Adventure, Explore, Experiences
Baltimore, Maryland
I visited my hometown during it's busiest weekend, Artscape. Lots of my compadre's bands were on the lineup and I couldn't miss out on such a grand time. I caught my flight, had a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina and shortly after, I arrived in Charm City. I spent a week in Bmore visiting friends, family, exploring the changes in the city, and enjoying the art festival.
I spent my first day back home catching up with my family in Dundalk. We conversed for hours while I was relaxing on the couch after an exhausting plane ride. That night I was booked to play Joe Squared as part of a pre - Artscape kickoff show.
The lineup was Knife Party, Pelvis Presley, Terror Pigeon, Real Dom, and Domino. All the musicians put on a phenomenal performance. After my set, I hung out with friends and watched the rest of bands. I also earned a free pizza of my choice, two free beverages, and $20 in door money. The show couldn't of been better. The two touring acts Terror Pigeon and Real Dom both put on an interactive dance set that got the whole venue in good spirits. The sound man at the show reviewed the bands including my set on a blog which you can read here.
Joe Squared Show Review Link
http://soundmansguide.blogspot.com/2017/07/week-29-2016.html
Throughout the weekend I got to see Bloomer, The Lushpockets, Raindeer, The Holographic Sticker Club, Natural Velvet, Wing Dam, Them Animals, and many other great local musicians play. All the bands put on great sets and I highly encourage anyone that's reading this to look up these bands. PLRLS was the last band to play this year's festival. After their set I had the pleasure of interviewing them on my iPhone and later converting that recording into my live radio show. A fun fact about that band is the vocalist is the owner of a very popular music venue called Ottobar and the bassist was part of the cast of the television series Ace Of Cakes on the Food Network. They were a blast to interview, you can listen to that here.
PLRLS Interview Linkhttps://www.mymetmedia.com/kmetradio/artscape-review-plrls-interview/
I also got to walk around my old neighborhood of Station North and check out the changes taking place. One of the biggest things I saw was The Parkway Theater. The space is over 100 years old and has finally been revitalized back as a beautiful theater. My friend Adam and I got to watch some short films in the mainroom. It was mind blowing how well the historic preservation of the building is still intact. We walked around exploring the history. Afterwards we checked out the art of Artscape. Overall it was pretty good and it's always great to see local artist being showcased in America's largest art festival.
After the festival, I spent more time back in Dundalk with my family. My grandmother and I drove around the suburb I grew up in. It felt very special to me to have this opportunity to spend precious time with my elder. Her and I went to one of my favorite places called Hard Yatch Cafe. We ate lunch and had a few drinks. Later that day, I had the pleasure of seeing my father and his girlfriend. We ate dinner and caught up on life. It was a great way to conclude my time in my first hometown. Before I left Dundalk, I was interviewed by my local newspaper The Dundalk Eagle about my goal to get to all 50 states by the age of 30. I currently have visited 48 states and am 27 years old. It was exciting to share my story and hopefully be able to inspire people from my town to branch out to other places.
The Dundalk Eagle Link
http://www.dundalkeagle.com/news/local/dundalk-resident-james-lane-on-track-to-visit-all-states/article_310dc1a4-ca2c-5c11-b43c-cafb094a90fc.html
My last night in Baltimore, I had a gathering for my friends and I to say goodbye to each other. A lot of people came out which was really nice. We all got pizza at Turp's and drank beer at Brewer's Art. It was a classic way to say farewell to Bmore. The next morning, my amigo Joe drove me to the airport. I caught my flight with a layover in Kansas City and made it back home to The Mile High City.
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The Underground Music Showcase
I emailed The Underground Music Showcase to see if I could get a representative to come on my radio show and talk about the festival. The third episode of The Shaky Experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing the festival coordinator. Tobias Krause came on and spoke with me about his love for Denver and what to expect from the showcase. After the show he guest listed me for all four days of the festival.
Tobias has done so much for me in such a little amount of time. He got me a press pass to go to Westword Music Showcase. I also had the honor to go to The Underground Music Showcase press party. It was an event that took place a few days before the festival. I met lots of impressive people that are involved in media outlets throughout the city of Denver.
During the weekend I got to see so many amazing musicians. The bands that are on my list of highlights are:
Benjamin Booker, Brent Cowles, Colfax Speed Queen, Dirty Few, Grass, The Outfit, Vic & The Narwhals, Whole Milk, Ex-Cult, Flaural, The Baltic, Landlines, Kitty Crimes, GVgrace, Wheelchair Sports Camp, Vinyl Williams, Parallelephants as well as so much more.
This was the best weekend I had living in Denver. It was all right in the neighborhood I live in. I met new friends, got to see great bands, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the festival. It has all been thanks to Tobias for coming on my radio show and giving me the opportunity to cover his festival.
Tobias Krause interview
https://www.mymetmedia.com/metradio/underground-music-showcase/
Denver's DIY Scene
Within my year of living in Denver I have gone to a few DIY spaces. Unfortunately, most of the spaces got shut down once The Ghost Ship fire happened. There have only been a few spaces that survived the foreclosures of these artist hubs. The Pre K is one of the spaces that is still around. The spot is an old pre school turned into a living space for artists and musicians to play shows and have fun. I had the opportunity to play at The Pre K as Pelvis Presley. Throughout the months there have been lots of local shows that took place there. Jeremy and James are the two people that have been booking most the shows there. They have decided to move out and expand the network of artist houses.
