The Year Of Achievement
The year of achievement.
This year I succeed in so many personal goals I set for myself. I'm proud to finish such a great year with my girlfriend and I being able to reminisce on all our memories. This year was filled with traveling, friends, family, music, media, and press. It's been without a doubt one of the best years of my life. I would like to share with you how it got to this point and the steps that were taken to make this better than previous years.
Top 5 highlights of the year
1. Camping across country
2. The Last Hostel Show Ever
3. Visiting my best friends in Burlington/Montreal
4. Going to Mexico for a wedding
5. The Baltimore BNote second series launch
Bonus point: Seeing (literally) my top 3 favorite bands this year.
January
The beginning of the year started with a bang! Kim, James, and I woke up January 1st on a farm in northern Maryland, after a night of alcohol, karaoke, and turtlenecks at an affluent mansion party. Kim and I walked outside for the first time in 2016. It felt like the year was off to a great start when there was farm animals right by us and we had the motivation to make our year the best that we can. During the month, my friend Mike reached out to me about a competition Spirit Airlines was hosting. The synopsis was someone and their friend have the opportunity to win a free flight for two to Orlando, Florida. It also included a 5 star hotel and rental car. The rules were to just show up with your bags packed, because the competition was between 3pm-5pm. The winners would have to leave at 7pm on the flight. We were interviewed on ABC2 News for our enthusiasm and charisma. Ultimately we lost the competition, but it was exciting and brought back previous memories in our experience in competing for big prizes.
Within the rest of the month. Kim and I visited PA and DC. I participated in The Polar Bear Plunge. I hosted the first Baltimore Hostel show of the year. I was featured on the front cover of The Daily Record. I met former mayor Shelia Dixon. I got a picture with her and I holding BNotes. Needles to say, the month of January could have easily been spread out in an entire year and I would have been happy with all the things that happened.
February
Started off with a rough start, but ended nicely. I was facing adversities in my relationship and friendship. I quickly changed things around. I was delighted to do a few memorable things within the month. I wrote an article that was featured on the front page of the The Charles Villager about the upcoming release of The BNote's second series. I hiked Harper's Ferry with my cousin and his girlfriend. Kim and I took a trip to Richmond, Virginia for Valentine's day weekend getaway staying at HI - Richmond for free due to the perks of working for HI. It was great! We explored a historic city. During our time there we visited breweries, delicious restaurants, and a cool pool hall. We ended our night at GWAR bar. That was pretty cool seeing metal memorabilia, "blood" infused drinks, and free popcorn! My sights were set to make the rest of the year great and accomplish the goals I had in mind.
March
The third month of the year was a real treat! I started off the month with hosting another hostel show closing with a solo performance by Princess Reason. The turn out was fantastic! Everyone had a blast and there was even footage of the show. You can watch down below.
I was also a guest on The Bitter Scenester podcast. I talked about my hostel shows, BNotes, and got to debut my new track "Gal Pal" on the show. It was a marvelous time, there definitely needs to be a stronger presence of podcasts in Baltimore because this is a great way to showcase all types of artists through the local music scene. After my appearance on the podcast, Ed Schrader was featured on an upcoming episode which is an honor to have been on a show before a musician that is signed to such a respected record label such as Sub Pop.
I ran a St. Patrick's Day 5K placing in 300/4560 runners. The episode of House Of Cards I did background acting in aired within the month. I got to see Mc Chris (Pee Pants) live at Metro Gallery. I was gifted a $1000 suit by a very gracious individual that enjoys helping others succeed. The Bnote fundraiser campaign launched to raise the amount of funds needed to print the second series.
Lastly Kim and I were at an art show, where we hanging out with friends that were local artists presenting their latest work. While we were there, I was approached by a girl. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked "Hey, are you Pelvis Presley?". I replied "Yes, yes I am". That really made me feel special knowing my music and pelvic thrusts are growing a fan base.
Pelv Live Video!
The Bitter Scenester Podcast
April
I'm not sure if April could have gotten any better! This was seriously the month where I shined and thrived. Kim and I visited Denver as for she had just been accepted into school and we wanted to get a feel for the city to see if it was the right choice to move there. We flew in and got there late. We stayed with an AirBnb in RiNo. We were surrounded by some of the coolest bars and restaurants I have ever had the pleasure to go to. It was a terrific time! We checked out some really awesome bars that had great themes. We went to a restaurant with one of the coolest abstract pieces I've seen. We hiked Red Rocks with a guy we met on Couch Surfers Denver FB page. It was a blast and appeared to be a good fit for us. We took off from Denver to head back to Baltimore, we oddly enough had a 4 hour layover in Las Vegas. We have never been to Vegas and saw this as a great opportunity to do a quick walk around the city. We walked out the airport immediately and took a Lyft to the main strip. It was very overwhelming. The lights, crowds, and gambling aren't really are thing, but it was neat to visit once to get the gist of it.
Once we got back to Baltimore, we passed out immediately in our bed. Later that evening we had plans to go see a band called The Last Shadow Puppets (which created my all time favorite album). It was without question the best performance I have ever witnessed in my life. The stage presence, music, and style couldn't have been any better. We drove all the way to Philly from Baltimore, after getting in from a flight earlier that day. It was worth every penny and every second. I also got to see two other of my all time favorite bands Tokyo Police Club in DC and Beirut in Baltimore. They both played great sets, playing their new tunes. I also got to meet the vocalists of each other band after their shows. This is the first time I got to talk to the singer of TPC since seeing them at Talking Heads Club in 2008 as part of a Myspace Secret Show and my first time seeing Beirut live.
