Well...had the chance today to do something I never thought would have been possible. It's also probably something that my wife will be kind of upset about, considering she would have wanted to be there as well. I had some email/work stuff to complete this morning. Afterward, I really didn't know what to get myself into. Additionally, I didn't know if I wanted to do something by myself either. My friend Brandy has been stuck working most of the time I've been here, so except for my friend Jolie, my weekdays have been spent flying solo.
As you may (or may not) know, I'm a huge fan of Ben Harper. Well, he grew up in Claremont, CA. Prior to arriving in LA, I didn't have any clue where Claremont was located. As it turns out, it's about an hour north or so from LA. Luckily for me, I've had my friend's car at my disposal during the day. So I decided to take the drive. Ben Harper owns a music store in Claremont. It belonged to his grandfather, and Ben grew up in the midst of the store with his Mom, learning music and how to work on instruments. Prior to his grandfather passing, he purchased the store from him in order to make sure it stayed in the family. My mission was to find and visit the Claremont Folk Music Center. Traffic was light, and with the wind at my back I made it in a little less than an hour. This place was great. Although I dreamed of it, but knew realistically it wouldn't happen, neither Ben or his mom were here. But the place was still fantastic. It had almost any string instrument you could think of, plus many others, etc. They give lessons in the back, as well as work/repair instruments there too. I walked around for about an hour. I also had the chance to talk a bit to a few of the employees there, swapping stories, etc. Afterward I just walked around the town for a while checking it out. It's a beautiful little place. I would love living there... In the evening, I had a similar conundrum in regards of what to do. This time, there were three things to choose from. I could've seen another band I like, Candlebox, perform at the Roxy in LA. However, I just saw them in concert at the Ram's Head in Annapolis, the first week of June. Another option was seeing a female vocalist I like, Holly Conlan, perform in West Hollywood. A college friend of mine played on tour with her a year and a half ago. But there were four acts playing that night, and my friend didn't get off of work until 7 (so we would've missed the beginning or more). Lastly, the actor Jeff Goldblum, was playing piano at a club called The Rockwell. Well, that was the winner. However, the 8pm show was sold out, and they were no longer selling tickets to the 10 o'clock set. So if we made it there, there'd be standing room only, or if anyone left from the previous set, we could squeak into a table. Prior to going, we were able to meet up with Ms. Douglass of all people. Yep, that's right, Ms. Douglass, our CCES music guru was in LA visiting her brother. She just got in today and they were going out to dinner. She was nice enough to invite us, so we met in Sherman Oaks at the Spitting Chicken. Dinner was delicious and Ms. Douglass is always a hoot! And Jeff Goldblum...there aren't enough words. Simply stunning!
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B.D.SchmittHusband, Father, Archives
November 2015
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