Hi! I’m Kennan Shaw! You may remember me from such Touring Musician stories as “Czech Please!”, or “Detained in Antigua”, or “Blame Canada, Volumes One, Two, Three, Six and Thirteen.”

There’s no doubt I have a very cool job. Being paid to go places and play music for people that want to hear it is the greatest thing in the world, and very addictive.

However, the secret word today, boys and girls, is Brevity.

I’ll show you what I mean; let’s take a look at my schedule here…

Thursday morning I’ll be up bright and early to get to San Francisco Airport for my 6:25AM flight to Miami, arriving at 2:35PM.

At 5:45, having sampled everything the Miami Airport has to offer, I’ll board a flight for St. Thomas, arriving there at 8:15. There, I and the rest of the band will be met by a Taxi Driver whole will take us to the Ferry Terminal, hopefully in time to catch the 10PM ferry to St. John’s, where another Taxi will meet us and take us to our hotel.

The next day, we pretty much have to ourselves until 7:00PM, when a car will take us to the venue for the Blues Festival we’re playing Friday night with Grady Champion and Albert Cummings. We’ll play around 9:15, and do a 60 minute set. After which, well, partying ensues.

The next morning, we’ll be in the lobby by 8:30, so we can catch the 9:00AM Ferry to St. Thomas to catch the 10:50 flight to San Juan.

After a two hour layover, we catch a flight back to Miami, where we’ll once again have about four hours to get re-acquainted with that particular Airport, before boarding my flight back to SFO, scheduled to arrive Saturday night at just midnight.

A “Glass half empty” kind of guy would no doubt point out that our layover time alone for the trip is about ten times the length of our set! I am, however, definitely a “glass half full of bitchin’ stuff” guy, and this is where our secret word comes in. Remember? Brevity. And how does that apply?

I’ll tell you; you know what I say when people ask “So, what’s next?”

I say “I’m leaving Thursday to play a Blues Festival in the Virgin Islands! How cool is that?”

When I joined the Candye Kane Band just about a year ago, it was kind of dizzying. Leading up to the audition I focused on learning mostly tunes from her latest disc “Superhero”, but she has nine other releases, and the set list is deep with catalog.

There’s no way I could have gotten up and running fast enough without everyone in the band’s help, especially Evan the drummer, yelling when to play and when to shut up! Every once and a while I’d hear him yell “Hey!” over my shoulder, to get my attention. He’d just give me a “Something’s coming, pay attention” look and I’d be ready…usually.

Evan is leaving the band, and will be starting a new musical adventure, and I want to wish him well on his “hero’s journey.” Consider the fact that he’s been playing and touring with the band behind his own Mother for eight-plus years; it takes a certain heftage of balls to decide to do something else! Thanks, man. Literally couldn’t have done it without your help and support.

In time I’ll introduce everyone to our new drummer, when we figure out his Stage Name. Just ‘Patronius’? We’ll get back to that.

The Spring and Summer road trips are filling out, but in the meantime there are opportunities for our Southern and Northern California friends to catch up with the band as we work him in. Check out the schedule and come say “Hi. What’s your name?” Then let me know what he says.

(I tease, Marcus, because I care!)

Candye Kane Tour Dates
2/11 Solana Beach/ Belly Up Tavern Happy Hour 530-8
2/12 San Diego, Ca/ Humphreys Backstage/ Blues Festival
2/13 San Diego/ Viejas Casino
3/11 San Juan Capistrano/ The Coach House w Eric Sardinas
3/13 Los Angeles/ The Redwood Bar w/ Exotiki and the Dick and Jane show
3/18 St. Johns Blues Festival! St. John, Virgin Islands
3/25 San Francisco, Ca/ Biscuits and Blues
3/26 San Jose/ The Poor House Bistro
3/27 Modesto, Ca/ Fat Cat/ Pinkie Rideau’s Breast Cancer Fundraiser
4/1 Solana Beach, Ca/ Belly Up Tavern
4/2 Los Angeles, Ca/ Spaceland - Benefit for Marty Nation

The last two days we’ve been rehearsing frantically for the opening of Candye’s play, “The Toughest Girl Alive.” Well, ‘frantically’ is a bit of a stretch on my part. I show up, sit in a chair, and play bass. The cast has been at this for a month.