I also hosted another hostel show featuring a collective of new friends. Val Tambien, Baggy Pants Rich, Steel Samurai, The John Street Genes (Bitter Scenester) and Pelvis Presley. It was yet again another fabulous show with very talented people. I also played Joe Squared opening up for a band called Them Animals which I had never met before, since then we played many shows together and have became very great friends. If that wasn't enough to befriend such an awesome band. Joe Squared provided a free pizza, two free beers, and $20 for playing. What a deal!!!
Lastly, The Baltimore BNote Green Currency released their second denominations BN10 and BN20 and a new makeover of BN1 and BN5. We hosted a launch party event at Gallery 788. The turnout was great. The new notes were here! Everyone was partying and having a great time. It couldn't of gone any better.
May
After such an amazing month, I was ready for what May had in store for me. I informed my manager at Hosteling International that Kim and I had decided we're going to move to Denver. This ultimately meant I had to leave HI. This was heartbreaking for me because I spent nearly 3 years putting my heart and soul into that place. However, there comes a time in life where you need to change as life changes around you.
As I worked my last few weeks at the hostel. A young Scottish guy came in and said he had a reservation. Unfortunately, it didn't show in our system. We were completely booked out by a group and he wasn't able to stay with us. He was worried because he was on a budget and wasn't sure where to go. I offered for him to crash at mine and Kim's apartment for the weekend. He gratefully accepted. After I got off I gave him a tour of the city. We got drinks and food. I showed him murals and historic buildings. It was fun! Kim got off work and we all went out for more drinks, however Kim and I had tickets to see Santigold that night. So, we gave him our key and recommendations of places to go and we headed to the show. Santigold was amazing she put of such a fantastic set. We loved it, we've been listening to her new album so much and it was incredible to see it in performed in person.
We got home and crashed. The next morning we showed our new friend Murray the city. He absolutely loved it. That night we took him to WTMD's First Thursday. We got to see Ra Ra Riot for free. The time we spent together was really cool, he told us about Scotland and about his life and we told him what was going on in ours. It was great. The time came to where he was headed to continue his journey across the US. He headed out and that exact night we hosted our first ever house show (Lord Dog House). It featured some of my greatest musician friends which was Val Tambien, Slam & Wallace, Pelvis Presley, A Band Called Forever, and Them Animals. This show couldn't have gone any better. We had such a large turnout. It was potluck style so people brought food and drinks. We had a bonfire out back. Everyone played really good sets. During my set I crowd surfed while playing guitar and singing. It was super awesome and such a great night.
If that wasn't enough!!! I finally got to play The Crown. That was on my buck list for a long time. I opened up for Slam & Wallace, and a band from Denver called Home Body. The sets were all excellent. After Home Body finished I approached them telling them they sounded like this band Gauntlet Hair I heard on Sirus Radio back in 2012 in a Mercedes that I won. They laughed and told me the singer was their roommate. I couldn't believe it, I'm a huge fan of both and couldn't be anymore excited to me immersed into a music scene like that. I also got to play The Annex that month opening for Them Animals and a few other bands. I went to an Orioles game this month, I spent a wonderful mothers day with my aunt, grandmother, and Kim. We went to Paper Moon, Jones Falls waterfall, and a few other places.
The best part of May was seeing my all time favorite band We Are Scientists in DC. As soon as they saw me they said "Hey, James Lane! Good seeing you man.". Could you imagine how exciting that is having your favorite band remember your first and last name. I got to spend the entire evening hanging with them and talking about random stuff. They eventually went on to perform a brilliant set! It was so incredible to be there and see them. I loved it and loved the month of May!
ABC2 News Interviewed Me (Again)
June
Summer was here and my schedule got packed quick! I did ordinary summer activities such as canoeing in Dundalk with my best friends Thom and Alex. We ended the night by getting on Alex's brothers boat and driving around to bars where we could tie up to the dock and have a few drinks. I had roof friend hangouts at my apartment. Myself, Kim, Alex, and his girlfriend at the time all watched the sunset in station north on top of our large apartment roof guzzling down Natty Bohs. I went to an Orioles game with my buddy Jamie. We got meet Oriole legend Boog Powell! I also got to see Beverly, Flowers, and Wildhoney in a night of some fine indie music at Windup Space.
Philly was imperative to visit once more before leaving the east coast. So, we requested to stay at Apple Hostel (free stay as always). We did our regular bar hoping, ate the ever so delicious vegetarian spot Govinda's, and explored the town one last time. The best part was I reached out to my old friend Tj I hadn't spoke with since 2012. We got into a conflict I never thought would be resolved till I received advice to apologize no matter who was in the wrong. I finally did it! Him and I reunited and it was wonderful seeing such a good friend after such a long hiatus.
June 17th, I hosted The Last Hostel Show Ever! Featuring Envy The Animals, Slam & Wallace, The Holographic Sticker Club, Pelvis Presley, The Lush Pockets, Them Animals. This was by far one of the best nights in my entire life. After taking a bus to HI-Toronto December 1st, 2009 to stay in a hostel the first time by myself my birthday weekend. Volunteering at HI-Baltimore July 2013. Moving back to Baltimore and getting a job at HI-Baltimore working weekend overnight December 2013 to making the hostel my own project where I was living a luxurious work life. I finally hosted my last hostel ever after hosting these shows for about a year and a half. It all came down to this moment. It was magical to see the friends I accumulated after all this time. The support and love I felt was amazing. Everyone played the best sets ever! It couldn't have gone any better. City Paper put the show in as a must go show for the week. The turn out was massive and the show ended with me on vocals for Them Animals last song. It was a cover of Nirvana - Territorial Pissing. It was amazing and an unforgettable moment in my life.
