Denver to Baltimore to San Francisco

B A L T I M O R E! 

A piece of artwork I spotted in Hampden neighborhood

Light City's second annual festival was coming up and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see all of my home town friends and family during such a jam packed week/end. I bought my tickets to Baltimore using money I earned by providing my opinion in a focus group about Gatorade a few weeks before. My trip was covered and my backpack was packed. I got on the flight and with a short layover in Chicago. I finally made it to Charm City.

An instillation of Light City

I left so much behind when I moved away from Baltimore. I was running monthly hostel shows, marketing a local currency, and having the best nights of my life with friends and family. Not to mention I was featured in 3 newspapers last year for the work I was accomplishing. That being said, it only felt appropriate for me to visit during such a special time.

Photographs of my aunt and I when we were young.

The first night I stayed in Dundalk with my family. It was special being in the house I grew up in. I was around the two women I care about the most. I discovered fossilized photographs of my aunt and I that made me fall asleep with a smile. The next morning my aunt, grandmother, and myself drove down town to explore the beautiful historic culture the city has to offer. We walked around Fells Point to discover the Baltimore Boutique Hotel had been finished in the heart of the neighborhood. It previously was once an old shipyard that had been abandoned for decades. However, due to the escalating rise of the city of Baltimore. Under Armour CEO/Founder bought the property and transformed it into a luxury hotel. My family and I journeyed around eating lunch at the local Broadway market, shopping at The Sound Garden, and visiting Loring Cornishes art gallery. It was a pleasure running into my friend and seeing how well his gallery is doing for an ever changing fast paced neighborhood such as Fells Point.



I drove us around more neighborhoods to see some instillation's Light City had set up. The one that stuck out the most was a life sized house of cards around the inner harbor. It was fascinating to see the amount of work that was put into this astonishing festival. There were lights and sculptures surrounding the majority of down town Baltimore.

House of Cards television series films in Baltimore

After a fun exploration of the lights. I took us to Port Covington an old port that later shut down and became a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and that's it (no houses, no nothing). Plank (UA's CEO) bought out the stores and shut them down and is now transforming the nothingness of Port Covington into a whole new city (mainly for Under Armour). It was so unbelievable to see it, as for the changes were in progress to something that in a few years will be something massive. I took my folks back and made my way to meet up with friends Adam, Thom, and Jamie to watch our friend Matt's band Bloomer perform Light City. It was a fun time seeing friends shine during a big festival, shortly afterwards we made our way to La Cuchara (Thom's work) to be given 50% off our entire bill. We bought drinks and ate bread. We were gifted complimentary champagne on the house. After one too many drinks we made our way to Ottobar to shoot pool and sing karaoke. We carried on, catching up, enjoying the moment. It was something I've been longing for awhile, considering I haven't met many people in Denver I can relate to in a creative sense. We were wasted and the bar was closing so Jamie and I went back to his apartment where I crashed on his coach as a cat laid between my legs the entire night (typical Bmore cats).

Interactive lights

The next morning, I woke up to circulate back to Dundalk to spend more quality time with my family. After hours of television and conversation. My friend Adam picked me up for him and I to explore the brand new Monument Brewing Co. WOW! I might say this one too many times, but Baltimore is sky rocketing as a city. I'm almost in disbelief to see how just about every neighborhood in my favorite city is seeing new businesses move in. Monument Brewing has become huge and it's in the industrial back areas of the gorgeous Highland Town. We had a couple of drinks in tap room and talked to the owner briefly about BNotes. We departed and drove to the Inner Harbor to discover all the magic happening in Light City. It was absolutely amazing to see all the dedication that was put into Light City. The designs, instillation's, lights are nothing like anything else. This years interactive pieces had expanded where the crowd was much more engaged with the lights. Some of the work was in the water, some was being shined on regular people. It was great! It did a wonderful job at showcasing the true weird nature Baltimore has to offer.

 A spooky section of the festival

Thom eventually hit us up to go to Frasier's in Hampden to play pool. As he was getting change for the table, 2 guys walked up and started putting coins in. I walked over and said we're up. They replied why not make this interesting. We played in teams for hours, beer after beer, white ball shot after shot. It was a blast and it turned out I was playing the owner of Peabody Heights Brewery Eddy. It was awesome running into him. He's been so kind to me with my BNote pitches. After lots of time that passed Adam and I made our way back to Dundalk to call it a well deserved night.