Bourgeois Girl interview
https://www.mymetmedia.com/kmetradio/shaky-experience-bourgeois-girl/
The next night, Whole Milk asked me to play tambourine for their band at Lost Lake Lounge. This was such a pleasure for me. I was so thrilled to play an established venue in Denver that many musicians I like have performed at. I wore my Hawaiian shirt button up because that is one of the key elements of the band. They stay tropical and jazzy. I slapped my tambourine for every song and glad I got to perform with them
Later that week, I interviewed Whole Milk on my radio show. We also discussed DIY spaces, the growing music scene in Denver as well as much more. I discovered the band is moving to Chicago. I am sad to see them go, but happy their branching out. Be sure to check out their music and my interview with the band here.
Whole Milk interview
https://www.mymetmedia.com/the-shaky-experience-show/shaky-experience-whole-milk-interview/
...................................................................................................................................................................National Park Services
Kim and I renewed our NPS pass at Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove up for the day with our friend Courtney to explore the park. We walked around Sprague Lake, hiked trails, and relaxed in nature. Considering we had just bought out annual pass and Labor Day was coming up, we planned a trip to Wyoming parks.
Jackson, Wyoming was our next destination. We stopped for food, gas, and to relax after a long drive The town has a beautiful mountain architecture look to it. We walked around observing the tourist and tourist shops. We ate cheap sushi at Safeway and made our way towards a campsite. Shadow Mountain campground is where we slept for the night. We slept in our car because it was 29 degrees outside.
The next morning, we explored Grand Tetons for hours. The park is my favorite NPS that I've visited. The nature, hikes, water, trails, sites are like no other. We walked along a dam and took pictures, we also filmed shots for a future Pelvis Presley music video at Jenny Lake. We sat across from Jackson Lake and ate lunch at Leeks Marina. It was such a glorious moment that I'm so glad I got to experience. After lunch, Kim and I started making our way towards Yellow Stone National Park.
Right outside the park we stopped at a convenient store. This is where I found what I've been looking for my entire my life. It is an image of a 1990's version Yellow Stone National Park's map on a bandanna. I couldn't resist, but to purchase this glorious item. I wore the bandanna for most of the rest of the trip.
We entered Yellow Stone and drove around the park. The narrow mountains and wild life is magnificent. We stopped many times to take pictures and enjoy the views. The most notable stop was walking around Old Faithful. It was incredible to see the geysers and boiling hot water in person. Over a 10 hour day of exploring parks we became exhausted and made our way to Granite Creek campground. We slept in our car again because it was below freezing outside.
The last morning, we climbed up rocks and took pictures around a waterfall. The adventure was a thriller way to close out our summer. Purchasing a National Park Service annual pass is the way to go. It gets us out and going and hopefully would do the same for you.
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Side Notes:
I recently worked an event to where was a brand ambassador for an insurance company. The event was a soccer match of Mexico vs Jamaica at the Broncos stadium. Before the event started, two men approached me asking if I would like to make $50 in cash right now. They told all I had to do was shave my arms on a Latin television series called Soy La Mala Suerte (I Am Bad Luck). I did it, got my money, and now am on a Latin television series that you can watch here.https://www.facebook.com/soylamalasuerte/videos/1363761427011589/?hc_ref=ARSTiAtBC0q0WFxWSsos8cVfJb3_KXJ-SY-2MrU8mJc5xnOdJivm6X1nfDHX9DlEaEw
I took the $50 I earned to shave my arms and bought a concert ticket. I went to go see Beach Fossils, She-Devil, and Ablebody. After the show I got to interview Christoph of Ablebody with my iPhone and later transferred the recording to my live show. Christoph is also the guitarist of the band The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. I'm a huge fan and he was a delight to interview
Ablebody Interview link
https://www.mymetmedia.com/metradio/ablebody-interview/
I had the pleasure of hosting my friend Chirs Campbell at my house. Chris was driving across country to go to Oregon for a solar eclipse festival. We caught up and talked a lot about Bitcoin. Chris write a daily newsletter for Agora. He's an interesting guy with a lot of knowledge and hope for the future of alternative currencies.
The next morning, I was worked as a brand ambassador at Sloan's Lake. Denver's mayor Michael Hancock was walking around the festival. I got to speak with him and get a picture together. It was an unexpected brilliant surprise. That night, my friend Cynthia and I stood in a parking lot to watch Death Cab For Cutie perform from at a music festival from afar. They were the only band either of us were interested in seeing. So, we watch their entire set in an empty lot.Speaking of mayors, I am proud of Baltimore's mayor. She recently announced free community college for the youth of Baltimore. That is a great step in the right direction to fixing Baltimore's issues by offering free education to youth of my hometown.
http://www.wbaltv.com/article/mayor-announces-free-community-college-as-part-of-crime-fighting-plan/11658204
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I won a ticket to see Minus The Bear at a venue in down town Denver. I completely convinced myself it wasn't worth going. I even tried to sell my ticket, but I went anyway. The show was a lot better than I expected. It definitely had a very 2006 emo transforming into indie vibe to it. Although, they did play 5 songs I knew and really enjoyed.
Lastly, I won a guest list spot to see Ty Segall in Boulder October 8th. The last time I saw Ty play was at Golden West Cafe in Baltimore in September 2011. I have very low expectations for his set. The reason being is because his new stuff is awful! It feels like he's too "famous" to play in "smaller cities" like Baltimore. Considering he hasn't been back since the time I saw him. I'm just not sure what to think of him anymore. Although, I definitely plan on giving this show a chance. He played a REALLY great set when I saw him in Bmore. We'll see happens.
To end this blog on a positive note....
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