Pelvis Presley Last HI Performance Audio
July
The end of my time in Baltimore came so fast. After all the heart and soul I put into the community and making so many new friends. It was finally time to end the last month the best that I could and move onto the mid-west. During my last month, Kim and I went to an Orioles game, we went kayaking with Kristine and Dan Van in Shady Side, MD. Did a cool Patterson Park pool party thing with friends.
.
We went to Artscape for the best weekend ever. We got to see Weekends live! One of my favorite albums of all time is by Weekends, it's called "New Humans". I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys good music. During Artscape, I dd my traditional Hess Gas Station set performance. I had a lot of my compadres come out for this. I plugged into the wall and played a 20 song set show right in the main street of all the crowds. I also helped get all four new BNote rotated on the LED Baltimore Board during Artscape. It's the hugest event in Baltimore every year and the new BNote designs got their spotlight in front of everyone.
The night before Artscape, I hosted one last Lord Dog House basement show. The line up was Clean Breasts (Bitter Scenester), Mike Allison, Known Ghost, The Shaky Experience, Steve Womp Womp Wimbleton. It was amazing! The turn out was great as always. Food, drinks, friends, amazing music. The night before Baltimore's largest event. Thom and I dd our yearly reunion as The Shaky Experience. It was the best!
July 29th, Kim and I hosted our last public friends meet up event. We hosted a pub crawl, so many friends came out! I couldn't believe the enormous response of people that saw us before we went. It was a great time. Eating and drinking at our favorite spots. Making it the end of our chapter in the city I love.
August (part 1)
The moving truck was packed up and sent off. We still had an air mattress, our book bags, a blanket and pillows left. We decided to stay 5 more days in Baltimore after getting the news our move in date wouldn't be till August 15th. Giving us 15 days on the road, so we choose to take it down to 10 days on the road. During our last few nights in Baltimore. We hung with our closest friends and my family. Enjoying our time together. We spend our real last night seeing Deftones with my most closest friends in the world watching Deftones across from Pier Six. It was awesome to have one more final goodbye. We ended the night with drinks with a few more folks. Kim, Adam, and myself all went back to our Station North apartment to sleep there one last time. We woke up, Adam helped pack our car. We said goodbye to my family one last time and hit the road.
Kim, Bailey, and myself were officially on the road. Our first stop with Pittsburgh, we ate at a spot called Spak Brothers. I got a delicious vegan philly cheese steak. The area we were in was a super cool art district my friend Matt recommended us. We finished up and made our way to Chicago for two nights to stay with Kim's cousin that she hadn't seen in years. We explored the city for the millionth time it seemed. It's always cool to visit though. We went to our usual spot Half Acre brewery and of course Millennium Park. We also spent time with Kim's cousin and went to some excellent Latin food restaurant. It was time to hit the road again to Omaha, NB to stay with my friend Scott. We stayed with him for two nights checking out down town Omaha. It my first time in NB as well as my first time stopping in Iowa for dinner. This increased my chances to meeting my goal of getting to all 50 states by the age of 30. During our time in Nebraska. We checked out the passageway and the historic part of town. It was a neat experience and great to catch up with an old friend.
I found a website called Campendium, It shows all the camp sites in America. You can narrow down your search to the free ones which is exactly what we did. So, we drove up north to South Dakota. My first time being in the state and it was all corn fields and nothing else for hours and hours of driving. The campground we found was very close to a town called Wall Drug. We finally arrived after possibly 12 hours of driving. We drove down a mountain to get to our site. It was in a canyon in the middle of no where. It was storming that night and winds were so heavy we slept in our car and woke up to our dog growling at bison surrounding our car. It was one of the wildest things I've ever saw. We continued our journey camping across country visiting Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons. It was the best road trip of my life. We finally arrived to our new home in Denver. The landlord showed us our new apartment which we got stuck inside. She had to get her son to rip our door off with a crowbar and we switched our lease to a new apartment in Washing Park.
August (Part 2)
MEXICO
We ended the month of August by visiting my friend Daniel Boland an Australian man I met in Toronto, Canada in 2010. Dan and I traveled to Baltimore, Philly, Boston, NY, DC, Chicago, Detroit, etc. together during his time visiting America. We developed a great friendship and stayed in touch once he went back to Australia. I received a card in the mail earlier this year informing me he was getting married to a woman from Mexico that he met in Canada. The wedding was in Mexico and I knew I couldn't miss this moment. Kim and I bought our tickets and went to Mexico.
I never been to Mexico, fortunately Kim speaking Spanish saved us a lot of trouble. We caught a cab from the airport to Blue Pepper Hostel. We stayed there for the weekend. We went out drinking in one of the main strips of the town. It was incredibly fun! The next day with Kim's birthday and Dan's wedding. We made it to the church where he was getting married. There he was, the guy I hadn't seen in years. It was such a pleasure seeing a great friend as Dan for the first time in so long. He got married. The ceremony happened and now it was time to party. A shuttle picked us up and took us all our to a beautiful spot out in the mountains for the reception of 12 hours of eating amazing Mexican food and drinking awesome Mexican beer. We made it back to our hostel and partied the next day with the same group again. It was time to go back to our new home of Denver and call it a trip/month.
