Zak Claxton

It's good to be back

2012-01-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hello people who read this stuff that I write. As you may have -- or more likely have not -- noticed, I've been mostly absent for a couple of weeks. This is due to something I do for my job every January called the NAMM Show. In the part of my life that doesn't directly involve writing and performing music, I work as a marketing communications guy for the music and audio products industry, and NAMM is the big annual trade show for that business. It's the West Coast's largest trade show, with over 90,000 attendees, and is the source of much insanity for me each year. In any case, it consumes a good deal of my time and energy in the weeks preceding the show, and during NAMM itself.

Wii-ing
But that's all over now, so I can get back to doing stuff that's more fun and cool than work. I'll start by admitting to you that toward the end of 2011, I slacked on my daily exercises on the Wii Fit Plus, and ended up taking pretty much all of November and December off my exercise routine. I have a legitimate excuse, though: I was dealing with a tendon problem in my elbow, and everything I read said that I should give it a chance to heal via rest. Well, guess what? It continued hurting worse and worse, and meanwhile, I was feeling physically down without my daily exercise boost. So, on January 1, I threw caution to the wind and got back into my morning routine. The result was that a) my elbow actually started feeling much better right away, and b) my entire body is getting back to where it was when I left off. So, that's really good news.

Rocking
For those of you who've been missing my silly shows in Second Life, I'm happy to say I'll be returning to that as well, this coming Monday evening at the Islands of New England. They're hosting a themed evening of "Ugly Sweater Night" starting at 4PM with Sassy Nitely (and me at 5PM), so I'll be doing some shopping in SL to find something particularly hideous to wear.

I enjoy the fact that my first show back after a few weeks off playing in SL is a) at a great venue, b) on a bill with my friend Sassy, and c) has an utterly ridiculous theme that inspired the poster above.

Recording
In other music-related news, now that I'm done with NAMM, I can divert at least some of my focus to getting back to recording. As most of you know, I released my first solo album back in December 2009, and was intent on getting straight back to the studio to start working on my follow-up. However, plans sometimes don't come to fruition the way you expect, and over two years later, I still don't have any new recorded music to show you. The good news is that I've continued writing new music in the meantime, so when we get to the point of seriously recording the new stuff, I'll have a lot of tunes to choose from. In May of 2010, we recorded some of the tracks for "Shine" and "Time Never Waits for You", so as most of the Zaksters know, we have tons of other songs yet to even see the studio. These include:

- Perfect Girl
- The Other Way
- Broken Day
- Go Easy on Me
- Black Phoebe
- Change the Night
- Look Out for Me
- Desert Lily

There are probably another 6-8 songs that are in various stages of completion, so I'm pretty optimistic about how the next album will turn out.

May 2010 was my last time in the studio. You can't imagine how much I want to get back. Photo by Kat.

Relaxing
Well, that's all for now. As I said on top, it's good to be back. It'll be even better after I get to a weekend and enjoy my first two full days off in weeks. All work and no play makes Zak an insane boy, so hopefully by next week, I'm all the way back to my usual fun-loving self.

My Top 20 Most Influential Guitarists

2012-01-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

Since I'm on a bit of a hiatus from performing (while focusing my attention on some more mundane job-based events), I thought I'd fill you in on the guitar players who have been the biggest influences on my own writing and playing. PLEASE NOTE that this isn't a list of "most influential guitarists". That list would look very different than the one I'm about to write. Instead, it's a list of the 20 guitar players who I feel have affected me, personally, as a musician and songwriter. Trust me, there are hundreds upon hundreds of great players not on this list whose talents amaze me. These are just the ones that left their mark on me as a player/writer in some way.

Instead of trying to rank these people in order of perceived greatness (always a mistake), let's just be safe and list them alphabetically. And no worries; I will still let you know about the ones that have had the highest level of influence for me. Here we go.

Lindsey Buckingham
An amazing fingerstyle pop-rock player. We don't have much in common in how we respectively address the guitar (like, I use a pick and stuff). However, he's been a big influence on me as a pop composer. God knows both the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums were on constantly in my house while I was in my formative years as a player.

Playing Example: "Big Love"

Elliot Easton
A brilliant melodic lead guitarist and founding member of the Cars. Again, you don't hear much of Elliot's playing in mine, except for what I strive to do in my leads (play solos that people can actually hum). Listen to the solo in my tune “Fade Away” to hear a little of Elliot rubbing off on me.

Playing Example: "Candy-O"

The Edge
I was already a veteran player with 6-7 years in as a guitarist by the time I discovered U2 in the early 80s. The Edge was one of the players who taught me that painting sonic landscapes can be as fulfilling as blasting out a bunch of notes. Sometimes just hitting some harmonics and letting them ring is a beautiful thing.

Playing Example: "Surrender"

Peter Frampton
In 1976, I was starting my first guitar lessons, and my parents were playing Frampton Comes Alive all the time. How could I not be influenced by this criminally underrated guitar wizard?

Playing Example: "I Want To Go To The Sun"

Jerry Garcia
What can I say about this thoroughly unique and emotive guitarist? No matter what style he was playing, I loved every note that drifted out of this man's guitars. Through Jerry and the Dead, I gained my first exposure and appreciation of Americana and other traditional music styles, and it rubbed off in a big way. I also learned from Jerry that if you play the right things, you can solo for 17 straight minutes and no one will mind.

Playing Example: "Eyes of the World"

David Gilmour
Again, I can't underemphasize the sway Gilmour had on me as a musician. He plays with such a depth of feeling, and yet with such technical accuracy, that my only criticism of Mr. Gilmour is that occasionally he's just a little too perfect, if that's possible. Some of my soloing on “Waiting for This” and “Always Tomorrow” were definitely, if subconsciously, attempts on grabbing some Gilmourian vibe.

Playing Example: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1)"

George Harrison
It should probably go without saying that John Lennon and Paul McCartney remain in my top tier of pure songwriting influences... they're the Beatles, for Christ's sake. But in terms of guitar playing, I took a lot from the quieter member of the band. While other people on this list may be more technically proficient, I love George’s approach to weaving a complete sonic tapestry.

Playing Example: "Something"

Jimi Hendrix
Why does Jimi top nearly every list of guitar players over 40 years after his death? Just listen to him, man, and you should know why. My playing doesn't sound much like Jimi's, and very few people should bother trying to imitate him. However, his approach to tone and some of his signature licks can definitely be heard in many of my songs. I could pick any of dozens of tunes, but the one below kind of showcases Jimi’s versatility and openness to making new sounds.

Playing Example: "Are You Experienced"

James Honeyman-Scott
This guy might be the least well-known on my list, but he's still a god of guitar in my book. Exuding raw power, JHS was the original guitarist for the Pretenders, cranking out melodic pop with a rock edge and a punk vibe. I was a huge fan when he was the new thing, and remain so today many years after his unfortunate passing.

Playing Example: “The Phone Call” / “Space Invader”

Robbie Krieger
It's criminal that people overlook Robbie's playing (and focus only on the Lizard King) in the Doors. First off, he had the benefit of being a pretty new player... he'd really only been playing seriously for 4-5 years when the Doors started. I love his blues-based rhythmic stuff, but also his great single-note lines on many Doors tunes.

Playing Example: “Peace Frog”

Alex Lifeson
You can spare me your holier-than-thou criticisms of Rush. While I've grown in my musical tastes since my enjoyment of prog-tinged bands in my teen years, Alex was a huge influence on me at the time. Listening back to albums like Moving Pictures, his playing holds up as time goes by.

Playing Example: "Red Barchetta"

Joni Mitchell
Anyone who knows me also knows of my love for Joni Mitchell as a songwriter and performer. But as a guitarist, she was unquestionably a big influence on me, especially in terms of her unorthodox approach to alternate tunings. Many of my songs, including "Lines on your Eyes" off my debut album, use tunings I first found in Joni's music.

Playing Example: "Black Crow"

Jimmy Page
I flat out challenge you to listen to many of my guitar solos and not hear the influence of Zeppelin’s master of the dark arts. With the number of hours I spent glued to my stereo in my teen years listening to everything Jimmy ever played, it’s no wonder that his style shines through in my own music. My song “The Sands of Redondo” borrows liberally from a few of Page’s masterpieces, including “The Rain Song” and “Kashmir”.

Playing Example: "The Wanton Song"

Joe Perry
Many of my influences turned out to have their own influences who I discovered later. Joe Perry is a good example, as are several others on this list. Again, with many of my formative years spent listening to 70s-era Aerosmith, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear Joe’s influence on my guitar playing.

Playing Example: "Toys in the Attic"

Keith Richards
The mighty Keef took from some of the greatest blues, rock, and R&B players, and delivered his own quintessential vibe to the mix. I certainly listened to a lot of Stones while learning to play, and some 35 years later, I still do.

Playing Example: "Monkey Man"

Mick Ronson
While I have great respect for everything Bowie ever did, his stuff with Mick Ronson on guitar is spectacular, and helped define Bowie in the art rock oeuvre. I loved his tone, which always fit so well with the vibe of the songs. Sometimes his part was just a small contribution (wait for the solo below), but added tons to the end result.

Playing Example: "Life On Mars?"

Stephen Stills
While Neil Young (see below) may be the heavier influence on me, the tasty playing of Steve Stills was something that I appreciated deeply for many a year. I also enjoyed his propensity for using odd modal tunings, like he does below (E-E-E-E-B-E? Seriously?).

Playing Example: "Carry On"

Andy Summers
There aren’t enough words in the English language for me to describe what Andy Summers did for me as a guitarist. While I rarely set out to write or record something that “sounds like Andy”, I often note while listening back that I’ve done just that.

Playing Example: “Bombs Away”

Pete Townshend
Another super heavyweight in terms of his effect on me, I voraciously devoured everything Pete did with the Who and as a solo artist. When you hear me strumming fast on songs like “Thanks Anyway”, that’s Pete coming through (though his influence extends far deeper and more subtly than almost anyone else on this list).

Playing Example: "Sparks"

Neil Young
Ironically coming in at the end of our list alphabetically, Neil may be number one in the prime players in my personal Hall of Influence Fame, if such a thing existed (I guess it does now). From soft acoustic playing with hammer-ons in the midst of cluster chords to screaming feedback and sickly distorted tones no guitar was ever designed to make, Neil has been profoundly influential on my music. Listen to my songs like “Waiting for This”, “Faling Down”, and “This Afternoon”, and you’ll hear Old Neil coming through the Zak filter.

Playing Example: "When You Dance I Can Really Love"

Key West (01.09.12)

2012-01-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy performing live music at Key West in Second Life, and look forward to each of my shows there. Last night turned out to be as good as any I've played at this picturesque venue run by music lover Liz Harley. Since this was my last show for the next several weeks (I have some real life obligations that will take me out of SL later this month), I'm glad to say it was a good one.

I can always count on Key West for a terrific crowd. Photo by Kat.

We had a nice crowd there when I arrived, since Tukso Okey had played directly before me, and some of his crowd hung out for my show as well, which is always cool. I put on what I consider to be the "standard Zak Show", meaning I pulled out a semi-random mix of cover and original songs that I thought would go well at Key West (I think by now, I know Liz's tastes -- and that of her venue's visitors -- pretty well).

We had a good turnout of Zaksters there at Key West, and it's always good to see all the familiar faces of fans/friends in the crowd. However, one thing I tend to get at Key West that not every venue in SL can deliver is that we end up having new people discover my music, and we get more new fans there who subsequently come to more of my shows. That's about the best thing that a live musician in SL can hope for at any venue, and Key West provides that more often than not.

My view of Key West from the stage. Photo by Kat.

Key West Set List...
I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
Teach Your Children (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Cassidy (Grateful Dead)
Look Out for Me (Zak Claxton)
Nowhere Man (Beatles)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)

Huge thanks to everyone who helped support my show!
ThisisCin, EvaMoon Ember, Jordan Hazlitt, cheri Rainier, Aurelie Chenaux, MERLINzz Magic, Diana Renoir, Xerxes Ninetails, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and Key West owner Liz Harley!

Triana's Music Trivia (01.01.12)

2012-01-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Ah, the first show of a fresh new year. As you most likely know (but I'll tell you anyway), Triana's Music Trivia is Second Life's longest-running trivia game, and it's probably the reason that Kat and I decided to stay in SL after our early discovery of it back in 2006. Like many new residents, we found the platform fascinating, but especially in those relatively early times, it was pretty hard to find things to do that were truly fun and entertaining on the grid at that stage. Once we discovered TMT, which was held every Sunday evening, we started developing close friendships with other SL folks from there, and the rest is history. Triana Caldera, who founded and runs the event, has become one of our best pals, and we've had many adventures together both inside SL and in real life excursions.

Anyway, I've performed at TMT many times... it's always fun playing for good friends, and I tend to pull out tunes there that I wouldn't play anywhere else. The way we usually structure it is that Triana moves the event back an hour, and then I perform live during the usual 7PM time slot when the trivia game is played. That's how we did it last night, which (I'm happy to say) marks my third consecutive year as having TMT be my first show of the year. It's a tradition I'm happy to continue.

My darling Kat boogies down next to my silly poster. Photo by Kat.

Nakira Tennen and Alchemy Epstein enjoying the show. Photo by Kat.

MrNoCal Honey, Diana Renoir (nice butt), Triana Caldera, and Jordan Haslett dressed up for the New Year. Photo by Kat.

The always lovely Triana Caldera. Photo by Kat.

At last year's TMT show, I played an entire set of songs I'd never done before, the theme being "New Songs for a New Year". I did a similar thing this year with all of my cover tunes being performed for the first time, but also did a number of originals that were picked by the audience of our friends who know my material well.

Triana's Music Trivia Set List...
Triana (Zak Claxton)
*Leggy Blonde (Flight of the Conchords)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
*Pork and Beans (Weezer)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
*Fast Car (Tracy Chapman)
The Sands of Redondo (Zak Claxton)
*A Million Miles Away (The Plimsouls)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
*Everlong (Foo Fighters)
*Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
Triana Reprise (Zak Claxton)

A great start to rocking SL in 2012. Photo by Kat.

"I remember when Kat and I were new... looking around SL for something to do...". Photo by Kat.

Much love to all of our great friends from TMT, especially Triana Caldera and the folks who helped support my show last night! Kat and I truly love you all!

Love Factory New Year's Eve (12.31.11)

2012-01-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

First, welcome to 2012! Still no flying cars yet, as far as I can tell (though I haven't looked outside today, so perhaps they are there after all).

When I was in my teens and 20s, New Year's Eve was the most acceptable time of year to get silly drunk and be a complete idiot. This fact was dampened by the reality that at the time, I spent much of the rest of the year getting intoxicated on various substances and being a complete idiot, making New Year's just another night for the most part. Anyway, for the last 15 years or so, my New Year's Eves have been very sedate compared to my youthful experiences. During this millennium, it's been difficult for me to even stay awake until midnight to ring in the new year.

Rocking the New Year, Zak-style. Photo by Kat.

A happy crowd ready for some fun and good tunes. Photo by Kat.

However, I do enjoy performing live music on New Year's, and have done so on a good number of occasions, both in the flesh and in Second Life. When my manager Maali Beck let me know that the folks at Love Factory in SL wanted to bring me back to play at their event (which celebrated New Year's as well as the 2-year anniversary of Love Factory and its owner Violet), I was quite happy to do so. Making matters even cooler was the fact that since the organizers were based in a location 10 hours ahead of me, I could play from 1-2PM local time, which would be the hour leading into the new year for them.

My view from the stage. Photo by Kat.

Good times at Love Factory. I'll be glad to play there again. Photo by Kat.

The show itself was very fun, as most New Year's shows are. Folks were in a festive mood, and they had a good crowd at Love Factory when we got rolling. As I tend to do at special events, I put together a set list that was appropriate for the party mood, avoiding most of my gloomy repertoire and staying with stuff that had high energy.

On a side note, later that evening, Kat and I managed to stay up long enough to give each other a kiss to start 2012... and then headed immediately to sleep. Being old may be boring, but at least I start the new year feeling happy and not hungover and miserable!

Love Factory Anniversary/New Year's Eve Set List...
Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Bertha (Grateful Dead)
Comes a Time (Neil Young)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
She's Always a Woman (Billy Joel)
Fuck You (Cee-Lo Green)
Shiny Happy People (R.E.M.)
Daniel (Elton John)
One (U2)

That was fun! Thanks to Love Factory and all the folks who came out to the show... happy new year to all!

Casablanca Ballroom (12.23.11)

2011-12-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and just a couple of days earlier, I had no idea I'd be performing for the first time at Casablanca Ballroom in Second Life. However, my good pal Taunter Goodnight had to cancel her scheduled appearance there, so our mutual manager Maali Beck asked if I'd like to do the show in her place, and I happily agreed.

My view from the stage at this sumptuous ballroom setting at Casablanca. Photo by Kat.

Looking down from on high. Photo by Triana.

I like any good reason to pull out some new tunes, and I also knew that there would be no other opportunity to do a Christmas-themed show for another year. I didn't have a lot of time, but I chose some songs that sound much better in December than in, say, July. Casablanca is quite a bit more upscale than most of the laid-back places I play in SL, and that also gave me and my Zakster fans a good excuse to dress up in our nicest virtual fashion. I wear a tux in SL about as often as I do in real life, which isn't very frequently. Still, it was fun to look out from the stage and see such swank surroundings for a change.

As a whole, the show went really well. For one thing, I had no idea until I arrived that my friend Max Kleene was playing directly before me, so it was nice to get to hear some of his set and have him and some of his fans hang out for a good portion of my show. It's always exhilarating to play tunes that are new for me, so having five fresh songs (and a few more that are rarities for me) made it exciting, hopefully for my fans as much as me.

Another close-up of me in my happy holiday mood (and not in jeans and sneakers). Photo by Triana.

My darling Kat, dressed to the nines. Photo by Kat.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the season's spirit and my rare tunes. Photo by Kat.

Casablanca Ballroom Set List...
*Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth (David Bowie & Bing Crosby)
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
*River (Joni Mitchell)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Long December (Counting Crows)
*Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Blane/Martin)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
My Heart (Neil Young)
*Christmastime is Here (Vince Guaraldi)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
†The Rainbow Connection (Williams/Ascher)
*God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Traditional; arr. Zak Claxton)

*Indicates my first performance of this song in SL.
†My only other performance of "The Rainbow Connection": June 27, 2010

Thanks to all who helped support last night's show at Casablanca, and happiest of holidays to all Zaksters around the world!
donnamarie Mistwalker, BuffaloMike Hammerer, Steven Hynes, Aisha Convair, Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, Maximillion Kleene, Alexis Fairlady, Krissi Paule, Horizon Darkstone, Kat Claxton, TheaDee, my wonderful manager Maali Beck, and Casablanca owner DeanGrant Caproni!

My proudest moment as a musician

2011-12-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

As you may have read earlier this week, I performed for the second time at Lavender Field in Second Life for Brique Topaz's "Feed-a-Smile" charity, which supports the Live and Learn in Kenya program. It allows kids to get food and education in an area of the world where no such things are guaranteed.

Well, little could I have imagined that through a simple act of performing music for an hour -- something I love to do regardless -- I would be paid in priceless riches. That came today in the form of an email letting me know that the kids celebrated a "Zak Claxton Meal & Party", and included several pictures. Looking at them, and feeling my eyes fill with tears, is the absolute proudest moment I've had in over 35 years as a musician. Beyond any other triumph of creative output or kudos from my peers, this was the first time I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that through my music, we did something significant that affected someone in an important way.

I'm happy to share those pictures with you here. On top, the kids gather around a chalkboard that they drew, featuring a pretty nice sketch of me and the following message:

Dear Zak,

Thank you to you, Kat, and all your wonderful fans for putting food on our plates and smiles on our faces. Bright holiday blessings and a happy and healthy New Year.

The Live and Learn in Kenya kids in Nakuru, Kenya

Honestly, all the credit really goes to Brique for her tireless efforts, and to my fans and friends who came to the show and added their support. All I did was chip in a few bucks and perform music for an hour. But regardless of who gets credit, the effect is tangible, and can be seen below in the smile-inducing sight of these hungry kids sitting down for a big meal.

It's both pride-inducing and humbling to be a small part of an effort like Live and Learn in Kenya. I find that the payment I received in the form of seeing these pictures and the kids' message to me is more than I'd ever expect in return for the small act of playing some guitar and singing. It's one of the best Christmas presents I ever got in my life, and as I told Brique, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be at Lavender Fields again in 2012.

If you want to lend your own support to Brique's efforts inside Second Life or otherwise, contact her now. I'm sure she'd appreciate anything you can offer.

