Knowledge is developed , wisdom is obtained

I was thinking about this today, the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Upon that, i wrote out 10 words as quickly as I could, right then and there. Odd exercise I guess, i cant imagine its not a common practice in some study. I cant be bothered to look it up right now.
I've just been putting thoughts in writing as of late. I guess I've had a burst of creativity I'm riding on.

Here's my list , in the order I wrote it out.

Perspective
Health
Love
Kindness
Wisdom
Knowledge
Music
Memories
Adventure
Family & friends

After I wrote them out , I tried to figure out why I picked certain words. I don't think it mattered the order I placed them in( I guess if I looked up an exercise ) I'm sure that would be answered. In any case i guess what im saying i didn't consciously choose the order because i knew i had 10 words to choose .So the order I think means nothing . It's interesting the words I chose. #selfreflection

Ten Commandments / 60% ratio

Most people couldn't tell you what the 10 commandments are. Religious or not , the majority of us live by 60% of them anyway, or at least a few of them .If you take the 4 out that do not not apply to religion; Then you have at the root of them ,simply well thought out advice . Very old advice .

The 60% factor . Here are the 6 that I feel are just all and all good advice .

Hon-our thy father & thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness
Thou shalt not covet ( this is out dated advice) however not religious . Probably the oddest one on the list as everyone yearns for something so why command people to not have needs.

In any case, I'm not stating this stuff to be debatable or negative. I just generally thought about it today . Happy Easter, If you celebrate it, enjoy it with you're family . There was a time I did, a distance time ago it seems now .When I used to fill myself with Cadbury eggs. For whatever reason you celebrate Easter , be nice to someone. It goes miles beyond religion . And try your best to carry that though life. Good people don't finish last, they are just humbler when they are on top. Be humble, kill them with kindness . Remember everyone deserves to be happy.

If your not living , your dying .

Just Afew random thoughts in this post .I've written a new track that had a natural birth lately , im excited to rehearse with the band. One day I'm hoping I can figure out a recipe for new songs.

As a troubadour , I'm trying to figure this city out. It's an odd mix of gypsies , and transient people. There should be a band from La called California Born Flakes. It's a trend with the creative types here. I've came across so many musicians and actors here and if they set up a jam on this day at this time , that doesn't mean anything really. The day/time just comes and passes and there is no regard for other people. Why would they care ? I seem to have been on the receiving end of late , 1 gtr player & 1 bass player . Pull up. I always wondered, do they garner the same "flakie" tag as I place on them when the tables are turned. It's hard to think somebody wouldn't care that you scheduled a day around them & rehearsing or meeting with them. Especially being new to this city, i dont know alot of people here . So when i make an appointment with someone , i plan my day around it. So if they suddenly disappear without warning, they just leave me hanging .Extremely rude , id rather have the excuse before or even durning then after . It only creates a very bad image ,Just a bit of a vent. I guess there are flaky people everywhere and Karma gets them equally, not just muscians. However for the stand up people of the world, good on you for sticking to your end of a schedule with regards for other people daily agendas. It speaks volumes about character . A-swell if you have to break plans or reschedule , honesty is the best policy. And whatever reason it is, let it be known before the appointment , don't have it come and pass and reach for your excuses book. The flakiness of people I hope wears off, but I'm beginning to not put faith in that. Musicians are giving the good ones a bad wrap.
On another note , after the bass player "disappeared without any phone call or email canceling our appointment (see prior rant regarding cancel before the meeting )I said fuck it , I'm checking a movie out. Since that time I've seen 4 in a row .Pure ghetto La movie style . Buy 1 ticket go to 4. I took a time out to write this post between movie 3-4 . The best part about this was running into a couple of older ladies doing the same thing. Life is funny like that . If your not living, your dying . And I have a lot of living to do before I die. Hopefully no more bowls of California Born Flakes for breakfast . I'm not into wasting time .