September
The first full month of us living in Denver was thriller. We got involved in as many things as we could. We started it off by going to Riot Fest to see White Lung, Diarrhea Planet, Rogue Wave, Dan Deacon, The Aquabats, Fitz & The Tantrums, Thursday, Death Cab For Cutie, & Deftones. It was a fun time. Lots of great musicians, it was a cool way start our lives in Denver. We also participated in a free weekly 3 mile run at Boulder Running Company. We biked with Denver Cruiser Ride which is a 1000 bicyclers meet up every Wednesday biking around the city. We attended a Rockies baseball game. Hiked Rocky Mountain National Park. We went to awesome art warehouse space shows. Checked out new bars and restaurants and got settled into our new city.
October
My great buddy old pal James' birthday just passed. I hadn't seen him since January and needed to see my James brother once more this year. Him, myself, and his brother Thom all planned to meet in his town of Burlington, VT to have the awesomest dudes weekend ever!!! Which is exactly what we did! As soon as I arrived, I was thrilled to see my main James. He surprised me by getting free passes to zip line off a 4000 ft mountain. It was insane! I definitely didn't think I would do it, but I did it. We got all geared up, took a lift to the top of the mountain. They attached us to the wires and there we went me and one of my all time best friends James zipped off a massive mountain going super extremely fast. This was one of the coolest moments ever!
James and I then explored a little bit of down town Burlington. We got breakfast at the most delicious breakfast I've ever had in my life, Penny Cluse. We continued to our evening with drinking around town. The next morning Thom was there! He arrived at 5am, it was incredible being in the same room with my best friends for the first time in what seemed to be years. We got breakfast and did a crazy hike around the outskirts of the town. We came back, listened to some music then hiked again. This time we went to a mountain, and made it to the top to one of the most amazing views of my entire life! We made our way back down and got lost. It got dark and we were stuck in the woods of a mountain. We got out and made it to a main road to fortunately have some driver pick us up and take us back to the car. We got home safe and sound. The next day we spent our entire night prepping for James' science themed birthday party. The time came, we drank, ate, played games with the guest, listened to music. People left, and the rest of that stuck around decided to crash a college frat party so we literally walked Burlington looking for a frat party. Found one, walked in and acted like we owned the place. It was one of the most hilarious moments of my life. We hung out with random college people and got super drunk. It was rad! The next day we got up, grabbed some bikes, and drove up to Montreal for an unforgettable day of biking around a Canadian city. It was super cool and an everlasting moment for us guys. That basically wrapped up mine and Thom's time in VT with James. We both departed to our homes and had brilliant memories to last forever.
Other cool stuff in October was my 10 year anniversary of being vegetarian. I ran Denver Rock N Roll Half Marathon. I got a medal running 13.1 miles around my current city. Kim and I sneaked into a Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren rally for Hillary Clinton. That was super cool to be apart of. When we walked outside leaving the event Sanders and Warren were 5 feet away from us which was sweet. We also got to meet Kristen Schall in Boulder she rallying for Hillary in the main down town. Lastly Kim helped me film a music video for my new song "Hieroglyphics". The entire video was shot in the hotel where The Shinning was filmed. It turned out great! It was another fantastic month.
November
The month of November marked 100 days on living in Denver. It feels like a milestone being this far from my friends and family this long. Going to school and working full time with Zip Car. It's interesting to show how much my life changed in the course of a few months. Denver has been interesting. We've been meeting new friends, exploring the art scene of the city, and trying to immerse ourselves within the community. It hasn't been entirely easy, but we're doing what we can. We're paying our rent and bills, taking care of our dog, and always discovering new things.
We've been hiking and going to as many park as possible before it got too cold. Red Rocks was a big one for us. Visiting such a beautiful and historic place. Hiking the trails and sight seeing the views has been nice. We've been exercising around the parks. We live right by a massive park called Washington Park where we do a lot of runs and dog walks. I saw on Couch Surfers Crew Denver someone was hosting a late night Thanksgiving potluck. That was a pretty night of drinking, eating, meeting new people, and going into someone's hot tub that I just met! Another memorable moment from the month was going to Museum of Contemporary Art's late night dance party with our friend Courtney. That was a blast, being in the museum after hours, dancing, and hanging out was terrific.
December
My birthday was December 5th. We flew back to Baltimore December 1st - 5th to visit family, friends, and my favorite city. It was one of the best times of the year for me. Kim and I stayed at HI-Baltimore. We went out to see my friend Alex's last show with Known Ghost before moving to Chicago. All of my friends was there, it was amazing to catch up with them. The next night we went to Lithuanian Hall dance party meeting with my friend Jamie, and Kathy. The following evening we went to my friend Matt (the founder of the Baltimore hostel) wedding. It was at Church & Company and was absolutely beautiful and super cool he invited me considering we just met earlier this year and became such close friends since. The next night Kim and I hosted a pre-bday celebration pub crawl only making it to Xs and Brewer's Art due to an extreme amount of intoxication, but it was super great anyway because my closest compadre's came out to that too. The next morning was my birthday, I got so much love from my friends and family that day, I was super hungover spending the morning and afternoon with my family. Eating a delicious lunch and having birthday cake. It was a very good day, but our plane was coming and we headed to the airport, caught our plane, had a layover in Chicago, and made it back to Denver at 11pmish on my birthday. It was an amazing weekend and I'm so glad many people I love got to be apart of it. My year ended with running 531 miles in 100 runs. This year has been incredible. Thank you everyone for being apart of it.