Lavender Field/Feed-a-Smile (12.12.11)

2011-12-12T22:03:00.000-08:00

There's no better feeling than getting to the end of a long day and knowing you did something that actually mattered. Sure, most of us do lots of things that allow ourselves and our families to survive as comfortably as possible damn near every day, but I'm talking about the rare occasions where you have an opportunity to go above and beyond the norm and do something that really makes a difference.

That's why I've had a smile on my face all day after performing for the second time at Brique Topaz's Lavender Field, the Second Life venue that supports the Feed-a-Smile organization. Feed-a-Smile is a benefit that funds Live and Learn in Kenya, and they sponsor education for kids in Africa who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to go to school, and to make sure those kids are fed well enough to be in a position to learn. Brique has worked it out so that every L$100 spent (about $0.40 USD) in donations at the shows allow one kid to get one hot meal.

It makes me happy to say that we raised enough money for 109 meals during my section of the show, and the single day's events at Lavender Fields raised a total of 254 meals (i.e., L$25,400), with artists Steveeolio and Taunter Goodnight performing before me. We had a terrific crowd the entire time, and everyone seemed to be in a generous mood so that the day was a huge success.

During Taunter's last song, I hopped up and "accompanied" her. Photo by Triana.

The new performance area at Lavender Field is low-lag and high-fun. Photo by Kat.

We had a good-sized crowd of very generous people. I couldn't ask for more. Photo by Kat.

As I usually do at these kinds of events, I tried to choose a list of songs that were all appropriate, or somehow meaningful to the cause. For the most part, I feel pretty good about the musical side of things on this fine day for a worthy cause.

Lavender Field/Feed-a-Smile Set List...
Rock and Roll Woman (Buffalo Springfield)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (Band Aid)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
Carey (Joni Mitchell)
Teach Your Children (CSNY)
Go Easy on Me (Zak Claxton)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
Just LIke Starting Over (John Lennon)
Thank U (Alanis Morissette)
I Am a Child (Neil Young)

Massive thanks to every single person who helped support the Feed-a-Smile events today! And thanks to Brique for being a hero all year long!

Molaskey's Pub w/Lyndon Heart (12.08.11)

2011-12-09T07:08:00.001-08:00

Yesterday marked the fourth time that Lyndon Heart and I performed together via dual-stream at Molaskey's Pub in Second Life. The overall result was a massive amount of fun, but it took going through a few hoops of fire to get to that point.

I'll start by telling you that I was under the impression that Lyndon was to start the show at 6PM, followed by our performing together from 6:45-7:15, and ending with my solo show from 7:15 until 8:00. I'm not exactly sure why I believed this to be the case, but it was obviously wrong; due to his work schedule, it's impossible for Lyndon to even arrive at the venue by 6:00. So anyway, here was the result: instead of arriving at the venue as I usually do, with a good 20+ minutes to casually get ready for my show, I sauntered in at 5:58, expecting to hear Lyndon starting his set. Instead, I was greeted by a nervous Maali Beck (my manager), who had been wondering where I was.

But wait; it gets better. A few seconds later, I was in a near panic, trying to get everything setup and ready in the next two minutes. At the same time, I was wondering where the hell everyone was; only Maali, me, and one fan were present. Turns out the others were all in the place where the show was supposed to be, which was on the Molaskey's Ice Skating Rink rather than their beach stage, meaning I had to pick up the stuff I'd laid out and once again get my stage ready in another location. At this point, it would probably help to explain what "getting set up" means for an SL musician, especially for a dual-stream show like Lyndon and I do together.

Here's the short version: first, you need to get your avatar self to the location of the venue. Fine. Next, I usually get my SL situation squared away, which involves putting on a guitar and throwing down my tip jar. Assuming SL is functioning correctly (cough), this is pretty easy, but of course, you need to make sure you have the proper group tag that will allow you to rez items on the property. Hopefully you've squared that away well in advance of your show. Also, you need to work out which stream is going to be used. At various places, I either use my own (meaning I need to confirm that the venue owner has this info) or use the venue's (in which case I need to make sure it's properly set up in my broadcasting software).

Next comes my real life setup. I place a music stand near my computer with sheets and sheets of lyrics for the songs I'll be performing. Again, if you're well prepared, you've already pulled out your lyrics and have put them in order of a set list. Next, I put out two microphones (one for my guitar, and another for my vocals). After getting my avatar positioned onstage in SL, I then put on my real-life guitar, and start up my broadcast software. At that point, I'm ready to play.

And yes, that was the short version, and I didn't even include the time spent before all that in warming up one's voice and instrument.

In a dual-stream show, there's a whole other batch of activities... you have to get the stream address of your fellow performer, get it plugged into iTunes, route the signal through your mixer, set the levels, and so on. Now, when you're familiar with this process as I am, it can all be done in a few minutes. However, most musicians I know really prefer not being rushed through their setup process, no matter what the performance environment is.

So, in a long-winded way, that's why I spent my first few songs at Molaskey's being about as discombobulated as I've ever been at the beginning of a show in SL. Still, as soon as we got underway, things went just fine, as they tend to do. Look, I love playing live music, warts and all. As a live performer, if you expect things to be smooth sailing 100% of the time, I have some swampland in Florida you may be interested in purchasing. It's just not realistic to think that with all the technical setup and logistic issues, everything will go exactly as you want it each time you get onstage. I'm fortunate in that 90% of the time, I don't run into any of these problems.

TOP: Lyndon and I get to rocking. PIC 2: During my set at Molaskey's after overcoming the insanity. PIC 3: People seem to be having fun on Molaskey's ice rink. PIC 4: My Kat enjoying a sweet treat. Photos by Kat.

Back to the show. Once I got rolling, things switched from "stress mode" to "fun mode" relatively easily. I pulled out a few songs that were seasonally appropriate, and I really enjoyed the stuff that Lyndon chose for us to do together.

Molaskey's Set List...

Solo Set:
†Do They Know It's Christmas? (Band Aid)
††Long December (Counting Crows)
Every Day I Write the Book (Elvis Costello)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Look Out for Me (Zak Claxton)
Big Bad Bill (Van Halen)

With Lyndon:
*Teach Your Children (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)
*Stuck in the Middle with You (Stealer's Wheel)
For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
*Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison)
*The Joker (Steve Miller)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
†Last performance of "DTKIC?": 12/09/09.
††Last performance of "Long December": 12/20/10, at Molaskey's.

Massive thanks to everyone who came out to Molaskey's and rocked with Lyndon and me!

The Weirdness of December 8

2011-12-08T08:22:00.001-08:00

Looking back through years and years of this blog, I was surprised to see that I'd never before written about my one true superstition. I do have one, and it has nothing to do with black cats, walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, or spilling salt (I have no problem with any of those). Rather, my idiosyncratic superstition is an odd one, since it's based on a date, and that date is today... December 8.

Before I even tell you anything about the significance of this date (or lack thereof), let me explain something. You know that phenomenon that makes it seem like "ever time I look at a clock, it says 9:11"? The point is that you glance at a clock many times during a day, but significant patterns of numbers make you take notice more. Well, that's how it is for me on December 8. Odd things happen to me throughout the year, but since I seem to have had an inordinately large number of meaningful events happen on this date, I've become aware of it over the years, and therefore tend to take note of things.

So that's really the deal; December 8 isn't necessarily a bad day, per se. Just a weird one, with a seemingly high proportion of significance. It all goes back 31 years ago, to December 8, 1980. I was 11 years old, and it was the day of my very first guitar recital. I was excited and nervous as you'd expect a kid to be, but it went very well. If you're interested in the details, I performed "Spooky" by the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and "Honesty" by Billy Joel that night. But then, on our way home, my dad turned on the radio, and we got the news that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York while I was playing my first gig.

The events of that evening encapsulates many of the subsequent December 8 days I've had since, though none were quite as drastic as that. Some years have been quite benign, and I shrugged at the end of the day upon realizing that nothing much had happened, and it was for the most part like any other day. But other years, I've had girlfriends break up with me, lost jobs, gotten promotions, had minor car accidents, been arrested, and -- in a less personal way -- have seen news events happen that affected me. Have these kind of things also happened on days other than December 8? Sure, of course. But much like my clock example from above, when things do happen on this day, I tend to take notice. "A-ha!" I proclaim to myself. "The curse of 12/8 strikes again!"

Last year's December 8 (2010) was mostly good; we celebrated the 30th anniversary of my first live performance by having Bunny come over, and we put on a live video/SL show that went well. However, in doing so, I missed my son's performance with his band at school, so once again, the dichotomy of goodness and badness tempering each other was consistent with other years.

So, that's my only real superstition, and even I don't believe in it, being the cynical and scientifically-minded bastard that I am. We'll see how this December 8 turns out (it's not even 9AM while I'm writing this post, so the day is young enough for just about anything to go down). Meanwhile, I'll try not to be the purposeful instigator of any oddness, consciously or otherwise. I am looking forward to a show tonight in Second Life that I'm playing along with my pal Lyndon Heart, and hopefully that goes well enough that I start forgetting my unfounded apprehension about this silly day.

"Always Tomorrow" (Lyrics Video)

2011-12-04T18:20:00.001-08:00

Filmed and edited a lyric video for "Always Tomorrow" on this lazy Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

Moonacy/IndieSpectrum Radio (12.01.11)

2011-12-02T07:08:00.001-08:00

There are so many reasons why I perform live music in Second Life. Some of them are purely about the fun of making music, and the camaraderie I feel toward my fans and fellow musicians. Some, I must admit, are based on earning a couple of extra bucks in an economy where it's appreciated. But perhaps the #1 reason why I started playing live in SL was to expose people to my original music, which isn't an easy task for any independent singer-songwriter.

Feeling good, rocking some original music at Moonacy. Photos by Kat.

That's why I'm always happy when I get an invitation to play at one of Moondoggirl Moonintoog and Fox Reinsch's "Moonacy" events. What they do is put on an evening where six artists take 30 minutes each to do original music at one of Moon's amazing sims in SL, and then Fox simulcasts the show live on IndieSpectrum Radio. In terms of exposure, there aren't many better opportunities in SL; last night, we had about 20 people hanging around at the show, but close to 100 more people listening in on the radio. Of course, the great thing about Internet-based radio is that you're not confined to the area capable of receiving the broadcast; we're talking about people from all over the world.

"It looks cold outside... through the window pane..." Photos by Kat.

Last night's show had a good lineup that showcased a variety of different artists, each with their own styles. It started at 5PM with PonDman Haalan, and then the always amazing Phemie Alcott played at 5:30. I had the stage from 6:00 to 6:30, and then Starflower Orbit, RB Hamelin, and Moondoggirl herself wrapped up the evening.

One other thing about the Moonacy shows: Moon's sims (she has a bunch of them) are all designed and decorated superbly! I loved the vibe of this snow-covered lodge, both inside and out. Photos by Kat.

First off, let me say that it's always a great pleasure hearing other SL artists perform their own music. As I got ready to do my show, it was difficult to focus on my own warm-up routine, since I was enthralled by the "Joni Mitchell meets Tori Amos" sound of Phemie. It's been awhile since I last heard her play and I'd forgotten just how good she is, and I've made a note to see more of her shows. Anyway, by the time I did my set, I was feeling inspired, and I think it went quite well (despite some scratchy throat issues). Oh, and by limiting the amount of blabbering I usually do between songs, I actually wedged seven tunes into my half hour slot. Funny how that works.

Moonacy Set List...
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
The Other Way (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)

Big thanks to everyone who came to the show, who listened in on IndieSpectrum, and mostly to Moon and Fox for their efforts in putting together these terrific shows!

Golan Eilde's Non-Birthday Party (11.28.11)

2011-11-28T19:40:00.001-08:00

As most of you undoubtedly know, the majority of my shows in Second Life are held at venues that are open to the public, and are at places designated specifically for live music. However, once in a blue moon, someone (obviously a person of excellent taste) will hire me to perform at a private party. And let me tell you, you will find no better musician/clown (or is it the other way around?) for your personal event. In any case, my manager Maali Beck alerted me last week that I'd been hired for just such an event, and the first thing I did was to get in touch with the person hosting the event, Deb Tigerfish, to find out what it was all about.

It turns out that it was a surprise party for the Deb's significant other, and I'd been recommended by a good friend and long-time Zakster, Diana Renoir. Well, once I found out Di had been the one to suggest me as the entertainment, I knew things would be great. Things got even greater once I found out that the person for whom the party was being thrown was Golan Eilde, a guy who'd seen me play a good number of times before. The only fear for a performer in a situation like this one is that the hosts may be expecting an entirely different kind of musician than you, but once I was aware that the party was for Golan, all concerns in that regard vanished.

Don't call it a birthday party. Photos by Kat.

It turned out to be a really fun show. Deb, Golan, and all of their guests seemed to be having a really good time. At first, I was under the impression that it was Golan's birthday, but there was literally signage that stated in no uncertain terms that it was indeed not so. We therefore dubbed it Golan's Non-Birthday Party, or -- as I occasionally called it during the show -- Golan Day 2011, whatever that means. In that regard, I also added Golan's name to a number of songs I did (i.e., instead of "Broken Day", I'd sing "Golan Day" and so on), which was fun for all of us.

The man of the hour, Golan Eilde, rocks at his party. Photos by Kat.

Good times at the Love Factory. Photos by Kat.

Golan's Non-Birthday Party Set List...
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
†Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (The Police)
Accidents Will Happen (Elvis Costello)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Behind Blue Eyes (The Who)
What I Got (Sublime)
Nowhere Man (Beatles)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Save It For Later (English Beat)

†Last performance of "ELTSDIM": June 27, 2008 at SL5B

Thanks to Deb Tigerfish, Diana Renoir, my manager Maali Beck, and the non-birthday boy Golan Eilde for letting me entertain you!

Key West (11.23.11)

2011-11-24T07:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

As I've done about once per month since March, I had a show at Key West in Second Life last night, and once again it proved to be one of the very best places for live music in all of SL. The credit for Key West being so admired by the musicians and fans of live music in SL lies squarely on owner Liz Harley. It's hard to say exactly what separates the best venues in SL from the mediocre ones, but several factors are readily apparent:

• Liz always seems to pull in a terrific crowd. The gathering of people for a show in SL is always a cooperative task, and under the best of circumstances, the artist and his/her management do their best to bring in fans, while the venue itself makes every effort to help supplement that crowd via their own promotions, both inside and outside of SL. Liz is terrific at this.

• Why is it important for musicians to have a flow of new people coming to their shows? It's always an opportunity to develop new fans and new friends, and at a place like Key West, SL music lovers are just about guaranteed to find artists that they enjoy who they hadn't heard before.

• Which brings us to the final point: Liz has stated many times, in many ways, that her #1 consideration for artists who play at Key West is that she truly loves their music. In her words, "I book artists whose artistry and music move me and who I respect... period."

I often find that the bigger the crowd, the more inspired I am to play well. Photos by Kat.

There isn't a long list of live music venues in SL whose priorities are that focused on the music itself, and let me tell you: there isn't a single SL musician I've ever met who doesn't respect and admire Liz and Key West as a result. It's become one of the places I most look forward to playing... not for the money, but for the fact that I know my music is being truly appreciated there. The result is that I tend to give some of my best performances there, and last night's show was certainly an example of that.

Key West is also laid out very well, allowing for many people in the audience and yet still imparting an intimate, casual, and laid-back vibe. Photos by Kat.

The first thing I said to Kat last night after signing off the stream and turning over the stage to Skye Galaxy, aka Sean Ryan (the artist who followed me) was, "Holy shit, my voice could do no wrong tonight." It was true; my voice doesn't always cooperate with me the way I'd like it to, but every note I sang last night was right on the money. I don't know why; I wish I could package whatever combination of factors that allows me to sing at my best and have it around whenever I wanted it. But I'm happy to take it when it magically arrives, and it had good timing; Skye is quite the popular young artist in SL, and I enjoyed being able to make some good music for both my fans and his flock of admirers as they arrived.

On the day before Thanksgiving, you're bound to have some folks getting into the spirit of things. Here's Stace Silvercloud, Cicadetta Stillwater, and Triana Caldera in their best turkey apparel. Photos by Kat.

I put together a set list that felt appropriate for the autumn season, and it seemed to work out very well.

Key West Set List...
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
California (Joni Mitchell)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Don't Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young)
Day After Day (Badfinger)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Daniel (Elton John)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)

Huge thanks to everyone who made this show at Key West amazing, especially those who helped support my show!
Willow Yorcliffe, MoonDog Roecastle, Triana Caldera, Sassy Nitely, mikial Bazno, TheaDee, Cicadetta Stillwater, Christine Haiku, Aurelie Chenaux, Tommy Cult, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and (most of all) Key West owner Liz Harley!

Cuddler's Cove (11.19.11)

2011-11-19T15:34:00.001-08:00

First of all, let's start today's show report by mentioning that the last time I performed live at Cuddlers Cove in Second Life was April 25, 2008... three and a half years ago, crazily enough. There's no particular reason that I stopped playing there. Did you ever have one of those circumstances where you have a friend, but for whatever reason you lose touch with them and one day realize that years had gone by since your last connection? Well, it's more like one of those situations. Suka Nishi and Quinton Whitman who run the place are terrific people, and I'm very glad that today I was able to get back to Cuddler's and do a show.

Apparently there's a whole world of people in SL who are up earlier than me on weekends. Who knew? Photo by Kat.

But wait... there's a catch (isn't there always a catch?). Cuddler's Cove does most of their events on Saturday mornings, and since Suka and Quinton are based on the East Coast in real life, the shows start kinda... early. This morning's lineup had Quinton himelf starting out at 7AM, followed by the always-terrific Mash Rhode at 8AM. The third and final act of the day was Yours Truly. Well, unlike those fellas, 9AM in SL really means 9AM in my real life, so I am happy to report that this morning was my official earliest gig of my entire life as a performing musician!

I had no idea how that would work out, but it really ended up being fine. I woke up at 7 (which is ordinarily an hour I try and avoid on weekends), hopped in the shower and immediately began warming up my voice in the steam. Had some coffee -- perhaps too much, by the spastic results it inspired in my personality during the show -- ate a banana for breakfast, strummed a few chords on the Martin, and boom! It was time to play.

Three lovely Zakster ladies: Kat (top), Aurelie (middle), and Diana (bottom) boogie down at my Saturday morning funfest. Photos by Kat.

The show itself was really good. We had a nice-sized crowd there, and surprisingly, despite the early hour, my voice and guitar both felt great. Song-wise, it was a pretty typical mix of my originals and covers, mostly picked out by Kat since I was too groggy to think of what to play.

Cuddler's Cove Set List...
Everyday I Write the Book (Elvis Costello)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Six Underground (Sneaker Pimps)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Walk on the Ocean (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
I Am A Child (Neil Young)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)

Humungous thanks to everyone at Cuddler's Cove, especially the following folks who helped support my show!
Robert69 Little, Diana Renoir, Katja Runo, Catherinne Earnshaw, Klementina Bernheim, Kat Claxton, Aurelie Chenaux, Steluna Silverspar, Mash Rhode, TheaDee, and Cuddler's Cove owners Quinton Whitman and Suka Nishi!

Me on "The Stream Scene" TV Show

2011-11-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

WATCH IT NOW!

As a medium-sized fish in a rather small pond, I tend to appreciate any extra attention I get in my career (and I use that term lightly) as a virtual rock star. That's why I was particularly pleased in September when the producers of The Stream Scene contacted me to see if I could do a live performance for their online TV show. I had a show scheduled at Crystal Gardens that week, and the Stream Scene people came out to record it.

The Stream Scene is now part of Treet.tv, an online "network" that produces and airs a number of excellent shows about virtual worlds.

To be honest, I pretty much forgot about it after that... there's always a lot going on in my life (virtual and otherwise), so by the time I received a note last week from Twstd Ruggles that the show would debut on Sunday November 13, it was like a whole new happy surprise. I'm not sure what I was expecting; I did the Stream Scene show once before, in 2010, but this time, the producers did something way super extra sweet: they basically read my entire bio as the lead-in to my live performance. I grimaced a little bit with anticipatory nervousness when my song came on; they chose to use the recording of my tune "Thanks Anyway", and I know there are a few high notes in there that I occasionally either overshoot or miss on the flat side, but all in all, I think it was a really decent rendition of the song. No complaints at all, from me anyway.

Anyway, if you haven't done so yet, check out the show! My spot is first, and then there are also good performances by Cylindiran Rutabaga and Hazideon Zarco, as well as a cool machinima music video from a song by my pal EvaMoon Ember.

Special thanks go out to Twstd Ruggles as well as segment producer Chuck McMasters and co-host Miles Eleventhauer for once again giving me the opportunity to perform on The Stream Scene!

