the debut gig...

I performed the first official show under the moniker "Soul in the Shade" last night at the Southgate House. I played "FDOFU," "novelty rush(bail out)," "fLAshpaper," "sober me up," "quicksand," "ultraviolet for the mole," "favorite witness," "steady," "good morning, goodbye," and at the urging of an encore "bluestar." I was able to nail the big drawn-out notes and high parts and falsetto bits, all the practice in China paying off.

There was a modest crowd, a good parlour-size clutch of people around 20, and their cheers fueled me. It was like, at last: validation. I've been basically working in a vacuum with these songs and to hear strangers applaud them, neither knowing me nor my catalogue beforehand, is such a sweet honor. Now I've gotten my name out, rubbed elbows with others who could share a bill sometime, arrived, making good on my claim that I returned stateside to work on music.

The parlour became a kind of "no guitars" venue as I, Beau and Sharon, and then Venus Mission, all brought our keys-based songs out in triplicate, and we all rocked. I had my oil projector shining up on the back wall, framed by an ancient painting, dusty and haggard from the mansion days, and nag champa burning in the corner. I like to recreate my room wherever I'm playing to set myself at ease, and also bring the audience a little deeper into my head.

I'm very eager to perform again, but I am going to need a new keyboard. One that has weighted keys, and the full range so I won't have to transpose between songs, and one that is actually mine. It will require some saving up, but it must happen.