Lost & Found

So me and my good friend /guitar player are out and about on a random Venice Friday (random to some religious holiday to others)Good Friday. We land at a local Venice bar that is quite cool called Big Foot West. It's not to eventful , but busy nonetheless .
However we had a group we met up with and they decide to press on. We had met up with Jason's friend Nick and his local friends.

The next stop , a gem called "Lost and Found "
Open at 6am daily. Everyday .
@any given time, your mailman is in there crushing whiskey before work, teachers, cab drivers Etc, you name it , they start there day off there. I know your imagination is killing you , thoughts of this magical bar run ramped . I'll say this and this only , it's the same thing the bartender told me and Jason.
"Yep, we open at 6am. It takes 2 hrs to close this place. So technically we only close for 2 hrs , so either you guys live in this neighborhood , or someone told you we have cheap drinks. And we do, and they get even cheaper if your doing what I'm doing "he says as he's washing glasses. "I don't even work here" he follows it up by. "And they get alot cheaper. Yep it's that kinda bar guys, it's that kind of bar"

New dive bar discovery

#noloitering

Her / Me

What is it that you tune into without knowing. My old bass player had a set of numbers that would always appear, be it the time, a sign etc.
 I met her. Again if you will, but it didn't dawn on me until a conversation over a half watermelon on a beach."who would you pick to listen to the rest of your life?"hmmmmmmm Probably Elvis""im Bowie"she reminds me.(i know) she turns and says" If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?" she says. "coconut" I respond. "Hmmmmm, i was going to say avocado , but i think i would pick coconut to". She says.
This re-appearing "sign," if you will. is a Movie.
She then mentions she loves the movie " Blue Lagoon" from 1980. "not my favorite, but in my top 5," she mentions.

"really?" I say
"Do you know what it is?" she replies
"Yes, yes i do" Brent .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Lagoon_(1980_film)

It's some sign, what it means i have not figured out yet. one things certain i'm always drawn to women that have Blue Lagoon it their top "favourite movies". For whatever reason they enter my life, its there like clockwork.
She shares this common trait with few x-girlfriends. All have gone on to inspire me in some way good or bad. Im thinking i should watch myself with her. Maybe i should finally watch this movie.
She admits to reading this blog, so i mentioned to her she has an unpublished post of her own. What you reading is not it however, she deserves much more then a few paragraphs regarding a movie from 1980. Or even a blog for that matter. However she  shall remain unnamed at this moment. She is a private person and i respect that, but more importantly i respect her. I don't think a picture will offend her, even though she seemed worried about it when i mentioned i had a blog about her. In any case she needs boundaries and i can respect that , it is La. She is going to be in my music video, she is a great person, inspirational, intelligent and very beautiful.

Venice The Menace #2

So the majority of my days have been prepping for video shoots , getting songs together, new and old. I was visiting a friend and facilitating potential roommates as i sifted through emails 10 at a time. It was late thursday and i forwarded a bunch of emails to Les, as we potentially could be in the place as early as the following wednesday depending on the damage these former tenants had inflicted. By the time i pass out , i hadn't heard from Les by email, odd considering he is on top of his game.

 Friday morning comes and try and call him, no answer. I try and text him, no answer. I email him, no answer. Its around this point , i realize something is up. His phone was ringing to a certain point and then nothing. My mind races a-bit and i run through some scenarios, all that end with something has happened bad has happened to him. How bad would be the ultimate question, i begin to realize i don't have any close contacts of Les (ie. mom or family members that i could contact). It wasnt at the point of panic but it was borderline, ive been in afew situations like this. My list of things that would have,could have was as follows 1) accident (he may be in a hospital) 2) Arrest (don't know what for but maybe he got booked)

So as i gain my thoughts , i send him an sos email "Les if you get this , please contact me asap as if i don't hear from you by 12pm Sat, im going to start making calls. Police.Ambulance.Firefighters........that would be my hail mary as i don't have any phone numbers to contact anyone that would have anymore information then me. I type it up and hit , SEND. I sit and wait, a very anxious night , the most recent one to memory.   At approx. 11 am sat, i receive a call from him. He's ok.

