AllOne NovEmbark Tour 2016: 11/25-26 An LI Visit Revealing A Small World & Big Family

AllOne NovEmbark Tour 2016: 11/25-26 An LI Visit Revealing A Small World & Big Family

Happy New Year folks, at the time of me typing this up it is the first day of 2017, what a predictable but somehow always-surprising aspect of life time is hm?  Hope you all had great experiences during the celebrations of your new years.  Just getting caught up with recounting my adventures on the NovEmbark tour, you may remember that recently I had narrowly escaped being trapped in DC and made it back on the philanthropic nature of others' during my travels...here is where I'd like to pick up these not-so-harrowing travelogues....

Black Friday on Long Island, Caffeine and Jams
Just after my "illogistical" journey to Washington, DC the day before Thanksgiving with a quick trek back to Long Island in time to sleepily scarf leftovers on the day of human gratitude all birds fear, I had a black friday show to perform at The Cup in Wantagh with my Long Island born but Denton, TX based friend Eric Daino invited me onto!  Eric is an acoustic player and a punk/ska songwriter who tours plenty solo the past few years and also has a ska band called The Holophonics that I recommend if you're a ska fan!  Eric and I met when he performed the release show for "I've Been Thinking..." in May, he is a really nice guy and very dedicated to his craft.  His honest songwriting reflecting on the life of a traveling person and a struggling independent musician really appeals to me so I was happy to jump on another performance with him!

The Cup Coffeehouse is a really neat place located amidst a strip of bars and boutiques on a street running parallel to a train station and if you're ever on Long Island, I very much advise you to go.  The Cup is a very unique place with an artsy DIY vibe to it.   The owners are supportive of musicians and they have some delicious coffees and desserts to be enjoyed on the plethora of couches and reading chairs one can nestle into comfortably.

An "Incidental" Set with Eric Daino
Eric and I had two and a half hours or so to fill between the two of us so we opted to swap short half hour or so sets back and forth so as to give everyone opportunities to hear a little of everything.  The event was packed out and it was really rewarding playing a sort of "incidental" lounge set, where the music is just sort of there and not necessarily the focus of people's attention in the venue's environment or the night's proceedings.  You'd think this a little counter-intuitive maybe and I'm especially aware that my music demands a certain degree of attention to be grasped or fully appreciated, but letting go of the stressful or egotistical feeling of responsibility that the quality of your performance is predicated upon and audience's willingness to pay attention and instead just performing the songs to the best of my ability is sort of relieving.  Luckily, people DID often pay attention especially at the onset of me being on stage, but once people adjust to understanding the "novelty" of seeing me do what I do (someone who looks like I do rapping well and passionately) and feel they have ingested a rewarding amount of my material, they go back to their conversations and food and then revisit me.  In those moments I lock eyes as best I can with those who are attentive and try to let them know that I appreciate it.  This creates a different relationship for me with people and with the idea of performance that I like being reminded of, that just indulging in the expressive and well-delivered material regardless of who is watching and when can be just as rewarding as one where you're arm and arm with people in the crowd or doing call and response choruses and doing a very active and charismatic performance.
Eric Daino singing his heart out
at The Cup

Seeing and hearing Eric's music, particularly his travelogues from the last 7 months spent on the road was really inspiring and put a lot of hope into my desire to travel and keep performing.  He has a great song about sort of questioning people who almost condescendingly or enviously tell him he's traveling doing what he loves that acerbically tries to illuminate the lack of romance in it and that it is indeed hard work regardless of the fact that he is doing what he loves and sharing and creating music.  This was also a poignant reminder that hard work will always be hard work, but it is the driving purpose of the whole experience that really makes it grueling or not, the "ends" justifying the means sort of dilemma or reconciliation. If you are a ska fan and like upbeat music that is also thoughtful and insightful I think that Eric Daino is a MUST LISTEN, here is his solo album he released last year...
 


Jackie & The Small World
     Doesn't that title seem like an indie band?  Toward the end of the show at The Cup there was one particular person who sat down close to the performance area and was giving me their uninterrupted attention more than most so I gave it back to them and after my set I approached her and thanked her for her kindness and we got to talking and I learned her name was Jackie and I told her I was visiting home amid a short tour and in a few days I'd be headed up to Rhode Island to play some shows with some friends... as it turned out in the incredible sequence of coincidences, she attended school up in Rhode Island and her boyfriend ran sound at the Firehouse 13 venue that I was going to perform with Drent and Kleen Kut on Monday, we both laughed and marveled excitedly at this "small world" occurrence and wished one another safe travels and said we would see each other at Firehouse 13 (which we did, you'll come to find).
     I reminded myself that it would never have happened if not for a series of decisions such as Jackie decidedly paying attention or me going to make contact and us talking or even me opting to perform at The Cup or to travel to perform in Rhode Island.  There's a line I wrote in a poem about this reflecting on a similar small world situation from when I was in Texas in 2013 and a woman found my notebook and turned out to be from Long Island (READ A LITTLE ABOUT THAT HERE) , People always say "It's a small world" and I think its a very big world, but the coincidences and the degrees of separation in the world get smaller as you opt to bridge the gaps and take part in creating the connections and weaving the interconnecting web of events and interactions around you.


Discovering support at second Thanksgiving with Family Saturday 11/26
     The 26th of November is a traditional family day where we get a whole bunch of the Pandolfos over my mom's house the Saturday after Thanksgiving for a second feast of merriment and an absurd amount of food and obnoxious Italian interactions.  There were surely some political and religious conversation I didn't care for, but that was fine, respect it and move on!  My house mate and long time friend Andrew, (also known as Andrew Mesmer) even joined us for some grub and gab.  Overall it was a great reminder of the beautiful community of people I have in my life in my own bloodline, since I get so caught up in all of the music and creative related family I have and spend so much time doing music work and performance, I often miss a lot of events.  It was fun to be able to tell some stories of recent performances and admittedly I stood a little more upright with pride, able to depict that I was enacting and embodying my passions and pursuits unabashedly and productively, even if my well adjusted and settled relatives worry or don't quite understand what I'm doing with my life or can ideologically align with my intentions.  I think the overarching idea that came across was that if I seemed happy and stable or had some sense of confidence and purpose in what I was doing and that I was DOING IT, then they were able to support it.  This is the best we can do I think, as friends, lovers, family and strangers, is to support people and respect their choices so long as they're happy and healthy and not hurting anyone, you don't have to understand it, but what a beautiful and admirable story it is to see someone else who found a way to cut their own path the way they saw fit and travel through their life engaging in activity and purpose to the best of their ability and affinity?  That is success. That is supportive and non-judgmental love.

With a belly full of food, a face sore with laughter and a head full of hopes I got myself ready to depart for Rhode Island the next day to embark on some more musical journeys with my New England rapper cohorts Drent and Kleen Kut!


Open your arms to others and close the gaps between us.
Invest in yourself and encourage others to do the same.
Even if you don't understand people's choices, 
you can still respect and draw inspiration from anyone's taking 
charge of their life and vigorously hunting contentment.
-Bruce "AllOne" Pandolfo

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