The next day, I spent it mostly with my family till Jamie hit me up at night to go to Lithuanian Hall for their monthly 50's dance parties night. I couldn't resist, we danced the night away with friends and ladies. We drank till about 3am and I eventually crashed out on his coach. The next morning it was time to check into Hosteling International Baltimore, my former everything. HI-Bmore was my entire life for about 3 years. I caught up with old co-workers and saw the changes within the hostel. It was nice to discover the hostel was meeting it's goals to stay in business. I relaxed in the hostel for most of the day till I hit up my mentor Jeff Dicken (The BNote founder/CEO), I light railed to Hampden to spend a good portion of the afternoon catching up with him and hanging out with his chickens outback of his home. He is wise and such a wonderful person to be around. He helped me develop who I am today. He taught me the importance of communities, marketing, and change. He busted out his old guitar so him and I did a duet of "Moonage Daydream" by David Bowie. It was such a fantastic moment. He requested I go to Julie's (his wife) work and visit her. I did! She was working at a jewelry workshop. Julie and I drank Boh's and caught up. It felt so great being around people I love so dearly. Later, I walked over to the Ideal Art Space to see the free Light City show taking place which so many of my friends were performing there tonight .

The 5th game of the season

The Lushpockets were one of the bands I caught. They were fantastic as always, giving me a shout out on stage was sweet of them. I then would walk next store to Le Garage to run into 50% of Them Animals for drinks and fries. Thom got off work and hit us up to go back to see Bond Street District perform a very moving set. The crowd went wild for their performance as well. Following that we walked over to Frasier's to continue the drinking, after a couple more hours passed we all Ubered to Jamie's kitchen to drink beers till 3am. We listened to old Dundalk legend rap songs we made when we were 20.. I took a Lyft back to the hostel thanks to Chris and got some well needed sleep. The next morning I invited Kevin to come see the Orioles game with me as they were undefeated (4-0). It was also Kevin's first O's game so we got vegan dogs and drinks and enjoyed the game. Ultimately the Orioles lost, but it was still a blast going to possibly my only Orioles game for the year. We departed ways and I took a nap for my big show tonight at Joe Squared.

Pelvis Presley does Joe Squared video!

Watch the link above!

The Hive album release show was tonight! 13 bands one compilation to showcase the diversity of sound in Baltimore. I set up the show, after talking to Joe about this awesome album we all put together. The show featured Frasier & The Cranes, Val Tambien, Diamond Heist, Pelvis Presley, Slam & Wallace, A Band Called Forever's (last show ever). The show couldn't of gone any better, everyone sounded great. The turn out was big! We all got free pizza, beer, and door money for playing. The CDs sold! Most importantly besides seeing all my great friends, I got to play my new music in the city I was born in. It was such a special moment for yours truly.

Father & Son

The next morning, I said goodbye to the hostel and bused back to Dundalk to spend my last night with family. My grandmother and little cousin Jordan went to Baltimore County Sailing Center to walk along the beach. We then drove to Fort Howard to see the neighborhood my grandmother grew up. Afterwards, I drove them home and met with my Dad. This was the highlight of my trip, seeing my father. I usually only see him once a year and this was the time. He was dating a new woman named Kristina who graciously let him and I hang out in her living room. It was amazing to catch up with him. He told me he started his own business. He was doing great and is very healthy and happy. I'm proud of him and I think the feeling is mutual to me as well.

Friends since December 2009

The last morning, I packed my things and went down town to eat at Jerry Carryout before I go. Thom met up with me, it felt like the perfect goodbye. My best friend and I walking around Station North and MICA before my departure from Baltimore. We relaxed in the clock tower park and chilled out. It was wonderful, the light rail came and I was soon on my plane with a short layover in Boston I was back in Denver.

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S A N F R A N C I S C O

Me, Jose, Megan, Kim (in that order).

Kim and I found cheap tickets to fly to San Francisco to visit her brother Jose and his fiance Megan in Napa. We woke up at 3am April 27th to make sure we caught our plane in time. Once we arrived in SF Jose picked us up and we drove to Napa. We immediately went to Jose work Bouchon Bistro for one of the most expensive meals Kim and I ever had fortunately enough since Jose worked there we got half off our bill saving us over $100. The food was delicious and filling, we received many complimentary dishes from the chef. After our meal, Jose was eager to continue to show us around. We made our way to Quintessa for a free wine tour/tasting. The tour guide was an old friend of Jose's, we hiked up a big hill till we reached a beautiful view of a lake. The guide enlightened us with the history of the winery as we guzzled down free wine. We were gifted with glass after glass of free wine. The tour ended and we made our way to the next free wine tasting at Goosecross Cellars. We sat on picnic tables on the patio surrounded by farms of grapes steps away from us. We were delighted with lots of free tastings, As we were lounging in the sun and a women sitting next to us started dancing in front of us. She told us her name was Shaw'Dew and she was from Chicago. It was nice to not be completely surrounded by wine snobs and instead bringing character to the day.

