Steve Denyes: News

Well here it is, just over a year and a half since I wrote the last entry about leaving the stability and security of my teaching job for a vague notion that something better was around the corner.

Early on, I contemplated becoming a rodeo clown, a lifeguard or a CPA but I always came back to the fact that music is what I love the most. Teaching private lessons was an obvious choice so I dove right in. Before long, I had a full roster of students. I taught guitar, voice, songwriting and piano six days a week. It wasn’t what I really wanted to do but it was paying the bills.

In the back of my mind, there was another idea stirring. I knew that, Hullabaloo, the children’s music project that I started with my friend, Brendan had lots of potential. We were playing a couple times a month and our audiences kept growing. I decided to put every extra bit of energy I had into Hullabaloo.

I started playing for playgroups during the hours when I wasn’t teaching. Word spread from those first few shows and within a year, I was so busy with Hullabaloo that I was able to transition from teaching music to playing music full time.

These days I do about 30 shows a month in San Diego, Orange County, LA and Riverside and I’m having the time of my life. I wake up every morning grateful for the net that appeared.

Leap and the net will appear. It’s an old Zen saying. My wife, Jobi, found it on a greeting card and now it hangs on the wall in our kitchen.

For the past eight years, I’ve worked as an elementary school music teacher. It’s been the best, most rewarding and thoroughly exhausting job I’ve ever had. At the end of every day I’d feel like I’d run a marathon—dead tired but proud of what I’d done.

Two years ago I started working at the very school I attended as a kid. In fact, I taught music in the very room I attended music class in. Everything had come full-circle. It was great. It felt good to give back to the community that had given me so much. At the same time, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was time for me to move on.

And so, every morning as I’d boil water for my tea, I’d look at that framed card daring me to leap. For a year, I ignored it and the feeling that it was time to do something different. As time went on, the feeling grew until I knew I had to act.

For every internal question. . . “What will I do?” . . . “How will I pay the mortgage?” . . . “What about health insurance?” . . . “Will I fall flat on my face?” . . . there was an answer: Leap and the net will appear.

Last week, I resigned from my position in the Del Mar Union School district. I gave up a decent salary, full benefits, lots of vacation time and a whole lot of security. “So, what are you going to do now you ask?,” Don’t feel bad, my mother, my wife, and everyone else in my life asks the same thing. Hell, I’m asking the same thing.

The answer: I don’t know. I’m waiting for the net to appear.

Poor Jobi, when she bought that card, framed it and hung it on the wall I’m sure she had no idea how it would change our lives. If she had known, she might have chosen something more innocuous like “Have a nice day!”

Things have been rolling along quite nicely with Hullabaloo. Our new album, "Sing Along With Sam" has gotten some nice reviews and radio airplay at a good number of stations across the United States. You can get all the details at our website http://www.hullabalooband.com

Take care,
Steve

I just got news that three Hullabaloo songs from our new album Sing Along Wih Sam have been chosen for a compilation album put together by the American Institute for the Arts & Community. They chose "All of These Things," "What a Week It's Been" and "If It Were Up To Me." All proceeds from the CD project benefit school music programs. What could be better!

The new CD from my children's music project, Hullabaloo is finally here. "Sing Along With Sam" features wight original songs and four tradition kid's songs. We love the way it turned out. I hope you'll stop by http://www.hullabalooband.com to check it out.

Good News: Five of my new children's songs have been forwarded to a publisher that is putting together a five-cd set of children's music that is to be distributed internationally. It's a long way from a done deal but I'm happy for the opportunity.

Bad News: Twenty-five years of surfing finally caught up with me! I had to have ear surgery over the holidays to open up my ear canal. All those years of cold water closed it up. The surgery went well but I'm taking a little time away from performing until it's healed.

Just before Thanksgiving I rounded up my nieces and took them to UCSD for a Dan Zanes show. Dan Zanes is, by far, the coolest thing going in the world of kids music. His show was an hour of all-out singing, dancing, and hand-clapping.

