BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

A League of My Own

So I was watching another episode of this Drop Dead Diva show... I don't know I just think it's brilliant.  The whole concept and the acting and writing and everything is just so good.  And there was a scene at the end where Fred is all bummed out because he hit on this girl and she was like "I'm just not in that place"...

basically this is my life story.

I love how girls will make up weird things to say when they aren't interested instead of just saying they aren't interested.  And then they string you along for months or years pretending SLIGHTLY to be interested when they really aren't at all and they are probably interested in some other guy because he's big and strong and tall.

Well SO Fred is all bummed out... and Jane (Brooke Elliot) is AWESOME and is kinda giving him a pep talk... and she is sooo freakin cute.. especially those eyes and that smile... but anyways so she's all like well Fred:

"You are kind of in a league of your own... and one day, you will find a girl that wants season tickets to that league."

Because basically when he tried to hit on her, Jane was like umm she's out of your league...  haha...

That's also my life story. A: EVERY GIRL i've ever tried to hit on or be with is WAY out of my league.  and I've always just been in a league of my own.  I'm like SOOoooooo different from all the people around me... I mean I've NEVER fit in with anyone anywhere ever...

Growing up... school, camp... everything... NEVER fit in.  Then college, my job now... just EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE I don't fit in at all.  I'm always just sorta awkward and on my own... which is ok I mean I'm used to it and it's sorta how I roll.

So I'm hoping to one day find that girl that doesn't fit in either.  She'll be like the same way, she'll say oh yea I NEVER fit in anywhere or with anyone... and then we can make up our own league and no one else will get us except each other.

So... I just have to keep trying and failing and trying again.

So here's to that.  Here's to a cute, kind, creative, funny gal who wants season tickets to my league... because I'll get season tickets to hers!

Celebrity Crush

I was asked today who my celebrity crush is.  My response?  I was drawing a blank.  I really couldn’t think of any single celebrity that I absolutely totally am crushing on.

The whole idea is weird.  I only develop real crushes on girls I think might potentially develop a crush back.  So the idea of a celebrity crush simply never made sense to me.

I mean... I don’t know… I just couldn’t think of any famous lady that I TOTALLY have a crazy crush on and would completely swoon if I ever saw her in real life.  I kept thinking to myself… ok there HAS to be at least ONE girl.  I just kept coming up completely blank.

Tonight… I thought of who it is.   So I made some dinner after work and decided to watch Futurama on Netflix.  Then… something terrible happened!  I finished the 5^th Season of Futurama.  I know there are other seasons… but this was the only one that I had never watched before!

Damn.  What now?

Well there is PLENTY of content on Netflix.  So I browsed around some more.  OK… I’ll admit that I’ve actually seen the first 2 episodes of the first season of the show… sooo it wasn’t the first time I saw it.  I decided eh what the hay... I’ll start watching the third episode.

So…. I did…

Then I realized who my celebrity crush is.  It’s the lead character from this TV series that I was currently watching the third episode.

So what’s the series?!?!?  Ok… are you ready for this?

The series is…

Drop Dead Diva

Yea… totally… I mean... it’s a good show!  Anywho… so… the chick is the lead lawyer chick Jane.  Only in real life her name is Brooke Elliot.

She’s totally cute.  Also she’s super animated and she just seems like she would be fun in real life to hang out with and meet and… all that jazz.

So there ya go.  That’s my celebrity crush.

 

OK Julia Nunes, You Are Still Cool

So today I got an email from Julia apologizing for last night… it’s true.  She was apologizing to me!

Well Julia… that was REALLY cool of you.  But… I think maybe you shouldn’t have anything to apologize about…

I think I should be apologizing to you!

Here’s why:

OK.. Well… sooooooooooooooooooooo maybe I kinda sorta possibly jumped to conclusions in my last blog.

 

 

Actually I just read it again and I was downright mean in my response.  It was completely out of line because...  I’ll be honest… who WOULDN’T have reacted the EXACT same way?  If I were she I probably would have called the po-po right away or something… “some weirdo tried to put a hat on my head!”

So previously on the Kenny West blog…

Actually… I’m not going to type it all out here… Just go read the previous blog.

