A backing band called “Shhhhh!”

Picture: My best friend, Tracy, and I spent a morning browsing around in Kalk Bay's magical little shops, and ended up having lunch at Cape to Cuba. This was how close we were to the railway tracks! What a rush!

Blog post 2 – Fri 15_04_11

Second blog post in one day – some serious blogging going on! It was all supposed to have been one blog post, but this topic needed to be physically separated from what gushed out as the first article. Blogging is a bit like songwriting, for me – I never know when the mood will hit me, and I don’t always know what’s going to come out, because there’s always so much in my head.

Well, here goes:
My music life has taken a new direction, recently, with the addition of two weekly gigs, bringing my current total to three, the most I’ve had in years, simply because I wasn’t hungry enough for it and I wasn’t looking seriously. That was while I worked in a mainstream job with a safe, predictable monthly income and all the benefits that go with it, and music was my “hobby”. Now music is one of the two main directions I’m investing myself in, as income-generating activities – the other is, broadly, the English language. In the music part of my life, I do live gigs and teach guitar lessons – I now have 8 students. In the English Language part of my life, I’ve been doing some editing work, and have found that not only do I enjoy it, but it’s one of the easiest things for me to do. Imagine having TWO things you love intensely, both of which have the potential to generate an income. “But that’s not all” - as they say in the infomercials – managing myself in both these areas means I get to be in control of my time and my life. In reality, I’ve become my own boss, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The more I flex myself and reap the rewards, the more I realize what’s possible. Every week, sometimes for a few consecutive days in one week, new opportunities open up, people approach me to do projects, to do short contracts, and to use my expertise in some way – it’s so cool! And do you know why this is happening? Because I believed it was possible. Not only that, I opened myself to the guidance of a life coach (Inez Woods – Google her!), and working with her has revolutionized my entire life. I’d highly recommend her to anyone.

It’s not always easy, and there are times when payments for work done are delayed, and there’s a domino effect on payments I have to make – that kind of thing stresses me as I strive to regain my independence and not have to borrow from anyone. I must say this, however: learning to ask for help when you’re down and out is a very important life lesson; if you know that it’s quite ok to ask for help, you’ll never be someone for whom life has no future, for whom suicide is an option. Pride sucks – get rid of it, keep records of loans made, and be responsible about repayments. What the experience of leaning on someone does is, it raises your sensitivity and compassion towards others when their time of need arises. You will understand fully, when approached by a needy friend, exactly how hard it was to pluck up the courage to ask for that loan, and how desperate the person must be to get to that stage. Watch out, though, for habitual borrowers who have a poor track record of repaying. Some people know how to make you feel guilty when you ask for your own money back! 

But, back to the topic I actually want to tell you about – last night’s gig! Firstly, let me tell you what the three weekly gigs are:

1. Duo gig with Wayne Bosch: Wednesday nights at Myoga Restaurant, in the Vineyard Hotel, Newlands, Cape Town. We play two sets during dinner, from 8 to 10pm. Lovely 5-star venue, characterful old building, the most amazing staff I have ever encountered and the food is so scrumptious, I want to move in!!! We’ve done three nights there so far.

2. On Thursday nights, I do a solo gig at Don Pedro’s, in Woodstock, Cape Town, also two sets, starting at 8:30pm. I’ve been there for 8 weeks, and it’s quite a highlight of my week, for reasons that might take you by surprise. (More about that later!) An old, established hangout for political activists and arty types (!), this venue is regaining its popularity under new ownership. Could have a bright future.

3. On Sunday we started a new gig, at an Italian restaurant in Cavendish Connect, in Claremont, Cape Town, called Doppio Zero. This I do with Wayne, and we play three sets from 7 – 10pm. Lovely ambience, nice buzz, and I really like the way the restaurant spills out onto the public walkway, with tables under the trees. Charming! The manager is Bulgarian, a lovely woman with a warm and funny character, and she made us feel welcome from the word go.

I have 7 minutes before I’m supposed to get up and hang the laundry, shower, get dressed and fetch my son at school to go to the physio.

So, pushing past my self-imposed time limit, here goes again:
Why do I love my gig at Don Pedro’s? Ok, let me tell you about last night, which was easily the funniest experience I’ve had at a gig in ages! As usual, the first set passed fairly uneventfully; I was quite tired and I remember looking at my watch and thinking, the set must be about done, when I saw I was only 15 minutes into it, and there were another 30 minutes left! Doing a solo gig is hard work, especially when the night before you’ve had the thrill and luxury of being accompanied by a wonderful guitarist.

But, I digress!

Somewhere in the evening, round about the end of that set or during the break, a group of people pitched up, having come from a live poetry event. I knew most of them, knew them as writers and poets, and knew that they normally enjoyed my originals, so I made a mental note to do more of my own songs in the second set.

When the second set got under way, one of the women in the audience was so interested in the songs I’d written, and so intent on catching every word, that she kept telling the other patrons to keep quiet, with interventions ranging from ”Shhhhhh!” to the kind of colourful language that you probably won’t read on my blog. Ever. It was so funny! At times I couldn’t even sing, I had to laugh out loud, because the others in the audience weren’t always obliging, choosing instead to engage in playful banter with her, which produced more colourful outbursts, at an even greater volume. At one time, I felt like putting my guitar down, so that I could roll on the stage with laughter!!!! So funny!

But that’s not all!!!! When I sang covers that she knew, she sang out loud with me, and sometimes harmonized – I must say, though, she could really sing!!!! I do a version of a Beatles song, “Do you want to know a secret?”, where I pull the arrangement into a lazy swing with jazz chords, and I love singing it MY way. Last night, however, any attempt at rendering my own version fell by the wayside, as my vociferous friend belted out her own version along with me.

In the end, it was just good fun, and everyone saw the funniness of it all.

Later on, when another friend arrived, someone told him I’d sung my second set with a backing band – oh, the singing lady had also played “drums” on the table, keeping the beat quite powerfully with her flat hands, as one would play a djembe - and that the band’s name was “Shhhhhh!”.

To all my old friends who regularly pitch up at Don Pedro’s to listen to me and enjoy the food and the wonderful Bohemian vibe of the place, as well as to the new friends I’ve made there, and especially to the lady who sang so passionately last night, immersing herself in the music – I believe her name was Maude? - thank you for your warmth and love, and for making my weekly gigs there such a pleasure.

I really do lead an interesting life. Maybe I’ll write a book about it one day.

But for now, it’s all going to come out in little – or not so little! - blog posts. Sometimes even two on one day!

(Big thanks to Zeni and Suli, who gave me CDs last night, to add to my female vocalist listening library – oh my goodness - my head and heart are filled with new music today, utter soul food! Deep sigh of contentment…..)