SAN FRANCISCO TREAT

No, not the rice, my trip to California. What day is it? And thank God for Garmin! You're probably familiar with this relationship saving, oops, I mean time saving navigation system now available with rental cars. Hoorah! Somebody had their thinking cap on. A rental car with a navigation system is like a hamburger with ketchup - they just naturally go together.

I flew into LA, destination the Bay Area, otherwise known as West, West Avenue headquarters, to play a few shows and to kick off a grassroots radio campaign for my single "7:26." Five stations later everybody has a copy of "7:26" with all good things to say about it and...here we go again. Well, you know what I mean. Many thanks go out to Lil' Cee of 100.5 The Zone in Sacramento for being the first to say yes and get the song in their Sunday night show rotation! He's like my brother from another mother, my fellow New Yorker. I knew things would go well when he met with me wearing a Yankee hat. Thanks also to Jayn from Alice 97.3 in San Franciso, Andrew Jeffries of Star 101.3 in San Francisco, Danny Wright of Mix 104.9 in Santa Rosa, and Steven Bise of 95.3 KUIC in Vacaville.

Driving through northern California was beautiful. Man, California is big! I visited LA, San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, and San Jose and have some great photos taken out the window of my rental car to prove it!

The side story, which is not to say the any less important story, is how wonderful all the people are that I was able to spend time with during the week. It's funny when you go to where people invite you how many people are happy to see you. Alisa, Frank and their beautiful kids Nicola, Jacob and Anamaria showed hospitality beyond even my Italian definition of the word. Christena and Mike, my new friends from Oregon, came down to San Francisco and shared in the adventure. (I may have even written a song for Lucy.) Cicc winning the street team contest and packing O'Reilly's Holy Grail with her stellar pals really was wild, especially considering how we met by chance on the east coast in CT. Dawn, Erika (I missed ya but so happy to know your grandma had a rockin' birthday party) Amber and the gang from McTeagues Saloon. Darren Lee, Monique, Dustin and all the love from Dublin, CA. Thanks for a great day! Michelle, Michaela, Melody and Sarilyn joined me for an impromptu performance in the parking lot of Johnny Garlic's (the video just may be on YouTube). I don't know if this is how everybody does promotion but I feel blessed and fortunate to have met so many wonderful people. Sometimes I think something else is being promoted besides music - friendship, community, the nerve to say yes to life and to new people, places, and opportunities. I believe we're one big family anyway but this trip really confirmed that music is a common language that bridges our differences and perhaps draws us closer to one another.

Oh, and did I mention that I met Pat Monahan? You know, that brilliant singer/songwriter guy from Train who just so happened to write that little ditty "Drops of Jupiter." What a great guy and what a great moment it was to say hello in person to someone who has had such a huge impact on my life musically. Cheers to Luis, Brett and the rest of the band members too.

So, I am full. Full of love, full of hope, full of good wine. See you soon again CA - and thanks for welcoming me with open arms! (Yes, that was a Journey reference.)

Nap