Molaskey's Pub w/Lyndon Heart (11.10.11)

2011-11-11T08:31:00.001-08:00

Hello to you all, and let's begin today's post with an unnecessary apology: I haven't blogged for over a week. No one notices or cares about this except me, but still, I feel compelled to mention that sometimes work and life overwhelm my ability to spend even the few minutes it takes to write a blog post. So there we have it. Also, I have a good reason for today's post: to tell you about the show I did last night along with my pal Lyndon Heart at Molaskey's Pub in Second Life.

The backsides of Diana and Triana, watching me rock at Molaskey's. Photo by Triana. Top photo by Diana.

This was the third dual-streaming show I've done with Lyndon in three consecutive months (see the posts about the September and October shows if you want). Last night, it was my turn to be "on top" (meaning that I was in the top position on the stream, and therefore handled lead vocals and rhythm guitar while Lyndon took vocal harmonies and guitar leads). As has been our pattern, I sent Lyndon a list of potential songs earlier that day, and he picked out 6-7 tunes he felt might be good to perform together.

Me, trying out some new material on the Molaskey's crowd. Photo by Triana.

I started out the evening, and did a selection of songs including a couple of debuts of cover tunes I hadn't done before. Then, about 45 minutes in, Lyndon hopped up on the stage and we did our jamming together for a half hour, and then Lyndon wrapped up the remaining 45 minutes with his own solo show. One of the things I like most about this whole setup is that my fans have become acquainted with Lyndon's performances, and his with mine. Lyndon and I are very similar styles of performers; we both write our own material, but we also enjoy doing covers as well. It's a nice commonality that our respective fans can appreciate in each of us.

Me (left) and Lyndon (right), having too much fun. Photo by Diana.

In any case, the whole show was a lot of fun for Lyndon and I, and hopefully our audience felt the same. I find that I'm really looking forward to the next one as well!

Molaskey's Set List...
Solo Set:
*Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
*Lovesong (The Cure)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Court & Spark (Joni Mitchell)
Tangerine (Led Zeppelin)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)

With Lyndon:
*Daniel (Elton John)
*California Dreamin' (The Mamas & the Papas)
Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks)
Our House (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Beatles)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in Second Life.

Big thanks to everyone who came to the Zak & Lyndon show last night, especially those who helped support the show!
Mia Kitchensink, Woodstock Burleigh, Diana Renoir, Thinkerer Melville, CathyWyo1 Haystack, Alexis Fairlady, Trouble Streeter, Cicadetta Stillwater, Xerxes Ninetails, Triana Caldera, Syzygy Merlin, my (and Lyndon's) terrific manager Maali Beck, and the whole Molaskey's staff including owners Katydid Something and Apple MacKay!

Observations on a Strange Day

2011-11-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

The cat is licking the chair. I can hear her sandpaper tongue scraping the mesh fabric. Suddenly, she's standing on my head.

I think she learned two new words in the English language over the past few days. One is "no", the other is "down". And yet, she's on my head again. I think it's purposeful disobedience rather than ignorance. I have too much faith in this animal's intellect to rationalize away her behavior as "not knowing better". She knows, and disregards. I suppose this is cat-like.

I walk outside, trying to find out if the feeling of direct sunlight on my head would make my brain feel any better (it doesn't). While I am there, I see a middle-aged woman standing in one place, staring intently at a tree while holding her hand on the side of her head. At first I think that she might be having a stroke... an aneurysm... some kind of brain event. I grow concerned. She is motionless for maybe a full minute. I consider walking toward her to inquire if she needs assistance. When she lowers her hand and I see that she is merely holding a phone to her ear, I find myself simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

An old man rides by on a bicycle. He seems in very good shape for a man who looks to be sixty or more. Still, I stop breathing for a moment until the breeze generated by his speedy passing has settled. I don't want to breathe any essence of sweaty old man.

I come back in and sit down. The cat jumps on my head. I have no choice other than to put the cat in the hall and close my door.

Just a few minutes later, though, I wonder what the cat is doing. Is she still in the hall, waiting for me to open the door, perchance to jump on my head again? If I open the door to find out, she'll just jump on my head. At the moment, however, she has much in common with Erwin Schrödinger's famous feline. She exists in a state of uncertainty, bringing to mind Heisenberg's principles as well. I can say, "I'm sure she's fine," but that's really a load of crap, isn't it? I have no idea. I can't see or hear the cat. What I actually mean is that I assume that odds are high that she is fine, and past experience tells me that cats are quite self-sufficient, and that my house isn't fraught with peril -- not much peril, anyway -- and that the cat is probably still in the hall, or in my bedroom, or my son's, or downstairs in the living room.

I can't take the suspense, and open the door. The cat runs in and jumps on my head. I put her down, gently. It's the cat's nature to want to look down upon the world, and my head is the highest point in the room. The fact that my body is attached to it means nothing to the cat. Once on the floor, the cat goes seemingly insane, jumping from my head to the desk to the chair to the floor to the printer/fax/scanner and then back to my head, all in under three seconds. She's talking, making a continuous series of blerrrrt sounds while running at full speed around this small room. I reach for her again; this time, she bites me. Since I am allergic to cats, it eventually leaves a bright red welt on my wrist that itches. Then she curls into a ball and begins licking her foot, purring.

I don't know why. I'm not a cat, and even if I were, I might not understand what she was doing. You're a person, presumably; do you always understand what other people are doing?

I didn't think so.

Molaskey's Pub w/Lyndon Heart (10.27.11)

2011-10-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was a night full of firsts.

While it wasn't the first time I joined my friend singer-songwriter Lyndon Heart onstage at Molaskey's Pub in Second Life (that happened back in September), it was the first time I wasn't "on top". Let me explain something here (skip the next paragraph if you're not a complete Internet/audio geek).

Here's how "dual streaming" works in Second Life. The most simple explanation is that one person streams live audio from their location, and another person receives that audio (over an audio stream, via something like iTunes, just like dialing in an Internet radio station). Then, that person adds his/her own musical contribution, mixes it with the signal from the first person, and sends the combined signal into SL.

Lyndon (right) and me, rocking out and having fun via dual-stream at Molaskey's. Photo by Kat.

Anyway, the first time I did this, I was "on top", meaning that I was the first one playing, and Lyndon played along with what I was doing, with guitar leads and harmony vocals. But last night, we flippity-flopped the fling-flang, and Lyndon drove the music while I added my own parts. It was every bit as fun, and perhaps more so in a way; the person "on top" can't hear what the other person is doing (this is due to the latency of time, space, and Internet servers in various places... I don't want to get detailed here about the techno shit).

The crowd at Molaskey's, enjoying the tunes from Lyndon and I. Photo by Kat.

So, that was a first. Another first was a batch of tunes that I played with Lyndon, along with a couple of covers of my own that I'd never done before. Check it out...

Molaskey's/Lyndon Heart Set List...

With Lyndon:
*Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers)
*Love is the Seventh Wave (Sting)
*Stir It Up (Bob Marley & the Wailers)
*Up On Cripple Creek (The Band)
*I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash)
*After Midnight (Eric Clapton)

Solo Set
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
*Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
*Every Day I Write the Book (Elvis Costello)
†The Loner (Neil Young)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
Man of Constant Sorrow (Traditional)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
†My last performance of "The Loner" was October 28, 2008.

As you can see from the list above, we did a similar format to the last show, except Lyndon started us out with 45 minutes of his own stuff, followed by a half hour of us performing together, and then 45 minutes on my own. There was yet another first during my set, and not a particularly joyous one; in the four years I've been playing at Molaskey's, I've never had any problems with their venue stream until last night. During my set, the stream was stuttering and cutting in/out, and there was nothing that could be done (it was a server problem). On the bright side, at least the stream was steady during the section with Lyndon and I playing, and once we acquiesced that something was wrong, I simply switched over to my own stream for the remainder of the show and all was well. No big deal; shit happens in the technology-filled world that lets us do things like performing in our homes to fans around the world.

My view. Photo by Triana.

Regardless, it was a fun-filled show that I enjoyed greatly. Any show at Molaskey's usually ranks among the best; add in the fact that I'm doing a live jam along with a guy who is 1,000 miles north of me, and it's an evening full of win. Lyndon and I are scheduled to do this again at Molaskey's sometime in November, and I'd like to see what we can come up with to make it even better.

Lyndon hangs out and cheers me on while I keep the rock rolling (when the stream decided to let me do so). Photo by Kat.

Triana and Kat hanging out toward the end of the evening. Photo by Kat.

Huge thanks to everyone who helped support the show!
Heaven Glendale, Catherinne Earnshaw, Triana Caldera, Mia Kitchensink, Thynka Little, Cicadetta Stillwater, Alexis Fairlady, Thadicus Caligari, Kat Claxton, Woodstock Burleigh, Tangle Giano, Thinkerer Melville, Diana Renoir, my (and Lyndon's) terrific manager Maali Beck, and Molaskey's owners and staff (especially Katydid Something). Love all you people!

Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show #13 (10.20.11)

2011-10-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

VIDEO LINK

I'm sure that many of you thought that the Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show was a thing of the past, but just when you least expected me to get in front of a camera for no reason other than to be a singing fool, there I was again. Hey, I missed me too.

Some clarification and definition is in order here. Confusingly, I've done several different formats of video shows over the years. Back in February 2010, I discovered Ustream, a service that allows people to stream live video over the Internet, and put together a little show so my friends and fans could watch me rock out from the comfort of my (and their) own home. I called it the "Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show", and did 12 shows between February and July of that year. Shortly after that, I was approached by a company called StreamJam who took the same Ustream feed and made it accessible on Facebook. Then, in early 2011, I also did a series of shows for StageIt... a similar service that seemed better at promoting the artists who played there.

Still, while I enjoyed the shows I did with those services, the fact that I was unable to perform cover tunes made the show rather repetitive. Also, while I appreciate that the other services offer varying degrees of monetization, it's nice being to just rock out without hitting your audience up for tips. Ultimately, I'm the kind of performer who likes to do whatever music he feels like on the spur of the moment, which is why after 15 months of having put the ZCHFS on Ustream aside, I resurrected it last night on a whim. See, I had nothing scheduled this week in SL, and didn't want to wait another week before my next show.

Anyway, back to the now. I didn't do a lot of promotion for this show; I thought a simple, low-key thing where a few of my pals could hang out and have fun would be a cool thing to do, especialy since it had been a long time since I did this type of show, so that's what I did. As I often do, I pulled out some rarities and one never-before-played tune at this video show.

ZCHFS Episode #13 Set List...
California (Joni Mitchell)
Alabama Song (The Doors)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
†Don't Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Loser (Beck)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Black Peter (Grateful Dead)
Bein' Green (Kermit the Frog)
*Freaky (Flight of the Conchords)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)

*Indicates the first time I've ever performed this song.
†My last performance of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" was on Sep 29, 2007! Wow!

Thanks to everyone who saw the show. That was fun!

Key West (10.13.11)

2011-10-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

For various reasons, it had been 2-1/2 weeks since my last show in Second Life, which (for me, anyway) is a really long hiatus. Long story short: I caught a cold, courtesy of my son, so singing was out for awhile. Then, I had two consecutive shows go south on me -- one due to a migraine, the other due to a cancellation by a venue owner. So, needless to say, I was raring to go by the time Thursday evening rolled around and it was time for my show at Key West.

I've played at Key West maybe 5-6 times, and invariably it's a great place to play. Liz Harley, who owns and runs the place, always is helpful in bringing in a great crowd, and the folks who come there seem to be very appreciative of well-performed music. Last night's show was as good as any of them I've played there, and I always find myself looking forward to the next time Key West pops up on my schedule (due to the excellent work of my manager Maali Beck).

Due to the recent climate of turmoil and unrest via the Occupy movement, I found myself inspired to put a few more protest-oriented songs into my repertoire, so I did. Overall, I think the list of tunes I did ended up very good.

Key West Set List...
*For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
*What's Going On (Marvin Gaye)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Loser (Beck)
A Day In the Life (Beatles)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in Second Life.

Huge thanks to all who came out and supported my show!
Harper Messmer, Caden Lighthouse, GMetal Svartur, Rill Andel, Jordan Hazlitt, Leondra Larsson, Emily Oliphaunt, Diana Renoir, Jukebox Diesel, Alexis Fairlady, Syd Baddingham, Kat Claxton, TheaDee, Diana Renoir, Maali Beck for her always-terrific management, and Key West owner Liz Harley!

Migraines, Revolutions, and Monopoly Games

2011-10-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

I had a sort-of grab-bag weekend, and since I'm a sharing person, I thought I'd tell you about it.

Let's rewind back to Friday for a moment. One of the longest-term clients of my little marketing communications business requested that I attend an online class on marketing automation for a CRM/ERP system (if this sounds like gibberish to you, that's probably a good thing). I happily agreed; I like learning new things. What I didn't know at that time was that the class was eight straight hours, beginning at 7am my time, and ending at 3pm. Yikes. So, my entire Friday was devoured by this class. As usual, Kat came over after work that evening, and we had a good night just kicking back. It was that night, in fact, that we started bouncing around the Interwebz, watching some of the goings-on of the nascent "Occupy Wall Street" protests. A good friend of ours was planning to be at the Occupy Atlanta protest, and we'd joked that we should watch the live feed to make sure there were witnesses in case she was maced and beaten. That didn't happen, of course, but watching that night did kind of give us a better perspective on what the protests were all about. More on that later.

Here I am, about five hours into my eight hour class on Friday. Suicide seemed like a viable alternative to completing the session, but I persevered.

It was my intention to wake up the next day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and perform live that afternoon at the BURN2 festival in Second Life. My pal Diana had booked me for the show weeks earlier, and I'd prepared a bunch of tunes for the occasion that I thought would be appropriate for the hippy-like vibe of the event. But that was not to be. In the middle of the night, I awoke with a pounding headache. I managed to get back to sleep, but in the morning, it had grown even worse, and I had some nausea to accompany it. Uh oh. Within a couple of hours, even I couldn't deny that I had some kind of migraine going, but tried semi-courageously to prepare for performing regardless. It pretty much came down to the last minute before I told the organizers that I was in no condition to sing and play guitar, and that was that. I was really unhappy, having been looking forward to the show, but I had no choice.

This is from my BURN2 show back in 2010. I was not at all happy to be forced to miss this year's show.

So, after grumbling for awhile, I decided that the best course of action (beyond the bunch of ibuprofen that I'd taken) was to spend the day relaxing. Kat and I fired up the Wii and spent much of the remainder of the day playing Monopoly. It's something we've done lately when we have some rare kick-back time, and we had a good time putting hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place and all that fun stuff. My migraine lasted for quite a long time, but by that evening, I was feeling mostly back to my usual self, and we went to bed.

Sure, it's just good old Monopoly, but Kat and I always seem to have fun playing it. When my son is around, he joins in as well. It's actually better than old-school Monopoly; since the computer is the bank, it speeds things up quite a lot (still, a good game can take a couple of hours).

I was very appreciative on Sunday morning to wake up after a good night's sleep and feel no sign of the brain-ouch that had plagued me the day before. I cooked us french toast and bacon, and we had a nice relaxing morning. With nothing big on our schedules that day, we plopped in front of our respective computers and started once again checking out live footage from the various cities that were having "Occupy" protests. If you're a person like me who likes to follow historical events as they're happening, you already know we live in a pretty amazing world in that regard. From our home in Redondo Beach, we flipped through Twitter feeds, seeing up-to-the-minute photos and live streaming video from cities like New York, Seattle, Portland, LA, and many more.

Being able to see what's going on in protests in dozens of cities across the country, all in real time: priceless. I was impressed by many of the amateur journalists and their ability to show what's happening as it happens.

A week ago, if you'd asked me my opinion on what was then known only (to most) as "Occupy Wall Street", I'd have expressed a good deal of confusion regarding what the hell it was all about. It seemed to me that there were many different factions of people who were unclear on what the nature and goals of the protest were. Some people seemed upset they didn't have jobs, but I didn't see how protesting was going to help. Some seemed mad that the world was unfair, with the small number of wealthy people controlling an inordinate amount of the money. There's nothing new about that... it's gone on since roughly forever. Some were protesting the war; some were angry about the environment. These are all classic liberal causes that have been in place for decades, so why the sudden need to be publicly confrontational about it?

Tom Morello, the legendary musician and activist, fires up the crowd at LA city hall on Sunday.

While I'm still in the process of learning more about this new movement, at some point, it did click together for me. I don't want to (nor do I have time at the moment) to go into a massive dissertation, but even I am appalled at the disparity of wealth today. It's not that I want or need more money -- I'm very fortunate that my small business has been able to sustain me for the past eight+ years -- but that's the point. I make enough to live on comfortably, and I don't see the need to accumulate massive amounts of wealth, or to try and exert control over people with my money and power. I suppose that's just my personal take, and I never begrudged people I knew who made extraordinary amounts of money. That was their trip, not mine. But today, it would seem that the money grab by that tiny number of people has left living conditions for the rest of the folks to be worse and worse. It would also seem that the people who, though their greed, caused what ended up being a worldwide economic collapse, should be held accountable in some way.

This chart should be self-explanatory. It also shows why action is necessary now to stop this trend that's snowballed over the past 30 years.

The people who are at the heart of this movement (who, like their grandparents in the late '60s, are mostly college age) don't see much hope in their future, and see the system of greed getting worse and worse. How can you blame them for feeling a need to shake things up, and call attention to what's going on? I think it's a very patriotic thing they're doing, an effort which will eventually lead to a better America, and it's a demonstrable action that shows the core values on which the USA was built. So while you probably won't see me in a march or speaking on a stage in front of city hall, I can say at this point that the Occupy movement has my support. My only hope is that things remain, as they were this weekend, peaceful and calm while defining and delivering the message in a clear and loud voice.

So, that was my weekend. Hope you enjoyed hearing about it.

Goodbye Steve

2011-10-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I just absolutely refuse to write two consecutive weepy RIP posts, so here's a shorter and happier one than yesterday's.

Steve Jobs was a fucking brilliant dude, and it's hard to say whether my life would have had the same path without his innovations. The way Apple's products and technologies have been integral to my career can't be explained in simple terms, but I'll give it a shot.

Music
I've used Macintosh computers for music going back to 1989, when the first MIDI sequencing software started becoming available, and the very beginnings of computer audio applications were being introduced. Fast forward to the 2010s, and all of the music that I've done in recent years was initially recorded on a Mac. I probably don't have to mention that the majority of sales of my music is done through Apple's iTunes, or that I do most of my own music listening through iTunes and iPods.

Career
My job for the last 20+ years has been in marketing communications, and while I am not completely clueless in using Windows machines, it's hard to say how my career would have gone without the simplicity and elegance of the Apple user interface. With Macs, I have been able to sustain a comfortable living for my entire adult life doing graphic design for print and electronic media; doing communications for media and public relations; creating and editing video and audio for corporate promotional work; the list goes on.

Love & Fun
While it could be correctly stated that the following things could have been done with any computer system, the fact is... they weren't! They were done on a Mac. I originally met Kat, my long-term significant other, on an online forum for music aficionados... while on a Mac. I got into Second Life and established myself as a somewhat respected Internet-based live musician because, thankfully, there was a Mac client available (I wouldn't have bothered otherwise). I spend a portion of each day enjoying the connection I have with distant friends over various social networks... on a Mac. In fact, I'm in front of a Mac for 80% of my waking hours almost every day. And yes, my fingers are flitting across the keys of my latest MacBook Pro at this very moment, writing in this blog.

There's more, but I promised something short and happy, so that's where I'll leave it. Goodbye Steve. And thanks again.

Bert Jansch (1943-2011)

2011-10-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's the first real rainy day of the fall season in Southern California, and the weather seems to be all too appropriate to learn of the passing of Bert Jansch. His music seemed perfect for rainy mornings, or perhaps for contemplative sunny late afternoons. In any case, Bert wrote and played music on the acoustic guitar that allowed him to give the ultimate gift with his music: to pass along evocative emotional content merely by strumming a chord or two.

There are plenty of places to read Bert's obituary (here's a good one), so I won't bother giving you the details of his life. There's also a pretty thorough biography on Wikipedia. What I can tell you about is that this man -- so quiet and unassuming that it's very likely you've never heard of him -- was possibly the most important influence on the musicians who I list as my most important influences. That's how I discovered Bert. In the beginning, it wasn't a direct exposure to his music, but instead through listening to the guitar playing of musicians like Neil Young, Jimmy Page, Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Johnny Marr, and many others. As I read up on how those guys honed their craft, I kept seeing one name popping up time and time again... one Bert Jansch.

Like any curious guitar player, I started listening to Bert once I found out that he was respected by so many of my favorite players, and was simply blown away. One thing that Bert did especially well was the rhythmic hammer-on. I'm pretty sure Bert didn't invent this technique -- it goes back to old blues players like Big Bill Broonzy and others -- but he did it so well that he was the one who introduced it to many other players. Take a regular chord, but instead of just playing it straightforward, hammer one of the notes from a full step down. It creates a lot of melodic interest within the chord. Some songs by Bert's devotees using this technique that you might recognize...

