Sol Grill, Solo.

Sol Grill is this little restaurant down at the Newport Beach Pier, not too far from Blackie's, a place that I once surfed in my relatively younger years. They have great food and the atmosphere is really cozy and cute. There's probably only ten tables in the place, and you're surrounded on all sides by wonderful surf and beach related art.

Last night I played a solo acoustic gig hosted by my friend and local Orange County singer/songwriter Paul Hines. It was a fun gig. I hardly ever bring out my Epiphone Masterbuilt acoustic guitar for gigs; it's fun to let the Stratocaster and Les Paul take a night off! Sol Grill, as most restaurants can be a hard gig if you're the type of musician that likes to have the attention of the crowd and listener feedback, and Sol Grill is not that kind of place. You're pretty much wallpaper music. In the past this would have bothered me (since my music is so wonderful and unique... I say this with sarcasm) but being the center of attention has become less and less important to me. I guess the recording engineer part of my personality is getting much stronger; recording engineers are all about working their magic in the background. So lately I've found myself having a much better time performing since I'm not really expecting anyone to be paying attention. When somebody does, than it's just that much better.

I guess I'm playing more for myself; doing the best that I can do, pushing the envelope of my own abilities, and just trying to put on the best performance I can, regardless if anyone is really watching or not. It's pretty nice.