4:20 am

Well its 4:20 am, and I'm back at work. I meant to come back in after taking a nap at 9:30 pm, but that "nap" ended up lasting till about 3:30 am. I tried to go back to sleep after that, but I couldn't so I decided I should come back into work and do what I was going to do last night. So I figure, the next person gets in around 8 am, so I should have almost 4 hours of work time to myself. I should be able to get a lot done.

So I should tell you all about the awesome concert that I went to over the weekend. It was the last show of the "Tour of the Curbside Prophets." It featured Makana, Raúl Midón, and Jason Mraz. It was an awesome concert. All 3 are talented in their own way. I'll tell you about them, and you can make the call if you want check them out.

Makana is this 24 year old kid from Hawaii that plays ki hoalu, or "slack-key" guitar. This is basically tuning your guitar to open tunings. I'm a big fan of this style right now, and I'm trying to learn it. It's called slack key, because in order to get to an open tuning, you generally tune the guitar down. This is accomplished by loosening, or slacking the strings. In this style of music, you will notice that the guitar incorporates a bass line alternating with the melody. Its really a beautiful form of music. For those interested, check out Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters - Instrumental Collection put out by Dancing Cat records. Anyway, Makana is probably the most technically gifted slack key player to come out of Hawaii. He plays SO fast, and so cleanly, its amazing. He also played this awesome song called "The Poi Song" where he used his hands and arms and even his feet to create a sliding type sound. It was awesome. I've got 2 of his cds, and would highly recommend his album Ki Ho'alu: Journey of Hawaiian Slack Key. It's a great cd with a lot of Hawaiian classics, as well as some of his own stuff. The man is very talented. The only drawback is he has an interesting voice, and a slightly obnoxious vibrato, but the kid can really play the guitar!

Raúl Midón is another really talented individual. He's got a very clear baritone voice, and sings very well. Very reminiscent of black singers from the 50s, but with a hip twist to it. He also plays the guitar like no one I've seen. He does a lot of slapping of strings, and ridiculous finger picking, and using his guitar like a bongo to provide some percussion effects. Its really cool. I can't describe his music. You can tell that he pulls from a lot of other types of music. You just have to check him out. Oh, he also makes his voice emulate a trumpet. It's a really cool vocal effect!

Now what can I say about the man, Jason Mraz? I've been to see him 6 times in concert since last year. I try to catch him whenever he comes to southern california. He never fails to impress me. While his talent on guitar is no where near Makana or Raúl, he has an incredible voice. It's so clear and he can sing so high. Of all 3 I would say he has the best stage presence, as well as the best lyrics, the best melodies, and the best flow. You can tell he's a more polished performer. He also can improvise very well. He always changes up the way he plays the songs. I think this is really cool. He's been known to come up with alternate arrangements of his songs. He's got a really cool disco version of "Sleep All Day". He's got a live cd that is coming out in August. If you liked Waiting For My Rocket To Come, you have to check out his first Live album, or wait until August, and pick up the new one. Then you'll understand why I see this guy whenever I can. His concerts are always a great time. If you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of this guy.

Ok, this took me way too long to post. It's already 4:47 or so, and I haven't started working! I'll post more later.