One of the highlights of my Seattle work day:
during a ten minute break I innocently stretched to 15, I walked into Lenny’s Grocery and shopped for fresh vegetables as I strummed and sang through Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’ and Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amore’.
The folks there love it when I bring my guitar and sing a bit. That guitar uke is the perfect size and volume for crooning in a small family owned and operated Asian Grocery store.
They love it. And finally after practicing those songs all weekend at Hangar 420 Snohomish in The Glass Shop those songs finally clicked.
I can’t wait to play real acoustic shows.
I’ve come up with all sorts of hooks at Lenny’s on those little breaks. That place is Special. It’s right next to Greenworks Cannabis – Greenwood. It’s a big part of how I got healthy and stayed healthy. For $20 you can have so many fresh vegetables and fruit.
And there is nothing like an old Asian gentlemen that may not know a lick of English smiling at you as you make you try to remember ‘Mack The Knife’ and write a killer new song instead. Such are the finest failures.
I was recording audio on my phone at that moment and you can hear a customer come up to me and remark that I had a good song. Little did he know that song didn’t exist 90 seconds before and was born amongst the selection of almost too ripe apples.
I love music. I’m pretty good at it. Before I die, I want to be undeniably great at it. I want to be so good at it, that I can cause a damn scene.
You know those videos of European soccer stars doing tricks in disguise and nobody cares? The real test is when nobody know you are and you are just blowing their damn minds.
People don’t expect it. We take it for granted that it will be canned everywhere. But fresh music in the moment is sensational. It’s like tossing out free vitamins.
Because music is powerful stuff man. I sing for somebody at that glass shop for just a verse or chorus in that little shipping container, and you can just see the energy.
Music, live music, sharing music with one person, you can make some one so damn happy.
I live for that look on somebody’s face like that old Asian man today. Or folks yesterday. Or when I gave a few guitar lessons at a music school to this kid that couldn’t believe she was writing her own song that didn’t exist moments before. Where did it come from?
Music comes from inside us, but from somewhere else, like how lightning actually come from the ground to the clouds.
It’s a circuit, and when you’re playing music you’re completing it. It reminds people that something connects us to the beginning and that we’ll still be singing at the end. Think about how many songs, you can recall when hear them. Maybe a thousands. All that music is inside you. Waiting to be remembered.
I wish I could memorize songs as quick as almost anyone else, but truthfully, I’d rather try to remember old ones and write new ones instead. There are plenty of old songs, and they are just pieces of the next.
I probably write 5 songs for every 1 yet to memorize with my guitar. It’s a good problem that got Lenny’s quite LIT.
Because tomorrow is just a new story, and a every story deserves a new song.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s recent song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube: Tuff Gong Television. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
