I SPAMmed a the Tim Hortons coffee shop on the way to my studio after work today. Brought in the bass and asked if the employees would like a little music while they did their business. After I played for about 20 minutes, they said that this was the weirdest and coolest thing that had happened on one of their shifts yet. That works for me!

(Feb 9th) Spontaneous Act of Music #14: Later that day I also created some music on the ferry again. In the Sitka Cafe at the back of the 10:45 ferry to Nanaimo from Tsawwassen I played for late night commuters and some of my friends from the Landmark SELP class. I got to meet Chris, another bass player from Kelowna, who came over and chatted for the rest of the ride.

Spontaneous Act of Music #12: I played for a class at UVic called “Creative Being” which explores the creative process and encourages students to unlock their own creativity. I played some walking lines, while the students came in to the lecture hall, then Jenny and I played a song before the class began. We also put a Spontaneous Acts of Music paper invitation on the overhead and invited them to join us. These students are being challenged to do a “creative act” each week and we hope they’ll join us. JOIN US!!!

Feb. 4th, I committed a Spontaneous Act of Music (SPAM) by creating an outdoor rehearsal with Jeff Andrew for our gig that night. We played a bunch a tunes in the park on Kings St. near Cafe Fantastico. There was some kids playing in the play structure at first and a couple on a bench, as well as some people passing nearby on the sidewalk. I was focused on the practice so I didn’t notice what sort of impact we had, but I did notice that the couple stayed on the bench the whole time we were playing.

I committed a Spontaneous Act of Music (SPAM) on the Ferry between Victoria and Vancouver with my friend Jim. On Double Bass and Oboe we sight-read celtic tunes out of a fiddle fakebook and some duets from a study book. It all went down in the stairwell where the acoustics were awesome and lots of walk on traffic could happen upon us. We had a great time… and put smiles on quite a few faces, one guy even stopped and recorded us on his pocket recorder. (I’m hoping he’ll send it to me any day… and if he does I’ll post it here.)

I committed a Spontaneous Act of Music (SPAM) at the Athlone Court in Oak Bay, Victoria BC on Feb.1st, by showing up with a double bass and a sign saying that “I’m not busking, I’m committing a Spontaneous Act of Music”. I was playing for pleasure, yours and mine.
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