• "Ohio" (Neil Young -- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
• "I'm One" (Pete Townshend -- The Who)
• "Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
• "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" (John Lennon -- The Beatles)

And many more. But that's only one thing Bert brought to the party, musically speaking. There was a sound in his folksy playing that hearkened back to troubadours of ancient times. One could imagine Bert playing while hobbits walked through Rivendell, or playing before a medieval king's court. And yet, somehow, there was nothing contrived or hokey about his sound. He had an obvious mastery of fingerstyle guitar, but never really played very fast. It was his precise note selections that allowed each pluck to ring out as long as possible before switching to the next note that was impressive. And yet, it's not a style that needs to be analyzed and scrutinized. Just listening to a few songs tells you the whole story.

There won't be hundreds of comments on news sites today, mourning Bert's passing. That's okay; Bert never seemed to have the desire to stand in the spotlight. While I don't bemoan the general public's almost complete lack of awareness of the guy, it is a little disheartening to know that so many musicians out there will go the rest of their lives without any clue as to who Bert was and what he did during his time on the planet. Johnny Marr, the guitarist from the Smiths and a disciple of Bert's said it well...

"He completely reinvented guitar playing and set a standard that is still unequalled today. Without Bert Jansch, rock music as it developed in the '60s and '70s would have been very different. You hear him in Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Donovan, The Beatles, Jimmy Page and Neil Young.There are people playing guitar who don't even realize they've been influenced by him one step removed."

Well said, Johnny. And rest in peace, Bert; thanks for everything.

The coolest thing ever

2011-10-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned last weekend, I performed recently at a place in Second Life called Lavender Fields for the Feed-a-Smile charity of Live & Learn in Kenya. My fellow SL musician TerryLynn Melody played there on the same day.

Well, in the "a picture tells a thousand words" file, I'd like you to take a look at the photo below (click it if you need a closer look):

That is a real photo of the kids in Africa we helped feed through our efforts that day. The text of their handwritten blackboard reads:

Dear TerryLynn Melody and Zak Claxton,
Thank you so much for taking the time, energy and effort to perform in Second Life for our meals. We had a huge meal today and can't stop smiling! God bleds you and your generous fans always.
The LLK Int'l Kids in Nakuru, Kenya.

What could be better than that? Nothing I can think of. Thanks back at ya, kids.

Bloopers/Outtakes from "Falling Down"

2011-09-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

VIDEO LINK

Almost a year ago to the day, on September 25, 2010, we filmed the video for "Falling Down". It was quite the adventure; my plan was to have the exterior scenes of the video set on a rocky shoreline during a gloomy Fall day, but mother nature did not cooperate at all. In fact, we got blasted by a crazy heat wave, and it was over 100 degrees when we went down to Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes to do our filming. We handled it fine for the most part, until it was time to go back to the car. In an attempt to take a short cut, we ended up hiking up dead-end trails and making ourselves generally miserable for awhile. Nevertheless, we survived, and then shot some green screen footage later that evening here at Claxton Studios. I also did some pick-up shots the following day.

So, for a full year, I've had all the raw footage from the shoot sitting here on my computer. Eventually I'm going to want to reclaim those dozens of gigabytes of space, but before I did, I put together a little sample of our silliness while creating the video. See the results above. Working with Kat and Bunny can make even the most miserable of tasks fun, and I spend the majority of my time laughing when both of them are around.

In case you somehow missed the finished product, feel free to give the full "Falling Down" video a look...

"Falling Down" (YouTube link)

Zak Claxton: Falling Down from Zak Claxton on Vimeo.

Crystal Gardens (09.27.11)

2011-09-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's been a bit of a Zak Show marathon lately. While some folks are fine doing several Second Life shows every day, it's a rare week for me where I'm doing more than a couple shows over seven days. But recently, I played on Thursday 9/22, Saturday 9/24, Sunday 9/25, and then last night (9/27) I did my bi-weekly show at Crystal Gardens.

There was, in fact, something special happening at my show: the people from The Stream Scene, an online TV show that focuses on the SL music scene, had asked if they could come out and record me at a venue, and I was all too happy to oblige. I did an episode of The Stream Scene in 2010, and it's always nice to get the benefit of promoting your music to folks who might not have otherwise heard it (or heard of you at all, for that matter). So, for the first half of the show at Crystal Gardens, I played only my original songs so they'd have plenty to choose from when it came time to edit the footage.

Knowing I'd be on TV, I even put on a nicer shirt than usual. You don't want to watch the show a month later and grimace at your wardrobe choice. Photo by Kat.

Anyway, the show went fine, and it's a good thing it did; I realized soon after it ended that I was coming down with the cold my son's had for the last few days, and as of this morning, I couldn't sing anything other than a frog opera. Fortunately, I have no shows booked for about ten days, so I have plenty of time to get healthy. Back at Crystal Gardens, for the latter part of my show when I switched back to doing covers, I pulled out a few rarities, just for fun.

Crystal Gardens Set List...
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Change (Tears for Fears)
†Jack Straw (Grateful Dead)
††Love Ain't for Keeping (The Who)
Any Major Dude (Steely Dan)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Comes a Time (Neil Young)
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)

†My last performance of "Jack Straw" was on Nov 30, 2009. Before that was Sep 29, 2008.
††I've only done "Love Ain't for Keeping" once before, on January 2 of this year.

Thanks to the people who helped support my show, especially Sandi and Mikal of Crystal Gardens and Twstd Ruggles of The Stream Scene!

Triana's Music Trivia (09.25.11)

2011-09-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

ZAK & KAT PERFORMING R.E.M.'S "SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE (LISTEN NOW!)

In the going-on five years that I've been performing live music in Second Life, I thought I'd pretty much done it all. I've performed just about every genre of music at least once. I've done live jams with fellow musicians, both locally and remotely. I've played at every conceivable kind of SL venue, from beach bars to formal balls to strip clubs. But at last night's Triana's Music Trivia, I finally did something that I was pretty sure would never, ever happen: I performed a song along with my long-term ladyfriend, Kat Claxton!

Here's how it happened. As most of you know, Kat tries to be at every one of my shows, conflicts with work notwithstanding. When possible, she's actually right here in the room with me, and at other times is there "in the pixel", usually from her home-based office a few doors down from me. Having been together with Kat for over six years, I'd had plenty of opportunity to hear her pretty singing voice, most often while we listen to music at home or in the car, or occasionally while I casually play guitar when no one else is listening. But really, I'm the only one who's heard her; she, like most people, has a fear of performing in public. I certainly wasn't about to pressure her to cast off that fear, but I can say that if someone has stage fright, Second Life is a good place to shake it. The fact that your flesh-and-blood self isn't standing on a stage with people staring at and judging you makes it a lot easier to focus on the performance itself.

Anyway, if it had been any normal kind of SL show, I'd never have considered asking Kat if she wanted to do a song along with me, but this wasn't a normal show. Triana's Music Trivia, SL's longest-running trivia game, is an event where we spend each of our Sunday evenings among good friends. Every so often, maybe 2-3 times a year, Triana has me do a live music show in conjunction with the trivia game; we usually bump trivia up by an hour and then I do an hour of music in the 7PM slot that we usually use for the game. Last night, just for shits and giggles, we also moved the usual trivia location to Kat and my own parcel of land in SL, at our Club COYOTE.

The trivia portion of the event started off with some added excitement, courtesy of some griefers! Yes, they do still exist, though it had been a long, long time since I ran into any of them. Most people in SL, especially those who've been there as long as us and our trivia friends, know how to handle them, and sim owners like Kat and I have our places set up in ways that don't allow them to do anything that will be very destructive (i.e., running scripts, shoving, and so on). It didn't last long; we simply froze, ejected, and banned them as they acted out, and there was no more trouble after that.

Griefers don't bother oldbies like us. Besides, we had much more important things on our mind... like Kat's rocking debut! Photo by Kat.

After trivia wrapped up, I started the show. For my shows at TMT, I always play some special songs that I ordinarily wouldn't perform at usual gigs. Most of these are songs that have some special meaning to the Trivia regulars, or are tunes that I've written (or existing tunes I've modified) with personal references to our pals at Trivia, and over the last 4+ years, there have been a lot of them. Last night had a couple of good ones; I opened with a Dylanesque tune about Triana's infamous iPod, and (as I'll explain in a moment) the highlight of the night was an R.E.M. song I did along with Kat.

It's not like we planned this for a long time. In fact, it was just Saturday evening when I mentioned to Kat that she should consider doing a song with me at the TMT show the following night. I have no idea how we arrived at "Shiny Happy People". I do know that in May 2010, while we were doing a recording session at Sound Sanctuary, Kat and I (along with Phil) were messing around between takes, and sang the song's chorus a few times just for fun. But Saturday night after doing a show, I sat down with Kat and we listened to the tune to see exactly how Michael Stipe, Kate Pierson, and Mike Mills' voices meshed on that song. Sunday morning, we practiced it a couple of times. And then, when the time came, she stood next to me at my vocal mic, and she did just fine. If anything, her only fault was starting out a little tentative (as most new singers do) instead of belting it out from the beginning. Soon enough though, she was right there with me, sounding great. I'm sure this isn't the last you've heard of Ms. Kat.

Ladies and avatards... here's Kat! She was terrific in her live singing debut (though I don't think it's yet on her list of "Favorite Things To Do"). Photo by Triana.

Triana's Music Trivia Set List...
*Triana's iPod (Zak Claxton)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
Learn to Fly (Foo Fighters)
*Welcome to the Machine (Pink Floyd)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
In My Life (Beatles)
Tribute (Tenacious D)
*Shiny Happy People (R.E.M.)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Triana (Zak Claxton)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Huge thanks to all of our wonderful friends at Triana's Music Trivia! We appreciate every one of you... Alchemy Epstein, Samantha Poindexter, Jordan Hazlitt, Nakira Tennen, Diana Renoir, Rey Tardis, MrNoCal Honey, Xerxes Ninetails, wendela Beckenbauer, Charriol Ansar, Juliette Venom, and all the other Trivia Fanatics (you're awesome), and most of all, our friend Triana Caldera!

Lavender Fields: Feed-a-Smile (09.24.11)

2011-09-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

About six months ago, someone sent me friend request on Facebook, and I noted that while she was living in Germany, she came from my own town of Redondo Beach, CA. She was also a fellow resident of Second Life, and I was happy to accept the request as such. Her name was Brique Zeiner, and went by Brique Topaz in SL. But, more importantly, she let me know about something I immediately thought was very cool: she ran a live music venue in SL that had a purpose for raising funds for African children in need.

Here's Brique, who is the real hero in helping kids get food and education in Africa. She personally goes to Kenya to teach and make sure the program is running well. Photo by Kat.

Well, we hear about charities all the time, but there was something different about Brique's cause: she was personally and directly involved. Brique helps run an organization based in Germany called Live and Learn in Kenya, and its goal is twofold: to sponsor education for kids in Africa who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to go to school, and to make sure those kids are fed well enough to be in a position to learn. Well, I can't say how strongly I support both of those ideas.

Rocking for a great cause. Photo by Kat.

My view. Photo by Kat.

Unfortunately, life being what it is, I got busy and wasn't able to schedule something right away, but I always kept Brique and her program in mind. I made a couple of visits to the venue in Second Life where the music events were held -- Lavender Fields -- and liked what I saw there. Perhaps the real thing that pulled me over the edge to participate was the photos of the kids in Kenya who had used chalk to draw pictures and thank-you notes by hand to some of the artists who had played there, like Tukso Okey and TwinGhost Ronas. It gave the whole program a very personal touch. Plus, the basic message of what Brique calls the "Feed-a-Smile" program is very, very simple: L$100 would buy a hot meal for a kid who needed it. That's about $0.40 USD, and it was an easy way to understand how simple and effective it was to lend a hand.

How cool is this? Unlike most other charitable causes, it's very satisfying that SL artists see very real reactions from the beneficiaries of Feed-a-Smile. Photo courtesy of Brique Zeiner/LLK.

One day, I let my manager Maali Beck know that I really wanted to schedule a show at Lavender Fields for Brique and Feed-a-Smie, and Maali set it up immediately. That's how I ended up there yesterday, and it was absolutely fantastic. TerriLynn Melody had the spot before me, so I had a nice crowd already in place when I started jamming (and we also had a few Zaksters arrive to help supplement the audience). I did what I consider to be a typical Zak Show, with the songs geared toward the theme of helping people in need (Kat actually put together the set list, and did a nice job of it).

Lavender Fields/Feed-a-Smile Set List...
I Am a Child (Neil Young)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Thank U (Alanis Morissette)
Just Like Starting Over (John Lennon)
The Sands of Redondo (Zak Claxton)
Carey (Joni Mitchell)
Hunger Strike (Temple of the Dog)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
You've Got a Friend (Carole King)

The end result of the day was that during my hour at Lavender Fields, we raised enough donations to serve 65 hot meals to hungry kids. Hey, all I did was strum some guitar and sing, and play a little harmonica. That's what I do for fun, and at the same time, managed to make a group of kids a little less hungry. I call that win-win, in a big way.

We fed some kids and had some fun. That's a great Saturday. Photo by Kat.

Big thanks to everyone who helped out some deserving kids in Kenya by donating to Feed-a-Smile! You are all heroes!

The Majestic (09.22.11)

2011-09-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Due to some recent remodeling work they were doing, it had been a little while since I'd last played The Majestic on August 25, so I was looking forward to getting back there. In case you're unfamiliar with the backstory, The Majestic is a venue that's been around in SL about as long as I have; going on five years. Under its previous owner, I performed there on a pretty regular basis (as well as other places around the San Diego City sim). When it was sold to Solace Beach Estates, a good year or so went by before one day, my manager Maali Beck asked if I'd be interested in doing a regular bi-weekly show there. I was, and started playing there every other Thursday evening in June.

Weeknights at 6PM is a tough time for a musician to play in SL; I have seen upwards of 50-60 live music events happening simultaneously at that time slot. Still, I can almost always count on my crowd of Zaksters to come out for shows, and despite the fact that my show was inadvertently left off the SL event schedule, we had a decent sized audience there (90% of which being my zany fans).

It's not often that I leave the stage to get in the face of one of my fans, but trust me, Triana deserved it! Photos by Kat.

I'd say it was a fairly typical show in terms of material, though I did bust out one surprise cover. I joke occasionally about performing songs that were "written" by Kermit the Frog, but Joe Raposo, the guy who did the music for Sesame Street, was a terrific songwriter, and it was cool doing one of his tunes last night. Also, to acknowledge the recent breakup of R.E.M., I did one of their classic tunes as well.

The Majestic Set List...
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M.)
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
*Bein' Green (Kermit the Frog)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Tea in the Sahara (Police)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Pulling Mussels from a Shell (Squeeze)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL

Big thanks to my fans, the Zaksters, and everyone else who helped support my show!
GMetal Svartur, Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, TheaDee, sonzia Shim, Xerxes Ninetails, Alexis Fairlady, Kat Claxton, my manager Maali Beck, and Majestic hostess Tialicia Muircastle!

My 1,000th Tweet

2011-09-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is ridiculous. I'm writing a blog post on Blogger about my 1,000th Tweet which will then appear on Facebook. I'm actually writing this specifically to link from that 1,000th Tweet. My metareality just imploded. And in any case, I'm starving and I have scrumptious Pad Thai being made and delivered to me, so I might as well write this instead of looking out the door every two minutes to see if my lunch has arrived.

Anyway, you'll hear people -- mostly Caucasian people with way too much time on their hands and not enough desire to think about important stuff -- talk about why Twitter is better than this, or Facebook is better than that, or why it's all terrible but they continue to use it anyway, and so on. I really don't care about any of those things. As a social person and especially as a performing musician and recording singer-songwriter, all social network services are important to me.

A lot of people won't be very impressed with 1,000 entries on Twitter, especially considering that they span the last three years. It's not that I'm incapable of prolific Tweeting. There are simple reason why I don't Tweet every few seconds.

1. My job has me running the social networks of several large companies, and making entries in their Twitter and Facebook accounts is one of the things I do for work. Hence, I'm not always in the mood to do my own social networking after taking care of all of their needs.

2. I prefer to write things that actually matter to me in some way. It's not that "my Tweets are important, dammit!". It's that unless I'm feeling it, I ain't Tweeting it. That may mean I Tweet about what I had for lunch, but it may also mean that I don't Tweet my reaction to every news story.

3. While I'm a low-key public figure in my small-time rock star way, I'm more of a private person than you may realize. That's why you don't see many Tweets about my child, or about my love life, or about my finances, and so on.

So while I may only post an average of one Tweet per day, I do enjoy the aspect of connecting to the people who choose to follow me, and not filling their timeline with notices of every time I use the bathroom, stub my toe, or put on my sneakers (though I reserve the right to do so whenever I feel like it). However, I tend to enjoy other people who Tweet a lot. There is a short list of people on my timeline who are incredibly funny with an ability to deliver undeniably hilarious messages in under 140 characters. Brevity was never my strong suit.

I've also learned a lot about people on Twitter. There's something about the format that encourages folks to get to the point in a way that they can't do in longer form writing. A lot of what I've learned is about the misconceptions of what each gender thinks about the other... I can't tell you how many "this is what men like" Tweets that can't be further from the truth. I've also seen the phenomenon where all people want is good news, and the moment that you bring up something contrary to their message... well, it's sure easy to just block out that dark and rainy cloud and keep pretending that everything in the world is going your way and everyone you know agrees with everything you say, right?

Despite those things, I find that I now turn to Twitter whenever I get the inkling of an important event happening in the world. By the time the first news media services start covering it, I already know many details, and often those details are from people actually experiencing the event (and not some reporter's interpretation of it). So, hats off to Twitter, and those who make it an enjoyable experience for me.

Now to finish my Pad Thai (which is freaking delicious, in case you didn't know). And thanks for the follows, my Tweeple.

10 Random Notes

2011-09-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Note: When I'm not writing reports about my performances in SL, or my music escapades in other realities, I often still enjoy writing about various things. But even when I don't have any specific topic in mind to write about, I still tend to write. Here are some random topics and fun facts.

1. Kat and I really do share the same birthday and Second Life rezday. Respectively, they are June 6 and October 12. We found out about the birthday thing before we were dating (we started as friends, as many good relationships do). The SL date is easier to understand, since we enrolled in SL at the same time, together on the phone (back then, in 2006, she was living in Seattle).

2. I wake up every weekday at 6AM, which I don't like at all, and drive my son to his middle school. It's not very far away and he can walk if necessary, but I enjoy being able to see him off. I also pick him up on most afternoons.

Good morning? If I didn't have coffee when I got up on weekdays, I'd probably just... not.

3. I usually eat a banana every morning. Bananas are really good for you nutritionally, and on mornings when I get up early, I don't like diving into some huge breakfast right away.

4. I'm a fan of the Oakland Raiders NFL team, and have been since the '80s. I'm not, like, some completely insane football fan. It doesn't take over my life, as I've seen in some people. But I do look forward to football season each year, and stand by my Raiders even when they suck (which they have for most of the last nine years). I participate in football pools just for fun, and I also write a weekly football column for an online forum of musicians who also like the NFL.

5. I work for myself and my business is based in my home, so my daily apparel here in the casual beach city where I live consists of shorts and a t-shirt and sandals, or, when it starts to get cooler, jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers. I work hard and am relatively successful, but I allow myself the luxury of never dressing up unless absolutely necessary.

6. I'm a good cook. When I was growing up, both of my parents worked, and I usually had to fend for myself for dinner and such. So, I learned from an early age how to be comfortable in the kitchen, and can actually handle some relatively gourmet-level dishes. I usually reserve my good cooking for the weekends, when I can take more time preparing food than I have during the week.

I cook a lot of things, but some of my more delectable delights are (left to right) steak au poivre, dill shrimp salad, and eggs benedict.

7. Only a few of my fans know that I'm a semi-capable piano player in addition to being a guitarist and singer and harmonica guy. I actually started my musical life on piano, but shifted to guitar before my 7th birthday. Still, I enjoy tickling the ivories from time to time.

8. Like many musicians, I used to have long hair, halfway down my back. I just got tired of the look eventually, and also tired of having to do anything to maintain my hair. I keep it pretty short these days.

9. I exercise every morning. I didn't until the start of 2011, but as I get older, I find it's really a problem if I don't keep physically active on a daily basis. While some of my more macho friends laugh at my use of the Wii Fit Plus, I can tell you that like most exercise programs, as long as you stick with it and take it seriously, it produces results.

Despite my evangelism of the Wii Fit Plus, I still supplement my exercise with some free weights. While I have no goals of being some big buff guy, having nice muscle tone in your arms is generally a good thing.

