boston, or Catalina is to Los Angeles. We will visit our mutual friend Mana, who introduced us.

What you get with an economy ticket is a tatami sized piece of the carpeted area onwhich to sleep and keep your things. Mayumi and I are amused.

For 100 yen, you can rent a blanket. The black foam filled headrests are free. Pretty soon everyone is tucked in, and at 11 PM, the ship’s crew turns the overhead lights off. You can still see your way around easily with the hall lights, which remain on.

I see recycling containers everywhere I go in Japan, and the ship has six different ones at each staircase.

Toilets are traditional Japanese style; you squat, which I think is much healthier than sitting on your thighs western style, since you can actually use your abdominal muscles in a squat, and avoid straining your rectum.

The hour until the lights go out seems like as good a time as any to practice guitar. My Traveler Guitar is practically silent, and it comes with a stethiscope (the diaphragm is built into the guitar body and the tubes to the earphones detach) so that you can hear yourself play without using an amplifier.

It’s a pretty good sounding guitar; I’ve been using it professionally for a couple of years now. It’s got two pickups with separate volume controls, one that sounds more electric and one that sounds more acoustic, and you can blend them for a third sound. It has a full sized fretboard, but the tuning pegs are in the center of the guitar (where the sound hole would be on an acoustic guitar), and the lap-rest on the bottom of the guitar detaches and then reattaches so that the guitar is ultra-compact for traveling. No one has ever hassled me about bringing it on an airplane. It’s the size of a soprano ukulele and easily fits in any overhead compartment. And it’s not an expensive guitar. I got mine from Musician’s Friend Catalogue. I think Traveler Guitar makes a twelve string and a bass guitar, too.

Tags: music recycling japan travel ohshima ship travelerguitar

Tonight at Yukotopia, we blissed out to four acts, including mine. Doing the What Living’s All About show two nights in a row freed me to take new risks, especially with my choreography. I am having the time of my life.

In an ultimate act of courtesy, the club posted signs requesting that patrons not smoke until after I had finished my set. I didn’t ask for this; it’s a perk from Sandy Rothman’s residence, since he requested this on the nights he played.

First up: Catch and Release, a very large group (nine people this time, but Yuko says the personnel varies from show to show, as the group has an open policy about friends sitting in. Yes, that’s a digiridoo player on the left.) The overriding feeling was Family; the woman singing up front also works at Yukotopia tending bar, and her parents play in the group. They played trance music, that is to say, mostly, instead of songs, they improvised over one and two chord drones, although they also performed the Grateful Dead classic “Uncle John’s Band.”

I was next. With a sizeable contingent of the audience comprised of the members of the other three bands, the support, if possible, was even more enthusiastic than the night before. God bless the deadheads of Tokyo; they do enjoy their musicians, and the musicians appreciate each other’s work.

After me came Strange Taste, which, like me, is a singer/songwriter driven act whose songs sizzle with political outrage, humor, sex and love. Wonderful blues, reggae, singing, instrumental solos. Good fun, altogether.

Last up was Pineapple Tom, another large trance band (seven players), but this group is all about focus and sophistication, with lots of cleverly arranged musical figures, at the same time as an almost free jazz quality to the improvisation. I say “almost” because the rhythm section churned forth danceable beats, of which the audience took advantage. Good free jazz will blow your brains, but only a modern dance troupe would dance to it.

On both nights some of the deadheads brought their kids, who danced, played, and generally enjoyed themselves in the night bar scene. These two kids danced plenty, and the baby came up to me and held my hand and laughed. Yuko and Roku have three kids, and I could tell they enjoy having little ones in the club. I sure did.

Tags: music jazz wlaa trancemusic japan protestsong yukotopia tokyo deadhead freejazz children

Tonight and tomorrow I perform at Yukotopia. I’m singing and playing guitar to a CD of ten of the twelve cuts from What Living’s All About, minus my voice and guitar tracks, prepared for me by Scott Fraser at the time he mixed and mastered the CD last spring.

What’s different about the What Living’s All About show from the shows I created for my first two CDs is that I perform them standing up, and on some of the songs I don’t play guitar. That leaves a space for a new performance realm for me: dance. I don’t leap about, but I definitely use my whole body and face to convey the song.

The first act onstage: Here’s to Theres, a bluegrass/rock/folk band celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, and no wonder; each player astounds with virtuosity. Aki, the vocalist, has loads of personality and energy.

