Yay for August!  The past few weeks have been filled with all sorts of music-related goodness.  Some highlights:

what a beauty :)

it’s actually “pencil marks,” not “question marks,” but oh well…

-I started a new moleskin!  After 1.5 years of writing, the old one just won’t hold any more words.  So behold the new container for my lyrical ramblings: a limited edition John Mayer ‘Born and Raised’ moleskin (because I’m such a JMayer fanboy woooohoooooo).  It cost me a pretty penny, but I see it as a symbol of commitment to that song-a-week goal I set for myself earlier this year (which is on track, btw).  And it’s so fun to write in!  Moleskins have such an amazing feel to them; I highly recommend getting one if you need to write but don’t feel inspired by your current writing setup.  But yeah, I’ve got several songs in development that I’m really excited about; some will definitely be ready by the next online concert (more on that below).

-I may be on the verge of having a cover band business on the side.  I’ve been starting to play the wine bar about every two weeks with my awesome drummer friend, and we might branch out into other venues.  At a show last Friday, a manager of a restaurant in town put his business card in my tip jar and told me to call him.  I’m gonna talk with him later this week, hopefully it becomes a regular gig.

-Speaking of last Friday’s show, it was awesome.  Although we went in without a proper rehearsal, my talented drummer and I locked in amazingly well.  And we totally got people on the dance floor with some energized renditions of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”, The Beatles’ “Day Tripper”, and Van Morrison’s “Moondance”, among other jams.  Getting to play with such an great musician was really refreshing and made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

-On a more personal note, I also helped my brother move into his dorm room at college.  After getting to spend so much time with him over the past couple of months, I am pretty sad that he’s no longer around.  I’ll miss getting to hang out with him.  But I’m excited for him — it’s his fourth year, and no doubt he’s gonna have a lot of wonderful learning experiences.

It’s definitely been a challenge to juggle my commitments to work and family, writing for my next EP, and the cover band stuff.  But at the same time, it’s teaching me how to let go of the things I can’t control and just enjoy each and every moment, no matter how it turns out.  Life is messy, and who knows what will come to pass in 1, 5, or 10 years…If you told me 2 years ago I would be back home working for my parents and playing in a band with one of my closest friends, I wouldn’t have believed you.  But here I am, and strangely enough, it’s exactly what I needed.  I’m slowly beginning to understand that it really is the journey that matters, and I’m so grateful for all the roads that have led me to where I am today.  Here’s to more journeying :)

Much love,

Andrew

P.S.  My next online concert will be on 

Wednesday, September 26 @ 8:00 PM Pacific  

Can’t wait to share more new songs with you :)  Google+ just revamped some of their audio features in their Hangouts, so I may be going that route instead of livestream.com.  Will keep ya posted.  Also, I’ll be raffling off two more of those spiffy Andrew Plan t-shirts to those in the audience, so make sure to tune in!

$148 in tips.  wow.  

Coming back home, I never thought I’d be moonlighting as a wine bar singer, but that’s exactly what I got to do last Friday.

The venue was Vines and Friends, a classy new bar here in town and conveniently located just minutes away from my house.  A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine and fellow musician introduced me to the place, and we both ended up auditioning for the manager on the spot.  Thankfully, we got the nod of approval, and I scheduled a solo show for June 29.

Fast forward to the 29th: I arrive at the venue running a little late from work, with gear piled in the back seat and my bro in the passenger seat as my faithful roadie. After a few technical difficulties, which involved running home to grab a new mic to replace a faulty one and securing said mic to the stand with a plethora of hair bands, I was ready to go.  What followed was a bit of a blur, as I sang and strummed through ever cover I knew (and several I didn’t) over a 3.5 hour marathon set.  

Some highlights:

• Getting to catch up with high school friends
• My parents and family friends coming out to support me
• Finding out my high school wrestling teammate was the chef of the bar
• People-watching!  
• Serenading adorable couples and “setting the mood” ;)
• Chit-chatting with my brother and other patrons in between sets
• Improvising a cover of “Freebird” twice (!!!) for a warm group of classic-rock lovers
• Hearing a whole bar sing “sha la la la la” during Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl”
• Tackling “Someone Like You” in a lower register and doing it justice
• Debutting a new song, which got a positive reception
• The smiles of patrons as they came up to drop a few dollars in the tip jar
• Experimenting with my lower register, especially on Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” Magnetic Fields’ “Book of Love,” and John Mayer’s “A Face to Call Home”
• Duetting with one of the waitresses during Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”
• The couple at the end of the night that had especially awesome taste, requesting Ray Lamontgne and Ryan Adams
• Playing guitar as a fellow California transplant belted Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”
• The gracious patrons that came up to me to compliment my performance
• Meeting the owner of the venue, who enjoyed my performance
• Getting a delicious turkey panini on the house
• Earning $148 in tips and feeling totally humbled and grateful in the process

All in all, it was a truly wonderful night and a great learning experience.  I’m so grateful to have found such a warm and welcoming venue to perform in :) I look forward to honing my performance craft at Vines and Friends over the next year — I’ve already booked a couple of shows in August with the gracious manager at the venue, Bee, and I’ll be doing a jazz jam with my friend next week.  But most of all, it’s great to be reminded of the immense joy to be found in sharing music with others.  At the end of the day, it’s all about the love of good music and its incredible power to bring people together. 

Till next time…

Love,

Andrew

P.S.:  I’ve got an online concert coming up next week, Wednesday, June 11, 8 PM PST at livestream.com — just tune into http://livestream.com/andrewplanmusic when it’s game time and I will be right there on your screen and in your monitors, serenading you in real time.  I’ll also be raffling off two limited edition Andrew Plan t-shirts during the concert :)  Hope to see you there!