The call went like this.

Brent "You ok? where you @"
Les " i was arrested '
Brent "do you need me to bail you out?"
Les "no im out, im ok.....its a long story"
Brent "do you need a ride?"
Les "yeh , if you could"
Brent " Ill be right there, where you at?"
Les "im walking to the phone store by in & out burger to charger my phone, call me when you get here"
Brent" Ill be 20 mins"

So the story goes, Les when he first relocated California he purchased a car. He sourced out a "hoop d" as he call's it, a Honda Accord via Craigslist. He took the allotted time to transfer the ownership as in the state you have up to 3 months to do so. Somewhere in that time period, the previous owner had called it in stolen. Its unsure at this point that it was done immediately or recently. In anycase he reported it stolen, im guessing to collect insurance money. fast forward 2 months and its 7 am in the morning and Les is outside the gym he works out chatting on the phone after a workout. A Cop car drives by and does a u turn and pulls up right behind him parked. At this point he is standing outside his car talking on the phone with his gym bag. The officer gets out and asks him to hang on 1 sec as Les is about to get in the car. "No problem" Les responds. At that point he notices a bird int he air (ie; Police helicopter ) Next thing he knew he was being arrested for grand theft auto, just like the video game. From this point on , his absence is explained. They take him away and they tow his car with all his belongings as he to has taken to liven in the hoop d after we got screwed over at the last apartment.
So where i pick him up, is at the in & out burger, no shoelaces style. Not a dollar on him and all his belongings are locked up with his "stolen car" Needless to say, i imagine he's hungry (a 240 pound x linebacker) so i take him in get some food for him. "lets hear it i tell him, he gives me the story i just told you. So after the dust settles as it stands the detective realizes the scam and charges are dropped. However the judge needs to sign some order to release the car, but the opposite investigation has to take place.
So they grant Les access to get his wallet and afew more things, but all of his belongings must stay with that car until released. The problem with this scam's after effects is, every day the car sits a tab runs up. Its gets to the point where a judge has to sign a paper to freeze the price totalling up. The cops fuck around with Les pretending to be busy and the car sits there way longer then necessary. It all makes sense when they stick Les with the bill and tell him he will have to go after the reimbursement from the courts. Venice Towing scams .com

So how was the Venice jail Les? "everything you would expect"
Was it a better sleep then in your hoop d? " its a coin toss"

Dougie Fresh and the drama crew

The picture. followed by the story. I love Dougie Fresh, what a beauty. Dougie my kiwi mate had purchased a car when he travelled to the Usa to drive around in. The women on the left is Kat , the right is the daughter. After leaving the Usa, Doug asked me to pick his car up and take care of it until he returned, as i had just been renting when needed .No problem, well maybe.......

yeah she resents me

we use to be friends

but that whole cat thing her stupid daughter did was wack

i told u about that right

feeding her daughters cat some meat, and she toally went mental

all that time i was bitching to my gf about how wack her daughter was and when i left she hacked my fb and read my messages

she said to me, she said it wasnt lies what i said but not the truth either. lol wtf

she couldnt deniey what i said, she just didnt like i was dissing her daughter

she dont give a fuck what u eat, neither does she really she just doesnt like meat, hasnt since she was 4, according to her mum

i fucking hated brussel sprouts but as my mogther was reesponsible she made me eat them, what the fuck do i know about nutrition at 4 years of age

know what i mean

so yeah she threatend to call the cops on me cos of me feeding her carnivorous pet meat

i told her to calm down and anyway i was just out the door when this happend, i had to go to a raiders booster club, so i wanted to know there and then if i was getting kicked out over it cos i wanted to have a good time at the bar and left wondering

when they picked me up they suddenly changed their tune, everything was suddenly sweet

it was a major turn around, like they had come to their senses, too proud to admit they over reacted they just pretended they were cool

