Key West (03.03.11)

A pretty sunset at Key West, a terrific place to see live music in SL.

As you undoubtedly know by now, I spent last weekend at the SL San Diego Jam, and had a terrific time. What I didn't mention is that while I was there, a lovely lady who goes by the name Maali Beck came up to me and asked who managed me in SL.

The honest answer to that question for the last four years has been... no one! I've barely managed myself, and while I've been grateful for the help I've received from my lovely Kat as well as that of überfans like Triana Caldera and Diana Renoir, I have been mostly on my own for getting shows booked, promoting them, and all that stuff. Honestly, I really never liked that aspect of being a musician in real life nor SL, and I therefore tended not to dedicate much time to it beyond what was minimally necessary to keep playing shows and getting some fans to them.

So, when Maali expressed interest in managing my SL music career, out of habit I started to say that I really didn't feel I needed a manager. But a short while later, I spoke about it with Kat, and realized that a manager was exactly what I needed. This year in particular has proven that point; I found myself too busy with other aspects of life to spend hardly any time reaching out to the SL music community to get new gigs, and as a result had only played a few shows in SL over the course of January and February. That's why, on the following day, I told Maali that I was indeed interested in taking her up on her offer, and we decided to meet the following week to go over some details. We decided that she and her partner Rusty Seisenbacher would meet with me on Thursday at 5PM.

My new manager, the lovely Maali Beck.

Well, being the great manager she is, instead of our meeting, Maali went ahead and booked me a show on that same day and time (we opted to push back the meeting, as you'd expect), which is how I ended up performing at Key West for the first time. Key West is a terrific-looking venue, and a glance at the roster of artists who play there will tell you that owner Liz Harley really goes after the best talent in SL. It was an honor to do my show there, and we ended up having a great time with a big and super-enthusiastic crowd.

Maali poked fun at my circa-2007 skin. I promised her an updated look sometime soon. Time to do something I almost never, ever do in SL: go shopping.

Great venue, great crowd.

Key West Set List

Change (Tears for Fears)
If You Could Only See (Tonic)
*The Other Way (Zak Claxton)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Tea on the Sahara (The Police)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
Soul Kitchen (The Doors)

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

Huge thanks to everyone who helped support my show at Key West!
Triana Caldera, Joonie Jatho, EvaMoon Ember, TheaDee, Tyra Jakob, Diana Renoir, Tor Swenson, Alexis Fairlady, Taunter Goodnight, Xerxes Ninetails, Kimmie Rayna, Chely Lock, CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster, Spiral Silverstar, Christine Haiku, Kat Claxton, and special thanks to Key West owner Liz Harley, as well as my brand new management team of Maali Beck and Rusty Seisenbacher!