Santa Barbara, CA (Not Ventura After All…)
Well, after a great night in San Luis Obispo, I jammed out a few e-mails, did some booking and promo stuff, Â ate a delicious breakfast at Frank’s in the downtown area (maybe not so healthy, though…see below and let me know what ya think), and started the trek down to Ventura.
Egg sandwich, world famous hash browns, and a water (gotta pretend to be healthy) at Frank's in San Luis Obispo, CA.
Just about around the time I was coming up on Buellton, I got a call from the owner of the venue where I was scheduled to play that night in Ventura, CA letting me know the sad news that the show was going to be cancelled due to some power issues the venue (and that side of town, I believe) were having that day. Unfortunately, she had to close down the club for the night (no power doesn’t make for easy cooking and music making!) and, as a result, needed to cancel the show. Well, these things happen, so when life throws ya lemons, you make lemonade. So, I made a stop to figure some things out at the world famous Andersen’s Restaurant and ordered up an all-you-can-eat portion of their amazing split pea soup. After putting away three bowls and a chocolate milkshake, I realized that maybe just one was enough (that stuff is filling!).
A little surprise at the bottom of my bowl of soup: Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee. Hilarious!
After collecting myself, finishing my soup, and figuring out my next step for the night, I called up my friends Darin and Sierra that run a cool venue in Santa Barbara, CA called Live Culture Lounge to see if they could fit me in on their bill for the night. Turns out, they could! I squeezed in about 45 minutes of playing and enjoyed jamming in front of Santa Barbara Film Fest attendees (including some famous faces you’d recognize… I was star struck, of course) and, as luck would have it, a few booking agents. I ended up booking a show at a later date, rubbing elbows with some cool folks, having a good time with my buddy Mark Okrusko who came on down to see what the fuss was all about, and enjoying some time with my friends Darin and Sierra. Not bad for a last minute shindig!
After all the good times to be had were had, I crawled over to my room at Motel 6 on State Street and called it a night. Ah…