10. I think shaving is overrated. Sliding a sharpened piece of metal over my face every morning has never been my idea of fun. That's why I'm one of those guys that tends to walk around looking as if he just awoke under a bus stop bench.

I do shave, of course, usually every few days. Today is not going to be one of those days.

Molaskey's Pub w/Lyndon Heart (09.15.11)

2011-09-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

There's something I've never mentioned before on this blog, namely because I'd never done it before until last night. But now that I have, I want to do it a lot more!

I'm talking about multi-streaming. What is that? The very simple explanation is that it allows two or more people to perform live music together at the same time in Second Life. The way it works is pretty crazy. If you don't like techno-babble, you may want to skip the next part. Basically, when someone performs in SL, they broadcast over an Internet stream... the same way you access Internet radio online. I provide a stream address to the venue (basically a specialized URL), they plug it in, and you hear me in world. In a multi-stream, my stream is picked up by another musician in an application like iTunes, and then they play along, and send the combination of both streams into SL.

I'm in Los Angeles, and Lyndon is in Seattle. This fact doesn't stop us from rocking together in SL. Photo by Triana.

The upside is that our audience gets to hear both artists performing together, as if they were in the same room even though they might be thousands of miles apart in real life. The downside? Only one: the person who is "first in line" (i.e., the one originating the stream) cannot hear the people who come after him/her. It takes some good musicianship to do harmonies and such when you're not actually hearing the other person! But still, if you choose your material well, it can be a ton of fun.

All that brings me to my report from my very first multi-streamed show, which was last night at Molaskey's Pub along with my pal Lyndon Heart. Lyndon and I got to know each other last February at the San Diego SL Jam, and we have a ton of musical tastes and influences in common. We also have a common manager in Maali Beck, and it was she that suggested we do a show together. I've seen many multi-streamed shows in SL with artists including Lyndon, Max Kleene, Beth Odets, and others, but as I said up top, I'd never done it myself. Lyndon suggested that for this first time, it would be easier if I was first in line in the stream (I agreed heartily), and we got together in SL the evening before just to make sure that we were ready to rock with our technical setup. Yesterday morning, we picked out some songs that would work in that format, and then we did the show.

Molaskey's always brings in a great audience made up of people who really care about music. that's one of the many things that makes it one of SL's finest live music venues. Photo by Kat.

The way it was scheduled was that I had the 6-7PM hour, while Lyndon was booked for the 7-8PM slot. I came onstage and did my usual thing (a few originals, a few covers) until 6:45, when I was joined by Mr. Heart. We played together for a half hour until 7:15, and then Lyndon did his solo stuff for the remaining 45 minutes (actually, knowing Lyndon, he probably went quite a bit longer, but by then I was starving to death and had to leave SL to get some calories in me). But during the show, we had a fantastic crowd that combined my Zakster fans with Lyndon's audience and the regulars at Molaskey's. I haven't heard the section of the show with Lyndon and I together (and am really hoping that I can check out a recording later), but on my end, things were sounding really good. I couldn't be happier with the performance, and (probably more importantly) everyone seemed to have a great time.

Lyndon and I made a damn good musical team. I can guarantee that wasn't the last time we'll rock the grid together. Photo by Kat.

Molaskey's Set List (Zak Alone)...
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Breaking Us in Two (Joe Jackson)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Starman (David Bowie)

Molaskey's Set List (Zak and Lyndon)...
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles)
Sister Golden Hair (America)
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
Mary Jane's Last Dance (Tom Petty)
The Weight (The Band)
You've Got a Friend (Carole King)

Thanks very much to everyone who came out to see Lyndon and I perform together at Molaskey's! Special thanks to those who helped support my show!
Sloane Cerise, Triana Caldera, Tayzia Abattoir, Kat Claxton, Phobe Cazalet, Marissa Fredriksson, GMetal Svartur, Bree Birke, Diana Renoir, Xerxes Ninetails, TheaDee, Aurelie Chenaux, my wonderful manager Maali Beck, and Molaskey's staff including Katydid Something, Apple MacKay, Cicadetta Stillwater, Mia Kitchensink, and the rest!

My "Gigging in Second Life" article in L2P

2011-09-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

READ IT HERE!

While almost all of you know me as a fun-loving and silly guitar player and singer, there's a whole other group of people who know me as a fun-loving and silly writer and designer. I'm lucky enough to have my passion be entwined with my vocation; my real-life job is doing marketing communications for the music/audio products industry. Doing that gig over the last 20 years or so has allowed me to develop long-term friendships with many of the people who run the magazines that serve this industry, such as Guitar Player, Keyboard, Electronic Musician, Pro Sound News, EQ, and many others.

When I ran into my friend Bill Evans at the NAMM Show (a trade show for the music product biz) last January, I had an epiphany. Bill has been editing an online magazine called "Live 2 Play" ("L2P" for short), and suddenly I realized that an article about performing live music in SL would be perfect for his publication. We chatted about it, and he (being a smart guy) was immediately into the idea. I'd written about playing in Second Life before, in the March 2008 issue of Electronic Musician, but since several years had passed, I knew it was high time for a magazine that was geared toward live performing artists to give the SL music scene some well-deserved attention.

Of course, magazines of all kinds (both printed and online) put together their schedule of editorial content way ahead of time, so months had passed since I wrote and delivered the article. Then, just yesterday, I saw that the official Second Life Twitter feed had re-tweeted a link...

Intrigued, I clicked the link, and lo and behold, it was my article! It's always fun to be surprised by those kind of things. Anyway, the article should be pretty self-explanatory (read it now, if you haven't done so already). While I'm usually hesitant to talk about the compensation that performing artists get in SL, it was necessary to mention it here. After all, 95% of the readership of L2P has probably never even heard of Second Life, and to demonstrate that it's worthwhile to do shows there, I had to tell them that yes, they could actually make some money doing it.

Of course, for me, as a songwriter, it was more important to emphasize the real power of SL, which is to build a global audience for your music. I mentioned this as well. Hopefully, the end result is that we see a new influx of musicians into SL. As I've said many times, while there are others who might want to limit the number of people playing in SL (and hence reduce what they consider their competition for audiences), I feel that continually promoting SL as a live music destination has positive results for everyone. After all, the more musicians there are, the more new people will get into SL to come check out the shows, and that can't be a bad thing by any definition.

Crystal Gardens (09.13.11)

2011-09-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

As I wrote last week, I did a show at Crystal Gardens apart from my regularly-scheduled Tuesday evening gig on Thursday, and it went surprisingly well. Keeping that in mind, I was utterly convinced that this week's show would have me hearing crickets at the end of each song, with no one bothering to come by and see me. But once again, my pessimism was unfounded; we had a good crew of Zaksters in the crowd, and it turned out to be a fun show.

Side note: in my experience, there's a big difference, mentally speaking, for artists who play in Second Life versus those who do gigs in the flesh. When you have a show in the land of reality, you often spend the whole day preparing for it, and then it can be hours to actually pack up your gear and transport yourself to the venue where the show is happening before you actually play the first note. Obviously, in SL, not nearly as much prep time is needed, and this is mostly a great thing. However, there's also the element of mental preparation. See, I can be in the midst of working, and my brain is in work mode. Get this thing written, get that thing posted, get this artwork sent to the printer, and so on. then, with almost no time to make the mental adjustment to being a live performer, I find myself at the show.

That's not to say I don't warm up for my shows (I do, starting about an hour before my scheduled stage time). However, it can often take a little while to get out of "worker bee mode" and into "virtual rock star mode". On good days, this happens quickly, and by the time I strum a chord, my energy level is high and I'm ready to rock the casbah. Occasionally, though, it takes awhile longer, and I find myself being whiny about life in general. But the mere act of putting on my guitar and singing usually helps that mental transition happen quickly, and I snap out of it and get to the rocking.

Team Zakster unites at Crystal Sands on a Tuesday night. Photo by Kat.

Back to the show: it was cool. My Tuesday evening shows at Crystal Gardens doesn't have anyone opening up for me, so there's always that pressure of trying to get people to come out for the show. This was formerly a giant pain in the ass for me, but since I started working with Maali Beck as my manager/promoter about six months ago, it got a hell of a lot easier. I can't tell you how nice it is not having to spend the 10-15 minutes before each show imploring audiences to attend the show, and instead taking the time, per above, to get my brain ready to rock. I'd say that it's made a noticeable improvement to my shows in general. Last night, I put together a rather typical Zak Claxton set, but after noticing that most of the songs I'd quickly pulled out for the show were pretty slow and sad, I made some course corrections and it all worked out just fine.

Crystal Gardens Set List...
†Down By The River (Neil Young)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
In My Time of Dying (Traditional)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Blues Skies (Irving Berlin)
The Worst (Rolling Stones)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Tempted (Squeeze)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)

†My last performance of "Down By the River": September 21, 2009.

One final note: while I say it pretty often, it can never be often enough: my fans are great people. A good portion of the fun that comes along with being at a Zak Show has nothing to do with the music, or even my presence at all. My friends/fans bring a huge portion of that fun for everyone who attends the show, and i'm always grateful for their zany antics.

Are those bacon pasties on Triana's boobs? Yes. Yes, they are. Photo by Kat.

Huge thanks to the Zaksters who supported my show!GMetal Svartur, Triana Caldera, Alexis Fairlady, Darmok, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, Xerxes Ninetails, Diana Renoir, my manager Maali Beck, and CG owners Mikal Beaumont and Sandi Benelli!

Crystal Gardens (09.08.11)

2011-09-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

For being such a positive person, I tend to go negative about certain shows. I mentioned to Kat earlier this week that because I was scheduled for two shows on two consecutive days, it was likely that both would end up being poorly attended.

Well, my show on Wednesday turned out great, leaving me with all the more reason to believe that Thursday night's show at Crystal Gardens would be an empty wasteland. However, due in part to a good crowd that was left over from Anek Fuchs' show previous to mine, we started strong and pretty much stayed that way. I was very pleasantly surprised, and if I were a smarter guy, it should teach me a lesson to not presume how things are going to go at any given show.

Wearing my "I Already Beat This Game" t-shirt and rocking out at Crystal Gardens. Photo by Triana.

Anyway, speaking of the show, this one seemed to go very well. My only complaint is that we'd been having a mini heat wave here in SoCal, and things were a little on the toasty side in my little upstairs office/studio where I do my shows (we don't have air conditioning here by the beach where I live). But despite generating a bunch of perspiration, I had a good time while I played, and it seemed that my audience did as well.

Is this a nice place to play some rock music, or what? Photo by Kat.

The set came out pretty good as well. Just the night before, I'd done a themed show of all-90s cover tunes, so for this show I went back to my usual eclectic mix of originals and covers that spanned decades. I also did another new cover for the first time, and pulled out a number of tunes that are rare for me.

Crystal Gardens Set List...
Bertha (Grateful Dead)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
†Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
††Black Crow (joni MItchell)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
*Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull)
†††My Heart (Neil Young)
††††She's Leaving Home (Beatles)
Redemption Song (Bob Marley)

*Indicates the first time I have performed this song in SL.
†My last performance of "Won't Get Fooled Again": October 14, 2008.
††My last performance of "Black Crow" (only played once before): August 23, 2010.
†††My last performance of "My Heart": April 4, 2010.
††††My last performance of "She's Leaving Home": September 9, 2009.

Thanks very much to everyone who made the show fantastic, including those below who helped support my show!GMetal Svartur, Triana Caldera, TheaDee, Sher Salmson, Alexis Fairlady, Diana Renoir, Kat Claxton, my manager Maali Beck, and Crystal Gardens owners Mikal Beaumont and Sandi Benelli!

Key West (09.07.11)

2011-09-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

I think all performing artists like the idea of doing a show that's apart from the ordinary. Even with a big repertoire of songs, doing something like a themed show gives me a perfectly good opportunity to update my set list and bring in some new fans who are appreciative of the specific purpose of the show.
That's why tonight at Key West, I held my first "That '90s Show", which was a full hour of doing cover songs from the 1990s. It turned out really good, and as I'd hoped, we brought in some folks who might ordinarily not come to my show. Also, preparing for the show gave me the added benefit of adding six new covers to my songbook, which is always cool. A few of them went really well, and they'll probably be popping up pretty often at subsequent shows.

Key West is always a great venue, and I tend to get nice-sized, enthusiastic crowds there. Photo by Kat.

Key West Set List...
What I Got (Sublime)
*Walk on the Ocean (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
*Down (311)
Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
*About a Girl (Nirvana)
Sex and Candy (Marcy Playground)
*Learn to Fly (Foo Fighters)
Hunger Strike (Temple of the Dog)
*1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
*Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Better Man (Pearl Jam)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL. New record of new songs tonight! Wheee!

Huge thanks to the folks at Key West, and everyone who helped support my show!
Kristopher Walpole, Rusty Seisenbacher, Christina001, Aurelie Chenaux, Kat Claxton, GMetal Svartur, Michaelangelo Franciosa, Triana Caldera, my manager Maali Beck, and Key West owner Liz Harley!

UPCOMING: Zak's "THAT '90s SHOW" at Key West

2011-09-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday September 7 at 5PM SLT) at Key West in SL, I'll be doing a special show. Side note: I almost never do "special shows", preferring to make each show "special" in some way, but I rarely plan a complete theme-based show.

To keep things fresh, I decided to wind back the clock to the decade before last, and do a complete hour of songs from the 1990s. Unlike most of my shows, tomorrow night's event will not feature any of my original music. Instead, it's 60 minutes of covers, and I'm pulling out six songs I've never played before just to make it all the more exciting for myself and my audience. We'll be covering everything from grunge to alternative, rap-rock to post-rock, and more.

So, get out your flannel shirts and head over to Key West Wednesday night. This will be memorable and fun!

The all-new Zak Claxton Dot Com!

2011-09-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have a web site. I know, it's shocking. But it's worthwhile mentioning, at least today, because I just did a complete rebuild of the site, and it's all new and stuff.

Therefore, I thought it might be cool to give you a little guided tour of the site. Not that you can't figure it out on your own, dear reader; if that were the case, my web designer would have done a rather piss-poor job. Who is that web guru? Why, it's me, of course. In my life that doesn't involve me playing guitar and singing, I own a little marketing company, and web design is one of the main things we do (along with graphic design, copywriting, public relations, and more stuff in that vein). Since web design is my job, it's all the less likely that I want to spend time designing my own sites after days on end of doing it for my clients.

Regardless, I found my last version of the site to be somewhat lacking. In my desire to "keep it clean", I inadvertently left it devoid of useful content, and made updating it more of a pain in the ass than it needs to be in this Web 2.0 world. So, the first thing you might notice about the new site is that it has stuff... lots of stuff, and stuff that is dynamically updated through things like this blog, which is now viewable right there on the home page.

First thing to note: every single page of the site has a music player on top. No matter where you are, feel free to listen to the songs off my last album. The Home page also has a feed from this very blog, which I update often as you probably know. When you rollover the main navigation in the orange bar near the top, you'll see there are drop-down menus that help you quickly get where you want go. Another item you'll find on every page is the signup form for my mailing list. You can enter your email there, and I'll drop you a line if I ever think of something important enough with which to bother you. Beneath that, you'll see my latest outpouring of genius on Twitter, and below that, you can "like" the page via Facebook.

If you feel like you need to know more about me, the Bio pages should give you all you need to know. There is a miniature version for those among us short of time and/or attention, and a longer one for backgrounds in hard-hitting press exposés. Speaking of press, the Press Kit page conveniently links to the bio and has some high-res photos right there. So, if you want to do a big interview with me and put my picture on your magazine cover, I would probably be okay with it.

The Music page of the site is a place where you can -- for absolutely free -- listen at your leisure to the entire Zak Claxton album. As I often say, if you like what you hear, please buy it... there are convenient links to iTunes and Amazon in the Store area, but we'll get to that later. In Music, you can hear the whole album, and get info on the songs, the lyrics, and the credits for recording form my last album.

Here's a convenient part of the site for all you Zaksters: a complete schedule of my upcoming live shows (most of which, as you know, are in Second Life). Found under the "shows" navigation tab, you can browse through my schedule and decide ahead of time in regard to which of my silly, wacky, zany gigs you may want to attend.

The "Pics/Vids" area of the site has pictures and videos. Wow, was that really necessary to write? Anyway, you may find something you haven't seen before there, and I'm also going to be adding a ton of more recent photos shortly. Enjoy them.

Finally, the Store page of the site is a convenient way to buy my music, as well as clothing and accessories if you're into wearing me. You'll find direct links to my Amazon page where you can buy my CD, as well as links to iTunes and Amazon MP3 to buy downloads. At the bottom are a few of my merchandise items, and a link to my merch store where you can see more.

There's a lot more to the site. I recommend you try out the Random page (who knows what you'll find? Not me, and I coded the damn thing), or browse through my Links just to see who I put up there. I hope you enjoy the site, and if you want to tell me anything about it, it's now easier than ever to reach me.

The Majestic (08.25.11)

2011-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

What a day! I got up early to make sure my son was ready to head out to registration for his middle school -- he's transitioning from elementary school, and it's a big step, as I'm sure you all recall. School starts next week, and I'm happy to say that he seems pretty confident about the whole thing (unlike me; I'm a bundle of nerves). His new school does something smart; in the afternoon, they had a day camp that was an orientation for all the incoming 6th graders, allowing the kids to get more comfortable and familiar with the layout of the school before classes actually start.

So, directly after my kid got home from that excursion, it was time for me to start getting ready for my show at The Majestic in Second Life. One of my top-tier Zaksters, Diana Renoir, was having her real-life birthday, and while I was fairly sure she wouldn't be coming to the show, I planned some special b-day tunes for her (after all her support over the last few years, it's the least I could do).

That 6PM hour in SL can be a real bitch. I am not exaggerating when I say there are often 50 live music events happening simultaneously at that time. It is tremendously difficult to scare up a good-sized crowd at 6PM on a weeknight, but despite having a relatively small audience at the Majestic last night, we had a lot of fun.

Small crowd, large fun. I guess it was a fun-sized crowd. Photo by Kat.

The show itself was also good, though my Martin guitar definitely needs a string change and an overall cleaning (which I'll be doing soon). As I've been prone to do recently, I reached a little deeper into my list of tunes and pulled out a few that I don't play often. I also decided within an hour of the show to perform a Doors tune that, for whatever reason, I'd neglected to try before. By the way, Diana ended up popping into the show during its later stages, and it was fun to be able to sing her a special "Happy Birthday". She also inspired me to imitate the birthday dinner from which she'd just returned, and Kat and I enjoyed a massive amount of sushi later that night. Oh, and if you're in the mood for some silliness, fast-forward the audio from the show to about 14:58, which is the moment I decided to go pantsless for the remainder of the gig.

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SHOW HERE

Majestic Set List...
*Impromptu Ode to Crap Mariner (Zak Claxton)
Off the Wall (Michael Jackson)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
*Alabama Song (The Doors)
Alabama (Neil Young)
Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton)
†Breaking Us in Two (Joe Jackson)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
††Mother's Little Helper (Rolling Stones)
Mother (Pink Floyd)
I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
*Happy Birthday Diana (Zak Claxton)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
†My last performance of "Breaking Us in Two" was, ironically, at The Majestic on January 30, 2009.
††Last performance of "Mother's Little Helper" was November 16, 2008.

Thanks very much to the people who helped support my show!
Diana Renoir, TheaDee, Lance Lomu, Kat Claxton, Triana Caldera, my manager Maali Beck, and Majestic hostess Tialicia Muircastle!

ROMA (08.21.11)

2011-08-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

It's always a bit of a crap shoot when I perform at places that aren't dedicated live music venues. There have been times, as I sit there strumming away and no one is really focused on the music and instead are walking around looking for good deals on pixellated shoes, that I've wished I hadn't accepted the gig in the first place. But then, there are other times, like yesterday at ROMA, when it can be one of the most fun shows I can do on the entire grid.

I was introduced to ROMA by my manager Maali Beck, who is part of that community. What is ROMA? I'll let them explain it...

ROMA is an ancient Roman themed land within the online world of Second Life®. ROMA is the original Roman land in SL. It has been open since the Ides of October 2006 and has a very active citizenry, with over a thousand members, over twenty associated groups, and over a hundred different attractions which are open to all visitors.

So basically, it's an ancient Rome role-playing sim, and it's really incredibly impressive. I did my first show there for their Spring Festival back in April, and enjoyed myself (I think the audience did too), so when Maali asked me to play at their Summer Feast, I didn't hesitate to say yes. When I arrived, though, I was a little confused; I didn't see a stage set up anywhere. However, Maali then led me a few paces away, and... wow! I was performing inside of a small volcano, on a stage that doubled as a large lounge area with harem-pillow seating in a semicircle behind me. Sweet!