The work that goes into a Theater production is amazing; remembering lines, getting props, getting props in position, cleaning up props, making sets, moving sets, sound and lighting…the word “Production” takes on a lot more significance.

To make all of this at least appear to run like a well-oiled machine, the Theater has a very rigid, laid out discipline. Things have to be where their supposed to be, when their supposed to be, and how their supposed to be. No strays, nothing left to chance. Needless to say, this is all a very foreign language to a touring blues band.

Now, it’s not like we’re Guns & Roses, showing up three hours late, then settling in backstage for a nice little “Heroin refresher.” We’re all grown ups. It’s just different.

One example of the differences is the concept of Wardrobe. That’s clothes. First night of the band at rehearsal, we were instructed to bring in examples of what we might wear during the play. We were informed of the production’s color palette, and told to “be playful.”

Fortunately, Black was in the color scheme, otherwise I don’t really know what I’d wear. So I threw a couple of black button-up shirts and a pair of black jeans on a hanger, and brought them down. Later, the Wardrobe/Seamstress sent for my hanger for approval; black jeans; check. One shirt didn’t excite her much, but she liked the other. “What shoes are you wearing? Those?” White leather high-top Chucks with big red laces? Well, no. I have these great Cowboy Boots that…

“What color? What? ‘Peanut Brittle Iguana’?” she said smiling. “I don’t know what that is! Could you bring them in for me to see? I like those Chucks, though.”

She went on to explain that our wardrobe would stay at the theater, and ‘the girls’ would do the laundry every Monday.

When you’re on the road, you have what you brought. A couple of pants, and some shirts that work. You do your own laundry when and where you can, you occasionally iron, and if by chance, something really bad happens, you bag it up and toss it out. The concept of leaving my clothes on a hanger in San Diego, and people doing my laundry, is all just a tad…weird to me.

The reason is obvious; no one needs the pressure of worrying if someone will show up in pink balloon pants and a camo hoody, saying “Awww…dude, I forgot my suit!”

I, however, am going to have to find a compromise. I’ll leave the shirt, the one she liked. They can wash it, and do whatever they will to it, and I’m okay with that. I’m going to take my black pants, though. I promise not to bring anything down to SoCal that isn’t Black Jeans for the remainder of the run of the play; no chance of a faux pas. But they’re not really ‘wardrobe’; they’re my pants.

And, I’m going to wear my boots. They’re not black, but I can’t do the play in high tops. Cowboy boots bring a certain attitude with them that I need. Chucks are fun, light hearted. Cowboy boots are for business. I need the boots for the play.

I’ll tell you what, though; next week, I’ll surprise her with the Black Stingrays. She’ll dig those.


http://www.moxietheatre.com/toughestgirl

People come up to me all the time, and say “Kennan, we see you play live all the time. We’ve heard you on the radio, and seen you on television. Your life is an open book for the reading on-line. When are you going to dazzle us with your acting ability?”

Well, the wait is over. I shall ‘Tread the Boards’, so to speak, when I appear in “The Toughest Girl Alive.”

I’m not the star; this isn’t Shakespeare at the old Globe. “The Toughest Girl Alive” is the autobiographical play about Candye Kane, which will run at the Moxie Theater in San Diego from January 13th through February 6th. I play the role of…let me check my script…ah yes; “Bass Player.”

The play is billed as “The life, times and music of Candye Kane.” Beyond that, I really don’t know what to expect. Sure, I’m familiar - as some of you are - with Candye’s short form bio; “Raised in a dysfunctional, blue-collar family, Candye became a teenage mother, a pin up cover girl and a punk rock, hillbilly and blues-belting anarchist by the time she was just 21 years old.”

