Gearing up for this weekend.

No doubt this upcoming weekend is going to be crazy! I'm really excited, at the same time that I am quite dreading the inevitable tiredness that's usually coupled with such craziness. What I mean is, I have back-to-back shows on Saturday and Sunday... and they happen to be 600 miles apart.

Yep. I'm officially crazy.

But I have to say, I'm totally stoked! Saturday I'm flying out super early to perform at the FACT Conference in U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I'm also speaking at one of their workshops during the day, so that should be fun. What I don't look forward to, however, is sitting in the hotel room all by myself.. Oh well, maybe I'll get a good song out of it!

Sunday I'm flying out, again early, to Baltimore for a show in Fort Washington to benefit the victims of the typhoons in the Philippines. Rod Garcia, a fantastic singer/songwriter friend of mine who lives down there, organizes this yearly concert and it's my second year playing. It's always fantastic. It also happens that my grandfather's favorite Filipina jazz singer, Charmaine Clamor, is going to be singing. So I'll be sharing the stage with her... needless to say, autographs and photos will be in order.

:)

Okay... time to rest up for that long weekend! Talk to y'all soon.

Raspberry beret!

So about two weeks ago I performed down in Jersey City for a benefit held by some of the high schoolers at High Tech High School for Love146, an anti-child trafficking organization. There were many highlights to that show, thanks to a great audience (even despite the rain) and possibly the coolest fan present I've ever gotten... this here beret (or "raspberry beret" for all you Prince fans), crocheted by a lovely girl named Shannon who had recently listened to "Second Skin." The awesomeness of this is infinite...

I sometimes have moments when I wonder if my music is reaching out to anyone at all, and then I get something like this - made with so much love, care and consideration - and I tell myself to just shut my yap and be happy I can spread good vibes with my songs.
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Speaking of good vibes, I just can't get the new Regina Spektor album out of my head. I've had it for less than a week and I feel so close to every song on her new record. Particularly this one:



What a head-spinning few weeks it has been for me.
This album somehow calms me down, seems to put things in perspective and at the same time ignite something that makes me want to fight hard to continue seeing the beauty in everything. What I mean is, I turned 24 this past weekend, and I've always had issues accepting age... and I guess this album reminds me to just go with the flow, and see the good parts of growing older. You know?

On a tangent, this is why we should never give up the full-album format. I know people like to release singles these days, because of iTunes and that whole mp3 format... but at least for us singer/songwriters, we should keep the album because it makes such a statement about our music, our lyrics, our entire being. And what is a singer/songwriter if she or he is not simply trying to pinpoint life as it is?

Notes from The Bitter End and apologies...

Hey everyone! I know I've been terrible with updates, and so much has happened by way of gigging and booking more gigs in the last few weeks, I've been remiss to get back to ol' Blogger to keep you posted.

Maybe this will help make up for it?

Also, photos from the show are in the "Photos" section of the Facebook Fanpage: facebook.alfa-music.com.








Thanks to Dave Dodds, Jon McElroy, Laura Dadap, Alex Sovronsky and my sister Faye Garcia for a job well done that night!!!

We had another gig in New Hope, PA shortly after (Sept. 30), and I played two shows out in Jersey City last weekend, including a wonderful benefit show for Love146 sponsored by high schoolers from High Tech High School. Coming up on Friday, I'll be opening for Matt Santry at TCNJ! Check him out here: myspace.com/mattsantry.