Here I am inside my volcano stage, with the Zakster ladies reclining behind me. A tough life, I have, I'll tell ya. Photo by Kat.

One great thing about this place is that everyone really gets into their ancient Roman roles. Nice outfits, all! Photo by Kat.

The layout of pixel-based feast dishes was making me hungry while I rocked. Photo by Kat.

You know, wearing a toga isn't bad at all. It's a pretty good look for me. Photo by Kat.

It got even better once the show started rolling. Due to the rather tight nature of the space, it felt like we had 100 people in there (as opposed to 25 or so), and the crowd was as talkative and rowdy as I'd hoped they would be. My main Zakster gals -- Kat, Triana, and Diana -- all lounged behind me as I rocked a bunch of songs in a set that was loosely geared toward the ROMA crowd. There were a couple of tunes in there that I hadn't played in about three years, so it was fun to dredge the archives and pull those out again.

ROMA Set List...
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Athena (The Who)
Landslide (Fleetwood mac)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
†Stonehenge (Spinal Tap)
Starman (David Bowie)
Rikki Don't Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
††Wild Horses (Rolling Stones)
In My Time of Dying (Traditional)
Behind Blue Eyes (The Who)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)

† Last performance of "Stonehenge": September 20, 2008.
†† Last performance of "Wild Horses": December 21, 2008.

Many thanks to all the folks at ROMA for having me back there... really looking forward to the next festival! Thanks to all who helped support my show there...
Triana Caldera, Airedale Magic, Melanippe Karas, Nekorina Kiama, Morgana Fillion, Diana Renoir, Kat Claxton, Enamabala Towradgi, my manager Maali Beck, and ROMA Estate Manager Angelia Rees!

Molaskey's Pub (08.18.11)

2011-08-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

It had been a few months since the last time I played at Molaskey's Pub, and the most recent show I played there was that weird situation where someone had purchased the venue, only to be forced to back out at the last minute. It all turned out good, since Molaskey's original owners Apple MacKay and Katydid Something were able to keep the place running with the help of Thinkerer Melville as an investor, and by cutting the operating hours down to four shows per week from their previous ten.

The end result was that one of SL's finest live music spots stayed open, and I was very glad to get back there again last night. What makes Molaskey's great? It's simple: they have the most dedicated team of people running the place, and all of them are true fans of good music. When you go see a show at Molaskey's Pub, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be hearing the most talented and/or entertaining people in Second Life.

Ah, Molaskey's. Many years of good times for artists and audiences alike. Photo by Kat.

So, enough history, and on to my show. I got a boost of enthusiasm when I found out I'd be performing at 6PM and being followed by Lyndon Heart, one of my personal favorite SL musicians, at 7PM. We're a good fit in terms of the type of material we play, and I had a feeling it was going to be a good night as a result. I wasn't wrong. As I've been doing lately, I reached a little deeper into my song list and played a few that have become rarities in my repertoire.

Molaskey's Set List...
Losing My Religion (REM)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
†Across the Universe (Beatles)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
*Expecting to Fly (Buffalo Springfield)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)

†My last performance of "Across the Universe" was on December 10, 2007! Holy crap!
*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in Second Life.

One of SL's best venues? You bet. Photo by Kat.

One more particularly cool thing came out of last night's show: Lyndon and I will be back at Molaskey's on Thursday September 15, but in a slightly different format: we're going to dual-stream, meaning that from the audience's perspective, we'll be performing together! I have always wanted to get into this type of thing in SL, and I can't wait to see how it goes!

Many thanks to the great friends/fans who helped support my show at Molaskey's!
Tyra Jakob, Diana Renoir, Thinkerer Melville, Cicadetta Stillwater, Kat Claxton, Aurelie Chenaux, Mia Kitchensink, Xerxes Ninetails, my manager Maali beck, and Molaskey's wonderful owner Katydid Something!

Crystal Gardens (08.16.11)

2011-08-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, back at Crystal Gardens again. As I'd mentioned before, I spent my first year and a half in Second Life playing weekly at the former venue owned by Sandi Benelli, and rather recently I re-established that connection. The result is that I'm now playing at Sandi's new venue every other Tuesday. My first show there was fun, but we didn't gather much of a crowd. Last night's show, however, was fun and also pretty well attended for the 5PM slot.

My darling Kat had spent the previous five days away from me, visiting with family in her old hometown in the Seattle area, and she'd just returned a couple of hours before my show. Therefore, I made the show into a welcome home party for Kat, and did a number of songs specifically for her (including my first-ever performance of a Who song she enjoys).

My crowd and I enjoying a Tuesday evening sunset at Crystal Gardens. Photo by Kat.

Crstal Gardnes Set List...
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
*Athena (The Who)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
Thank U (Alanis Morissette)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
†Powderfinger (Neil Young)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Beatles)
Accidents Will Happen (Elvis Costello)

*Indicates my first ever performance of this song in SL.
†My last performance of "Powderfinger": October 6, 2008... coincidentally at the old Crystal Sands

Many thanks to everyone who came out for (and supported) the show!
Diana Renoir, Dino1234, Elke Shepherd, Blues Heron, Triana Caldera, Alexis Fairlady, Kat Claxton, Xerxes Ninetails, my manager Maali Beck, and Crystal Gardens owners Sandi Benelli and Mikal Beaumont!

The Majestic (08.11.11)

2011-08-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I had a very interesting day involving the Second Life music scene yesterday. I'm not going to get into details, but something that happened inspired me to do something I'd never even considered doing in the nearly five years I've been in SL: write a letter to the CEO. At this stage, it's a guy named Rod Humble, and the upshot of the story is that I'd noted a situation that seemed to be unfair toward the long-term members of the SL music family. I wrote the letter more to vent my frustration at that situation, and wasn't really expecting a response.

But respond he did, and quickly. Rod, as it turns out, is a guy who really seems to understand the needs of SL's residents, and (here's a rare quality in a CEO) knows the difference between right and wrong... and is willing to act on it. Long story short: Rod sent me back a nice note agreeing with my sentiment, and perhaps as a show of willingness to make right on a wrong, the announcement of my show at The Majestic was re-Tweeted by the official Second Life Twitter feed last night. Uncalled for, but very nice, and much appreciated.

The official Second Life Twitter feed, helping to spread the word about my show last night. Very, very nice of them. Thanks, SL!

Anyway, enough of that, and onto the show. I played after Zerbie Magic, another experienced SL performer. It's funny; Zerbie and I have styles that couldn't be more different (she's a pop/R&B singer who performs live to recorded tracks, while I'm a guitar-strumming silly singer-songwriter guy), but it was nice having someone there before me so I didn't feel that the burden of bringing every single avatar to the venue was on my shoulders. She's a talented singer too, so it's always cool having some comparable musical skill in the same evening, even if our styles are 180 degrees apart.

As you can see, we had a nice-sized crowd of Zaksters and general SL folks. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Mission accomplished. Photos by Triana.

Whether it was due to SL's tweet or some other factor, we had a much better crowd at the Majestic than we've had in recent weeks. As I've mentioned, the 6PM weekday slot is just packed with shows, so any time we get 20+ people in a venue at that time, I'm a happy camper. The Zaksters were out in nearly full force... except (notably) my darling Kat, who was at that moment on a plane to Seattle to visit her family. Still, we had lots of fun, and musically I think it went very well, continuing a string of recent performances that left me satisfied.

Majestic Set List...
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
If You Could Only See (Tonic)
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)
Hunger Strike (Temple of the Dog)
Edith and the Kingpin (Joni MItchell)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Man of Constant Sorrow (Traditional)
Polly (Nirvana)
Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
Better Man (Pearl Jam)

Big thanks to everyone who came out to the Majestic last night, especially those who supported my show!
Diana Renoir, Triana Caldera, Alexis Fairlady, Charm March, Dottie Idlemind, Wayne Kira, Aurelie Chenaux, Cobalt Niles, Christine Haiku, my lovely manager Maali Beck, and Majestic manager Kalli Birman! And, once again, thanks to Rod Humble and the SL marketing team for giving me a little hand. It's the small stuff that matters, and it's appreciated.

Going Fishing

2011-08-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here's something sort of weird: this Saturday, I'm doing something I don't like to do that I've postponed for over five years, but nevertheless will probably enjoy. Intrigued? Read on, dear reader. Read on.

When my son was a wee lad, maybe 6-7 years old, he played a video game that included a fishing mini-game. He really liked it, and mentioned to his grandfather (aka my dad) that he wanted to go fishing for real sometime. Well, my pop is an old-school guy from the Midwest who grew up hunting and fishing, and he couldn't wait to go out fishing with me and my boy. However, "wait" is exactly what he did. Getting our schedules to mesh is a pain in the ass. Between the three of us, with my son's school, my music, my dad's golfing, and both of our jobs, it just hasn't happened.

There's another reason it hasn't happened: I'm not a big fan of killing wild animals. While I did my fair share of fishing as a kid, as I got older, my philosophy about the importance of life changed to the point that now, I am hesitant to kill even things like spiders, or ants if I can help it. So, I kind of sat on the idea for awhile, taking no real effort to make it happen. However, I will say that fishing is a valuable skill. It may seem like an anachronistic attitude, but you never know when you'll be in some situation where you might have to get your dinner from a source other than a grocery store, or McDonald's for that matter. As the ancient adage goes, if you give a man a fish, he eats for an evening. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. You get the idea.

The Redondo Pier, just a few blocks due west of me. Seems like a good place for my kid to try fishing.

It tends to get pretty busy at the fishing area of the pier, especially on weekends.

All this is leading up to my telling you that after five years of nagging from both generations, my son and my pop, we're finally going fishing this weekend. One of the big hold-ups to doing this was the idea that we'd have to travel somewhere far away, but wait... what's that giant blue thing outside my window? Oh, it's the Pacific Ocean, which has been rumored to contain fish. I live in Redondo Beach, a suburb of LA that has a large pier which is well known for angling. So as opposed to making a big production out of it, we're heading down the street and spending a few hours casting our hooks, lines, and sinkers over the edge, hopefully to catch a few calico bass, mackerel, and other such sea creatures.

The Pacific Mackerel. Not exactly the most impressive fish, but it'll be fun to catch one for my boy in any case. Once it's caught and I can hopefully pull the hook out, back in the ocean it goes.

To do that, I took my kid to Big 5 last night, and we bought some rather cheap Zebco all-in-one packages that include the rod, reel, and all the tackle. It's even pre-spooled with line, so we'll have an easy time and avoid the frustration of dealing with all that. One thing you should know: while I'm happy to acquiesce my ethics for a day of family fun, I'm also not taking any fish home with me. It's all catch-and-release, with hopefully as little damage to the fish as possible. I'll bring the camera, and if we do catch anything, it'll be just long enough to preserve the image for good memories, and then back in the ocean for the fishy.

So, wish us luck this weekend. My kid can find out what it's like to fish for real, and I can spend a little time with him and his crazy grandpa. We'll fish until we get bored, then grab a late lunch and head home. Should be cool.

The Islands of New England (08.08.11)

2011-08-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned here about 10 million times before, I love playing at new venues. Not necessarily new in the sense of "just opened"; I mean new in that I've never played there before. Last night was my first-ever show at The Islands of New England, and making it all the more fun is the fact that the venue is managed by a lady who I've gotten to know through Second Life and Facebook, Christine Haiku. Christine is one of those people that lights up a room with her presence, and I've always been a sucker for a gal who has charisma (as is certainly evidenced by my darling Kat).

When Christine asked me to perform at New England, I didn't think twice. I barely thought once, truth be told. I'd been to the venue to see Taunter Goodnight sing, and liked the vibe there. But moreover, I was sure that Christine could help put on a great show even if it were held in a shoebox, and my instinct turned out to be correct.

I like the way the Islands of New England venue is set up. By having a relatively narrow space for the crowd, it keeps everyone closer together and makes the place feel lively. One of the biggest design errors of many SL venues is making them too big. This one is just right. Photo by Kat.

A side note: I really prefer being scheduled so that I'm not the first artist in a series of performances. Why? It's simple: when you have people playing before you, there's already a crowd at the venue, and as an artist, I have an opportunity to get some of those folks to hang out and see what I'm all about. Also, there's that responsibility I feel for bringing people into a show, and it can be hit-or-miss depending on the day/time and place as to whether that happens successfully. I'm happy to say, though, that despite the fact that I opened the show yesterday, we ended up having a great crowd... good-sized and enthusiastic. Happy me! Oh, and an interesting coincidence that I noted during the show: the sim where the venue is located is called "Marblehead". Well, as a little kid, I actually lived in Marblehead, MA. It was my last home before moving to Southern California at age 6 (where I've remained ever since).

Christine Haiku! Photo by Kat.

I've been making a purposeful attempt to bring out some of the songs that I don't play very often. It's fun dusting them off, not just for my own desire to stay fresh, but to keep the interest of my crowd ignited as well. Since it was my first time playing at New England, and since Christine Haiku has been such a cool person to me, I decided to commemorate the occasion with a special tune for her; I took "Cheer Up Murray" by Flight of the Conchords and modified it for Ms. Haiku, and opened the show with it.

What a pretty place to play live music and enjoy the company of friends. Photo by Kat.

The Islands of New England set list...
*Cheer Up Christine (Flight of the Conchords/Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
Save It for Later (English Beat)
†Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Six Underground (Sneaker Pimps)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
Nobody Home (Pink Floyd)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Rock and Roll Woman (Buffalo Springfield)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
A Day in the Life (Beatles)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
†I've only played "Sour Girl" three times since December 2008. It's a rare one.

Huge thanks to everyone who came to my show at TIONE, especially those who helped support it!
Triana Caldera, Sommer Shepherd, Aurelie Chenaux, Alba Sonata, Diana Renoir, Sassy Nitely, Xerxes Ninetails, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, my wonderful manager Maali Beck, and a terrific venue manager if there ever was one, Christine Haiku!

Key West (08.03.11)

2011-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been an interesting week so far. Monday seemed to start off fine, but around mid-day, I noticed I wasn't my usual chipper self. By 2:00 that afternoon, I was having trouble focusing on my work, and felt a bit nauseous with a slight headache coming on. By 5:30, I had to do something I almost never do: took a break from work and laid down "for a minute". That minute turned into hours of agony, because I'd been nailed with a severe migraine. I've only had a few of them in my life that I know of, and they are about as horrible as anything I've ever experienced.

So that, in a word, sucked. The next morning, after a fitful night that I only made it through with my sanity thanks to my darling Kat helping to take care of me, I was a lot better, but I still felt weak and had to cancel a show that evening... something I loathe doing. But I knew I couldn't put on a full-bore Zak Claxton show at that point. I was determined to be well enough the following day to perform at Key West.

My fun crowd at Key West. Photo by Kat.

I'm happy to say that Wednesday continued my path of improvement, and I was surprised to find that I was full of energy and raring to play by the time my 6:00PM slot rolled around. Christopher Quan was playing before me and sounding great, which is always inspiring for me to put on my best show. Strangely, some poor planning on my behalf turned into a positive; I was busy with work for longer than I'd expected, and wasn't able to put much thought into choosing my set list, so I ended up doing a last-minute shuffle through my songbook and grabbing a bunch of tunes in a more random way than I usually do. Turned out great. Crazy, huh?

What a pretty place to play live music on a Wednesday evening! Photo by Kat.

Key West Set List...
Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Sex and Candy (Marcy Playground)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Help Me (Joni Mitchell)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
In My Time of Dying (Traditional)

I rock while Kat kicks it on a box. Photo by Kat.

A funny side note: we had a freshly-minted noob at the show, some guy named dan12203 Resident, who was running around begging/screaming that he wanted someone to kiss him. It made for the greatest of comedy for at least half of my set, and led to exchanges such as the following:

[17:13] dan12203 Resident: can i kiss you
[17:13] Taunter Goodnight: < snort >
[17:13] gwampa Lomu: NO, you can not kiss me dan
[17:13] Taunter Goodnight: if you can find the animation, go for it
[17:14] Maali Beck: hehe
[17:14] dan12203 Resident: whars anmation
[17:14] Taunter Goodnight: I rest my case

It's stuff like this that makes playing in Second Life uniquely worthwhile. You're not going to see that at your typical bar gig. Well, at least I hope you won't.

Huge thanks to everyone who made this a fun and exciting night a Key West! Special thanks to those who supported my show...
Triana Caldera, sedonajane Silverpath, TheaDee, Rusty Seisenbacher, Alexis Fairlady, Christine Haiku, Agent Zelnik, Kat Claxton, gwampa Lomu, Taunter Goodnight, my manager Maali Beck, and Key West owner Liz Harley!

The Majestic (07.28.11)

2011-07-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've been performing at The Majestic in Second Life every other Thursday at 6PM for the last couple of months now, and despite the challenge of the 6PM time slot in SL (where there seems to be hundreds of different shows happening at once), I'm starting to get a groove rolling. Even though I'm still getting over the tail end of a flu-like illness and didn't have the level of energy I usually exhibit (possibly a good thing, now that I think about it), last night's show was quite decent, and there's an interesting reason why this is so.

Who's In Your Crowd?
I can't speak for all musicians in SL... no one can. It's a highly varied group of individuals, just like musicians in the fleshy world. However, in my experience, having a lively and engaged audience produces the best shows. That doesn't mean the biggest audiences, per se; it means that however many people you have there, that they are talkative, responsive to the songs you're doing, and making the experience fun for everyone. Now, I'm well aware that there are some artists who want to be taken very seriously, and that's fine. Perhaps those folks would be offended by the audience chatting during their songs, or just politely applauding after each tune. But I can't stand SL shows where people are deathly quiet. It makes me think that they're busy checking Facebook instead of being involved in the show.

So, my favorite shows happen when we get a collection of witty people in the house, and then it's a two-way street. The audience entertains me, and I, in turn, am energized to perform better for them. My Zaksters who come to most of my shows all qualify, and there are many others who make shows all the more fun when they pop up.

The lovely EvaMoon Ember. Having my fellow SL musicians in my crowd is always a plus. I also consider many of them as good friends. Photo by Kat.

Xerxes Ninetails (left) with Crap Mariner (right). Two of the kind of people who make shows fun for everyone. Photo by Kat.

Majestic Set List...
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
The Weight (The Band)
Furry Sings the Blues (Joni Mitchell)
Tea in the Sahara (The Police)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
†Sister Golden Hair (America)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
The Worst (Rolling Stones)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Woodstock (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

†My last performance of "Sister Golden hair" in SL was on January 4, 2009. Coincidentally, it was also at the San Diego City sim. I played this in tribute to Dan Peek, America founding member, who passed away last weekend.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Majestic, especially those who supported the show! See you back there in a couple of weeks (Aug. 11)!
Diana Renoir, EvaMoon Ember, Crap Mariner, Aurelie Chenaux, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, Xerxes Ninetails, and Majestic hostess Tialicia Muircastle!

Report: Liquid reunion show at Keegan's (07.23.11)

2011-07-24T20:36:00.001-07:00

As I previously mentioned, after a four year hiatus, my old rock cover band Liquid decided to have a reunion show, and after a couple of rehearsals to shake the dust off our rock chops, headed over to Keegan's Pub in Torrance, CA on Saturday night.

Sayonara, Amplifier
Upon arrival, the very first thing I was greeted with was a grim portent of possible gig failure. The guitar amp which had worked perfectly and sounded great in our rehearsals had simply died. All that came out of its two 10" speakers was a loud hum. Randy and I took the amp apart and checked the tubes, made sure the connections were set correctly, plugged it back in, and... nothing. Fortunately, we were able to rig together a backup plan. I used the little amp that Randy was supposed to use on the few songs on which he plays guitar, and he plugged directly into the PA. Not the best system, but it would have to do. Once we got all set up, it was passably good, and we got rolling with the Liquid rock!

The Tunes
The set list went back and forth through a couple of revisions, and (as always, it seems) we were tweaking the list while we were onstage due to various reasons. All in all, though, people seemed to like the choice of songs quite a lot.

- Set One: Roadhouse Blues, California Dreaming, Stray Cat Strut, Come Together, Mary Jane's Last Dance, Break on Through, My Own Worst Enemy, Sweet Emotion, Cinnamon Girl.

- Set Two: Vaseline, Man In The Box, Heartbreaker, Custard Pie, Born to Be Wild, A Little Help from My Friends, Black Velvet, Love Me Two Times, The Immigrant Song.

- Set Three: Tush, Purple Haze, Good Times Bad Times, The Real Me, Pinball Wizard, Interstate Love Song, Red House, Fire/Drum Solo, White Rabbit, You Oughta Know, You Got Another Thing Coming, Communication Breakdown.

- Set Four: I Want You To Want Me, Back in the USSR, Hard to Handle, Can't Explain, Everybody Wants You, Jenny (867-5309), Suffragette City, Two Princes, You Really Got Me, Panama, Surrender, Hot for Teacher.

