Back in NYC.

After 5 days of straight shows (and driving), I finally have 2 days to catch my breath.  I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until today.  As much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to sleep in this morning, but after lunch with an old friend and a stop at Uniqlo in Paramus, NJ, I indulged in a much-needed 2.5-hour nap.  Of course that means it's 4:15am and I'm fighting sleep.  Bottomless cups of green tea at dinner with another friend probably didn't help.  But it's OK.  I can write instead.

Last night was my NYC show at The Bitter End, a venue with a long history to me.  It's probably one of the earliest places I played in my career. It was nice to be back and warmly welcomed by the door man and Riyoshi, the sound engineer who I know I can always count on.  Despite the Sunday 10pm time slot, the crowd was great, and a lot of folks stayed after the songwriter session beforehand. CD's were sold, hands were shook, greetings abounded, and even a movie star was in our midst (a Filipina one, KC Concepcion, but still cool! She bought CD's and asked for a picture...which I will post soon, promise).  My heart just felt so full.  It meant a lot to be able to come back to the place where I started and feel like I've grown as a performer since the early days.  It was another great moment to add to many from this tour: an intimate house show at my friend Eric's place in Boston, kazoo-choruses at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, a performance and interview with Lasell College Radio in Massachusetts, making new fans at Penn State, and grabbing pizza and wings with the students at LeMoyne in Syracuse.  I'm thankful for all the posts on my Facebook wall from the show too, since I didn't have photos of my own to post. :)

Here's the set list from last night:

War!
A Simple Life
Missed Opportunity
First Sight of Land
Blue
Man On the Radio
From Me
Replaced/Counting Stars cover
Isabelle

Photo by Peter Ou.

Photo by Gordon Nash.