That’s all well and good, but not exactly the stuff of legend, necessarily. But if you’re like me, you just know there’s more to the story, right? I mean, if people go to the trouble of putting a whole play on, there’s got to be some juice there, right?

I’m not holding out on you, I don’t know what’s involved, really. I do know that what will happen on stage is that Candye will talk about events in her life, supported by a slide show, then two actors, a man and a woman, will act out scenes from her life, then the band - this is my part - will play some Candye Kane music. Oh, and I understand that some of the images are best suited for mature audiences.

Everything beyond that you’ll just have to wait and see. So come down and catch the play! It runs Thursday through a Sunday Matinee during the above dates, at the non-profit, female-run Moxie. There’s even a special “Pay What You Can Afford” performance, for those of us less than plush in this economy. Really, this is one of those “So much WIN” situations you’ve been hearing about.

Plus, when this whole thing explodes, and ends up going on the road, you can say “I saw it when…!” Now excuse me while I go work on my character…

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116799465042977

A very, very sweet person recently compiled a list of their Top Ten Bass Players, and generously included me. Naturally, I was honored and humbled. And immediately updated my Resume, referring to them as “Noted Blues reviewer and musicologist.”

Okay, not really, but I am seriously considering it.

I figured that since I’m on a bass player role, with my last piece on Blues Bass and all the great responses I got, I’d compile my own quick list here. I’m not going to put a lot of thought into this; just throw it against the wall and see what sticks. So here they are;

1. Jeff Neighbors. The list has to start with him, because everything started with him. When I was a 5th grade Violinist, Jeff was not only my public school, once a week music teacher, but also the bassist in “The Joy of Cooking”. One day he looked at me and said “You’re tall. You play bass now.” Everything since then is pretty much his fault.

2. Overend Watts. When I was discovering ROCK, Mott the Hoople was tearing it up and putting out crazy albums and were always somewhere in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine. Watts, with the huge White Thunderbird, the thigh high boots, and the cranked bass lines, came along at a time when I was going through puberty. I haven’t tried to do that stance in years; knees together, feet splayed, butt of the bass jammed in the crotch while you lean over to grab the fingerboard. It would probably hurt my back now. It doesn’t really work anyway unless you’re wearing six inch platforms.

3. Bill Wyman. Maybe this is for The Rolling Stones in general, because the live album, “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out” was a thick piece of vinyl, and I wore right through that sucker. Bill’s lines were perfect and understated, so once I learned them, then I could learn to seriously overplay. Double stops, laying off the root, doubling the solos; I was all over it, man. I learned a lot about groove from the Stones, because what they did breathed. Listening now to the remastered stuff, that Wyman guy was doing some very cool things down there in the mix.

4. Ray Brown. I sat at his feet for about an hour as a teenager, and learned two of the most valuable lessons in my life. First of all, no one will know you’ve made a mistake unless you make “the mistake face.” Secondly, “You don’t really know a song until you can play it in any key.” Both of these gems have been invaluable during my entire career.

5. John Paul Jones. Led Damn Zep. Bass players always talk about “II” as the album, and no doubt, it’s seriously awesome, but “Physical Graffiti” taught me all about counter punctual lines. Everyone knows the riff to “Kashmir”, but listen to what the bass is really doing; playing a repeating, 3 over 4 sounding line that’s hypnotic and amazing. On “Ten Years Gone” he’s harmonically supporting the main guitar figure without being obvious, changing what is perceived as the “root”, and making the whole thing darker. That’s bass playing, man. Deep.

6. Jaco. My intro to Jaco wasn’t typical bass player fare. The first time I heard him, a friend from school, who I shared a love of Mott with, brought in Ian Hunter’s solo album “All American Alien Boy”. Jaco was the bassist on the album, and the title cut grabbed me instantly. His tone, his power and his out-right nasty ass groove jumped out of the record player! Nobody sounded like that, or played like that, or blew up the bass world like that. Then, he takes a solo, and it was over.
Several years ago I read an interview with a top Nashville bassist who said “the history of bass is split in two eras; pre-Jaco and post-Jaco. When his first album came up, I know a lot of guys who just…quit.”