The Fun
All I wanted out of this show was fun, and I got a lot of that. Like, tons of it. Playing for four hours (even with breaks between sets) beat the crap out of me, and I've been moaning and groaning all day today. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. Huge thanks to my good friends Randy Harmon, Phil Gilbreth, and Dante Silva for their outstanding musicianship and great personalities... they make it easy for me to look good up there. And even bigger thanks to the folks who came out to Keegan's and saw us tear it up. As I told people last night, it won't be the last time that Liquid rocks the South Bay.

The Video
Here's the "Cliff's Notes" version of the show, with four+ hours boiled down to 16 minutes.

Waking up in a foul mood

2011-07-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have yet to meet a human being who's in a good mood 100% of the time... at least not one who isn't full of shit. I do often describe myself as a "happy person", and that's no lie. I've managed to get to a point where I am appreciative for the things I have, and have grown as a person to the point where I don't take the little things for granted. On a side note, I get really annoyed when I look through people's Twitter posts or Facebook/Google+ status updates, and it's a steady stream of doom and gloom (often in regard to things that are incredibly trite). I mean, in a world where people die of famine and get jailed and tortured based on political beliefs, is it really justifiable having a fit over a package not arriving when you expected, or a software update not functioning as advertised?

But I digress. I awoke today in what many people would call a shitty mood. I mean, right from the start. Alarm went off, and maybe three milliseconds later, I was unhappy. Why? I have no idea. You would think that it had something to do with some event that happened the day before, and it carried over into the next day. Nope. Yesterday was just fine. Got a lot of work done, had some laughs, played with the new cat. All fine. You might think it was inspired by something that happened overnight, but no; I slept soundly for a solid 7-1/2 hours, and what dreams I could remember in the AM seemed my normal mishmash of imagery. I do have a slight headache and the weather outside is deeply overcast, gray and miserable, but neither of those facts would generally inspire me to snarl at people as I'm tempted to do today.

What To Do?
I tried to shake it off in the shower, which often works. Tried some music, which is sometimes helpful. Tried some coffee, because... well, it's fucking coffee, and I need it regardless. Currently, I'm trying to pressure it out with potassium, in the form of a delicious banana. But nothing, it seems, is working. And now, I have a whole day still ahead of me, and no desire to really do anything, or see anyone, or... well, you get the idea. It's not the best way to spend one of your 29,000 days on the planet.

Everyone, to the best of my knowledge, has days like that. Unexplained and unfocused feelings of gloom. In terms of being grateful for what I have, the huge saving grace is that unlike periods of my life where I've gone through situational depression, I am positive that this won't last long. For people who have to live like that day after day with chronic severe depression, well... it's no wonder what the outcome often is.

It Gets Better
Back in the late '90s, I also used to struggle with anxiety, but the main thing that helped me beat that is the awareness that while it may rear its ugly head now and then, it doesn't last long and then it's gone. I'd start to feel an attack coming on, but instead of letting it spiral out of control, I'd just remind myself that in 10-15 minutes or so, provided that I didn't feed it with negative emotions, it would just dissipate. All I needed to do was to wait it out. Gradually, they stopped coming altogether.

A moody, depressive day is like that, but it usually lasts a little longer. But the result is the same; it eventually goes away. Sometimes you do need to force the process a little, and there are a number of ways to do that (I'm doing one now, as you'll see below):

- Exercise: It usually the last thing you feel like doing when you're down, but guess what? It works on two levels. First, the physical aspect of getting blood flowing, oxygen pumping, and possibly endorphins kicking in will magically make you at least a little better. By the way, I'm the world's biggest hypocrite at this moment, since I couldn't muster the energy to workout yet today. Maybe later.

- Do... something: Doesn't really matter what it is. Write a blog post (hint hint). Do your laundry. Go grocery shopping. Play with a pet. Read an article about something scientific. Play a guitar. Watch a silly video on YouTube. Walk through a park. Even doing something for work that you don't ordinarily equate with being joy-inspiring can help you refocus your thoughts in a more positive direction. In any case, sitting there wallowing about your pitiful self is probably the last thing that will help make it go away.

- Talk to people: This is a double-edged sword, since often, you're not in emotional sync with people around you, and though I hate to say it, sometimes having interaction with someone who is chipper and happy when you're anything but is more annoying than helpful. However, it can be a reminder to you that your current mood is an aberration and that eventually, you get to be the annoyingly happy person again.

- Give yourself a break: You're not perfect. You're a human being who might just get run down every so often. I don't know about you, but I work hard and have a lot of responsibilities and commitments, and I often bite off more than I can actually chew. I handle that well most of the time, but even when I'm not directly aware of it, it tends to build up to the point where my mind and body say, "Okay dude, we've had enough, and we're going to close the gate for awhile." If you can't fight off a moody day using your normal set of tools, perhaps it's time to stop fighting and just let it flow until it goes away.

No Easy Answers
As I said above, I am one lucky bastard: due to whatever combination of brain chemistry and environmental factors I have, I don't suffer from depression very often. In fact, during the time it took me to write this, I'm already coming around a little bit. Not everyone has that ability. Each person is an individual, and it's going to be easier or harder for different people to fight the bad moods that will undoubtedly hit you now and then. I really don't claim to have answers for everyone, and what works for me might not do jack shit for you.

However, the one thing I think I can say universally is that it's better to be proactive about fighting off bad moods, temporary depression, or whatever you want to call it. If you can summon the will and the energy to do something about it, you'll probably feel better than being a passive participant to your mood swings. Easier said than done for some folks, I know. But it's what works for me, most of the time. Hopefully, it'll work for you too.

Crystal Gardens (07.19.11)

2011-07-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

A little history lesson is needed to explain the significance of last night's show at Crystal Gardens. I joined Second Life back in 2006, and at the time, had no idea about the possibility of live music in virtual worlds. It didn't take long for me to find people doing their shows, though, and I quickly jumped onboard with my own. However, like most new players in SL, it took awhile before I built up an audience and found cool places where I liked to perform. Sometime in mid-2007, I was doing a show and someone from the audience came up and spoke to me after my set was done. Her name was Sandi Benelli, and it turned out that a) she owned a venue named Crystal Sands, and b) was a big fan of the music I tended to cover then, which included Neil Young and similar acoustic-based artists.

Sandi asked if I was interested in performing at her place (I was), and after my first show there, she booked another... and another. It wasn't long before I was performing every Monday evening at 5PM at Crystal Sands, and one of the fun things about a regular gig is that you get to know the other artists who play around your time slot. I recall Elvis Duffy having the 4PM slot, and Ictus Belford playing after me at 6PM every week. We would do things like perform each other's tunes (forcing the others to scramble and find songs that hadn't been already done), and those nights were almost as fun from a comedy standpoint as they were from that of music performance.

Unfortunately, like everything in life, there were some changes. Sandi wasn't able to sustain the financial obligations in paying so many artists (she was hosting a lot of shows by then), so in late 2008, she had to cut way back, and eliminated the Monday night shows (which, to be honest, was a tough time slot to get good crowds in any case). I certainly understood, and by then had plenty of places where I could play, so I moved on. Like most situations where you're not seeing the same people all the time (like a job change, for instance), I gradually lost touch with Sandi and her gang of friends over the next couple of years.

Sandi Benelli with her RL fiancé Mikal Beaumont.

Back to the Now
As you all know by now, in February I started working with a manager in SL for the first time, the lovely Maali Beck (who has been outstanding). Maali recently attended the Chicago SL Jam, and happened to hang out there with Sandi Benelli, who is from the Chicago area. They spoke and discovered their mutual connection to me, and the next thing I knew, Maali had booked me to play at Sandi's newer (and much nicer, may I add) venue, Crystal Gardens. It seems that Sandi and her man Mikal have an entire island sim there, with a coupe of venues that are very well designed for both performers and audience members alike.

The most fun you can have on a Tuesday night with your clothing on. Photos by Kat.

I played on their Beach Stage, and while we didn't get a massive crowd, the people who were there were very fun, and we had a great time reminiscing about the "old days" (which in SL means just a few years ago). It was great to be back! Some of the songs I chose for this show were purposeful nods to the material I was playing back in 2007/2008.

Crystal Gardens Set List
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Tangerine (Led Zeppelin)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Tribute (Tenacious D)
Heart of Gold (Neil Young)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash)

Huge thanks to all who supported my show!

Kitten, Harry Potter & Relay for Life (07.16.11)

2011-07-17T08:56:00.000-07:00
I'm ordinarily not one of those, "Hey everyone! It's the weekend! Let's jump up and do lots and lots of things!" type of guys. I'm more like a, "Hey... it's the weekend. Now I don't have to do anything at all" person. Still, the reality on most Saturdays is that I do have things to do, like it or not. While yesterday was indeed a busy weekend day, I'm happy to report that it was chock full of fun.

I Can Has Itty Bitty Kitty?
Blog readers, meet Sneak, the cat who is apparently mine.

My son and his mother (my ex, who I manage to tolerate only for the kid's sake) conspired together, and with no consultation with me, decided to bring a new animal into my home. I finished a show in SL on Thursday night, walked downstairs, and there was this eight-week-old feline in my living room. The only thing that made me less annoyed than I should have been under the circumstances is that a) I do miss having a cat in the house since my buddy Captain went to the Great Litterbox in the Sky in March, and b) this particular little cat seems pretty spunky. The first thing she did was hiss at me, which I took for a good sign.

Side note: I use the pronoun "she" with a high degree of uncertainty. I really have no idea what the gender of this kitten is, but fortunately I won't need a degree in catology to find out. She (or he) has a vet appointment on Monday for shots and all that, so I'll let the experts fill me in. My son, meanwhile, has named the cat "Sneak", so that will work regardless of gender. Saturday morning, we spent a good portion of the early hours finding the cat (who'd gone exploring around the home overnight, naturally), and then dislodging her from behind the bookcase where she'd wandered and gotten stuck.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2: We Approve
Harry and the gang go into badass wizard mode in this final film. Image copyright Warner Bros.

I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. It would be a little creepy, IMHO, for a 42-year-old man to devote much emotional focus on a story aimed at kids and teenagers. Still, I've admired and respected the universe that J.K. Rowling built with this franchise, and the films have been well made and a fun means of escapism. My ladyfriend Kat, on the other hand, has been a devoted reader of the books, and has been awaiting this final film with high anticipation. Combined with the fact that my son is now old enough to not be frightened by the darker imagery of the series as it's progressed, I looked forward to seeing it as well, and it didn't disappoint. Really enjoyable film, with some very respectable acting performances by much of the great cast.

We saw HP7.2 at the South Bay Galleria AMC theater not far from here, and also took along Kat's sister. It made for a fun day, starting with a food court lunch and culminating with the film, which we all enjoyed. In addition to our cumulative eight thumbs up, it has a 100% positive critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is already the biggest box office opener in history, so we're apparently not alone in enjoying the film. But there wasn't much time afterwards to hang out and discuss what we'd seen, because I needed to get back home and warm up for...

Relay for Life 2011 in SL

We had a fun crowd and did a great show for a very important cause during SL's Relay for Life 2011. Photos by Kat.

I requested to my manager Maali Beck that she make sure I got a slot to perform at this year's main Relay for Life event in SL. I have done dozens of RFL shows in SL over the last four years, but the final event of the year -- the actual relay -- is always an important one for fundraising (and awareness raising). As I've mentioned previously, RFL in SL is every bit as legitimate as the Relay in real life, and raises significant funds for the American Cancer Society... over $350,000 USD so far in 2011 alone.

Our crowd was lively and we had a very fun time despite the seriousness of the cause. A good number of Zaksters, including my lovely Kat, Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, TheaDee, Horizon Darkstone, and many more turned up for the occasion, and despite my having hurried home and jumping into my show, it went very well.

RFL 2011 Set List
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Comes a Time (Neil Young)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
The Right Thing to Do (Carly Simon)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
Who Do You Love (Bo Diddly)

Thanks to all who came out, enjoyed the show, and helped contribute toward fighting cancer! You rule!

Being part of the Second Life Music scene

2011-07-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that other than reports and announcements from my own shows, I don't spend a lot of time talking about the music scene in Second Life here on the Zak Blog. It's not because it's not important to me; it is, very much so. But really, so many other folks do it so well, I didn't think it was necessary to add another voice in a big chorus.

However, as time goes by, there are inevitably more and more people who perform various kinds of music in virtual worlds, and as the size of the community grows, a little of the tight-knit camaraderie has shrunk. It's an inevitable part of the process. If you're in a room with four people, you can hold great conversations and have meaningful interaction with everyone. In an arena with 10,000 people, it's a lot more difficult.

There's no exact number of musicians who perform in SL and other VWs, and of course the number changes constantly as people come and go. In any case, the total numbers in the thousands at this point, though if you boil it down to the folks who play week in and week out, it's probably still a good 500+ musicians. As per my example above, back in 2006, it seemed I knew damn near everyone who played live on a regular basis. Today, I only know a fraction of the people. As I look down the list of live music events, while I still recognize many names, there are many more who I've never heard.

SL musicians Noma Falta and Kelvinblue Oh. Rest in peace, Kevin.

Something happened today that made me aware that it would be nice if there was some way to inspire more interaction and solidarity among the Second Life music performers. I got up and did my usual scan through world news and my social networks, and got hit with the sad news that Kelvinblue Oh (real life name Kevin Navy) had passed away suddenly. Well, I've heard Kevin a number of times, usually in situations where we happened to be playing at the same venue and I was scheduled before or after him. Despite that, and despite liking his music, I never took the time to get to know the guy very well. Had I reached out to him, I'd have said that I really enjoy his guitar playing and singing, and his obvious love of blues music. Now I will never have that opportunity. That's why I thought it might be nice to suggest a few things to my fellow SL musicians -- especially the newer ones -- that might make their experience as part of a community more rich and fulfilling.

Grace McDunnough and I, pretending not to know each other.

Go To Each Other's Shows!
What better way is there to get to know people's music than to hear them play, I ask you? I get particularly happy when I see a fellow SL musician take the time to stop by my show, and it makes me make a mental note to go see them at the next opportunity.

Keep An Open Mind!
There's all kinds of different music in SL from all kinds of different people. Don't be so fast to dismiss a person because you think they are a DJ, or a karaoke singer, or play a style of music you're not really into. Seeing (and hearing) them do their thing may give you some great tips on better ways to execute your own shows in SL.

EvaMoon Ember, Beth Odets, Patrick LaSalle, and Lyndon Heart.

Collaborate With Other SL Artists!
If you see an artist who you particularly like, and feel might be a good fit for your own music, see if they have any interest in collaboration. That might mean having someone play a solo on an upcoming recording of yours, or even teaming up for live performances via stream relay.

It's Not A Competition!
Obviously, we all do compete to a degree in getting people to attend our shows. There are only so many people in world at any given time, and they make choices for their entertainment based on a number of factors. However, the best musicians in SL are those who support each other's efforts. Minimally, you should make sure you know who is playing before and after you at every show, and acknowledge their efforts to your crowd. Quite often, I make sure to recommend to my audience that they go and check out other performers... not only is it the right thing to do, but karma tends to make these small efforts come back to me in a big way.

Max Kleene.

Get To Know SL Musicians In Real Life!
When you're together in a room in the flesh and blood, you can find that strong and long-lasting friendships are built. Over the past few years, more and more people are doing SL Live Jams, where a bunch of musicians and SL music fans in a particular area get together for a few days and jam. In February, I attended an SL Jam in San Diego that was so much fun, I don't have words to describe it. There's a Facebook group set up specifically to organize and discuss various SL Jams... find it here.

EvaMoon Ember, Raspbury Rearwin, Max Kleene, myself, and Lyndon Heart at the San Diego Jam.

Be Part Of Each Other's Social Networks!
Speaking of Facebook, you will find plenty of SL musicians on all of the major social networks. Be a fan of the musicians you enjoy, and interact with them. You may learn more about the cool places to play and special events through that avenue than you will anywhere else. Also, many SL musicians have web sites. A little Google search under their SL names will usually yield useful info.

Blindboy Gumbo.

These are just a few tips... there are many more ways to allow the community of SL musicians to help each other. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments below.

200 Days of Wii Fit Plus

2011-07-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yup, my Wii let me know this morning that I'd hit my 200th day of doing something other than sitting on my ass everyday.

Actually, that's not quite fair. I've always led a semi-active lifestyle. I tend to do a lot of walking versus driving, which is pretty rare here in the Los Angeles area. Even doing things like playing live music is a massive calorie burner, as is evidenced by the puddle of sweat around me after I finish a particularly good show. However, as I've mentioned several times before (like here), I spent far too much time over the last few years complaining about various aches and pains, and meanwhile my body was starting to show those telltale signs of getting into my 40's... flab accumulation around my waist was a biggie. The longer I waited to do something about it, the worse it was going to get.

Knowing that I didn't have the time to go work out at a gym, the Wii Fit Plus was really designed for people like me. I spend 40-60 minutes each morning doing various yoga, strength training, balance, and other exercises, and it's a great way to start the day. Have I been the perfect Wii user? Nah, of course not. I'm human. There have been days where for various reasons, I had to skip my exercise session. Oddly, though, I find that I really regretted those few days where I missed my workout, so I do try to make sure I get in at least a little exercise each day.

I feel better all around after 200 days of spending my mornings with Mr. Wii, and I've supplemented those sessions with some light use of freeweights as well. I don't have any impressive before/after pictures, and to be honest, it's not immediately apparent that my body is in much better shape than it was before I started working out again. However, I know just by the way I feel that it's making a huge difference, and I certainly now have better muscle tone than I've had since I was in my 20's.

It would be nice if I could get the remaining fat off my waist... there are actually strong abdominal muscles buried under that flab. Still, for being a lazy 42-year-old, I'm not looking half bad. Thanks Wii Fit Plus!

Random Notes (07.11.11)

2011-07-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

I have so many different things going on at the moment, it's difficult to adequately articulate any of them. Instead, I thought I'd use the shotgun approach and splatter them all over this one post. Ready?

Personal Hygiene
Look up at the photo on top. I really need to shave. I kind of blew it off all last week for no particular reason. I'll have you know that apart from not having scraped a shard of highly sharpened stainless steel across my face, I am clean and well groomed and smell nice. Don't judge me!

Saturday's Liquid Rehearsal
My former band Liquid (who is reuniting for a one-time show) picked up where we left off a couple of weeks ago with our second (and final) rehearsal before the gig we're doing on Saturday July 23 at Keegan's. I have to stop being surprised that we're a good band. All of us are very experienced musicians, and unlike athletes, our abilities don't diminish with age. Anyway, we continued down our set in mostly alphabetical order, and we also went over some songs with Amanda, our guest-star vocalist. Sounded great, and I'm very excited about the show. Admission is free, and drinks are cheap, so come rock with us!

Are you ready to rock? No, seriously, are you?

Upcoming Second Life Music Events
In addition to the resurrection of my real life music career, I suddenly find myself pretty busy with SL shows. A few highlights:

- Thursday 7/14, 6PM: The Majestic
- Saturday 7/16, 7PM: Relay for Life
- Tuesday 7/19, 5PM: Crystal Gardens
- Thursday 8/18, 6PM: Molaskey's Pub

As usual, all times given are SLT (same as Pacific Time). For SL venue owners who'd like to book me, it's easy: just get in touch with my wonderful manager Maali Beck, and she'll work out the details.

I'm continuing the busiest portion of my life, musically speaking, and loving it.

What Happened to My Shorts?
It's summertime here in the Northern Hemisphere, and I'm lucky enough to live less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean, with the resulting mild temps and all-day sea breeze. Still, it's summer, and it's been warm lately, even here in Redondo Beach where the temps were in the 80s last week. But apparently, almost every pair of short pants I own decided to run away from home. I seems to have just three usable pairs at this point, and one of them may have shrunk to a point of non-wearability (he said, refusing to acknowledge a recent inability to comfortably button size 32 pants).

Anyway, I hereby vow to get some replacement shorts the next time I am near a mall. By doing so, I will probably cause some record cold front to move into Southern California. Mother Nature loves to screw with me, so it's almost guaranteed that whatever season I am prepared for apparel-wise will not deliver the weather I expect.

One of the last surviving pairs. Maybe my other shorts fell through an interdimensional portal of the space-time continuum. It's been known to happen.

Famous Last Words
The date today is 7/11/11. To celebrate, shouldn't I be having a Slurpee and a hot dog that's been spun around under a heatlamp for three days?

Res ipsa loquitur, and mahalo.

Liquid: The Commercial

2011-07-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

LA residents: keep Saturday July 23 (7-10pm) circled on your calendar, and come see the one-night-only reunion of Liquid, the South Bay's real rock band! Keegan's Pub, 1434 Marcelina Ave, Torrance, California 90501. DON'T MISS IT!