• so later that night i wanted to get a coffee, and kat wanted me to have the keys to open myself back in (not sure why i couldnt knock, oh yeah the dogs wouldve barked as usual) so she asked her daughter if i could borrow them, her daughter gets really shitty cos kat lost her keys
• then the next morning as her daughter goes to work, i ask her if we can borrow her keys as we dont want to be house bound all day
  her daughter says "oh its ok i found kats keys in MY jacket"....
  so when kat gets up i say to her "did your daughter apologize or did she threaten to call the cops on you?"
  this bad joke did not go down well
  i went to the gym
  came back and her daugher was there
  i said, hey lets go do some xmas shopping its xmas eve
  they didnt want to
  i was thinking this is weird
  then kat spoke up about the joke
  i was thinking wtf here we go another over reaction
  they accused me of not being sincere with my apology about feeding the cat meat cos i said that joke and obviously i bare grudges....lol
  so i said it was just a bad joke (withe a message)
  but do what u gotta do, its xmas eve and if your gonna kick me out let me know now so i can make flight arrangements and ask frien ds in austin if i can stay with them

  so i did, flights were booked on xmas eve, i stayed at an airport hotel that night and caught what mustve been the most expensive flight to austin on xmas day

  so

  if u get the car before they move i will inform thei apartment office they have been containing 6 animals (when they only allowed 2) and the carpet is ruined from cat and dog shit shit and vomit, and they wont get their bond back

  but only when i get the car off them

  its not just about revenge, i want to have a decent friend using it, not them

  they have used it for 2 months from stalling

  saying this and that, not replying etc

  karma must play its part

  
  

  
  

  So as it stands we are awaiting reply, i hope it works out Doug is such a great guy and this is some bs the man shouldn't have to deal with.

  
  

  EZ

On Tour , sort of .........(mobile home)

So what a wicked web we weave if we practice to decieve. I will always remember my grandmother and mom telling me this. As-well ill remember the desert's they can whip up in the kitchen, i'm a little nostalgic at the moment i would love my moms home made cherry pie.
However im not, and its 2:30 in the morning and im eating 2.00 tacos out front of a Venice hostel as me and Ewen go in and entertain our selves until we get told to go to a bed. Another first.

At this point Adam has took off back to North Hollywood and will not lay off the constant nagging, fortunately for me im phone less & computer-less. Iv e shuffled through multiple "loner" phones and im waiting on my repair. Somewhere between me looking for places, getting my phone fixed, getting my computer fixed i receive a text. It's Adam, "ive wasted sooooo much time waiting for you, what is going on blah blah" You have to imagine here i am doing what i can to make this guys time in LA beneficial and its now become a ridiculous circus of babysitting. I simply reply, "hey brother, iv e got a-loner phone, you shouldn't be down here wasting time, im not" Silence.........

As it turns out my hard drive was fried and i regain my communications on all fronts. Ive since followed up with Keith ( a drummer i had met at Namm) it turns out he lives in Santa Monica . We set up a jam and see if we can get this project rolling, i invite a guitar player and friend from Venice to join on as lead guitar and looks like we can get things going.

On the home front , i ditched the hostel after getting screwed over at the last place. I had taken on a rental car and now have all my belongings in it and im mobile. Les had renegotiated a deal for the unit beside the one that we just got outbid. However to move into that one there we snags, the current tenants had to be evicted. This posed problem #1and problem #2 is they had been on a bender the past year and the place was tore up.
So the days of living in my car in Venice had began, i figured out a workable system. I would get towels from the gym, roll them up in the windows and then take my sleeping eye patch and put that on with ear plugs. You generally have to deep in Venice to find a quiet and dark street as the circus is always in town here. In any-case i got it down, quick. Here's a pic

 So from this command center i started work on forming my band , man i miss The Ride (my Toronto back up band. In-between, the real estate agent had got these girls evicted and it Les wanted me to do a walk through before we committed. So when we get there its a mess, the place was tore up from the floor up, so we me and Les know call a meeting. Adam is out he disappeared and bailed and now isn't returning my messages as im trying to get back the remainder of my belongings and square up the money and tab he ran up with me, but hes m.i.a. So me and Les have a sitting down, the place is ours if we take it but its beat up, the agent says the owner is up for doing minor work but not willing to give us a cheaper deal on the lease. So we go over everything and leave it at that, Les goes back to them and they evaluate the damages and come back to us with a deal. They will completely renovate it if we sign on to it, the catch they are going to need 30 days.