I played second, and the third and final act was Sandy Rothman’s Anniversary Band, with Ken and Tak on vocals and guitars. Sandy invited up violinist from Here’s to Theres. Everyone fell into bliss listening to the string and vocal harmonies cascading from these prodigious players.

Mike Miller, brother of Tim Miller, who chaired the Communal Studies Conference, and his wife Val, live in Tokyo, where they write for Reuters News Service. At Tm’s recommendation, they atttended my show at Yukotopia. Sweet people! Val’s a folkie multi-instrumentalist, and Sandy’s band reminded her of old times when she played in a band of like mind.

The afterhours crowd at Yukotopia.

Tags: music jazz wlaa japan yukotopia tokyo

Buck Hall, the main meeting room at Marconi Conference Center, which in the 1970’s had housed one of the Synanon communites.

I arrived yesterday at the Marconi Conference Center on Tomales Bay in Western Marin County, some beautiful miles west and north of the Golden Gate Bridge, for the 33rd annual Communal Studies Association Conference, a gathering of mostly academics who research and present papers in this field.

A group of academic folk who study communes (and get a little needlework done while listening) attend one of the many presentations at the conference. We were listening to Susan Love Brown talk about a Rastafarian intentional community that flourished in Jamaica in the 1940’s.

Tomorrow I speak as part of a panel about life on Northern California communes, along with Ramon Sender Barayon (first resident of Morningstar commune, resident of Wheeler Ranch commune, author of A Death in Zamora, my co-author on Being of the Sun, and pioneer of electronic music), Arthur Kopecky (former resident of and author of two books journaling his days at New Buffalo commune in New Mexico), and Delia Moon (founder/owner of Bodega Pastures commune, former resident of Star Mountain commune, and doctoral candidate in sociology, who will presenting her documentary about communal residents.)

Ramon Sender Barayon (right) and his wife Judith Levy Sender (second from right) at lunch at the conference, along with Ruth Lambach (second from left) and Julius Rubin (left).

I guess I should qualify myself, too. I lived at Wheeler Ranch commune, founded Star Mountain commune with the advance from Living on the Earth, lived at Packer Corners Farm commune in Vermont, and wrote the most famous insider’s account of commune life of its time, which is still used as a textbook in college courses on the history and culture of twentieth century utopian communes. Yes, indeed. I belong here, too.

Megan Mulet presenting her paper on the gift economy at Burning Man.

One of the highlights of today’s presentations was by Megan Mulet, a sociologist from UCLA, who has been attending Burning Man the last seven years, and, in the past three, gifted her time as a census taker (her Burner nickname is “The Countess”). She spoke about the benefits of living in a gift-giving economy for those of us living in what she dubbed the “default world,” (she says that’s a Burning Man term), which is more involved in Market Pricing, Equal Exchanges, and/or Priority Status, than in Communal Sharing.

I loved presenting my show! I told stories about my communal life and how Living on the Earth came into being, plus sang songs from all three of my CDs.

Tags: music hippie ramonsender alternative commune livingontheearth burningman deliamoon arthurkopecky rastafarian susanlovebrown marincounty tomalesbay

Lila Downs at the Barbican, London, April 2006
Photographer: Damian Rafferty

My favorite vocalists of late all sing in romance languages. They are already legends, but if you haven’t heard them yet, get thee to iTunes and check them out. You don’t need to know Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese, although, if you do, it will no doubt enhance your thrall.

From Brazil, dig Rosa Passos (pronounced Hosa Passos), a soprano whose hip, creative phrasing enhances the cool “beach samba” style of Brazilian pop standards. When I first heard her, I realized I’m more accustomed to hearing this music performed in an alto range, and Rosa’s high, vibrato-less voice gives even 1960’s Jobim chestnuts a fresh youthfulness.

From Peru, Susana Baca gives voice to an African-American community in a country without Caribbean frontage. Rich with complex rhythms and responsive chorus, Susana’s music takes you right to the emotional and spiritual center of her mysterious and earthy world.

From Mexico and Minnesota, Lila Downs combines a degree in opera singing, a bloodline of the majestic women of the ithmus of Tehuantepec, and a cool New Jersey saxophonist boyfriend to create traditional Mexican music with soaring vocals, hip arrangements, and sometimes political rants.

From Mexico, Montreal, and lots of road time in between, Lhasa de Sela grew up traveling with singing parents on a school bus, and began gigging at age 13. In Montreal she partnered with Yves Desrosiers, a monster guitarist and brilliant producer, to create two emotionally urgent yet surreal CDs.