7. Willie Riser. Chances are, that if you live outside the Bay Area, you don’t know who Willie Riser is. Through the 90’s, as groove and blues was taking hold of me in a big, big way, Willie was the house bassist at the Blue Monday Jam at Blake’s on Telegraph in Berkeley. I’d go every chance I got, and I’d want to play, no doubt about that, but I went to see Willie. Willie can take all that Jaco style groove, put it through his personal Chicago Blues grinder, and it comes out as his own cool thing. I stold…er, “learned” so much from Willie that I probably should pay him for lessons retroactively.

8. George Porter Jr.. I don’t know when the New Orleans bug grabbed a hold of me, but it surely did. I can’t get enough of the history, the food, the culture, and of course, the music. George is the man, pure and simple. Whatever he plays, and whoever he plays with, this shit is funky. I like George’s playing because he surprises me with where he goes; he comes from different angles that I hear, and it opens up my thinking about what I’m doing. Plus, he’s fearless, and one of the nicest guys in the world.

9. Bobby Vega. My mentor, my “Spiritual Patron”, my confident, and my friend. The first time I met Bobby, at Rich Bandoni’s house, we were making small talk about gigs and amps and whatnot, and while we talked he was playing a bass. I was involved in the conversation, but my brain was screaming “What is he playing? How is he doing that? My God, what even IS that? Make him do that again, but slower!” Bobby is the funkiest bassist on the planet, and his techniques are unique and jaw-dropping. Instead of just copping his licks, I try to find that same inner motor, the place in your soul that brings that kind of funk to your fingers, and then apply that to whatever I’m playing. That groove will benefit any style of music, and I know I’m a better player just from thinking that way.

10. Me. There, I typed it; Me. Allow me to explain; I will never be on the cover of a Bass magazine. This is a super rare appearance by my name on a Top Ten list (twice in 24 hours!). I am not the best bass player even in the small city I live in (Mr. Ehrmann), but here’s the thing; I’m the best guy for the job. I do the work, I play the groove, and I understand how songs work and how to play with singers, soloists, and drummers. Hanging around and learning count, and I’ve done that. I truly believe and live by my credo; “If I’m not playing bass, mistakes were made!” Egotistical? Well, yeah! It’s kind of a job prerequisite at a certain level! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

So there. I’ve no doubt left a lot out, but this is a pretty influential group for me. These days I listen to a lot of people I consider friends who happen to be monster players. Maybe my next list will be Monster Players You Should Hear Because They’re Awesome!

Stringed instruments and keyboards have been around hundreds of years. Drums go back to the dawn of man. The electric bass guitar is less than sixty years old. A virtual ‘baby’ of an instrument. Before electric bass, there was the upright, but really, the two instruments have far more differences than things in common.

In Jim Roberts’ fantastic book “How the Fender Bass Changed the World”, he makes the point that when the bass went electric, and therefore louder, it changed the way drummers played, and this “new” rhythm led directly to Rock and Roll.

The nice thing about playing such a nascent instrument is that the innovators have been here during, or shortly, before our lifetimes. We’ve witnessed the electric bass growing up, and we are writing the new rules every day.

As a form of music, the blues abides by a certain set of rules and guidelines. The scope can be broad, and I’ve written about the “Big Tent” before, but a big part of being a blues bassist, is recognizing what is expected of you in a given situation, and adapting, chameleon-like, to the wishes of others.

For instance; I’ve played on occasion with The King of North Beach Blues, Johnny Nitro. Johnny plays Texas style, and has for years. When I play with Johnny, I know he wants long, legato notes. Full Quarter notes, one running into the next. Big, fat and smooth. “That’s the secret to playing blues bass” says Mr. Nitro.