My nieces loved the show and we even got to shake Dan's hand and say thanks when it was all over. I think I may have been more excited than the kids!

If you've got little ones at home, I highly recommend picking up an album for them. There's a link to his website in the "links" section!

I reported for jury duty a two weeks ago expecting to get sent home like I always do. This time they put me on a THREE-WEEK TRIAL! Of course I can't discuss the details. . . let's just say it's very intense!

There's lot's of down-time so I've been working on lyrics for the next Hullabaloo album whenever the jury gets a break. It makes for an interesting contrast. On the one hand I'm working on songs about teaching pigs to sing. On the other hand I'm taking notes on testimony regarding a person on trial for. . . (oh, I almost gave it away)

In another week or two I should have an album's worth of goofy kids' songs and a fresh perspective on 'man's inhumanity to man.'

Over the years I've had some interesting gigs but this one may just top the list. On September 5th I'll be packing up the truck and heading north to perform "In a Gringo Bar" at the Orange County Regional MENSA Gathering. MENSA is an organization for people who have scored at the top of the range for IQ tests. I was hoping that my performance might earn me an honorary membership. . . they opted to pay me instead. With any luck, the show will go well and I'll be able to brag that "smart people love my music" for the rest of my life.

This week I rounded up Los Flacos (Brendan Kremer on percussion and Fred Kokaska on bass and vocals) to record the songs from "In a Gringo Bar." We had a good session and got through half of the songs. We'll finish up the rest in early August when everyone is back from their vacations. We're fixing to release the album in early fall and maybe do another night or two of the play for those of you that missed it. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Much to my delight, the first run of "In a Gringo Bar" ended with a sold out show at the North Park Vaudeville Theater. We added seats and still had to turn a people away. Darn those fire codes. . .

Many thanks to all of you that came out to see the show.

We plan to record the songs in the coming months and post them on the "music" page for you to hear. I'll keep you posted via email.

There's a new feature here at stevedenyes.com I want to share with you. You can now read the monologues from "Waiting on Arleen" online. Just click on a song title in the "Music" section of the website and a new screen will appear with the complete monologue that leads up to that song.

If you've heard the album but never seen the play, here's a great way to get the full story of "Waiting on Arleen."

I hope you enjoy it!

I just got back from Zihuatanejo, Mexico where I played in their annual guitar festival. It was a great week of music, sun, and good surf.

Sadly, the whole time I was there I was fighting off strep throat. When I sang I sounded like a bad Tom Waits impersonator! Fortunately, a doctor friend of mine came down to surf and gave me some anti-biotics and I'm on the upswing now.

The absolute highlight of the festival was performing at the children's show. There were a couple hundred kids singing, dancing, shaking maracas, and clapping their hands.

Aside from strep throat, everything was running like a well-oiled machine until I headed out to my final show of the week. Bouncing along a dirt road, I blew a tire on my rental car. When I went to change it two of the lugs broke off (and one was missing to begin with). That left me with two lugs and a few more miles dirt road between me and the show.

As much as I wanted to play, I decided to be safe and walked back to where I was staying and called it a night. I was sad to miss the gig but we ended up singing songs, drinking margaritas, and having a great evening back where I was staying.

The next morning the car was fixed just in time to get to the airport and here I am back in the land of eight-lane freeways and 24-hour grocery stores. It's good to be back but I already miss the warm water, warm people, and good times.

I can't wait to go back next year!

I just got word that "In a Gringo Bar" has been accepted at the Boulder International Fringe Festival! The festival is a ten-day art, music, and theater festival held each year in Boulder, Colorado. It's an off-shoot of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that's been taking place in Scotland for over 50 years. I can't wait to perform in Boulder and soak up all the other wild and wacky art that is sure to be there.

Thank you all so much for coming out to see "Waiting on Arleen." I had a great time dusting off that role. I'm excited about the debut of "In a Gringo Bar"-- it's the second act of the Arleen story. This time it's told from Tom's (the other man's) point of view.