So, I’m a few days back at work after a week-and-a-half break that included all kinds of interesting things, including, as mentioned previously, my debut as a solo performer guest at Dragoncon.

That adventure, overall, went pretty well. I played some solid shows, got some nice reviews, saw some old friends, made some new ones, sold a few copies of the new record.

Speaking of the new record – if you’re interested in grabbing a digital copy, today, being BANDCAMP FRIDAY, if you buy it today from the site, I get a few more cents on the dollar.

Things at the con were remarkably easy and trouble-free, apart from some last minute confusion over which hotel they had me booked in (the original info said one hotel, then I got a reservation confirmation email from another about an hour out of Atlanta on Thursday), but even then, a couple of messages sorted that out, and I think I ended up better for it anyway.

The filk track made me feel remarkably welcome and appreciated, which felt really good, as I felt maybe a little out of my depth playing this gig. Thanks to Amber, Kat, and the rest of the track for creating such a great space to do our thing.

Apart from me, I saw a ton of great shows from folks on the track, including mainstays Mikey Mason, The Brobdingnagian Bards, The Gekkos, The Faithful Sidekicks, The PDX Broadsides, and my bandmates The Blibbering Humdingers, as well as fellow newcomers Harlequin’s Shadow, Clearly Guilty and Corwyn the Bardbarian. The Hyatt Hanover rooms were overflowing with musical riches, and it was an honor and a privilege to be part of it.

Apart from the con, I managed to bookend my break with a couple of bigger shows as well. Last Monday, we met some friends out at the VA Beach amphitheater to catch Imagine Dragons, a band I’m not hugely familiar with, but liked the stuff I’d heard previously. It was a solid show, though I was rather surprised to see how the average age of the audience was brought way down by so many nine year olds. And, this past Wednesday right before hitting the office again, I caught Dweezil Zappa again as he passed through town, still doing his “Zappa Plays Zappa” thing, celebrating the 50th anniversaries of Frank’s Apostrophe(‘) and Roxy & Elsewhere records. This is my third or fourth time seeing this guy and his band live, and it’s always a great time.

Then, I went back to work on Thursday and started clearing out a few hundred emails, which I’m almost finished with.

Anyway, here’s some tunes that are largely unrelated to all the musical acts I mentioned above, but for whatever reason, really heavy on nineties AAA:

1. “Love Don’t Die” – The Fray
2. “Good People” – Mumford & Sons, Pharrell Williams
3. “San Francisco” – The Mowgli’s
4. “Loser, Baby” – Hazbin Hotel cast
5. “Sometime Around Midnight” – The Airborne Toxic Event
6. “If You Could Only See” – Tonic
7. “Strong Enough” – Sheryl Crow
8. “A Symptom of Being Human” – Shinedown
9. “Counting Blue Cars (Tell Me Your Thoughts On God)” – Dishwalla
10. “What Wouldn’t Do” – Serena Ryder
11. “Do You Really Wanna Taste It” – Wig Wam
12. “I Want You” – Savage Garden
13. “Hanging By A Moment” – Lifehouse
14. “Kiss With A Fist” – Florence + The Machine