Oh man, im on tour , can i do 30 days in a car. well see

Venice the Menace

So the madness of Namm is followed by a deserving hangover. Met some great new friends, and i tell myself , yes it was all worth it, every last drop. Over the course of the weekend , I had to detour and sign a copy of the lease to fax back to Les as he needed to get some additional paperwork to Jackie the owner of the over the top Venice pad we are due to move into. I had talked to Les after getting the paperwork to him and he had said we from what she had told him , Monday was our move in date . So we had one more day to kill. Adam and his dad, drop me at the Venice hostel and head to The Marriot in Marina Del Ray as a relative works for the Marriot and gets them a family discount.

The next day would transpire in true Venice fashion, we got fucked over again. Somewhere inbetween me signing the deal at Namm and monday, somebody got between us in the deal. In short, somebody walked in the real estate office, offered them more money on the spot and they took it. This day was coupled by the fact that i had purchased La Kings tickets in a manipulated effort by Adam. He had worked hard to guilt me to get them for his dad, for getting us tickets to Namm. Namm ill point out i didn't have any intention of going to but Adam basically gave me the "oh, my dad got us tickets to Namm , so im not saying you have to but we should get him La Kings tickets that all he requested. By "We" Adam ment me , i should buy 3 tickets and treat everyone. Theres a good blog coming about Adam, his personality was beaming through at this point. So as the day is unfolding, me and Les are shocked at the turn of events but not to shocked, however im now homeless in Venice. Adam is staying at the Marriot and will not stop calling and texting me to see if there is any more update. Finally ive had enough and have so much on my plate , i email him the tickets and tell him to go, i dont have time to go as im trying to facilitate a place for us to live . Chatting with him at this point is like a kid asking if we are there yet, and you say no it takes this long and they ask why etc etc. So in any case he and his father depart from the Marriot to the Kings game on my tab and me and Les go to work. We need to find a place, as we have just been trumped. again

The next day would have Adam doing the same stuff, whats going? Whats the update..........(this would be every 1hr or 2,) finally i had enough of the babysitting, i told him ill let you know when i have an update.

We set up again in the hostel, as its becoming a bit of a home with our new friends. Dougie Fresh is going back to New Zealand and me and Ewen start jamming, hes a great keys player. Somewhere around this point my andriod phone kicks out and i lose all my contacts. As-well over Namm, my hardrive finally went so im officially homeless with no communication.

Oh Venice, you cruel , cruel bitch

Backdoor Bob Owens #2 (final night of Namm)

So we are walking through the Marriot at Namm in an odd strategically lost manner. Bob looks at me as we walk down this narrow hall and says to me , i only have 2 rules

1) Follow me no matter what i say or do. (bold for a first rule, but i'm rolling with it)
2) Always act like your suppose to be there.

Simple enough. Bill then looks at me and says incase you haven't noticed this is why we call him "Backdoor Bob" He can sneak in everywhere. In any-case, im down. I fall back, let Bob address the security and front table and he gives me & Bill this "look" and we walk straight into a private party. lame he says after 2 mins, he's right it's this small hall in the back corner of the Marriott where everyone is treating it like some VIP area. I guess it was a VIP party however , it was just a smaller version of the past hall we were in. So again, Bob seems to have it down , we hit the bar grab 4 more unopened beers and place them in the bag , this i now realize is our traveller bag, and we press on to the next party.

