The Big Six O With Less Time Spent in Airport Security Lines

The San Diego Music Awards event at Humphrey’s last week was a hoot! There were some good music groups and for me, the Berkely, Hart, Sellis, and Twang entourage took the prize! Killer vocal harmonies, great playing, and fantastic tunes. Picture Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young but 2015. Also, Gregory Page and his group had a neat set with Gregory’s current yet nostalgic tunes leading the way.

Leonard and I got to play a few tunes and that was pure joy and easeful. I won the award for Lifetime Achievement and they had a little “this is your life” movie to set it up. Super cool! Then I accepted the award and gave a speech. That had me concerned but luckily I thought about it beforehand and I eased into a flow and it started to feel like music and seemed to work out. It was a fun night and it coincided with me having a birthday and turning 60. The Big Six 0 and still feeling good and inspired and determined to continue on. Make more music, hang with family and friends, surf a lot, and maybe take in less airport security. That’s it, a simple good life…

Here I am in 2015 accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award!

Then I gave a speech and talked about what a great life playing music is.

Leonard and I played a few tunes and that felt good adding some jazz to a mostly rock and pop evening.

My friends Hal and Patricia gave me this cool surfboard sign as a gift in celebration of the Lifetime award. Hal made it and I can’t wait to take it out in the waves. For now, it’s living in the control room at SpragueLand.

A few articles found their way to the newspapers surrounding the event. If you’re in need of some fresh, stirring propaganda, click the image below!

The very next day after the awards event Stef, her Mom Anne, and I braved the airport security line (inching along once again) and flew to Tacoma to visit our daughter Kylie at her school, the University of Puget Sound. This is her last year and we wanted to experience a little more of the mix of her and her college life. For sure we’ll go up there again for graduation but this trip was a little more chill without all of the end of the year hoopla.

We frequented coffee houses, restaurants, the college, the Point Defiance Park, and Trader Joe’s. Great to hang with Ky and her friends and she’s got a good life going up there.

Pacific Northwest coffee house tour with (left to right) Kylie, Anne, Stefanie, and nephew Eric.

Kylie’s funk soul house that she shares with 5 other girls!

The porch at the entry way of her house blew my mind! I want to do an album cover there someday.

One of my favorite vocalists Sinne Eeg has just flown back to the U.S. from Denmark and is embarking on a west coast tour. I’m so happy that I get to do some dates with her and if you don’t know her music, please trust me, she’s something special.

Here’s some info:

Sinne Eeg is one of the strongest new female vocalists from the Scandinavian jazz scene. With 5 albums she has established herself as a Danish jazz singer with international potential. She is influenced by Nancy Wilson, Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughan, but with her personal touch of soft darkness, Sinne keeps the Scandinavian melancholy settled in her music.

Since the release of the album Waiting For Dawn (2007) Sinne has won several music awards in Denmark including Danish Music Award (best jazz vocal album 2007, 2010), Danish Radio Jazz Award 2009.

“the ravishing young Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg. Eeg has an amazing technique, coverage for all the tones she sings, a genuine jazz feeling and an unusually large vocal range from top to bottom. Coupled with a totally obvious stage charisma, dignity and a sparkle in the eye, this really makes you surrender.”

—Don Heckman

We are playing Thursday night at The Merc in Temecula and Saturday night at the Ed Brown Senior Center in Rancho Bernardo. I hope to see you there and I know you’ll dig it.

That’s the word for today folks. Thank you kindly for reading along and let’s keep this communiqué continuing on. Big fun!

adios, Peter