Read it?  Ok… now… let’s analyze and discuss (I work at a college, analysis and discussion was inevitable… deal with it).

Actually let’s look at this from two sides

Side A… aka Me… here’s what was going on in my head:

Oh hey Julia… long time no see…

what’s up remember me?

BTW… I’d planned to just hand you this hat, I think it’d be cool to  blah blah blah blah blah… but I JUST decided I’m going to be random and funny

and put it on your head in an attempt to be silly…

 

Now lets look at it in the other shoes… Side B… aka Julia:

I’m nervous… before a show… ALL I WANT TO DO IS FREAKIN PEE!

I HAVE A THOUSAND PEOPLE COMING UP TO ME

Oh hey, It’s kind of dark up here on the balcony

making it hard to see…

Oh who is this random guy?  Yes hello there…  His shirt is green…

He seems to know me?

WHOA CRAP don’t touch the hair!  I’m GOING ON STAGE SHORTLY!

I still have to freaking pee!

BRB.

I don’t know why all that rhymed.  But that’s just how I be…

Ok… no more rhyming… I mean it…

ok…. No more rhyming starting now…

Seriously though…

I think that’s something like what she experienced… Actually think about it this way… the lighting was definitely poor and it wasn’t very easy to see…. Some random person (myself) kinda sorta out of nowhere was moving a dark object near to her head…

Yea, I’d be scared too!  The hat was dark in color… also… I just remembered that I totally had a beard the last time she saw me soooo how in the heck would she actually recognize who I was….

Also… who the heck am I anyways?

In my job, I meet soooooooooooooooo many people who I fix their computers for… sometimes people will come back after a while and even if I spent like a half hour helping them… if they came back 2 years later I’d still be like:

I’m sorry… who are you again?  Only after a good ten seconds under the bright buzzing and hum of some florescent lights does it finally click.

Ok… actually now that I type it out like that… seriously… I’ll admit it

Wow… WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

Now that I put it that way… I just sound like a total creeeeeeeepster.  Go me.

Hey ladies… I’m single!

ANNNNND now everything is awkward…

insert crickets chirping sound here

So… yea… here’s my apology to you Julia Nunes.  You rock and are awesome and I’m totally… well…

We know what I am.  Let’s just move on already.

So…. I hope everything has been cleared up as far as the misunderstanding goes.

I apologize for the misunderstanding and the mistake… and if I COMPLETELY freaked you out for your show!

Actually ignore the rest of the song… just reference the first two lines of the chorus.

Again… I’m sorry… super sorry.

I TOTALLY didn’t respect your personal space…

So Julia Nunes… I apologize for invading your personal space like a space invader…

I hope we’re cool.  Cuz you’re still cool in my book.

 

Win Some, Lose Some

UPDATE: Read this second post after reading this one... things are all cleared up now.  http://www.bennyeast.com/blog/?p=1037

 

Tonight I went to a show.  I saw a pretty phenomenal artist by the name of Ian Axel.  This guy is awesome.  AMAZING... seriously.  I think he's my new favorite artist.

The first song he played was called leave me alone.  And from the very first line I was hooked!  He's catchy his voice is freakin cool... and I love how animated he gets when he plays.  He's SOOOOO into it!  He just rocks.

This song... is... umm... well... just listen to it.

listen to the lyrics.

then go download all his stuff on itunes.

ok here's the lyrics:

It's not easy
When you say that you're sorry
It's not easy
When you say you don't love me, at all

Let's be honest
You don't care that you hurt me
Let's be honest
I don't care that you're lonely

You don't love me anymore
You keep coming back for more
If you don't love me anymore...
Leave me alone

We're not dating
Who cares what your mom says
We're not dating
You can sleep in your own bed

You don't love me anymore
You keep coming back for more
If you don't love me anymore...
Leave me alone x2

Whatever I do
Whatever I say
It doesn't matter anyway

You want me to go
You want me stay
You won't be happy either way

Take all your shit
I'm all over it

It's not easy x9

You don't love me anymore
You keep coming back for more
If you don't love me anymore...
Leave me alone x4

OK well so... Ian was fantastic. And he has won me as a new fan. Because...

not just his MUSIC was fantastic... but he took the time to talk to me... it was only maybe a minute or so... and really we talked about nothing at all... but it was the fact that he thought 1 minute of his time before the show was worth spending talking to me. It was just the point that he even asked about me and what I do... we talked about how I write music too.