This is where we walk in directly through the back door of a huge conference hall inside the hotel. Bob walks over to the bar and starts chatting with a gentleman there. Me and Bill keep chatting away as the venue looks like its starting to fill up, maybe 1000 + people. The more i chat with Bill i get the nostalgic feeling him and Bob go way back and have not had a good night out together in a long time. Bob returns to the table and says "lets head out , well come back to this party". We walk and now Bob reaches in the bag and pulls out some fresh pints, i have noticed now the bag has a clinking sound coming from it as Bob has almost a full stock of roadies at this point. We make a quick stop at the washroom in the hotel and im beginning to get the idea Bob is Veteran to this Namm hustle.

When Bob returns from the washroom he pulls out his app and we go over some options. Bill has a friend that is doing live sound at a at a show close by and he wants to take us and introduce us. His friend has developed a program that allows wireless mixing from multiple locations. (ie this venue has a patio, so we show up and there are 4 guys mixing the show as its going on. They all are sitting down with an ipad mixing from different places in the venue, assuring the audience all gets a good mix based on there seat. Being an artist and an avid live music fan, this thing is unbelievable.

From here , we enjoy an great instrumental band and Bill gets a chance to catch up with his old friends as they demo the new toy. We just relax on the patio and drink our beers out of the Namm grab bag .It dawns on me Bob is such a veteran. 24 years in row to Namm Bob tells me to be exact. The patio show is interrupted as Bob has us dialled in to get back to one of the original parties, so we head back to the hotel. We enter back into one of the big halls where the lineup of guitars players performing is star studded. What's interesting about this show is the company putting it on is showcasing these new speakers. They are panels similar to a flat screen tv, they weigh about 50lbs and 4 of them can do a crowd of 1500 people. They have some crazy frequency response that does not allow feedback. Its crazy to think about standing in-front of a speaker the size of a flat screen and that weighs 50lbs and have 0 feedback. They were so incredible sounding, i want these on tour for sure. As the show progresses, Bob makes his way to the front . I follow, refer to rule #1. We end up side stage digging into a giant guitar cake. That naturally turns into us meeting the owner of the company putting on the showcase. We exchange cards, laughs and ideas and press on.

I forgot to mention, in-between that show we walked Bill out. His girlfriend was on her way to pick him up in the madness so we all waited outside and had one last drink. I didn't get to say enough about Bill in these Namm blogs but he will get his, such a great guy. After Bill leaves Bob says he has more beers at his hotel and we should load up, not a bad idea.

Apologies again, i forgot to mention in our travels i found out Bob was retired now but was a certified reflexologist. I found this out as were sitting in these comfortable chairs relaxing and he takes his shoes off and starts rubbing the bottom of his feet on the coffee table. He then explains the reason behind it followed by the amount of times he has been to Bonaroo. He then also tells me his old roomate has a sensory depravation business and i should go for a float on him. I looked into it, its there and im thinking about it.

So in-between this i was in touch with Angie (my potential roomate) she was back at Namm and was going to meet us for a drink. So we get to Bobs hotel and grab ice and more beer, he has a bottle of champagne he loads up to drink with Ang when we meet. Bill & Bob are shaping up to be these best guys i could have ran into on the last night of Namm. We work our way back and pull a quick he has our room key, ok enter, no wait he has our room key , just go type of trick on the door guy at the hotel as security is tight now. We just missed Stevie Wonder playing in the hotel lobby. So we get Ang and her girlfriend to meet us up 1 floor out of the securities eye and we bust out champagne and toast to Namm. We then make our way downstair to watch a performance by one of the temptations. A great moment in my life , listening to My girl in a hotel lobby. Afterwards me and bob walk up chat and jump on stage and grab a quick pic. We then move to the patio and fall into some crazy hotel room party. the rest is a blur. I do wake up with Bob lighter and give him a call to return it before we head out, it was this crazy waterproof lighter that looked like a keeper for him , so i made sure i returned it. We part ways in the hotel parking lot the next day.

Until our next adventure. Thanks Bob.

