Food For Thought
What do people in China call their good plates?

Timing is Everything
I give guitar lessons to children. Last week, I walked into the home of one of my students and noticed that they had a fully decorated Christmas Tree up in the living room. It's none of my business really. I suppose they could put it up after the Fourth of July and it wouldn't have any effect on my daily life. I just felt a little sad about it.

I'm certainly not the first one to comment on how the stores are putting out their Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier each year. People have been complaining that Thanksgiving is overlooked for a number of years. Now some places have Christmas decorations out before Halloween.

I'm not about to wax philosophic on what Christmas means to me, and I wouldn't presume to tell you what it should mean to you. I just wonder if it becomes a little less special to the children when they are surrounded by it for over 2 months.

making contact
I was talking to a musician friend of mine the other day about getting gigs. He was asking how I go about getting them. It seems he has sent out a number of demo cd's, and hasn't had much response. Your first thought may be that his cd stinks. That's not the case. I've heard it and it's pretty good. I believe the problem is the way he's going about it. Getting gigs is like applying for any other kind of job. If you blindly send out your resume to companies, you're chances aren't as good as if you make personal contact.

I like going to different open mics. Not so much because I like getting up to play two or three songs. I like them because I meet a lot of talented people. You learn a lot from people who have been there before you, and you get to pass along what you've learned to up and comers. It's also a good opportunity for the owners of the venue you're in to hear you, and hear how the crowd reacts to what you do. As people become familiar with you, they're more likely to refer you to people in a position to give you a job.

As someone who is handling the booking for a venue with live music, I know I've had lots of contact from people that I've never heard of. I'm a lot more likely to book someone whom I've heard, or who has been referred by someone I know and trust.

Worth Fighting For
I'd be willing to bet that if you stopped 100 people between the ages of 18 and 21 on the street tomorrow and asked them what the 26th amendment to the U.S. constitution says, less than 10 of them would know.

People all over the world have fought and died for a chance to have what is given to Americans because of where we live. I visited Czechoslovakia when it was under communist rule. I saw the crosses on the Berlin Wall memorializing those who died trying to cross it. So many people have no idea how absolutely amazing it is that we live in a country that gives us the right to choose our leaders.

I wish everyone who is eligible would do two things this week. On Tuesday, exercise your right to vote. Even if the only election in your district is for Dog Catcher. Then on Friday, make sure you thank a veteran for defending your right to vote.

I'm Easily Amused
I admit it. I find dumb little things amusing. For example, the page counter on this website is about to turn over 2,000 hits. I can't wait to see when it happens.

I recently saw the movie "Lost in Translation." I hated it. "Stripes" and "Caddyshack" and even "Ghostbusters" were much better Bill Murray movies. I live the human condition. I don't need to pay $7.50 to see it at the movies. Entertain me! I'd rather see a bunch of cowboys sitting around the campfire farting than a couple of whiney bastards drinking wine and complaining about how they don't know how to love.

Sometimes I feel the same way about music. Now I completely appreciate the talent it takes to write an perform a song. But not every song has to be topical and meaningful. Sometimes I just want a catchy hook and a melody I can whistle in the car.

Stephen King is my favorite author. He once said, " I'm a salami writer. I try to write good salami, but salami is salami. You can't sell it as caviar. "

I think I'll go have a sandwich!

On being Unique
Have you ever done a Google search on your name just to see what comes up? Of course you have. Everyone has.

I'm the youngest of six children. As it happens, all of our names begin with the letter "S". My brother, Sam, is named after our grandfather. As is the tradition in a lot of large, Italian families, there are plenty of cousins named after grandparents and aunts or uncles. Since there's only so many of those to go around, we've got a lot of cousins with the same name. I was the only Steve (Stephen, to be accurate) in the family. I always felt unique in that regard.

When I was in seventh grade, a girl moved to town with the last name West. Considering the size of Livonia, it was a novelty that we weren't related. The odd thing was that her father's name is Stephen. He even has the same middle name. So does her brother, Steve Jr. Then, about three years ago, a guy moved in about four houses down the street. You guessed it, his name is Steve West. No relation.

