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August 2002
Aloha, Mr. Hand: I am in a very good mood. I’m about to take the first real vacation I’ve ever had in my adult life. I depart for Hawaii on Sunday with my fiancée, who has just finished taking the California Bar Exam (and if that torture doesn’t warrant a trip to the islands, I don’t know what does). The good thing about playing music for a living is that I am lucky enough to do what I truly love and get paid for it. The bad thing is that I can never stop. In a business where whole careers often go from humble beginnings to the heights of worldwide superstardom to degradation, financial ruin and obscurity in about six to eight weeks, taking a week and a half off to sit on a beach is a major leisure commitment.I just recently returned from a month long tour of the East Coast. It was a great trip – good crowds, good venues, good press. The only low point was when my keyboard was stolen out of the rental car in New York. Even that had a positive spin, as so many wonderful people came out of the woodwork to help me through the rest of tour by loaning me their keyboards. It seems I have never been so dependent upon the kindness of strangers (not to mention friends and acquaintances) as I have been lately. Then, just as I found myself with three days off in Florida and no place to stay, a fan came out of the woodwork with the keys to a condo in the Keys. I spent three days at Ellie’s Retreat in Marathon eating cracked conch, watching for waterspouts, and sitting under a palm by the seaside smoking some nice maduros from the Conch Republic Cigar Factory. I also visited the Pigeon Key Historical Site and learned all about Henry Flagler’s amazing Overseas Railroad. This was all topped off nicely by a wonderful evening spent riding the three-masted Western Union Schooner out of Key West courtesy of resident ship troubadour Gary Zimmerman. Due to my temporary status as a man of leisure, August is mostly a slow month, but there are a few noteworthy gigs. I return to the East Coast to play the Concert On The Green in Framingham, MA, and the Turning Point in Piermont, NY. The Turning Point show will be an early split bill with skewed-hip-literate-space-age-bachelor-pad-jazz-trio from New York, Dave’s True Story. We’ve done many a show together, and they are not to be missed. Back here in California, I make a rare appearance behind the Orange Curtain at the Concordia University Center for the Performing Arts in Irvine, CA. This is a benefit show for the Music Therapy Dept. at Cal State U Northridge being presented by nonprofit organizations Music Cares and Hearts Giving Hope. See you later…Hawaii calls! Love, Bob
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