2017 a Year of Change
Hi Everybody,
Where does time go these days. It seems like yesterday I was playing music full time and doing a few projects on the side. I have been fortunate to play with many great bands and musicians throughout my musical career. Fast forward to spring of 2017 and I am working as the General Manager at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo. When my friend Don Bassey retired I was asked to step in on an interim basis to help the theatre until a suitable replacement was found. During that time I have been booking shows and trying to change the perception of the theatre from being a music venue to being a performing arts center. Slowly but surely the word spread and we began to see attendance grow in response to offering, music, acapella, dance, magic, stage plays, and even dancing dogs by the Olate Dogs who won Americas Got Talent. When my interim contract was up I was asked to stay on as the General Manager and am currently working full time in this capacity.
My fans and musical friends are a little bummed as I am not performing as frequently as I used to. I am trying to strike a balance but it does seems the theatre requires a good amount of my time and therefore I am not playing as much as I would like. That said, I do try to sit in with bands that are coming through the theatre, and still join the Jazz Explosion on an occasional Thursday night at the Union Hotel in Benicia. I still accept private gigs that are in the afternoon or an off night for the theatre. I also agreed to play the last Thursday of every month at the Benicia Farmers Market, so come down and say hello. I will try to update my calendar so you can see the dates I will be playing.
Check out the monthly calendar at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo if you are interested in seeing some great shows (http://www.empresstheatre.org).