{photo href=’http://www.flickr.com/photos/chancesend/5571982143/’ src=’http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5571982143_f667ca1cb6.jpg’ width=’240′ title=’Tapas Restaurant exterior’ caption=’Arriving at Tapas’ float=’left’}Upon arriving at Tapas downtown, where I was scheduled to play, I noticed it wasn’t exactly on a downtown strip. Nor could I really even tell where downtown Redding was (it’s a smaller town). So I was nervous going into the show, neither wanting to play for an empty house nor to have the owners disappointed at a slow night.

Setting up, the owner Brad greeted me warmly while two couples enjoyed a late lunch. We talked about Redding, the music scene, and his restaurant. He mentioned that he had been having difficulty explaining to people what to expect tonight, and I certainly couldn’t blame him. I have trouble myself, and so that’s why I always stick with telling people the two elements constant in the music, “violin and electronica”.

{photo href=’http://www.flickr.com/photos/chancesend/5572572506/’ src=’http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5572572506_ae1b5afed0.jpg’ width=’240′ title=’Tapas Restaurant interior’ caption=’Looking out on part of Tapas’ float=’right’}By the time 6pm rolled around, the place had started to fill up to my relief. This event was certainly different than playing for tango crowds – I needed to blend in so as not to put anyone off but also perk people’s attention to what I was doing. So I made sure to load the set up with as much downtempo grooves as I could, while still throwing in some of the harder tracks like Going On and Production To Perfection. 7pm to 8pm saw the place fairly full(!), and overall I think I won over some new fans.

The staff treated me very well, and I got to enjoy a nice glass of Merlot and an absolutely mouth-watering dish of beef-topped crostini! And capping off a great evening, a very kind couple who had a profile at CouchSurfing.org hosted me for the night. That was the first time I had ever used that site to find a place to stay, and it was a great first experience to start off with.

Now my touring attention turns to dancers – tango dancers, to be specific. They’re a finicky bunch sometimes, but judging by the response I’ve gotten from dancers in communities in California, I’ll be just fine…