Posing in the vineyards

After our epic first outing, we all napped back in the apartment. A few hours later, Jose arranged for us to meet with many of his friends at a place called St. Clair Brown Winery. The spot was solid, it had outdoor seating, we were surrounded by fruit and vegetable plants growing beside us. The crowd we were with was truthfully boring, so Kimberly and I made our way to a taco truck a block away. We got food and took some pictures of murals we saw as we were walking by. When we came back, everyone was ready to bounce somewhere else so we met at a sports bar in down town Napa for a couple of pitchers of beer. Kim and I were beyond exhausted at this point so we drove back early-ish with Megan back to the apartment to go to finally sleep at 11pm ( after being up since 3am).

Stinson Beach

The next morning we started our day at Alexis Baking Company for delicious breakfast sandwiches. Afterwards we got picnic supplies and made our way on a long drive to Tomales Beach. We walked around the water and explored abandoned shacks and the nature around it. We ate and drank our supply and relaxed. Following that, we went in the direction of SF. We drove along the Pacific Coast Highway, it was stunning how beautiful it is. We stopped at Stinson Beach to take a break from driving. The view was magnificent! We walked along the beach for an hour, I ran in and out of the pacific ocean on and off, It was freezing, but felt glorious being by an ocean again after living in Denver for over half of a year. We climbed boulders around the ocean and got great views of the beach.

A fun hike

GGB

We got back on the road and drove all the way through MT. Tamalpais State Park. Holy crap!!! This was absolutely terrifying driving on this mountain. It didn't have many guard rails, Jose was driving like a maniac. It was completely nuts! The state park itself was drop dead gorgeous, we saw some of the best sights of our trip driving through. We finally made it to Golden Gate Bridge. First we drove up the mountain over towering the bridge and that was pretty wild because we were so high up. I couldn't imagine being higher. We took pictures and explored old bunkers around it. We eventually made our way down to the bridge, we walked on it briefly, but due to how windy it was we didn't walk all the way across. Shortly after we went to Haight Ashbury to explore the town and find some grub. We shopped at the thrift stores and ate a super cheap place called Burger Urge. It was really delicious, the atmosphere of the restaurant was cool as well. It has acoustic guitars painted multiple colors attached to the ceiling. After our dinner, we walked over to Club Deluxe to see a local band performer for a little bit. We got tired and had a long drive ahead of us so we departed from SF and called it a night.

Behind Golden Gate Bridge

Day 3, Jose and I played basketball in the court behind his apartment while Kim and Megan got ready. Once they were finished we made our way to Berkeley. I was thrilled because some of my favorite movies are based out of that town (The Graduate, Youth In Revolt). We drove around the town exploring the culture. We ate at Jupiter, getting dang good pizza and beer. When we were done we walked over to the main part of town and spent hours at a farmers market where local hippy bands were performing in the street. Kim and I stopped in a CD store to find great finds of The Postal Service album Give Up for only $3. I couldn't resist getting such a classic, Kim bought a boo called Carsick by John Waters. It was a spectacular day in the city.

Berkeley

A fancy complex we partied in

During the night we arranged plans to meet with Jose's co-worker which apparently her grandfather is the founder of Hyatt. She lived in a very fancy complex. We brought over food to grill and beers to do beers with. We grilled green beans, asparagus, kale, veggie burgers, etc. It was SO good! Kim and I then made our way to the community hot tub. We spent a good hour relaxing in the water surrounded by palm trees. Two 17 year old's sneaked into the hot tub, we chatted with them briefly. It was hilarious having a conversation with someone 10 years younger than me and kind of having a flash back of what I was like when I was their age. After lots of beers and wine with Jose and Megan and the girl that lived at the complex. It was time to call it a night.

