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Kimo’s Hawaiian Rules
One of my favorite t-shirts (and I love t-shirts BTW) is one that I picked up in Hawaii.
KIMO’S HAWAIIAN RULES
Never judge a day by the weather.
The best things in life aren’t things.
Tell the truth – there’s less to remember.
Speak softly and wear a loud shirt.
Goals are deceptive – the unaimed arrow never misses.
He who dies with the most toys – still dies.
Age is relative – When you’re over the hill you pick up speed.
There are 2 ways to be rich: Make more or desire less.
Beauty is internal – Looks mean nothing.
No Rain – No Rainbows!
Eastman Upright Bass
I purchased a Samuel Eastman double bass several months ago. Since I having been an electric bass player until now, I have been working on learning how to play on an upright these past few months. It is a VB90 model, which is a step up from the entry level VB80 bass and it has a fully carved spruce top. I got a great deal on the price as the store had accidentally mislabeled it and they were good enough to honor the lower price. Below is a summary of the bass from the product page and below is a short video I shot of the bass. I replaced the factory installed strings with new Thomastik-Infeld “Belcanto” strings.
(See my bass lessons page if you’d like to follow my video log of my learnings on playing the double bass.)
Please Click here to check out the rest of my music! Thanks! 🙂
Samuel Eastman
MODEL VB90
Most players and luthiers agree that the tone color of an instrument depends a great deal on the materials and construction of the instrument’s top.The model 90 bass has a top carved of solid spruce, so this model combines the sturdiness and cost savings of a laminated bass with the improved sound of a carved top.
- Fully carved solid spruce top
- Sturdy laminated back and ribs
- Solid ebony fingerboard
- Solid brass tuning machines
- Outfit includes PrestoTM padded bag and K.Holtz FG bow (German or French frog)
- Available in sizes 7/8 – 1/8
- 5-string available in 7/8 size
- Gamba-corner pattern (only)
Live Music Update
I just got back from a vacation in Hawaii. Wow, I really needed that. What a beautiful state. I ate so much “Moco Loco” and fish tacos and wanted to sit in the 85-degree water at Waikiki forever. That is until Hurricane Ana decided to briefly target Hawaii. For the third time this year, the islands managed to avoid getting hit. We pray God will continue to provide this kind of protection in the future for the people living there in this special place.
I’m excited about playing live music, songwriting and recording again. I don’t know why I ended up in limbo for a while. I guess I have gotten too distracted by various things including my day job, and spending too much time surfing the web reading too depressing daily news. Enough of that.
I’ve gotten into reading through “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. And by just doing some of the assignments, I already feel it helping.
I have restarted my nursing home music ministry and have decided to go at it in an impromptu way by just dropping by a nursing home at the beginning of the week and letting them know that I am available to provide music for their facility later in the week if they are interested. Last week was my first try at this and it worked out great, playing a show on Friday at Bethany at Silver Lake nursing home. I had a lot of audience interaction with even a few people dancing. Playing live is also a great way, I’ve discovered to work out the bugs in my setup and in my playing. This week I’m going to give it a go again, so stay tuned to see how things worked out.
I even had some business cards printed. Check it out.
Scenes From Hawaii
Here is a photo gallery of my recent visit to O’ahu. We ended up flying out two days earlier than planned due to Hurricane Ana that appeared suddenly and for a few days appeared to be on a direct path to hit Honolulu. So rather than risk being stuck on the 17th floor of a high rise with possibly no electricity or running water, we decided it’s better to be safe than sorry. All in all, the aloha spirit was flowing and we had a nice visit. I particularly enjoyed observing the many Waikiki musicians. I noticed that a number of them were making use of either an iPad or iPhone and a really cool and awesome music app called, Set List Maker, which is an app that I have been experimenting with and have started using in live performances this year.
A Quick Intro to Christopher J.
I am Chris Hartzog and this is my website, Christopher J. Music. I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest in the Seattle, Washington area.
I’ve loved music as long as I can remember. During many years of being a special needs parent to a very high needs child with autism, I started playing guitar again and started writing music. And through that experience I learned that music not only transcends languages, it also transcends disabilities.
Today my music covers a variety of styles and instruments from folk to blues/jazz, and classical to pop-rock. I am a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, bass (electric and upright), ukulele, keyboards, and a singer and songwriter. I also enjoy playing classical music on the double bass with my local community symphony orchestra. And, I write, arrange, record and produce songs and put them on this website for people to download and hopefully share and enjoy.
Some Music
Go to the music store page for a complete catalog.
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Some Videos
Some Photos
Some pictures and stuff