From Asti, near the French border of Italy, comes a dapper, older attorney turned singer/songwriter named Paolo Conte. With a gruff voice, fabulous jazz piano chops and eerily retro band arrangements, Conte creates the most gorgeous, profound and hilarious poetry imaginable. Be sure, when you purchase one of his CDs, to get one with English translations of the lyrics in the liner notes.

Tags: music vocalists liladowns paoloconte lhasadesela susanabaca rosapassos

Back cover/tray card of What Living’s All About with list of the songs

Taxi, a service I recently joined that sells music to record, film and TV producers, offers their songwriter members paid critiques of the songs from anonymous big time music business professionals. Taxi says they hide the names of their music biz consultants because there have been death threats! Somehow I don’t think of songwriters as a particularly violent group, but, hey, all groups, including spiritual teachers, include a small percentage of assholes. I sent in the ten original songs from What Living’s All About, and got some comments from four of these unnamed (but numbered) industry powerhouses, which I will share with you here. A fifth listener (#211) identifies the overall style of the CD as Jazz Cabaret, a type of music that is recently having a resurgence in New York City.

Floozy Tune: Very cool song – really good performance – I like the imagery and the approach. Vocal has a lot of feel and there seems to be a sense of knowing in the delivery – not just reading a lyric off the page. At times it has sort of a Billie Holiday-esque tease-y thing that is very fun. Music arrangement feels quite authentic and very well done – very strong playing, but mostly a real good sense of what would work for a track like this – professional. Overall, it has the feel of a jazz standard with sort of a more contemporary look at the situation than would probably be found in an older song – pretty cool. (#53)

America the Blues: Hard to place a definitive pitchable stylistic label on this one. Well played and arranged. Placement would necessitate a sympathetic political setting. Perhaps a film? (#53)

Aquarian Age Liberated Woman Blues: The title is really cool – pretty much tells the whole story right there. Nice blend of classic jazz pop and a more or less contemporary point of view. Strong vocal delivery. Good structural elements – the form is cool and natural for the vibe of the song – the musical arrangement is good – dobro guitar and more acoustic instrumentation gives it the vibe of an era. The imagery is sharp and well-defined – the continuity is really good – imagery that only someone who knows the subject could describe (“bee pollen candy” indeed). Film or TV might be a viable place to find a situational place where the blend of influences would be part of the narrative for instance. Very cool imagery and fun to listen to. (#53)

Zero Gravity: Moody jazz noir, with saxophone and vocal lines in counterpoint. Languid and hypnotic; a slow burn, as it is. The wide interval in the first line raises interest immediately. The octave lift at the end of the chorus also maintains tension and drama that the sax solo sustains. Verse two is very picturesque and vivid. The image of the corsage being tossed into the “museum fountain” and the unusual word play of “limousine muse” are probably the strongest imagery in the lyrics: very well done and unusual. (#238)

Doctor Sun and Nurse Water: You have a very interesting sense of lyricism as demonstrated through this song, Alicia. I can’t recall having ever heard this combination of words before, and that’s a plus for the song. Personalizing the central images of nature and relating them to healing results in an upbeat and positive message that the power of the gospel arrangement brings to the forefront. The authenticity of the overall presentation is impressive: the use of the gospel choir, in particular, really adds an intensity that raises the bar considerably. “You give me rhythm and take away my blues” is a nice piece of word play as well that reformulates the conventions of the music it reflects and spins it into another positive cycle of hope and renewal. (#238)

What Living’s All About: A nice homage to the Peggy Lee-era song stylists of the fifties – you could perform this one stretched out in a single spotlight across the top of a white grand piano in a slinky gown. The jazz diva persona is inseparable from the song and supports the overall gestalt and vision that certainly illuminates a singular sense of artistry. From the downbeat, the listener is propelled directly into the center of the vibe; setting the mood is something you do extremely well in this song (as well as the other two songs reviewed with this submission.) The motion of the second verse is palpable: the electricity is well demonstrated and described in the litany of lyrical lines. The final verse is equally compelling with the images of “hips will roll the rhythms of mountains” a particular earthy delight. (#238)