Too hot for pants

The last day of our trip, Kim, Megan, and myself all went to get pupusas in a backyard that were made in a shopping cart. We got them to go and ate them in a park close by. We then hiked Skyline Wilderness Park, it was too hot. I didn't bring my shorts so I had to hike in my underwear the whole time. During our hike we saw wild turkey along the trail. I thought "you don't see that everyday". Afterwards we packed up our things and made our way to San Francisco so Kim and I could see the sights of the city. Fisherman's Wharf was our first destination. There were tons of sea lions and sea life along the boardwalk. Union Square was the next task on our list. We drove around the center, scooping out the incredible architecture of the city. Afterwards we parked in China Town and walked around the neighborhood. We ate at a place called San Sun.

A projector of videos of SF in Josh's Apt

Kim and I were uncertain where we were sleeping a good portion of the day till she reached out to her old friend Josh that she hadn't spoke with in years. Josh is one of the original founders of Grooveshark, he moved out to SF to take a job offer with Yelp. We got dropped off by Jose and Megan and said our final goodbye's to them with one last drink at Club 93. We walked over to Josh's apartment. It was amazing!!! The furniture in the lounge room was very hip and industrialized. We went up to his apartment to be surprised it was a two bedroom apartment. He lived by himself and had the spare room ready for us. We talked for hours, he made us drinks, we ate delicious baked goods he got from China town earlier that day. We talked music, tech stuff, city life. It was such an awesome experience hanging out with him. We crashed out at midnight and woke up at 4am the next morning to catch our plane at 6am. We arrived in Denver a couple of hours later and that concluded my nomadic month.



M U S I C:

The day after my trip to Baltimore, I got to see Real Estate at The Gothic Theater. They were as great as I expected. I've been craving to hear so many of their songs live and they truly delivered when performing them.

I saw Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation) dj at Twist & Shout on Record Store Day. This was my second time seeing him dj, the first being at Light City last year. He put on a great set of tunes. Afterwards I got to meet him and talk to him about seeing Thievery Corporation live at Virgin Mobile Free Fest many light years ago.

The Hive compilation album that I'm on is available to listen to on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and Soundcloud. It also was handed out for free at The Sound Garden, according to the  owner over 50 copies were handed out to customers.

https://soundcloud.com/thehivecompilation

The Shaky Experience (my band) first album Greatest Hits 5 year anniversary was 4/20/17. I decided to recorded our top 10 "hits" 3 songs from each of our albums and one from our most recent ep. I also released my debut full length album for Pelvis Presley - Presley Pelvis 4/22/17.

https://presleypelvis.bandcamp.com/

The Luyas, I heard about them through Dead Oceans record label. I saw them at Golden West Cafe in Baltimore back in 2011 I believe. They just released a new ep, it's really great! It has a pure indie rock experimental vibe to it. The hit track is called "Self Unemployed" and I highly recommend starting off with that. The singers vocals have a haunting style to it, definitely check them out.

https://theluyas.bandcamp.com/

Beach Fossils, their new stuff is growing on me fast. So far, we've only heard 3 tracks from their new album and it's glorious. I really love the track "Saint Ivy". It has such an interesting poppy 70's style twist to it. They are your typical Brooklyn hipster band, but the tracks they are releasing off this new album feel different. "This Year" is the first track on the album, I've been hearing it on Denver independent radio stations. The bass line has been hypnotizing, give the tracks a listen.

Beach Fossils - Saint Ivy

Phoenix, I am thrilled to hear the news about their upcoming tour and new album info. I listened to J-Boy, I think it's good. It's not my favorite from them, but I like it enough. It was a synth beach disco sound. It's neat, I'm excited to hear the other songs soon enough and am debating on buying tickets to see them at Red Rocks this summer. I saw them back in 2013 at Sweet Life Festival. I got my friend James and I free passes to the festival by reaching out to Me Undies and asking if we could have them (it pays off to ask sometimes).

A few tips:

Mindswarms a website where you can make $50 just to give your opinion about products via webcam. It's free to sign up and they email you about upcoming studies. It's your choice to participate, no pressure from the site. Why not do it though? An easy occasional income for your thoughts.

http://patatap.com/ a fun website to make beats and sounds by pressing letters on your keyboard. It's a fun way to pass the time and get some experience in making rhythm.

Focus groups! Since January I've already participated in two focus groups. One with Field Work and the other with Plaza Research. I got paid $125 to talk about online job boards and Gatorade. It's easy and simple and a few extra bucks of spending money.

Brand Ambassador work, you can get paid to hand out samples of varies different products. The jobs are usually just for one shift or a few. The pay ranges from $25-$50 an hour just to hand out products to every day people on the streets and sometimes big events. It's a lot of fun and another great way to make extra income on your spare time.

Do you have any feedback or questions? Let me know at @jameslanee