This years music picks:
Albums of the year
1, The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything That You've Come To Expect
2. We Are Scientists - Heltzer Seltzer
3. The Strokes - Future Present Past
4. Tokyo Police Club - Melon Collie & The Infinite Radness
5. Weekends - People Vertigo EP
Tracks of the year
1. The Last Shadow Puppets - Miracle Alinger
2. We Are Scientists - Buckle
3. Weekends - Killer Crush
4. Lone - Morning Birds
5. Animal Collective - Lying In The Grass
2017 Plans:
My plans for new year is to live life to the fullest in Denver. I want to get involved with communities and something I can be passionate about. Learn more and eat healthier. Have more involved in local government. Hike as many trails, parks, and mountains that I can. Go skiing and snowboarding while I live here. Run a half marathon and stay as active as possible. Successfully find a job I will enjoy and will thrive in. Continue entertainment, audition more roles and pursue as many gigs available. Leave Denver in August and move back to Baltimore or another city that I will enjoy.
This year I succeed in so many personal goals I set for myself. I'm proud to finish such a great year with my girlfriend and I being able to reminisce on all our memories. This year was filled with traveling, friends, family, music, media, and press. It's been without a doubt one of the best years of my life. I would like to share with you how it got to this point and the steps that were taken to make this better than previous years.
Top 5 highlights of the year
1. Camping across country
2. The Last Hostel Show Ever
3. Visiting my best friends in Burlington/Montreal
4. Going to Mexico for a wedding
5. The Baltimore BNote second series launch
Bonus point: Seeing (literally) my top 3 favorite bands this year.
January
Within the rest of the month. Kim and I visited PA and DC. I participated in The Polar Bear Plunge. I hosted the first Baltimore Hostel show of the year. I was featured on the front cover of The Daily Record. I met former mayor Shelia Dixon. I got a picture with her and I holding BNotes. Needles to say, the month of January could have easily been spread out in an entire year and I would have been happy with all the things that happened.
February
Started off with a rough start, but ended nicely. I was facing adversities in my relationship and friendship. I quickly changed things around. I was delighted to do a few memorable things within the month. I wrote an article that was featured on the front page of the The Charles Villager about the upcoming release of The BNote's second series. I hiked Harper's Ferry with my cousin and his girlfriend. Kim and I took a trip to Richmond, Virginia for Valentine's day weekend getaway staying at HI - Richmond for free due to the perks of working for HI. It was great! We explored a historic city. During our time there we visited breweries, delicious restaurants, and a cool pool hall. We ended our night at GWAR bar. That was pretty cool seeing metal memorabilia, "blood" infused drinks, and free popcorn! My sights were set to make the rest of the year great and accomplish the goals I had in mind.March
The third month of the year was a real treat! I started off the month with hosting another hostel show closing with a solo performance by Princess Reason. The turn out was fantastic! Everyone had a blast and there was even footage of the show. You can watch down below.
I was also a guest on The Bitter Scenester podcast. I talked about my hostel shows, BNotes, and got to debut my new track "Gal Pal" on the show. It was a marvelous time, there definitely needs to be a stronger presence of podcasts in Baltimore because this is a great way to showcase all types of artists through the local music scene. After my appearance on the podcast, Ed Schrader was featured on an upcoming episode which is an honor to have been on a show before a musician that is signed to such a respected record label such as Sub Pop.
I ran a St. Patrick's Day 5K placing in 300/4560 runners. The episode of House Of Cards I did background acting in aired within the month. I got to see Mc Chris (Pee Pants) live at Metro Gallery. I was gifted a $1000 suit by a very gracious individual that enjoys helping others succeed. The Bnote fundraiser campaign launched to raise the amount of funds needed to print the second series.Lastly Kim and I were at an art show, where we hanging out with friends that were local artists presenting their latest work. While we were there, I was approached by a girl. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked "Hey, are you Pelvis Presley?". I replied "Yes, yes I am". That really made me feel special knowing my music and pelvic thrusts are growing a fan base.
Pelv Live Video!
The Bitter Scenester Podcast
April
I'm not sure if April could have gotten any better! This was seriously the month where I shined and thrived. Kim and I visited Denver as for she had just been accepted into school and we wanted to get a feel for the city to see if it was the right choice to move there. We flew in and got there late. We stayed with an AirBnb in RiNo. We were surrounded by some of the coolest bars and restaurants I have ever had the pleasure to go to. It was a terrific time! We checked out some really awesome bars that had great themes. We went to a restaurant with one of the coolest abstract pieces I've seen. We hiked Red Rocks with a guy we met on Couch Surfers Denver FB page. It was a blast and appeared to be a good fit for us. We took off from Denver to head back to Baltimore, we oddly enough had a 4 hour layover in Las Vegas. We have never been to Vegas and saw this as a great opportunity to do a quick walk around the city. We walked out the airport immediately and took a Lyft to the main strip. It was very overwhelming. The lights, crowds, and gambling aren't really are thing, but it was neat to visit once to get the gist of it.