As I was first building this website, I did a search and found out that there are tons of Steve Wests. Many of them are also musicians. That causes two problems. The first being that they took all the good domain names, the second being that it causes some confusion for people trying to find me, or one of them for that matter.

I don't wish ill will toward anyone, but today, Nov. 2, is my birthday. I think when I blow out the candles tonight, I might wish that mine is the name folks are thinking of. At least for today.

Branching Out
There's an old saying: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." That can be interpreted a number of ways, but I take it as an admonishon not to get too comfortable. It's a challenge to push ourselves to try new things and improve upon the same old same old.

Last night, I had the pleasure of playing with my friend Bill Brown. Bill is a fantastic musician, and a wise philosopher. Bill asked me to play some guitar and harmonica with him. Now Bill knows that I am comfortable playing in certain keys and playing certain styles of music. Nonetheless, he'd pick a different key or a style of music I'm not really comfortable with, and challenge me to hang with him. It forced me to step outside of myself and come up with some new ways of thinking about how I play.

I witnessed a similar thing the other night. I was at the jazz open jam at Daily Perks. Most of the musicians who go to this event are students at Nazareth College in their jazz program. They don't really play much blues. The host is one of their professors. Knowing I was there, he called a blues number and asked me to step up the the stage with my harps. The drummer had never played a blues rhythm before, and the guitar player hit the wrong chord three bars into the song. The host stopped the song, explained a couple of things, and started again. They got it right this time, and it was one of the most fun numbers that was played all night.

Timing is Everything
A couple of years ago, Pete Collin and I had a gig in mid October at the Big Tree Inn back when they had live music. We were feeling pretty good when the crowd erupted in applause after one of our first numbers. A little later, the crowd erupted again right after a fine solo by Pete. Again, our chests were swolen with pride. Then, in the middle of a beautiful ballad, the crowd started cheering. It was then we realized that game seven of the Yankees vs. Red Sox playoff series was on TV right around the corner from where we were set up.

Last year I managed to schedule another gig during the baseball playoffs again. We were even asked to stop playing for a little while so they could hear what the announcers were saying about the game. I was humbled, but I was also getting paid, so I gave 'em what they wanted..... silence.

I've never been much of a baseball fan. I'm more of a football and basketball kind of guy. I just don't pay much attention to baseball. So of course, I went out and booked Pete and I to play at Boulder Coffee Company this Friday, Oct. 28. This year, however, I got lucky. A quick check of the schedule tells me that the World Series will either be over by then, or be between games. That means you can all come out and enjoy an evening of fine picking and singing by your truly, along with Pete.

Join us, won't you?

Back in the Saddle Again
I haven't performed in about a month. Back in September, I started having some problems with my throat, and the doctor advised me to take it easy for a while.

This Friday, Oct. 28 I will be doing a gig at Boulder Coffee Company with Pete Collin. I must admit, I'm more than a little nervous about it. I just don't know yet how my voice will respond. I certainly don't want to give anyone who shows up to see us a half rate show. Luckily, Pete has plenty of material to carry the load if need be. To be sure, there will be some songs from my normal set list that will have to be put on hold for a while until I learn how to perform them without causing myself harm.

In any case, it promises to be an interesting night. Boulder is a comfortable place to hang out and listen to some music. After our show, Eric Reinhart will be taking the stage to do some songs. He's well worth hanging around for. I hope to see some of you there.

...the spice of life
I'm talking about variety, of course. It's what keeps things interesting.

I went to the open jazz jam at Daily Perks Coffee House on Wednesday night. The majority of the players were from Nazareth College. I was blown away by their talent. I fancied myself to be a pretty fair trombone player when I was in high school, but I couldn't hold a candle to these very talented young musicians. But I've gotten off my point: variety.

I've been feeling a little bored with my musical environment recently, and tonight I realized what the problem is. Pretty much everything I've been listening to and playing is guitar based. It was so refreshing to hear a trumpet and a trombone and a sax tonight. Don't get me wrong, I love performing the music I do, but a little variety keeps life interesting. I recommend taking a different path every now and again. You may just find that you've recharged your enthusiasm for life.