Conversely, earlier this year at a festival gig, Chicago Guitar slinger Nick Moss complimented my “clipped Quarter notes.” Nick likes tiny spaces between the notes; like dividing a Quarter note into 8 32nds, and playing the first 7 and leaving a hole where the 8th one lands, before starting the next note. It’s a “jumpier” feel, more rhythmic and bouncy. I’ve always thought of it as a “Chicago Feel”, so Nick complimenting my playing was gratifying on a couple of levels!

For a while now I’ve been working on and off on a Blues Bass book; “How to”, and “What for”, and “Says who?” type stuff. I’ve been thinking about the history of Electric Bass in Blues. I know quite a few of my friends on Facebook are blues bassists, so I have a question for you; who are your influences? Who did you listen to when you were learning? Who do you consider the ‘Founding Fathers’? I’m talking specifically about Electric Bass here; I know Willie Dixon is the man when talking about blues bass, and I know he played a little electric, but it’s not what he’s known for.

My own story is one that caught me by surprise; a few years ago, I was on a festival in Austin, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who’s rhythm section that day was Double Trouble, featuring bassist Tommy Shannon. I’ve written about sharing a trailer and trying not to let that little inner star-struck voice out. It’s not that I had listened to a lot of SRV; I really hadn’t. When I listened to Tommy play, I was stunned by the fact that, to me, I sounded just like him. I knew what he was playing, where he was going, and it all made perfect sense.

Apparently, I learned a lot about blues bass from Johnny Winter albums from the 70’s, and while my playing developed all these years, Tommy’s lines from those early days formed the foundation of what I still do today!

Now I want to hear your Electric Blues Bass stories. You don’t even have to be a bassist. Just have an opinion, or at least a good story!

Lots of good stuff coming up, so I thought it all merits a blog…or a note…or whatever.

The month starts out with the return of The Red Hot Blues Sisters! Well, they never went away, so it’s actually MY return with the band. We’re playing Thursday the second at Patrick’s in San Diego, and Friday the third at Café Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach! The whole horn section is making the trip too, so come out and enjoy Seattle’s REAL “finest”.

Saturday the 4th, The Candye Kane Band comes North for a gig at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. It’s been a while since I’ve been there - I played with Eric Lindell opening for Derek Trucks - and I’m looking forward to some familiar faces.

Sunday the fifth is the Second Annual Holiday Pageant and Toy Drive sponsored by the Martinez Music Mafia at Armando’s. Show is from 3 to 6, and admission is $10 and a new, unwrapped toy. Lots of performances by all your local faves, and I’ll be playing a short set with an “All Star Cast”. St. Nick himself will be stopping by, and a fine time will be had by all.

Speaking of the venerable Armando’s, I’ll be in town for both Good Stuff Guitars Blues Jams after missing a couple. This month they fall on the 13th and 27th, starting at 7 and running until 10. Come out and play, but be sure you bring your “A game”. No half-steppin’.

On the 18th, The Candye Kane Band makes it’s way to Phoenix, for a special show at the Rhythm Room, 1019 E. Indian School Road. I know a very special opening act is in the works as I type, and without spilling the beans, it’ll be a treat for sure.

New Years Eve will be another fine Cocktail Hour show at The Belly Up in Solana Beach with the Candye Kane Band. These shows are 5:30 to 8PM, and are a great way to kick off your festivities!

So that’s…let’s see…eight gigs in the month of December. That leaves a lot of open dates where I’m available! Need bass? Call me! Anywhere, anytime. Remember my credo; “If I’m not playing bass, mistakes were made!”

Happy Holidays, y’all!

There’s only two shows left on this tour, and as it winds down, as tours go, this was a good one. Lots of fun gigs, good people, and a fine time had by, I think, all.