Once we got back to Baltimore, we passed out immediately in our bed. Later that evening we had plans to go see a band called The Last Shadow Puppets (which created my all time favorite album). It was without question the best performance I have ever witnessed in my life. The stage presence, music, and style couldn't have been any better. We drove all the way to Philly from Baltimore, after getting in from a flight earlier that day. It was worth every penny and every second. I also got to see two other of my all time favorite bands Tokyo Police Club in DC and Beirut in Baltimore. They both played great sets, playing their new tunes. I also got to meet the vocalists of each other band after their shows. This is the first time I got to talk to the singer of TPC since seeing them at Talking Heads Club in 2008 as part of a Myspace Secret Show and my first time seeing Beirut live.
I also hosted another hostel show featuring a collective of new friends. Val Tambien, Baggy Pants Rich, Steel Samurai, The John Street Genes (Bitter Scenester) and Pelvis Presley. It was yet again another fabulous show with very talented people. I also played Joe Squared opening up for a band called Them Animals which I had never met before, since then we played many shows together and have became very great friends. If that wasn't enough to befriend such an awesome band. Joe Squared provided a free pizza, two free beers, and $20 for playing. What a deal!!!Lastly, The Baltimore BNote Green Currency released their second denominations BN10 and BN20 and a new makeover of BN1 and BN5. We hosted a launch party event at Gallery 788. The turnout was great. The new notes were here! Everyone was partying and having a great time. It couldn't of gone any better.
May
After such an amazing month, I was ready for what May had in store for me. I informed my manager at Hosteling International that Kim and I had decided we're going to move to Denver. This ultimately meant I had to leave HI. This was heartbreaking for me because I spent nearly 3 years putting my heart and soul into that place. However, there comes a time in life where you need to change as life changes around you.As I worked my last few weeks at the hostel. A young Scottish guy came in and said he had a reservation. Unfortunately, it didn't show in our system. We were completely booked out by a group and he wasn't able to stay with us. He was worried because he was on a budget and wasn't sure where to go. I offered for him to crash at mine and Kim's apartment for the weekend. He gratefully accepted. After I got off I gave him a tour of the city. We got drinks and food. I showed him murals and historic buildings. It was fun! Kim got off work and we all went out for more drinks, however Kim and I had tickets to see Santigold that night. So, we gave him our key and recommendations of places to go and we headed to the show. Santigold was amazing she put of such a fantastic set. We loved it, we've been listening to her new album so much and it was incredible to see it in performed in person.
If that wasn't enough!!! I finally got to play The Crown. That was on my buck list for a long time. I opened up for Slam & Wallace, and a band from Denver called Home Body. The sets were all excellent. After Home Body finished I approached them telling them they sounded like this band Gauntlet Hair I heard on Sirus Radio back in 2012 in a Mercedes that I won. They laughed and told me the singer was their roommate. I couldn't believe it, I'm a huge fan of both and couldn't be anymore excited to me immersed into a music scene like that. I also got to play The Annex that month opening for Them Animals and a few other bands. I went to an Orioles game this month, I spent a wonderful mothers day with my aunt, grandmother, and Kim. We went to Paper Moon, Jones Falls waterfall, and a few other places.The best part of May was seeing my all time favorite band We Are Scientists in DC. As soon as they saw me they said "Hey, James Lane! Good seeing you man.". Could you imagine how exciting that is having your favorite band remember your first and last name. I got to spend the entire evening hanging with them and talking about random stuff. They eventually went on to perform a brilliant set! It was so incredible to be there and see them. I loved it and loved the month of May!
ABC2 News Interviewed Me (Again)
June
Summer was here and my schedule got packed quick! I did ordinary summer activities such as canoeing in Dundalk with my best friends Thom and Alex. We ended the night by getting on Alex's brothers boat and driving around to bars where we could tie up to the dock and have a few drinks. I had roof friend hangouts at my apartment. Myself, Kim, Alex, and his girlfriend at the time all watched the sunset in station north on top of our large apartment roof guzzling down Natty Bohs. I went to an Orioles game with my buddy Jamie. We got meet Oriole legend Boog Powell! I also got to see Beverly, Flowers, and Wildhoney in a night of some fine indie music at Windup Space.
Philly was imperative to visit once more before leaving the east coast. So, we requested to stay at Apple Hostel (free stay as always). We did our regular bar hoping, ate the ever so delicious vegetarian spot Govinda's, and explored the town one last time. The best part was I reached out to my old friend Tj I hadn't spoke with since 2012. We got into a conflict I never thought would be resolved till I received advice to apologize no matter who was in the wrong. I finally did it! Him and I reunited and it was wonderful seeing such a good friend after such a long hiatus.
June 17th, I hosted The Last Hostel Show Ever! Featuring Envy The Animals, Slam & Wallace, The Holographic Sticker Club, Pelvis Presley, The Lush Pockets, Them Animals. This was by far one of the best nights in my entire life. After taking a bus to HI-Toronto December 1st, 2009 to stay in a hostel the first time by myself my birthday weekend. Volunteering at HI-Baltimore July 2013. Moving back to Baltimore and getting a job at HI-Baltimore working weekend overnight December 2013 to making the hostel my own project where I was living a luxurious work life. I finally hosted my last hostel ever after hosting these shows for about a year and a half. It all came down to this moment. It was magical to see the friends I accumulated after all this time. The support and love I felt was amazing. Everyone played the best sets ever! It couldn't have gone any better. City Paper put the show in as a must go show for the week. The turn out was massive and the show ended with me on vocals for Them Animals last song. It was a cover of Nirvana - Territorial Pissing. It was amazing and an unforgettable moment in my life.Pelvis Presley Last HI Performance Audio
July
The end of my time in Baltimore came so fast. After all the heart and soul I put into the community and making so many new friends. It was finally time to end the last month the best that I could and move onto the mid-west. During my last month, Kim and I went to an Orioles game, we went kayaking with Kristine and Dan Van in Shady Side, MD. Did a cool Patterson Park pool party thing with friends.