Sometimes It Takes a Long Time: The track has a nice late 60’s/early 70’s folk/blues/singer songwriter vibe. The playing is impressive in that regard; great piano and cool vintage feel in the rhythm section. The gospel vocalist sounds excellent; that’s a good arrangement touch, btw. I like the way her part builds up at the end. The lyric paints in broad anthemic strokes, as if it’s summing up something that’s been going on, as if it’s the finale of a multi-part piece of some type. (#53)

Best of the Rest of You: This track sounds excellent. The slide guitar playing is tremendous, and the rhythm section sounds right on time for the style. The vocal sounds good and the lyric is fun. As a potential cover, perhaps this could be pitchable to artists in the vein of Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux. Since the track itself sounds so good, I advise considering potential soundtrack pitches that specify material in this vein. (#53)

It’s Not Fair: Good song crafting, fluid feel, and some creative choices. Sounds like you have a good time with this one… “her topography, choreography”...echoes of Cole Porter in your sensibility, laid back and sophisticated approach. Melody, chord progressions, and walking bass line establish the groove and support kind of a jazz/hipster vocal delivery. The verse melody works with the lyric. This tune is in the genre of trad jazz to smooth jazz radio, cabaret, lounge. Appeal of the ensemble arrangement and phrasing draws from artists like Peggy Lee to Diana Krall. (#27)

Love, Understanding and Peace: These are very moving melodies; feel very natural and flowing. It’s adult contemporary from another era, bordering almost on gospel, at times, with a hint of a jazz feel. However, overall, this song reminds me of a lot of contemporary songs I’ve heard in church. This is a story of…redemption perhaps? I can’t quite tell if you’re singing to/about Jesus or about a relationship with a man – or both. The first sense I have of this song is it’s classic and retro, expecially considering your vocal approach, the spoken word portion and the musical arrangement. (#111)

ABL notes: #111 appears to be a specialist in Christian pop. #238 writes like a poet. #53 is from from a generation that uses “cool” as its superlative. I am honored!

Tags: music jazz wlaa bonnieraitt taxi songwriting musicindustry billieholiday peggylee madeleinepeyroux norahjones coleporter

The last time I played music with the Amana band was in 2002 in Hawaii. They’ve been inviting me to visit them in Okinawa ever since.

Whoopee. I am going to Japan for a month—to play music, talk about sustainable living, and lead a weekend workshop October 20-22 at a campground where we make magical objects from recycled materials per instructions in Living on the Earth, walk in the forest, do yoga, massage each other’s feet, cook outdoors and sing for each other at our campfire. All this as the guest of the Artist Power Bank, an environmental arts group, at whose Tokyo cafe and educational center Kurkku I will do my environmental awareness concert and talk at 7 PM on October 18th.

When I first get to Tokyo, I’ll perform jazz and blues from What Living’s All About at the deadhead nightclub Yukotopia, founded by my friend Yuko Tsukamoto. That will be at 8:30 PM on October 8 and at 7:15 PM on October 9.

Toward the end of my stay, I’ll visit the band Amana in Okinawa, where I will play a mixed set (folk, Hawaiian, jazz, blues) on October 28 at the two-day Happy Flower Beach Party Festival. On October 29, I'll attend Soul of Donto, a tribute festival that Sachiho Kudomi, the leader of Amana, is putting on to honor her late husband, the rock star Donto, at which his songs are performed and the devoted fans in the audience sing along. 

All of this was made possible by Koki Aso, the journalist who created a six-page photo and interview article about me that ran in the June 2005 issue of Be Pal, Japan's premier environmental and outdoor living magazine. He wanted to see me have a Japan tour, so he contacted Artist Power Bank, which is buying my plane ticket.

In between the Artist Power Bank activities and the Okinawa trip, I get to visit him and his wife at their historic traditional Japanese farmhouse outside Kamakura, too, where he has a vegetable garden and makes his own miso. Goes fishing on weekends. He’s a real back-to-the-land kinda guy.

I am returning for the first time since 1974, when I toured as a guest of Soshisha, Ltd., my publisher, in support of the Japanese editions of Living on the Earth, Being of the Sun, and my three children’s books. I was astonished to discover hippie communes and artist communities flourishing around Tokyo, and visited a couple of them. I saw vast political demonstrations, and was befriended by Mitsuyo Iyanaga, an environmental activist who does wild animal rescue.

I delighted in the beauty of even the most mundane things, drew lots of pictures, and ate everything served to me with pleasure. As a California native, I’d rarely seen buildings over 100 years old. In Japan I saw temples and statues over 1000 years old. Mercy! The gardens. The architecture. The crafts. The graphics and design. And what sweet people.