The Audio Argument: Digital vs. Analog

2011-07-07T10:18:00.000-07:00
Most of the people who read this blog know me as a guy who strums a guitar and sings, and you're correct. That's what I am, but it's not the only thing I am. I'm also someone's dad. I'm someone's significant other. I'm a guy who owns and operates a small marketing communications company. And while my background and my career has always been integrated with the music world, a good portion of my actual education was in the technical side of audio recording and music production. While I've always been a performing musician -- nearly my entire life -- I also spent a good amount of time on what we call "the other side of the glass", meaning that I've engineered and produced music.

Circa 1993, if you wanted to find me, I'd usually be in a recording studio somewhere. Here I am getting ready to strangle my friend and fellow engineer Mike Gale (who I'm sure deserved it at the time).

As you would imagine, there are entire communities that revolve around the art and science of audio recording, and no single aspect of recording has been as divisive as the argument of "digital versus analog". Even today, some 28 years after the Compact Disc ushered in digital audio to the masses, nothing starts a good 10-page thread on audio forums than someone opining about their preferences and reasons for choosing one over the other. I thought it might be nice to talk about this a little and explain the fast version of why this remains such a hot topic.

1. Analog Sounds Better
"Sounds better" is a stupid thing to write. Listening to music recording is subjective, meaning that what I like might not be what you like. However, without getting into the science behind it, most people prefer the sound of a song that was well recorded on analog tape than those recorded via digital systems, and most people prefer the sound of music being played back on a clean vinyl LP record than from a CD or especially from an MP3 file. Analog simply represents a better approximation of the original sounds being recorded, and there's a warmth and depth to analog that digital recordings fail to completely achieve.

2. Analog Doesn't Sound Better
All this nostalgic talk about analog sounding so much better than digital leaves out one key element: the tangible act of playing back music! Records almost immediately get scratches, and often even the new ones have clicks and pops that happen in the manufacturing process. Cassette tapes were never a good format for listening to music; the noise floor of a cassette meant that when you turned it up during quiet moments, you always heard the hiss of the tape. So while it's great in theory, it's not always great in practice.

Let's face facts: LP records sounded good for awhile, but most eventually ended up like this. The songs on your iPod don't get scratched up.

3. Analog Is Expensive
Whooo boy. Below, you'll see me holding a reel of 2" tape that I used for a 24-track recording back in the early '90s. The machine that I used to record this music was an MCI JH-24, which at the time cost around $50,000. But let's say you don't need the machine; you just need the tape. A reel like the one I'm holding below currently costs about $500. Running at standard speeds, that reel will hold maybe two songs' worth of music. The amount of tape needed for a full album ends up being about $2500 or more. That's fine if you're a wealthy rock star, but for typical people who just want to record, the cost is way too prohibitive.

If tape didn't sound so damn good, this debate would be null and void.

4. Digital Offers More Creative Tools
It's not even debatable. What people can do by recording with digital audio workstations (i.e., computers) is simply amazing. I can copy and paste audio tracks. I can add processing that simply plugs into the recording software I use. I can change the pitch and timing of a performance as needed. While some of these things were possible on analog tape, the process that was required to achieve them was incredibly time consuming, and could ruin an entire recording with one small error (as opposed to hitting the "undo" command when you screw up).

Each year that goes by, more and more creative tools are added to digital recording systems that allow for amazing creative expression and faster workflow.

5. Digital Is Convenient
It would take me pages and pages to explain "the old way" of recording and distributing music. First, you didn't do it. It was a process reserved for musicians/bands that were signed to record labels, who would invest the thousands of dollars it took to go into a recording studio and create singles and albums. Then, the master recording was sent to a plant -- there weren't very many of them -- where albums were pressed and sent to stores. And to sell the music, people had to physically go to the store and buy the album.

Today, a skilled person can make a professionally recorded album in his/her bedroom on a pretty typical computer, and their song can be made available around the world via services like iTunes. My "tape" is the amount of space on my hard drive, and with the price of large drives continuing to dwindle, it's easy to do an entire album on a drive that costs maybe $100. The person buying the music can do so by clicking a mouse and entering a credit card number. While the process of opening the world of professional recording has its downsides (like a lot of people being able to release less-than-spectacular music), I can't help but be in favor of something that democratizes a process that used to be reserved for the wealthy elite.

Even some no-name guy like me can now record their best stuff and offer it for sale alongside the infinitely more famous people on iTunes. None of this would have happened without several levels of revolution in digital audio. By the way, you're welcome to go buy my album right now. You don't even have to keep reading. Seriously, go get it. I'll just wait here.

6. Everyone Listens To Digital Playback Systems Anyway
I'll get yelled at for writing that, but it's really true. How do you listen to music? If you're like 95% of people in 2011, you listen to digital audio downloads like MP3 or AAC files you buy online, or you listen to CDs. Whether it's your iPod, your car stereo, or even the radio, almost every playback system you hear today is digital based. Even with those old records that were recorded in analog before the digital revolution, you are almost certainly listening to newer digital remasters by now.

One good piece of news for analog lovers: due to a couple of different factors, the use of turntables and vinyl LPs has actually had a resurgence over the past 7-8 years, and more artists -- especially indie musicians like myself -- are opting to do runs of record pressings of their new recordings. While I can't justify the cost of doing this for my own music (I don't sell enough albums to break even on it), the idea is constantly tempting. I find that I yearn for the day of hearing the needle plop down on some fresh vinyl and hearing my own recordings come out of the speakers. And I'm not alone; the recent Foo Fighters album Wasting Light was completely recorded on analog tape and is offered in an LP version. The reason for this was that Dave Grohl and his band were adamant that they wanted a rock album that sounded as good as music can be experienced, and I applaud their effort; it was worth it.

Want to hear what rock can sound like when recorded and played back in analog? If you don't have a perfect copy of Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti", try the newest Foo Fighters album "Wasting Light" on a nice turntable.

So, Which One Is Better?
Both... and neither. There's no clear cut winner in this now-old argument, and the act of arguing about it is a massive wate of time. No one is going to be convinced, be it through scientific explanations or evangelizing the subjective sound of one over the other, that the opposite side is correct. The good news in all of this is that while digital audio isn't ever going away, it does continue to evolve and improve, and there may come a point in the not-distant future that audibly, one will be indistinguishable from the other. Until then, as I always say, the most important part of making good music is writing good songs... a much better use of someone's time than arguing about the technological side of things.

The Majestic (06.30.11)

2011-07-01T08:13:00.001-07:00

As you probably know by now, a couple of weeks ago I started my new regular slot at The Majestic, a fine venue on the San Diego City sim in SL where I hadn't played for the two previous years. It wasn't a very auspicious return; I'd completely forgotten that the 6PM weeknight slot in Second Life is insanely packed with shows. In fact, before my show last night, I took a peek at the other live music events that were scheduled at the same time as mine. Holy crap!

I like many of these artists and the venues where they're playing, but damn! It's hard to try and round up a crowd at the 6PM time slot with all these choices.

That having been said, my second show of my new regular slot at the Majestic ended up being terrific. We didn't have a gigantic crowd, but it was respectable for the 6PM slot... quite a bit bigger than last time, and the folks who were there were engaging and obviously having fun. Really, I don't ask for anything other than that... my audience talking and laughing, and everyone having a good time. It's as important to me that they enjoy the vibe of the show as they do the actual music. Sure, it's nice when I pull off a great performance or two and get my ego stroked by folks who get immersed in the music, but ultimately what it's really all about, especially in SL, is for folks to walk away having had a smile on their face for the last hour, and I don't care what inspires that. Sometimes it's hearing a song they love, but often it's also the banter between my crazy Zakster fans that makes the event worthwhile.

My view. I really think we'll continue building a regular crowd to come see me every other Thursday evening at the Majestic. Fun place, good staff, nice vibe. Show photos by Kat.

Speaking of the music, though... one nice thing about having a big repertoire is that I can go many shows without playing the same songs twice (though I obviously tend to pull out a few of my originals that come up at nearly every show). I also try and constantly add new material, which keeps it interesting both for myself and my fans. We pulled out a new one last night, and also did an original that I'd kept in the drawer for quite some time. In any case, I'm back at the Majestic in two weeks (Thu 7/14 at 6PM), so we'll have a new batch of tunes to try at that show.

The Majestic Set List...
Change (Tears for Fears)
Polly (Nirvana)
Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton)
*Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Starman (David Bowie)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
I Am the Walrus (Beatles)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (The Police)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Black Peter (Grateful Dead)
Soul Kitchen (The Doors)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL. Coincidentally, this was the first time I'd ever performed any Van Morrison song in SL. Pretty weird, huh? I have no idea why this is the case. Van is cool and people love his music.

Huge thanks to everyone who supported my show!
Alchemy Epstein, Uma Carlucci, shoota Waves, Alexis Fairlady, Horizon Darkstone, Triana Caldera, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Majestic hostess Tialicia Muircastle, Majestic manager Kalli Birman, and owner Ayesha Lytton!

Michael Jackson Tribute on StageIt (06.27.11)

2011-06-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday of last week, I got an email from Kristen Payne, the artist relations manager for StageIt. If you haven't been following along, StageIt is a relatively new online service that allows for people to see artists perform on live video over the Internet for relatively cheap (or free).

In any case, they were doing a special show on Monday 6/27, and asked if I'd like to participate. The show, the email went on to explain, was a tribute to pop icon Michael Jackson, commemorating the two-year anniversary of his passing. At first glance, I wasn't very interested, until I saw the format they'd set up: 12 artists would each have with five minutes of airtime to perform one song by the King of Pop. Well, that sounded fun, and it just so happened that in my large list of songs, there was one MJ tune that I'd done in 2009 shortly after his death.

Side note: I'm not a big Michael Jackson fan. I appreciate him; I respect what he did. I really liked his earlier stuff from his Jackson 5 days through Thriller. But just from a point of context of my doing this show, I certainly don't do his songs very often, and like many people, I eventually had trouble separating the music from the controversy that surrounded him in his later years. However, I do remember being a kid in junior high school who -- despite being into bands like Aerosmith and AC/DC at the time -- would still put songs like "Shake Your Body" on the family stereo and groove my ass around the room... mostly when no one was there to see. Even in high school, when my musical tastes ranged from Iron Maiden to the Grateful Dead, when Thriller came out it was like being on a beach and having a tidal wave hit. Its impact on society was inescapable. I think I blurted out, "Holy shit!" in front of my parents when I saw him do this on a TV special (listen to the crowd reaction starting at 3:45-ish).

Michael, circa 1983. This was the last point that he seemed kinda sorta like a normal human being (though he really wasn't, of course).

Seriously, I can remember the first time I saw Michael do his moonwalk as well as I can remember any major event in history.

Long story short: I told Kristen to count me in for the tribute show, and I'm glad I did. I decided to do "Off the Wall", one of the few Michael Jackson tunes that can be comfortably arranged for a guy playing acoustic guitar. I then spent an hour or two over the weekend determining how I could do the song well (which turned out meaning that I'd need to drop it down to A from its standard key of D... I'm not a glutton for punishment, after all). When Monday evening rolled around, I was ready. My only regret, being scheduled toward the latter part of the hour, is that I wasn't able to watch many of the other artists perform their MJ covers, since I was busy preparing for my own show. However, the song went off well, and my crowd seemed to really enjoy my five-minute performance of "Off the Wall". It had good energy, and I had a nice groove rolling on the guitar as I worked my way through the tune.

One thing: performing well on one song -- just one song -- is hard! You need to get all warmed up and ready, working yourself up to the point where you can do a kick-ass show, and then five minutes later, you're thanking your audience and saying goodbye. I have a lot more empathy for folks who play a single tune on an awards show, or on "Saturday Night Live". It's definitely a different experience than putting on a typical hour-plus concert.

Finally, it needs to be said: Michael was a weird guy who had zero chance of being a normal person, given his background. But he was a weird and extraordinarily talented guy. I'm not saying one cancels out the other, but in retrospect, his contribution to the world of entertainment will overshadow all of the tabloid talk about him in the long run. I mentioned at the end of my song that it was an honor to be involved in the tribute, and I meant it.

Farewell, Michael.

SL8B (06.26.11)

2011-06-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I was a bit trepid about performing at SL8B, the eighth birthday celebration of the online virtual world Second Life. I'll explain why: the last time I played at the annual event was at SL5B, three years ago. While the show itself went fine, the lack of coordination and communication beforehand was maddening, and the team who ran the show seemed snotty and ungrateful to the folks who were donating their time and energy to perform.

I purposefully did not participate for the next two years of SL birthdays as a result of that experience. However, my friend Diana Renoir, who is involved in a number of large event coordination activities in SL, told me that the celebration was in much better hands now, and asked if I would give it a shot. I did, and I'm very glad to say that it was like a night-and-day difference by comparison. You would think that especially by today (the final day of the official celebration) that all of the hosts, stage coordinators, and liaisons would be completely fried. Instead, I found their system of confirming stream function in advance of the show (so there would be no issues for artists when they got onstage) to be very efficient, and as a result the technical side of getting live audio to a lot of people at once was handled smoothly.

Made it to the stage. Time to rock SL8B. Photo by Kat.

Also -- and don't underestimate the importance of this -- the folks running SL8B seemed appreciative and grateful to the artists who were performing. They were friendly to the crowds and supportive of every aspect of the event. Gotta hand it to them for their hard work; it was effective!

I'm that tiny dot in the distance. Photo by Kat.

So, on to the show itself. We had a very nice crowd of over 60 SL avatars in the 4-sim Main Stage area. I went on stage following Cypress Rosewood (who was performing along with fire dancers and an elephant), and I knew that my brand of silly rock and pop music wasn't exactly a smooth transition. So, I threw caution to the wind and opened up with a lively Joni MItchell tune, figuring that those who liked that kind of thing would hang out, and most of them did.

Zak's SL8B Set List...
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni MItchell)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Nowhere Man (The Beatles)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Save It For Later (English Beat)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield)
Man of Constant Sorrow (Traditional)
Radio Free Europe (REM)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Redemption Song (Bob Marley)

Special thanks to the folks who ran SL8B for their fine work (especially Diana Renoir, Lisa Fossett, ChatBrat Pippita, Dagoth Graves, Jahman Ochs, and Doctor Gascoigne)! Congrats to Linden Lab on eight years! Finally, thanks to everyone who supported my show today!
fay Rehula, Tristan Rogers, Kat Claxton, Delphy Heungsung, pallina60 Loon, Liam Metaluna, Blindboy Gumbo, Diana Renoir, TheaDee, Juliette Venom, Toxic Darkmatter, Wildstar Beaumont, Janie Xofan, and Cordelia Cerise!

Liquid's first rehearsal in four years

2011-06-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

I spent this afternoon doing something I love: rocking hard with a band in a garage. It was the first time since 2007 that my old band, Liquid, got together to make some noise.

As I've recently mentioned, this rehearsal was our first time back together in preparation for our reunion show, scheduled for July 23 at Keegan's Pub in Torrance, CA. My expectations were pretty high; Liquid was a pretty tight band with really good individual musicians, so I didn't think that four years away from each other was going to completely negate the simpatico we'd had when we were playing live all the time.

After our 3-hour jam today, I have to say that our playing exceeded my already-high hopes. Sure, there were a couple of tunes where we weren't 100% nailing everything, and we each had our individual moments of clamdom (my favorite was Dante's kick pedal foot going into auto-mode on "Good Times, Bad Times"), but altogether, I feel that we were actually tighter than we were at the end of our gigging days. Who knows why? Maybe the time away from our own set list gave us some better perspective on the songs. I can tell you that we've all stayed busy at music in various ways since then, with Phil and Randy both performing in their respective bands and Dante always in demand to sit in, or play on sessions (and my solo performing show I've done since 2007).

Whatever the reason was, I'm really confident that the show on 7/23 is going to be phenomenal. We got through a good chunk of our set today in rehearsal... here are the tunes we rocked today (obviously using the alphabetical order of the set list).

Alright Now - Free
Baby Please Don’t Go - Various
Back In The USSR - Beatles
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
California Dreamin - Mamas & Papas
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
Come Together - Beatles
Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin
Custard Pie - Led Zeppelin
Dazed & Confused - Led Zeppelin
Everybody Wants You - Billy Squire
Gimme Some Lovin’ - Spencer Davis Group
Good Times, Bad Times - Led Zeppelin
Hard To Handle - The Black Crowes
Heart Breaker/Livin’, Lovin’ Maid - Led Zeppelin
Helter Skelter - Beatles
I Don’t Know - Ozzy Osbourne
I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
Jenny (867-5309) - Tommy Tutone
Love Me Two Times - Doors
Man In The Box - Alice in Chains
Mary Jane’s Last Dance - Tom Petty
Money - Pink Floyd
My Own Worst Enemy - Lit
Tie Your Mother Down - Queen

One more rehearsal to nail down the rest of the songs in two weeks, and then we'll be ready to rip it up at Keegan's on the 23rd!

Band Reunions, Virtual Birthdays, and Michael Jackson

2011-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00
Wake up Zak; you have a busy few days ahead!

This is going to be a wacky three days of music-related activities here at Zak Claxton HQ!

Saturday June 25: Liquid Rehearsal

As I mentioned a short while ago, my last working band Liquid is going to be getting back together after four+ years apart for a one-night only special reunion show on July 23. By all accounts, interest is very high from our old fans, and we'll probably be playing to a packed house that night. Well, you don't just jump back onstage together after that long apart and expect to be good, so tomorrow, we have our first rehearsal together since spring 2007. I'm expecting it to be really fun; despite my years of playing as a solo artist, there's a whole different dynamic to rocking out with a group of talented musicians together in a room at the same time. Wish me luck!

Sunday June 26, 1PM SLT: SL8B

It's Second Life's eighth birthday, and I'll be playing an hour of live music right at the end of the official festivities on the Main Stage on Sunday at 1PM. I haven't performed at an SL birthday celebration since SL5B in 2008, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and helping Linden Lab mark eight years of making Second Life avaiable to us all. I believe I am the final live music performer of the event, so I extend an invite to all the people who worked so hard putting their displays together to take a break and come kick back and rock out with me!

Monday June 27, 6:35PM PDT: Michael Jackson Tribute on StageIt

I wasn't planning on my music marathon to continue past the weekend, but yesterday, the folks at StageIt wrote to ask if I'd like to participate in their special Michael Jackson tribute event that they are holding to mark the two-year anniversary of the King of Pop's passing. What they're doing is really neat: 12 different artists are onstage for five minutes each, and each will perform one MJ song. Obviously, I'm not the first artist people think of when it comes to covering Michael Jackson songs, but as I've mentioned before: my music really has no boundaries in terms of influences and genres, and I am honored to participate in this event! Look for my five-minute live video show Monday night at 6:35PM Pacific Time. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you which Michael Jackson song I'm doing, but I promise it will be fun. More info on StageIt and their MJ tribute at StageIt.com.

Relay for Life Ultimate Auction (06.22.11)

2011-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

A few minutes after I finished my benefit show last night for Friends Fighting Cancer, a Relay for Life fundraising team in Second Life, I got a message from their chief, a guy named Zander Greene. It said, "You also might like knowing that this is the 3rd time you've played for a Friends Fighting Cancer event this year and your current 2011 total with our team is more than 50,000 Lindens. That just rocks, mate!"

Well, that put a smile on my face. "Lindens" are the currency used in Second Life, and what that means to the rest of you is that in performing three shows in 2011 for this charity, I've raised about $200 USD this year alone. Is that a ton of money? No. Is it going to cure cancer on its own? Probably not. But the fact is that I'm making use of my music that goes beyond my own income, or my own ego being stroked. By playing music -- something I love to do and would be doing regardless -- I am actually giving a little bit of help to someone who desperately needs it. That, as they say, is all good.

My view from the stage. Photo by Kat.

The crowd has fun while generously making donations to the RFL kiosks. Photo by Kat.

As mentioned above, this was my third event in 2011 for RFL, and I've done at least one or more per year for the past four years. This time, it was in support of FFC's "Ultimate Auction", where people could bid on exclusive items to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. My role was simply to get people to come over there and check out the auction items, and meanwhile encourage people to donate to the familiar RFL kiosks that were scattered around the place. The show itself went just fine. I tend to choose songs for these charity events that are complementary to the theme of a positive outlook, giving, and helping (and avoiding songs about death, dying, and depression, as you would imagine).

RFL FFC Setlist...
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Comes a Time (Neil Young)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
You've Got a Friend (Carole King)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Just Like Starting Over (John Lennon)
One (U2)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
After the Goldrush (neil Young)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)

Thanks to everyone who helped support my show and fight against cancer! Special mention goes to the FFC team of Pinky DeVinna, Joonie Jatho, and Zander Greene! They are cancer's worst nightmare!