.
We went to Artscape for the best weekend ever. We got to see Weekends live! One of my favorite albums of all time is by Weekends, it's called "New Humans". I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys good music. During Artscape, I dd my traditional Hess Gas Station set performance. I had a lot of my compadres come out for this. I plugged into the wall and played a 20 song set show right in the main street of all the crowds. I also helped get all four new BNote rotated on the LED Baltimore Board during Artscape. It's the hugest event in Baltimore every year and the new BNote designs got their spotlight in front of everyone.The night before Artscape, I hosted one last Lord Dog House basement show. The line up was Clean Breasts (Bitter Scenester), Mike Allison, Known Ghost, The Shaky Experience, Steve Womp Womp Wimbleton. It was amazing! The turn out was great as always. Food, drinks, friends, amazing music. The night before Baltimore's largest event. Thom and I dd our yearly reunion as The Shaky Experience. It was the best!
July 29th, Kim and I hosted our last public friends meet up event. We hosted a pub crawl, so many friends came out! I couldn't believe the enormous response of people that saw us before we went. It was a great time. Eating and drinking at our favorite spots. Making it the end of our chapter in the city I love.August (part 1)
The moving truck was packed up and sent off. We still had an air mattress, our book bags, a blanket and pillows left. We decided to stay 5 more days in Baltimore after getting the news our move in date wouldn't be till August 15th. Giving us 15 days on the road, so we choose to take it down to 10 days on the road. During our last few nights in Baltimore. We hung with our closest friends and my family. Enjoying our time together. We spend our real last night seeing Deftones with my most closest friends in the world watching Deftones across from Pier Six. It was awesome to have one more final goodbye. We ended the night with drinks with a few more folks. Kim, Adam, and myself all went back to our Station North apartment to sleep there one last time. We woke up, Adam helped pack our car. We said goodbye to my family one last time and hit the road.
Kim, Bailey, and myself were officially on the road. Our first stop with Pittsburgh, we ate at a spot called Spak Brothers. I got a delicious vegan philly cheese steak. The area we were in was a super cool art district my friend Matt recommended us. We finished up and made our way to Chicago for two nights to stay with Kim's cousin that she hadn't seen in years. We explored the city for the millionth time it seemed. It's always cool to visit though. We went to our usual spot Half Acre brewery and of course Millennium Park. We also spent time with Kim's cousin and went to some excellent Latin food restaurant. It was time to hit the road again to Omaha, NB to stay with my friend Scott. We stayed with him for two nights checking out down town Omaha. It my first time in NB as well as my first time stopping in Iowa for dinner. This increased my chances to meeting my goal of getting to all 50 states by the age of 30. During our time in Nebraska. We checked out the passageway and the historic part of town. It was a neat experience and great to catch up with an old friend.
I found a website called Campendium, It shows all the camp sites in America. You can narrow down your search to the free ones which is exactly what we did. So, we drove up north to South Dakota. My first time being in the state and it was all corn fields and nothing else for hours and hours of driving. The campground we found was very close to a town called Wall Drug. We finally arrived after possibly 12 hours of driving. We drove down a mountain to get to our site. It was in a canyon in the middle of no where. It was storming that night and winds were so heavy we slept in our car and woke up to our dog growling at bison surrounding our car. It was one of the wildest things I've ever saw. We continued our journey camping across country visiting Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons. It was the best road trip of my life. We finally arrived to our new home in Denver. The landlord showed us our new apartment which we got stuck inside. She had to get her son to rip our door off with a crowbar and we switched our lease to a new apartment in Washing Park.
August (Part 2)
MEXICO
We ended the month of August by visiting my friend Daniel Boland an Australian man I met in Toronto, Canada in 2010. Dan and I traveled to Baltimore, Philly, Boston, NY, DC, Chicago, Detroit, etc. together during his time visiting America. We developed a great friendship and stayed in touch once he went back to Australia. I received a card in the mail earlier this year informing me he was getting married to a woman from Mexico that he met in Canada. The wedding was in Mexico and I knew I couldn't miss this moment. Kim and I bought our tickets and went to Mexico.I never been to Mexico, fortunately Kim speaking Spanish saved us a lot of trouble. We caught a cab from the airport to Blue Pepper Hostel. We stayed there for the weekend. We went out drinking in one of the main strips of the town. It was incredibly fun! The next day with Kim's birthday and Dan's wedding. We made it to the church where he was getting married. There he was, the guy I hadn't seen in years. It was such a pleasure seeing a great friend as Dan for the first time in so long. He got married. The ceremony happened and now it was time to party. A shuttle picked us up and took us all our to a beautiful spot out in the mountains for the reception of 12 hours of eating amazing Mexican food and drinking awesome Mexican beer. We made it back to our hostel and partied the next day with the same group again. It was time to go back to our new home of Denver and call it a trip/month.
September
The first full month of us living in Denver was thriller. We got involved in as many things as we could. We started it off by going to Riot Fest to see White Lung, Diarrhea Planet, Rogue Wave, Dan Deacon, The Aquabats, Fitz & The Tantrums, Thursday, Death Cab For Cutie, & Deftones. It was a fun time. Lots of great musicians, it was a cool way start our lives in Denver. We also participated in a free weekly 3 mile run at Boulder Running Company. We biked with Denver Cruiser Ride which is a 1000 bicyclers meet up every Wednesday biking around the city. We attended a Rockies baseball game. Hiked Rocky Mountain National Park. We went to awesome art warehouse space shows. Checked out new bars and restaurants and got settled into our new city.
