Two Beers and a Pretzel

So I’ve been in LA for almost a week now.  I’m staying with my cousin Asa and his roommate Brian.  Brian just happens to be the guitarist and backup vocalist for Rebekah White – Asa’s girlfriend.  In the apartment we have 12 guitars, a mandolin, a bass, a gut-bucket bass, a keyboard, various drums, a bunch of amplifiers, and I brought the sitar with me.  It’s quite the place for music making.

On Friday, Rebekah and Brian had a concert at the Cabanna Club in Hollywood, and Asa was playing with the Conley’s – the closing band of the night.  I got to record the video and audio, as well as run around looking like an official photographer.  It was pretty fun, but I need to work on my event photography skills – especially using my flash unit and figuring out how to focus the lens quickly in a dark room.  But I got a fair number of good shots…

Asa drumming for the Conley’s – I just thought this was a cool shot…

Rebekah and Brian in mid set…  There were a few other good shots of them, but this was by far the best one…

Asa on Mandolin and Harmonica with a nice background blur effect (I love the large aperture lenses)

The LA Skyline…

On Saturday and Sunday, we all went to the NAMM show next to Disneyland in Anaheim.  I couldn’t actually get in because there was a problem getting me a pass, but I would have just been following Rebekah around to all the people she needed to see anyway, so no big deal…  and there was plenty to do outside the main show.  I attended a vendor exhibit on how you can add your own songs (with the animations and game play jems) to the ROCKBAND video game online store, and earn a percentage of money when people buy your songs.  Currently, bands pay around $1500 to consulting companies to add a single song to the game store.  Ouch.

I was thinking of photoshopping this pic to say NO BABIES – Leave them in your car, please.

Odd how I read an article by the NAMM chairman about how he used to sneak into shows 10 years ago.  Security was pretty tight, and they were checking ID’s everywhere.  I guess he doesn’t want anyone pulling his old tricks…

But, there were a lot of outdoor concerts and freak-show watching (mostly people dressed like 80′s punk and metal bands), so I stayed plenty busy.

This week Rebekah has to be in San Francisco for a work conference and a photo shoot, so us boys will be hanging out and jamming.  I want to figure out my sitar versions of ‘The Devil Went Down to Punjab’, the ‘Led Zeppelin Medley Raga’, and what will probably be a futile attempt at slide blues on a sitar…  If any of them turn out well, I’ll post an MP3 on the blog.  I’m sure everyone is holding their breath in anticipation.

Oh yeah, and Asa and will I refine the pitch for our little side project…