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AND THEN THERE WERE 8 August 23 2011
By now, you should have an idea of how your week is looking like. Hopefully it’ll include attending this event right here.
Rick & Ray is back with their monthly get down, LIFESWELL, on Thursday at Blu Monkey. When I think about how we’re already in the 8th month of throwing this party, I realize that the year has gone by really fast…Anyways, we have two guest DJs to help us soundtrack the night - Dstrukt and Destroyer.
Representing San Jose and Lakewood, CA, DJ Dstrukt can be heard on the world famous Wake Up Show, or running with BEVMO, Acrylick Clothing, or the Under the Table Crew. His latest mix “Work Out” currently holds the number two spot for the most played mixes on mixcrate. On Thursday, he’s going to drop a little Aaliyah tribute starting at 11:30p.
DJ Destroyer is a triple threat as DJ/producer/remixer with a resume that boasts collaborations with artists like Radiohead and De La Soul, and cosigns from names like DJ AM and Mark Ronson. He’s been in the game since the late 80s, and continues to stay on the forefront of the club/hiphop/soul music cultures with residencies at FAST FWD and Strictly Social. His set will start at 12:30a.
We’ll also be celebrating the birthdays of two of my very good friends. One you’ve seen here many times - Glen of Rhythm Natives and Rick & Ray, and the other you may have not. Her name is Samantha Jade. What these two have in common is loyalty. Loyalty in the hustle and loyalty in support. That’s hard to come by these days, so if you’re there this Thursday, buy them a drink!
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MY CONCERT SERIES August 22 2011
I’m fresh off of Sade’s concert that happened at Staples Center this past weekend (scratched that off my bucket list). The show was amazing. I think I was put into some kind of trance the entire night. When I left, I realized that 2011 has been my year for concerts. Every artist I wanted to see, I saw. Thank you, Los Angeles.
The year started with The Roots Jam Session where I saw my favorite hip hop group perform and share the stage with artists like Ryan Leslie.
In April, I saw Prince.
Then the third time I saw Prince, he brought out Stevie Wonder. I geeked like a little girl. That’s off my bucket list, too.
In June, I saw Alicia Keys in a one night only affair. Those tickets sold out in two minutes.
And finally, Sade. Oh, Sade…
Later this week, I get to see more artists when I hit Rock the Bells in the bay. Can’t wait for that and the rest of the year.
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ONE MAN BAND August 19 2011
I was going through the behind the scenes photos from the Rhythm Natives’ Make Up Your Mind video shoot, and was reminded that on day 2 of filming, we met Arthur Nakane in Little Tokyo.
As we were walking to the car, Jon and I noticed this mobile apparatus filled with instruments and made with PVC pipes. The sign on the front of it read, “Arthur Nakane, One Man Band”. We stopped to look at it, when Arthur introduced himself. He’s 73 years young, and after taking nearly three hours to get his whole rig set up, he plays to the crowd at the Japanese Village Plaza Mall every weekend. Before we left him, he encouraged us to stay and watch his performance, but we couldn’t. So, he pulled out a portable DVD player from the trunk of his car and showed us video of his stint on America’s Got Talent. He landed a spot on the TV show, but didn’t make it to the following round. That didn’t kill his spirit, though. I asked him why he still does what he does - why he takes that long to set up just to play to passersby. He responded, “because I can.” Simple.
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THANK YOU August 18 2011
I checked our stats this morning, and realized that since CA went version 4.0, we’ve had over 5 million hits. This is a note to simply say thank you. Thank you for reading it, thank you for talking about it, thank you for plugging it. As long as I continue to live what I love, this blog will be right here.
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BROUGHT BACK August 18 2011
Last night was spent in the Rhythm Natives studio space for a meeting, and it felt really good to be back there with them. I’ve been heavily focused on developing my other business, Rick & Ray, and I needed to be brought back to earth. What better way to accomplish that than spend time with the boys that jump started my professional life.
The band is getting ready to hit the festival circuit next month with FPAC and with AMP. Stay tuned for details.
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