October
James and I then explored a little bit of down town Burlington. We got breakfast at the most delicious breakfast I've ever had in my life, Penny Cluse. We continued to our evening with drinking around town. The next morning Thom was there! He arrived at 5am, it was incredible being in the same room with my best friends for the first time in what seemed to be years. We got breakfast and did a crazy hike around the outskirts of the town. We came back, listened to some music then hiked again. This time we went to a mountain, and made it to the top to one of the most amazing views of my entire life! We made our way back down and got lost. It got dark and we were stuck in the woods of a mountain. We got out and made it to a main road to fortunately have some driver pick us up and take us back to the car. We got home safe and sound. The next day we spent our entire night prepping for James' science themed birthday party. The time came, we drank, ate, played games with the guest, listened to music. People left, and the rest of that stuck around decided to crash a college frat party so we literally walked Burlington looking for a frat party. Found one, walked in and acted like we owned the place. It was one of the most hilarious moments of my life. We hung out with random college people and got super drunk. It was rad! The next day we got up, grabbed some bikes, and drove up to Montreal for an unforgettable day of biking around a Canadian city. It was super cool and an everlasting moment for us guys. That basically wrapped up mine and Thom's time in VT with James. We both departed to our homes and had brilliant memories to last forever.
Other cool stuff in October was my 10 year anniversary of being vegetarian. I ran Denver Rock N Roll Half Marathon. I got a medal running 13.1 miles around my current city. Kim and I sneaked into a Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren rally for Hillary Clinton. That was super cool to be apart of. When we walked outside leaving the event Sanders and Warren were 5 feet away from us which was sweet. We also got to meet Kristen Schall in Boulder she rallying for Hillary in the main down town. Lastly Kim helped me film a music video for my new song "Hieroglyphics". The entire video was shot in the hotel where The Shinning was filmed. It turned out great! It was another fantastic month.
November
The month of November marked 100 days on living in Denver. It feels like a milestone being this far from my friends and family this long. Going to school and working full time with Zip Car. It's interesting to show how much my life changed in the course of a few months. Denver has been interesting. We've been meeting new friends, exploring the art scene of the city, and trying to immerse ourselves within the community. It hasn't been entirely easy, but we're doing what we can. We're paying our rent and bills, taking care of our dog, and always discovering new things.
We've been hiking and going to as many park as possible before it got too cold. Red Rocks was a big one for us. Visiting such a beautiful and historic place. Hiking the trails and sight seeing the views has been nice. We've been exercising around the parks. We live right by a massive park called Washington Park where we do a lot of runs and dog walks. I saw on Couch Surfers Crew Denver someone was hosting a late night Thanksgiving potluck. That was a pretty night of drinking, eating, meeting new people, and going into someone's hot tub that I just met! Another memorable moment from the month was going to Museum of Contemporary Art's late night dance party with our friend Courtney. That was a blast, being in the museum after hours, dancing, and hanging out was terrific.December
My birthday was December 5th. We flew back to Baltimore December 1st - 5th to visit family, friends, and my favorite city. It was one of the best times of the year for me. Kim and I stayed at HI-Baltimore. We went out to see my friend Alex's last show with Known Ghost before moving to Chicago. All of my friends was there, it was amazing to catch up with them. The next night we went to Lithuanian Hall dance party meeting with my friend Jamie, and Kathy. The following evening we went to my friend Matt (the founder of the Baltimore hostel) wedding. It was at Church & Company and was absolutely beautiful and super cool he invited me considering we just met earlier this year and became such close friends since. The next night Kim and I hosted a pre-bday celebration pub crawl only making it to Xs and Brewer's Art due to an extreme amount of intoxication, but it was super great anyway because my closest compadre's came out to that too. The next morning was my birthday, I got so much love from my friends and family that day, I was super hungover spending the morning and afternoon with my family. Eating a delicious lunch and having birthday cake. It was a very good day, but our plane was coming and we headed to the airport, caught our plane, had a layover in Chicago, and made it back to Denver at 11pmish on my birthday. It was an amazing weekend and I'm so glad many people I love got to be apart of it. My year ended with running 531 miles in 100 runs. This year has been incredible. Thank you everyone for being apart of it.
This years music picks:
Albums of the year
1, The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything That You've Come To Expect
2. We Are Scientists - Heltzer Seltzer
3. The Strokes - Future Present Past
4. Tokyo Police Club - Melon Collie & The Infinite Radness
5. Weekends - People Vertigo EP
Tracks of the year
1. The Last Shadow Puppets - Miracle Alinger
2. We Are Scientists - Buckle
3. Weekends - Killer Crush
4. Lone - Morning Birds
5. Animal Collective - Lying In The Grass
2017 Plans:
My plans for new year is to live life to the fullest in Denver. I want to get involved with communities and something I can be passionate about. Learn more and eat healthier. Have more involved in local government. Hike as many trails, parks, and mountains that I can. Go skiing and snowboarding while I live here. Run a half marathon and stay as active as possible. Successfully find a job I will enjoy and will thrive in. Continue entertainment, audition more roles and pursue as many gigs available. Leave Denver in August and move back to Baltimore or another city that I will enjoy.
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