Serenity Gardens (05.06.19)

Every other Monday night for the past couple of years, you'll find me here onstage at Serenity Gardens in Second Life. Photo by Kat.

It's always funny to me how easy it is to deceive yourself into the definition of "normal". I'll use performing music in Second Life as an example. For some musicians, it's normal to do two, three, even four shows in a single day, and to do that basically every day. That is absolutely insane to me. And yet, for those folks, hearing that I rarely want to do more than one show per week seems to be an unthinkably sparse schedule. But over the last couple of weeks, I ended up doing five shows... which for me is a lot! And, like most things in life, those standards can change over the course of time. A number of years ago, when my personal schedule allowed it and I was open to more frequent SL shows, doing a few shows per week was my norm (though I never, ever liked doing more than one in a day... ugh). But like many things in life, there's no right or wrong answer to this, other than, "Do the frequency of shows that you can enjoy and that the crowds will support."

In any case, it feels like I've been up on the virtual stages a lot lately, and I'm frankly rather glad to have a couple of weeks ahead of me with no shows on my calendar. I find it's not only good for me, but also for my audience. Trust me, I know it's quite possible to burn out on any one performer, in SL or otherwise. It's good to give my fans and friends, as well as myself, a little break... from me.

Heading To The Desert
If you know me, you know that I try to get out of the city at least once per year, and my destination is nearly always Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert. Christina has accompanied me on each of the many trips we've taken since I first introduced her to the place in 2010. The two other people who have often gone with us are our good friends Jess and Bunny. For this upcoming trip, both of them are joining us.

People ask us, "What do you guys do out there?" and without being a smart-ass, the answer is simply, "Whatever we want." Obviously. there's the park itself, over 1,200 square miles of incredible desert wilderness filled with wildlife and amazing landscapes. We're not hardcore hikers or climbers. We love going into various areas of JTNP and just cruising around the trails. Important note: it's not a camping trip. Like, it's the opposite. We stay in any one of several cabins that are better described as nicely appointed small houses. We cook full meals and also eat out at some of the cool restaurants there in the area.

Heading back to JTree this week with Jess, Christina, and Bunny. The last time all four of us went together was in November 2015.

But we also usually take a bunch of time just to chill and relax, and enjoy being away from the grind of work and responsible life. Many have described the desert as a place where you can reset your spirit. I don't know about that, but I do know that going there helps me stop fixating on the negative aspects of life, and that my challenges seem much more able to be resolved after I return. I will almost certainly be writing a post-trip report upon my return.

Dat Show Doe
Perhaps because of the fact that I've done a bunch of shows (per my scale) recently, I really wanted to pull out some songs that don't often hit the set list for Monday night's performance at Serenity Gardens. While I didn't pull out anything new, a good number of the songs were among those that haven't been done even once in the past few years. I particularly enjoyed playing "Perfectly Calm", a song that we wrote for the They Stole My Crayon album but didn't make the cut for the final song list. The song is in limbo; I don't know if it will be recorded for a subsequent TSMC album or a Zak Claxton album. It has musical elements that could take it either way. In any case, I hadn't done it live except for one time in spring 2014 right after it was written, and it was good to try out again. I think it held up nicely.

Me, rocking. Photo by Kat.

I always enjoy the energized crowd we seem to get at Serenity Gardens. Photo by Kat.

One thing I like about Kat's photos at my shows: she's taken so many of them that she seems to seek out interesting angles. I've never even seen Serenity Gardens from this vantage point. Neat. Photo by Kat.

We had a good crowd at Serenity Gardens -- better than I'd expected, given all my recent shows. As has been the case as my smoking cessation efforts have progressed, I was pretty happy with the clarity and pitch center of my voice, my guitar playing was on point, and most people seemed to have a good time. That's all I want from a show.

Serenity Gardens set list...
Never Run Away (Kurt Vile)
I’ve Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
Blew the Dust Away (They Stole My Crayon)
Catamaran (Yawning Man)
Black Peter (Grateful Dead)
Learning to Fly (Pink Floyd)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
Man on the Moon (R.E.M.)
Perfectly Calm (They Stole My Crayon)
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
What I Got (Sublime)
The Crystal Ship (The Doors)
The Weight (The Band)

Thanks to everyone who came out to Serenty Gardens for the show, and special super-duper thanks to the following who helped support it!
Rosie Arnaz, Kat Chauveau, Lyric Serendipity, RandyAllways Resident, Leyah Renegade, Aurelie Chenaux, Trouble Streeter, Turn Pike, Kat Claxton, TheaDee Resident, Wanderofitall Resident, my excellent manager Maali Beck, and the fabulous team at Serenity Gardens, Tilly Rose and Ilsa Wilde.