The shows have been really great, especially once we hit Oregon. Ashland was amusing as hell. Hanging with Karen and Lori is fun enough, but the characters that inhabit that place are…special, to say the least. Eugene was a very pleasant surprise, as the entire Rainy Day Blues Society showed up to make us feel welcome on a weeknight.

Duff’s Garage in Portland, and Highway 99 in Seattle are like homecomings, we have so many friends there. Both places feel like we’re playing parties instead of “just” nightclubs.

Getting to, and from Nelson, British Columbia was Nightmare City, thanks to our Border pals, but unbelievably, it was totally worth it. The hospitality crashed on us like an avalanche, and the big crowd had to be the most fun I’ve ever played for in Canada, outside of a big festival. Our Northern Neighbors can be somewhat more polite than we’re used to from an audience, but the folks from Nelson were ready to throw down! Beautiful place, too. I’m not saying I could live there; the thought of having to shoo Grizzly Bears from your garden doesn’t exactly excite me, but I certainly look forward to return visits.

A restaurant gig in Salt Lake City on a Monday night where they’re charging $20 a ticket sounded like a recipe for disaster, but damned if the fine people of SLC and Pat’s Barbecue show up big time! We had a really good show, and met lots of great people. The whole show was videoed and will apparently be available on Comcast On Demand in the SLC area after the first of the year.

I’ve come to believe that the entire economy of Wyoming is based on people hitting huge snowstorms on Highway 80 while trying to dash across it’s width. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

So, here I am at the oasis that is the Boulder Outlook Hotel. There is no place in America that makes life easier or more fun for traveling musicians than this place. They really, really like us! Stay here, play here, and everybody seems to enjoy having us here. Even if they do occasionally run out of Costa Rican Vanilla Ice Cream. But I’m a professional, and I didn’t let it affect my performance.

Tonight we hit Denver, then finish the tour Saturday night in Woodland Hills, down by Colorado Springs. Then, over the river and through the woods, home for Thanksgiving!

If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’m quoted in a really good article on the state of the Vintage Bass market in December’s edition of Premier Guitar! I know it’s a subject near and dear to everyone’s heart, and I’ll be glad to autograph copies, for free, because I love you.
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Dec/PG_Readers_Perspectives_on_Vintage_Bass_in_2010.aspx

Stuff coming up; the day after Thanksgiving, the Candye Kane Band is playing Happy Hour at the Belly Up in Solana Beach! Come dance off some of that turkey. “Black Friday” indeed.

I’ll be playing with my good friends from Seattle, The Red Hot Blues Sisters on December 2nd at Patrick’s in San Diego, and the 3rd at Café Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach! Always a fun gig!

December 4th, The Candye Kane Band makes another Bay Area appearance at The Catalyst. Santa Cruz counts as Bay Area.

December 5th is the Martinez Music Mafia's 2nd Annual Holiday Pageant and Toy Drive at Armando’s. This is a not-to-be-missed show, and needless to say, a really good cause.

You’ll be hearing about all of these as the days go by, but for now, see you tonight at Brennan’s in Denver, and tomorrow night at the Crystola Palace! I can only handle one thing at a time anyway.

One show left on this tour, Monday night at The Ram’s Head in Annapolis. Then Tuesday morning, the mad dash across the country starts. Regular readers already know that I hold no romantic notions about driving across the country; it simply goes with the job. The more time I have to spend doing that, the less I’m home with the family.

Once I finally get home, there are numerous opportunities to come see me play, and I highly encourage all my local friends to come say “hi”, and partake of some live music.

First up is KT & the Wicked Gents on Saturday night, October 23rd, at Armando’s in Martinez. I have sang the praises of Armando’s for years now, and if you don’t know what a gem the place is, for anyone who listens to, loves, or plays music, well, you haven’t been paying attention! The show is from 8 to 11, and the band is like an All-Star team of seriously good players flexing a little musical muscle!

Monday the 25th I’ll be back in the House Band for the Blues Jam, sponsored by Good Stuff Guitars, also at Armando’s; it’s kind of my “Home Club”, after all. Come out and play!

