After playing at the Sweetwater we headed over to 19 Broadway in Fairfax. We got there just as they were starting their open mic. It’s a cool place with even cooler people. Special thanks to Derek Smith for being such an awesome host and making us feel right at home. Also thanks to Lawrence and Dave for playing percussion on Marakech and Moroccan Sunrise. Thanks to Rachel for the great photo!
Tonight I played at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley. This was the first time I was able to play at the Sweetwater’s new home. It’s a beautiful place and they have an excellent sound system. I can see that a lot of thought went into making this place. Hope to play there again sometime.
Went to the Red Rock Coffee Open Mic tonight and had a great time. This open mic is a monday night tradition in Mt View. It’s been going strong for 15 years. Thanks to Scott & Marshall for all their work in making it such a great place to play!
The good times keep on rolling. Just got a batch of album cards delivered last night and they look great! Now I will have something to hand to people when I tell them about the new album. Sweet!
Part of my plan for this year was to start playing out more often and in new places. This week was the beginning of that phase. I played a couple of songs at Caffe Frascati’s open mic and had a great time. Really nice place in downtown San Jose with really cool people sharing their talents. I’ll be going back to this one. Thanks to Joe for hosting!
Super stoked to have an awesome review of the new album by Hall of Fame Amazon reviewer Grady Harp. You can check it out for yourself here. Thanks, Grady!
Exciting times! My latest album Open went live this morning and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks to Kenny Schick for the awesome work he did recording & mixing it. Sounds beautiful! Full, lush, direct and open. Just like I was hoping it would be. This is a live in-studio recording, all done in one day. I played and sang each of the songs one after another just like a live performance. To be that focused and “in the moment” was one of the most intense and rewarding experiences I’ve had a musician.
You can find the album here:
I would love to know what you think of it. Please drop me a note or find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/toglenns.
One of my closest friends over the last 10 years, Richard Adoradio, is moving to the Big island of Hawaii. We had a birthday / going-away party for him tonight. I wanted to do something special for him so I wrote a song and called it “Thrive”. It tells the story of the Blue Rock Shoot open mic, from his point of view. The song was based of the musical styles that we’ve been playing together over the years. Mahalo for everything Richard! Hope you have an amazing adventure on the island! We’ll miss you!
Been a long time since I’ve played out on my own and one of my plans for this year was to do some shows. Unfortunately, I’ve found that once I’ve stopped getting out in front people it takes a bit to get back up to speed (both musically and as a performer). The solution? Open mics. In my mind there is no better way of getting comfortable playing in front of an audience. It’s low risk and (most of the time) a really supportive environment. One of my favorite spots has been and still is The Blue Rock Shoot in Saratoga. Thanks to Bob and the folks running the restaurant for keeping it going. So awesome to have a space like this to go to!
Here’s a shot of me playing at the Blue Rock in 2008. If I remember correctly, I believe that it was taken by Thomas E. Snuggs. And yes, it was back when I still had plenty of hair. :-D
I’ve had the great fortune to study with the amazing Hristo Vitchev over the past couple of years. Recently we’ve started charting out some of my songs. There’s something really powerful about seeing your songs notated. Makes them seem like they are (almost) tangible.
Thanks to Hristo for all his help!