Backdoor Bob (Owens) Namm #3

So the final day of Namm was ended with some hand shakes and some good business contacts. I managed to hook up with 90% of the artist relations reps for all of the companies that i want to work with. Adam & his dad Paul are planning the last evening to catch the Vancouver Canucks vs Anaheim, well i figure ill end it where i started it, the hotel lobbies. So as the day wraps we head back to the motel to prep for a Yamaha Customer Appreciation party that goes from 6-8, free food, free drinks.

We land there right at 6pm as Adam and his dad are going to leave early for the hockey game and ill make my way to the final evenings events. Its a typical set up , a ball room, mini bars set up in the corners as servers dish up different kinds of entrees and appetizers. Yamaha had set up a piano in the middle of the room that plays itself, a nice touch for there Canadian dealers that sling there products, however a far cry from the over the top private Elton John concert that put on the evening prior. However we dig in, drinks food and start chatting with other Canadian dealers as they arrive. We had set up shop at a stand up table in good proximity to the bar and 2 of the food stations. As we finish up our food, Adam & his dad prepare to leave for the hockey game. Adam's friend "Dropping Rob" as Adam likes to call him, due to his nature of working who he met, where when etc into conversations. I'm not sure how Adam gave him the name Rob does like to drop names so i'm sure Adam doesn't say it directly to him. Nonetheless, Rob is at Namm and had made his way over to meet us, i told Adam to give his badge to him as they left so he could come and share a Corona. ( From what i gather Rob didn't show up because Adam could get the badge off his lanyard, im under the impression Adam just didn't want him to go in and instead of telling him just pretended to need the badge for some other reason.
As Adam & his dad are leaving the stand up table 2 other gentleman step up and start chatting with me Bill Thorton, who works at MI the prestigious music institute as an audio engineer teacher. I was briefly aware of MI right before i left for La durning a brief conversation in Toronto about Berkley's musical program. MI was then brought up to me by Ewen at the hostel just before i left for Namm. In any case, welcome Bob to the Yamaha party. To my right is a gentleman by the name of Bob, he's got stories written all over him, a hand full of food and a Zildjian Cymbals badge around his neck. Me and Bob kick it off straight away being an odd person out at a Yamaha party as I'm a musician from Toronto and he's an Audio teacher from MI.  So naturally i assume he pumps Yamaha products but in any case we move into a conversation regarding that and MI. I naturally would assume that most of these companies would court Bill to use their products, makes sense does it not? An Audio Engineer teacher at a prestigious school? influencing 500 plus kids into the industry workforce thinking "said" product is the best and they must use that well recording. However Bill tells me its not the case , but does tell me that they have some incredible one of stuff that is just a play ground for recording buffs. I remember chatting with him about recording abit but coming to the same notion, who cares what you use, where or how as long as the final product speaks for your labours. I feel that defines my process each time, It can start simple or big, but im always after the best final recording i can, even if the tools are not there at the beginning.
This brings me to Bob, he looks at Bill and says "lets grab a roadie and get out of here" Bill says "sure, hey Brent what are you doing , do you want to come with us?""Sure" i reply, im on an adventure at this point anyway. Me and Bob hit the bar one last time before we head out, we take 1 beer each and 1 unopened that i watch Bob throw in his black plastic bag, (think typical trade show bag) and we walk out. Bob has seemed to have everything dialled in as to what is going on at Namm, he's got an app going with underground parties, unexpected shows etc.

