Three awesome things happened on this tour that I could never have planned for.

One
At Tapas in Redding, someone in the audience was talking to me between sets about gypsy
violinists, and the amazing songs that were written in that style. I was originally
going to leave it at just a conversation, but then the same man started quoting phrases
from Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No.5 in-between a song. I knew the piece, but not well-enough
to play it. So instead I decided to play Vittorio Monti’s wonderful piece Czardas. This might
not have been the best decision, because I hadn’t played the piece all the way through in years.

But my fingers were feeling nimble and my confidence took over for logic – and apart from having to take an extra-long dramatic pause in a couple of places to get my memory in order, I think I nailed it! Personal satisfaction for the win!

Check out a jaw-dropping performance of Czardas from violin virtuoso Anton Kontra and comedian
Victor Borge.

Two
A couple of nights later, when I was in Eugene bumming around for my gig that evening, I kept seeing postcards for a harpist named Deborah Henson-Conant. She’s an electric harpist (who knew that was a thing!) who plays one-woman shows by telling musical stories with her harp. Then the day after my gig, I was sitting in a little bistro having lunch and a woman walks in who looked very familiar to me. Lo and behold, it was Deborah – I told her I recognized her from the flyers, and we ended up having lunch together and talked shop for over an hour.

The verdict that we came up with? Being an independent musician (touring or not) is incredibly time-consuming. Between finding gigs, promoting them, connecting with fans, and actually performing, there’s little time left to create new songs. I envy and respect her, because she’s a full-time artist setting her own course – it really puts my week-long jaunt into perspective.

Three
To top everything off, that evening at the Wednesday night Norse Hall tango milonga in Portland, who should I run into but my good musical friend and incredible harpist Anna Maria Mendieta! She had just finished a small tour with her group Tango Del Cielo, and decided to swing by Portland for some dancing.

There’s just no way you can plan these things!