HE took an interest in ME.

So Ian... you rock. and you win.

So who lost?

Julia Nunes...

I didn't bother to stay for her set. Why? Because... she basically didn't pay any attention to me at all. 1 minute... if that... even 30 seconds would have been fine. Even a 10 second hand shake... to say hey... glad you took time out of your life to come to my show.

nope.

what did I get?

well... I was at the northstar in the upstairs listening to the first guy perform. He was pretty good too... but i'll admit... I kinda... ok I'm ashamed I forgot his name. 🙁 And I wanted to find out more about him too because I liked him as well... but the name just didn't stick.

Well I heard Julia behind me and recognized her voice.

So I kinda walked over to say hi...

She was talking with two other dudes and they were being totally playful... giving hugs to each other laughing joking around just totally being chill and down to earth... so one would assume that if she's met you before she'd be cool with being funny.  So I waited...

they were still talking... so I went to the bathroom... and then came back out.

They were still talking... so OBVIOUSLY she had time to waste and wasn't in any rush.

So I happend to have had a hat in my pocket of hers... long story... basically i'd met her before like 2 years ago. I talked to her before (at length too)... I ASSUME she knows who I am. Ian even TOLD her who I was because after me and him finished talking he went to the artist lounge green room place and told her that the ebay hat dude was here... since he asked me if I knew Julia and I said I didn't really know her but i'd met her before... because it was a decent deal... I mean it wasn't a super big deal but it wasn't a super small thing and she would probably have remembered right away who I was.  I basically bid like 1200 bucks on a hat that Julia had made and then the money went to charity to the lupus foundation.

Like it wasn't really THAT big of a thing... but i'm sure she would have remembered that and thought oh yea... I remember that guy... and his generous philantrhopic gesture of gifting 1200 dollars for my cause...

So when she finished talking to the other dudes she kinda looked at me and looked as though she recognized me...

so I said hey... she said hey...then I kinda sorta thought i'd be funny to give her the hat back... so I just kinda put it on her.. yea yea.. ok MAYBE that was a weird thing to do... true... but... I don't feel it warranted this response...

So what DID she do?

well... she FLIPPED OUT! She was like whoa... what is that?!??! I was like umm... you made it... you should recognize it...

she just didn't say anything and then basically looked at me like I was some strange person...

then she was like ok I have to go to the bathroom so... yea... so she went in... i was like ok then?

I thought about just leaving... So I just kinda walked away... then she came out of the bathroom and I was like well hey i'm sorry I thought it would be funny...

since ya know she was doing BASICALLY the same thing with the other two dudes a minute before...  Ya know horsing around...

 

ok well you know what horsing around is...  Sorry that's the best picture I could find to illustrate my point.

Anywho, instead of standing there for a minute and maybe clearing up the confusion and missunderstanding...

She says: "well you know you just assaulted me you know that?"

Then... she walked away.

I ASSAULTED YOU?

It's such an awesome feeling having someone you totally THOUGHT was a super cool person tell you, you just assaulted them.  Sweet... thanks Julia.

Seriously?

I am no longer a fan of Julia Nunes... you took something innocent  and playful and harmless and turned it into some pretty jabbing words...

ok... because putting a wool knit hat on someone's head is assault.  yes.  I'm pretty sure that's the definition of assault.

WOW.

Well, if you had just talked to me you would have found out that my plan was to hand you back your hat and suggest since I don't actually wear it that you ebay it again to a new home to raise more money for another good cause.  Like raise more money for a different charity...

But you didn't bother to take the time.

So... I'll not be going to anymore of your shows and I won't be telling anyone else about who good of an artist and how cool of a person you are. Which I did think so... until tonight.

So Ian Axel... you are kind of amazing.

Julia Nunes... I wish you the best of luck... I'm sure you will always have a million fans... but I'm not longer one of them.

Fine Grind show Number 2 Recap

So it’s around 1 am and I’m just now getting home and putting things away.  What a night!  I had a blast. This was the second time I played The Fine Grind.  It’s a little coffee shop up in northern NJ.  I enjoyed it.  The drive was good with very little traffic.  There was a little bit of construction in some places but overall it was good.