I can hardly wait.

Tags: music jazz wlaa sustainability recycling art artists amana japan environmentalism commune livingontheearth yukotopia travel okinawa

The Blums at their 40th anniversary party. They met in college, honeymooned in the Peace Corps, and are living happily ever after.

When I met Gloria and Barry Blum in the 70’s, they already were performing with a klezmer (Jewish party music) band they had founded called the Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra of America and California, Otherwise Known as the Traveling Jewish Wedding. When I heard them play at Caffe Trieste in San Francisco, they blew off the roof.

A year before the Blum’s daughter, Katie, left the nest, eventually to get her degree in social work, the Blums moved to Kailua-Kona, on the island of Hawaii, leaving their beloved band behind. Kona Community Hospital was thrilled to have Barry as their only orthopedic surgeon, and the Blums were thrilled to trade their Mill Valley digs for a spacious, airy home on a hillside with a huge view of the ocean. Soon they began looking for band members.

The Kona Traveling Jewish Wedding Band onstage.

This time their band didn’t just play lots of wedding gigs. Gloria and Barry assumed leadership of Congregation Kona Beth Shalom, and they began performing Jewish wedding ceremonies in addition to the music. The band recorded a wonderful CD called Shaloha Oy, the title track being a minor key, up-tempo send-up of Queen Liliuokalani’s timeless Aloha ‘Oe. On the cover is a blurb from me: “Gloria Blum is the Janis Joplin of klezmer.”

Gloria singing with the band.

Kona Beth Shalom became a kick ass congregation, producing Karen Breier's Shaloha cookbook that garnered an article in the New York Times, and adopting a torah (Old Testament scroll in Hebrew) that had belonged to a Czech congregation massacred during the Holocaust. The governor of Hawaii attended Kona Beth Shalom’s recent celebration of the old torah’s expert restoration.

My illustration for the backs of Gloria’s Feeling Good Cards. This image is copyrighted by Gloria Blum.

Gloria’s gift to humankind, a method of teaching appropriate behavior, self-esteem and social skills to mentally disabled teenagers, inspired her to create a resource curriculum guide, Feeling Good About Yourself, and also a communicaton card game, Feeling Good Cards, enjoyable by any group of people. Last year I drew a card back picture exactly to Gloria’s specifications, and re-designed the graphics for the box. That’s Barry playing his bass balalaika, and Gloria beside him, singing with her arms upraised in joy.

Tags: music hawaii selfesteem klezmer kona mentallydisabled

Cattle ranching history in a mural by Marcia Ray in the food court of the Parker Ranch Center, Waimea, Hawaii

When people think of Hawaii, they don’t often think of cowboys, but, in some parts of Hawaii, cattle ranching is still a way of life. Mind you, these are cowboys who proudly hula and make feather bands for their hats. These are the people who created slack key guitar.

Pasture and ocean seen from the Old Mamalahoa Highway, from Ahualoa to Waimea

The cattle pastures of Hawaii overlook the ocean and enjoy a perpetually balmy climate. I figure this is where you reincarnate if you were a very good cow last time.

Clouds creep over the crest of Kohala Mountain toward the pastures.

Hawaiian cowboys are called “paniolos,” a Hawaiian-ized word originally meaning Espanolo, or people who speak Spanish. The first cattle were given to Hawaiian chiefs by visiting tall ships, and they roamed the islands destroying everything in their path, until the Hawaiians imported people with cattle controlling skills to put an end to that. The first cowboys came from Argentina, speaking Spanish, and bringing guitars, Spanish open tunings, roping and riding, and the Brazilian tipo, a tiny four-stringed instrument the Hawaiians adopted as the ukulele (jumping flea).

Braddah Smitty, whose beautiful heart resonates in his voice.

Last night I spent three happy hours in Tante’s Bar and Grill in Waimea, Hawaii, the heart of the vast Parker Ranch, listening to the great Braddah Smitty and his band. Braddah Smitty’s very Hawaiian family includes his uncle Gabby Pahinui, the father of modern slack key guitar, and Gabby’s famous guitarist sons Cyril and Bla Pahinui. Braddah Smitty resembles his uncle, and sounds just like him when he sings Gabby’s hits Hi’ilawe and Moonlight Lady, but his talent is unique. His rich baritone soars like an opera star’s, but without the pomp. Braddah Smitty is all about having fun. The whole room has no choice but to join him.