Wednesday, November 3rd the Candye Kane Band return to Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco for two shows, at 8 and 10PM. I’m hoping all my Bay Area buddies consider taking this show in! After all, it’s always fun to show off a little in your own town.

The Candye Kane Band is at the Torch Club in Sacramento on Thursday the 4th, and up in Humbolt County at the Riverwood Inn in Phillipsville on Saturday the 6th.

After that we’re of on another two week tour that runs up the West Coast, across Canada, and down through Colorado. That will about do it for the year, aside from a couple of “spot” gigs here and there.

My December schedule is fairly wide open, should you find yourself in need of a bassist! Remember; “If you book it, I will play.”

I have a bass that I bought a few years ago straight from Harvey Brooks. Harvey played with…oh…everyone. Electric Flag. He played on Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”. He played on Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew”. He played on a whole lot of things.

The bass itself is kind of dirty, and has Harvey’s autograph HUGE on the back. The dirt is all Harvey‘s; I’d never clean it. The only thing I’ve done to the bass is change the strings to flat wounds; much easier on the fretboard. Playing this bass makes me feel a small but direct link to these artists, and acts as inspiration.

Last week I played in a bar, and mounted on the wall in a glass case were two guitars; one autographed by Pink Floyd, and one autographed by Led Zeppelin. The guitars are both super cheap, “budget of a budget” brands. No one has ever played a note of joy on either guitar, or ever will. Neither model is remotely associated with the bands that autographed them. For all the musicality of these guitars, they may as well be toasters, or crescent wrenches. That don’t work.

One is a virtual talisman, ready to be imbued with all the spirit and magic you can hoist onto it. The others are pretty much just cocktail napkins.

This was my dilemma standing outside the gate to Hemingway’s house in Key West, Florida. Magic or napkin? See, I pretty much think Hemingway saved the world. Prior to Hemingway, writing was dense, demonstrative, and condescending. Every detail, emotion, action, and detail were spelled out in language meant to be difficult; as though showing off your vocabulary was more important than the story itself. Hemingway let dialog, and even silence outline what was actually happening.

Okay, these are broad generalizations, but pre-Hemingway, writing was a symphony; a big, thick symphony, with every part outlined and directed. Hemingway’s writing was a jazz combo, with the reader as a participant, interpreting and reacting with the characters and story.

So there I was at the gate, looking at the $12 admission. I’d been all over the web site, looking for any solid info; what had he written there? When did he live there? Hat did he do while he was there? That was all pretty vague. It seems he lived there starting in 1931, for “About ten years.” The web site did however, had a lot of information about the sixty or so cats that live on the grounds. There were pictures of some of them with their names, a section on the special fence that keeps them in, and just generally tons of info about cats.

A lot of these cats are polydactyl; they have extra toes. This was apparently considered good luck by ship captains, one of which gave Hemingway his first cat. Also, a lot of the cats on the grounds are “probably” descendants of that original cat. But here’s the thing; the cats were brought to the house after Hemingway committed suicide in 1961, twenty years after Hemingway moved out of the house.

So the cats are the “hook” to get people into Hemingway’s house? The cocktail napkins of America’s greatest literary giant? The “Starcaster” guitar with Ernest’s scrawl?

I didn’t think I could handle it. And I like cats, so that’s not the problem. I just think the shrine should be special. I know Hemingway got up every morning and wrote a thousand words; that was his discipline, his ritual, his church. To see this space, the desk he sat at, the window he looked out of, the room he sat in, would be worth the $12 admission. I don’t even know what I’d pay for even one minute sitting at the desk by myself! That would be absolutely priceless. I just wasn’t sure I could put up with the other distractions to enjoy it.

So that’s why I paraphrased one of my favorite parts from “The Sun Also Rises” for my Facebook status. “It’s a simple exchange of values; you give them money, they give you admission to a cat infested mansion.” Now, maybe if they had a stuffed dog in the house…