One of the construction signs made me laugh.

"on or about"... There's just something funny about that wording... I don't know what it is...

Let’s see well as soon as I got there I only had a short time to grab my gear from the car and set things up.  I got too it.  As I opened up my gear bag, I noticed that one of the Cat’s from home was kind enough to leave their “scent” as a reminder to me.  I think they thought I would miss them?  What’s funny is I don’t understand how I failed to notice this A: when I was moving things from my house to my new apartment OR B: when I was packing last night and putting things away to get ready for the show today.  Maybe it took really kneeling down next to the bag and getting right up in there to WAFT in the… ahem… well… you know what I’m getting at.

So… yea that was awesome.  Does anyone know of any good way to get rid of that smell?

Ok well, I setup and started playing… This would be my favorite part.  Since I left my Flip Video camera at home I only got a picture taken of me…

 

OOOoooo action shot.  I'm sorta back to my circa 2003/2008 ish look with the mid length hair and sideburns.  I might keep it like this for a little while.  Maybe just a little trim.

oh yea... here was my set list: I played 10 songs... 8 originals and 2 covers.

 

Embers

Outlaw Lover

It's Your Day

U2 - One

A Place That Fits

In Deep

Favorite Things

Did You Just Think Of Me Right There…

If I Were A Trauma Surgeon

The Eagles - Hotel California

 

After I played my set it was Elyssa’s turn.  She did this whole livestream thing which was cool.  So she had a bunch of people tuned in from around the world watching her play.  It was pretty awesome!

While she was playing I decided to get my complimentary drink… Mmmm a nice iced green tea and as well I later got a mug of coffee in my refill Tervis Tumbler Travel mug so that I would stay awake for the drive home.

While I was at the register I decided to take a peek at the dessert menu.

Ok so… the name of the first desert was “Ridiculous” because it’s RIDICULOUS!

Me: I’ll take one of those.

Guy behind the counter: Are you sure????

Me: BRING IT ON!

They started the process of preparing this... it took 3 people to create it...

 

Actually there's more whipped cream stuff on the other side of that piece of cake... uh... yep.

As you can see... it lived up to it’s name.  The rest of the night I hung out and talked to the people there and just had a great time.

I packed up my things loaded up my car and drove back home.  And here I am… it’s nearly 2 am!  I think I need to get at least a little bit of sleep… So good night and thanks to The Fine Grind for having me play!  And thanks to Elyssa for letting me open for her!

I’m going to work on getting my next show more local somewhere in the Philly area.   I’ll keep everyone posted.

Night!

 

Music For Sale

I officially have my song "A Place That Fits" for sale on CD Baby.  Eventually it will be also on other sites like iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody and some others.  But I am just happy to have it up in CD Baby.

If anyone is interested in helping support my music please head over to:

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/KennyWest

And download the track for 99 cents.

I'll admit I've kinda been stalking the reviews section waiting to see if anyone posted anything...

I have one review so far and it says "so catchy, so easy to relate to! Love it!"

I'm not sure who left that review, but thank you!  I want to personally thank each and every person who downloads it.

 

As of this writing I have two downloads.  Seriously that was more than I thought I would get in the first month!  And it's only been a few days.  So I'm just excited.  I definitely am considering posting a second song.  I'm not sure which song to post.  I think maybe after a 2 or 3 singles are up I'll probably post up an EP.  Or maybe a full 10 song album.  I definitely don't think I'd want to design the CD myself.  I sort of want to maybe find someone to design it all for me just to give things a little bit different of a flavor to it.

 

Ok well... that's all for now.  So far I'm completely thrilled with the whole process of posting up a song for sale.  I've just been so against selling my music for so long because for some reason I've never felt right taking money in exchange for my creativity.  I can't explain it.

 

Well here I am though, finally, my first song for sale... after 10 years of recording my own music.

Anyone have a suggestion for a second and 3rd song to post?  Anyone have any suggestions for what songs you think would go great on a full 10 track album and what order they should be in?  Let me know!

kenny (at) kennywestmusic (dot) com

 

Thanks for listening!