An member of the audience performs a masculine hula to Smitty’s music. Several others, including my friend Lynn, got up and danced when they heard songs to which they knew the choreography. In hula, there is only one correct choreography to each song, so that dancers from disparate locations should all be able to move in unison.

He is also all about heart. He graciously invites in whoever wants to play along. Among those sitting in on this occasion was the ancient and legendary Uncle Martin Purdy, son of the famous cowboy Ikua Purdy, depicted in an enormous bronze riding horseback and roping a cow, that stands in the parking lot outside Tante’s Bar and Grill. His wife, Auntie Doris Purdy, played ukulele and performed a stately hula from her chair. Her daughter played guitar, and a couple of young local guys sat in on guitar and ukulele and sang.

The whole line-up of Smitty’s band and friends picking and singing at Tante’s by the great stone fireplace.

I’d kanikapila’d (jammed) with Braddah Smitty a few years ago at the birthday party of Edie Bikle, best-selling children’s book author and the owner of Taro Patch, a scrumptuous gift store in nearby Honoka’a, and he remembered that I played slack key, so he invited me to play some songs during the break between the sets.

I perform some slack key tunes for the folks at Tante’s.

Edie and her boyfriend Tony, both present and clearly having a wonderful time, egged me on, and so did Lynn Nakkim, novelist, comedienne, former Green Party candidate, Waimea resident with her own horse ranch and my friend for over thirty years, whose idea it was to come to Tante’s in the first place. So, I played two slack key pieces over one hundred years old, and sang and played two original slack key songs, Auntie Clara and Living in Hawaii Style, all of which I recorded in 2001 on a CD of the same name. Edie carries it in her store.

Afterward, I joined the line-up of friends playing along with the band.

At the end of the show, the audience rose as one and joined hands in a circle, something I’ve never seen happen in a bar. We all sang Hawaii Aloha, the unofficial national anthem, swaying and harmonizing together. Then that trickster Braddah Smitty sang the Hokey Pokey, and we all got really silly dancing that. After that, people were hugging and kissing each other Good Night and Aloha, and heading out into the mist.

Tags: music hawaii braddahsmitty slackkeyguitar parkerranch ikuapurdy cowboys

Today I decided to have a CD release party for What Living’s All About while I am here on the Big Island. I called artist Tomas Belsky, whose Kahuina Gallery in downtown Hilo is a favorite bohemian haunt, the scene of poetry readings, left wing political gatherings, and small dances and concerts. I got to know Tomas when I was organizing for Kucinich in 2004; he hosted our meetups at the gallery. Tomas was more than gracious in offering the space for my event on Friday, September 1, at 8 PM, right after the poetry reading.

Next I called Peter Serafin, now the editor of the Hawaii Island Journal, which is the alternative paper in these parts. I met him through Sachiho Kudomi, the leader of Amana, when she and the band came here to the Big Island to do a tour I set up for them. Peter has worked many years as a journalist in Japan, and generously provided me with a list of media contacts in Tokyo. He bent the rules at the Journal to get my event into the calendar even though I called a couple of days after the deadline. He also requested a copy of the CD for a review.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald’s calendar has a more leniant deadline since it’s a daily instead of a bi-monthly paper. I listed the event in their calendar through their online robot. They don’t review CDs.

I have emailed all of my friends on the Big Island for whom I have current email addresses. I've posted to my blog. Next I will design and print a flyer and post it on bulletin boards.

I contacted a couple of local radio stations for airplay. KAPA Radio has already featured my second CD, Living in Hawaii Style, in its rotation in 2002 and 2003. I don’t know that they play jazz and blues. The other station, KHBC, certainly does; they are so eclectic that I will bring all three of my CDs when I stop in to meet Brad (who has a great radio voice) on Monday.

All that being done, it’s all about rehearsing, gathering up my sound equipment and making sure it all works well, and making sure there are enough chairs. I love performing, and this will be very casual, with lots of friends and not too much pomp and circumstance.

Follow up: It's the next day after the show.  Kahuina Gallery is not a large room, but it was 'way overflowing with friends and fans for my show.  I was ecstatic to be performing for them, and they cheered me roundly and bought CDs.  I'm hoping to post a bit of the video on my Sonic Bids page. 

Tags: music hawaii wlaa diy promotion publicity hilo kahuinagallery tomasbelsky hawaiiislandjournal