So here we go, the last night of Namm .......put on your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

Namm Day #2

Up at 7 am, the night before left a good vibe in the air. Great concerts in the hotel lobby, but it was short lived and i didn't watch the sun rise. I embarked on a mission to try and visit every booth and see what was going on. The day was packed, making your way through the drum section of Namm is well, loud. I passed the booth that my friend Kelly was playing at and finally watched a full set of hers, she is great. Im not a country guy by any means but i can appreciate the talent in it. Another noted band i saw play was 4 sisters by the name of SHEL , they are dixie chicks meets awesome, check them out for sure. All and all great day, i sampled a vocal pedal id researched and it was exactly what i thought it was. The company was going in the same direction as me musically and so i connected with there artist rep to see if we can build a relationship. I have to admit after doing a touring the Martin guitar factory afew years back with my good friend James, i couldn't help but stop and play my favourite guitars made by Martin, thats part if Namm for the musicians, the dreaming.Friday night i took to the hotel lobbies again, the shows were amping up and i caught some great shows. The final night was one that would become a "night to remember" the legend of Backdoor Bob would surface.

Namm 2013 & The Legend of "Backdoor" Bob Owens

Wednesday night has us land in Anaheim, another city yet to be traveled by this troubadour.  So, i'm not sure if i'm more excited for Namm or to have a bed with only 1 other person in the room. The hostel was 6.
Wednesday night I hit the pillow, hard. Thursday would bring an early morning, ”Breakfast of Champions” they call it. It’s essentially a massive buffet for all the retailers in the music industry and tradeshow visitors with sleepy pump you up and go sell type of propaganda speeches. It has come to gather a reputation for the opening morning of Namm by bringing in a surprise music industry guest. The morning comes quick and we go register and take to the buffet. We load up and are entertained by a groovy instrumental duo. The speeches are exactly what I was expecting nothing really deviating from the typical tradeshow speeches. However the special guest was worth it completely in my eyes, Adam and his dad decide to leave early and miss it. It turns out to be Randy Jackson of American Idol fame with a cameo by Sarah McLachlan. Adam and his dad sort of shook off the star power of Jackson in a way that he was under qualified to be starting Namm off, I don’t think they really know what this guys about. So I sat and listened, see if you know Randy Jackson before American Idol, you know he is one of the greatest bass players to ever slap it, playing with Whitney to Janet and the list goes on and on. However the highlight was listening to him talk about Idol, talking about becoming an A&R and getting off the road, him taking a chance on the show, being blackballed by all the labels. If you think about American Idol from a music perspective, it’s the opposite of what labels do, you see labels feed you the product and music they want. Idol puts the power back in the musicians hands and lets the quality shine through, regardless what you think of the show, you see it gives the regular broke people working 2 jobs that have a genuine love for music a chance to climb on the ledge and jump off. It was a great speech and everything you would not expect Randy “dog” Jackson to chat about, he’s is brilliant and I admire the guy more for hearing that speech.
So the speech wraps and the herd fill out, its on Namm is about to start, as you walk up there are bins filled with ear plugs. The next 4 days are about to be turned up to 11. I will now be on a tradeshow floor with the industries top manufactures big and small, seeing demos of products new and old ready to be sent in the hands of musicians, engineers, tour managers, retail stores and the list goes on and on. The weekend will have guest appearances by the who’s, whos of the industry, secret parties, schmoozing galore and most of all live music everywhere. So I head over to the main building to try and meet up with Adam as his dad has his days packed with pre-arranged meetings. We meet up briefly to check out this area that basically the magazine rack at “Chapters” or “Indigo” except its all free magazines from the music industry , just a cache of reading material. So much so that we actually have to head back to the room later in the day to drop it as caring around 15lbs of extra paper in your tradeshow bag is a bit much after afew hours on day 1. The day is a typical trade show type of day, trying to cover as much ground well minimizing  your distractions. I give my first "day a 7 out of 10. I meet a really cool Country artist by the name of Kelly McGraph, engaged to a guy in Los Angles but living in Nashville, this would be pivotal to a friend in Venice as the days would unfold. The night would round off with dinner & a solo trip to the madness off the battle of the hotel bands. This is one of the best parts of Namm, i actually meet up with another great would be friend Angie, who at the time i was meeting as a potential roommate for the big place Les was working on, i was pulling for her as she has 2 great dogs, but the other 2 roommates had a no dog policy in place. However, we met briefly at the hotel concert in some sort of potential roommate interview thing. day 1 complete.