This will be so cool. All Good Pizza is a wonderful family owned, organic / local, etc. gourmet pizza ... trailer ... situated at an outdoor, park-like environment, and they will host the Bayview Mercantile event on 10/20. There are picnic tables, umbrellas, pumpkins, lovely plants, and amazing food. We will provide the music! We are SO excited. I am on record, months ago on twitter, asserting that All Good Pizza is the BEST pizza on the west coast! Check out www.allgoodpizza.com Plus there will be other vendors and treats on site. Last time a vendor was giving out HUGE servings of local, organic gelato. And parking is generally not a problem. Right across from Flora Grubb. This will be a good day.
We did play the Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday event last week. Unfortunately no one, not even us, heard us. But it was a fun and surreal evening, regardless.
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We are super delighted to be booked at the Atlas Cafe in San Francisco for November 22. This venue was recommended to us by our friend Zahan, the Facebook employee we met while singing on the sidewalk in Santa Cruz. After months of wrangling about being paid in Swiss Francs, we have it arranged. We'll do two sets of an hour each. Which for us is on the short side, so we'll haul out everything good. We'll have numerous new songs in our set, including some Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jefferson Airplane and One Republic. And some new originals too.
And... this coming Friday we'll play the Oakland Art Murmur. We have been told to play on the corner of Telegraph and 26th, with no amplification, so we hope this makes sense on some level. We hope it doesn't turn out to be the Oakland Art Murder. Will it be freezing? Dark? Empty? We have no idea. Peace and love.
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We played a private outdoor birthday party this past weekend. The weather was perfect, and we just played and played, lit by a few flashlights and candles, eventually.
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You have been waiting for the opportunity to watch and listen to Semi-Precious play music while you simultaneously buy fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, potstickers, jams, crepes, in a spot where you can see a nun in full regalia selling baked goods, right? Well, no more whining about 'not having your needs met.' That situation will unfold this Saturday morning at the Shadelands market in Walnut Creek, on Wiget & Mitchell. We will have a bucket handy for cleaning up all the blown minds.
Reply
This page features our original music, but live, we play a lot of cover songs. We decided to do some quick and informal recordings of a couple, and we are posting them here for a while. In Your Arms is by Kina Granis. Live, this is often our opener. Kina and Alex have a lot in common, musically and demographically, so it is logical we would cover some of her music. The other cover, Wild World, is by Cat Stevens. Before he became a Muslim, Cat Stevens wrote astonishingly beautiful and compelling music. After Cat Stevens became a Muslim, he changed his name and stopped sharing music with us. He then become known for calling for the death of author Salmon Rushdie (a knight in England, a Harvard Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award winner, among other things). This song is from before Cat Stevens' religious enlightenment, of course.
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[written this morning...] For the record, today you can look down upon Semi-Precious, playing somewhere on the sidewalk along Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz.
[Written this evening...] It has now happened. It was such a wonderful day. We met so many fun, kind, sweet and happy people. Where to even start? This would be 20 page blog entry. We learned a lot too. First, the wonderful people. It was such an interesting range of reactions. Probably our favorite moment was when a little girl - five or six years old - stopped dead in her tracks, just to watch and listen, through two songs. She resisted all urges by her parents to keep walking. She was genuinely moved and transfixed, even at her young age. After the second song, she came forward, donated some money her parents had given her, and shyly told Alex she had a beautiful voice. It was simply the sweetest thing in the universe. Her name was Zedara. You can see a photo of Alex and Zedara in the pictures section of this page - second photo. It was just priceless.
There were many such nice experiences. Our day finished up when we gave what amounted to a private show to a guy who had cycled down from San Francisco! Of course we didn't realize that at the time. He arrived, where we happened to be playing, quite exhausted from his trip. He got a huge sandwich, and listened while we played. He ended up really engaging, requesting songs, making do with the closest approximations we could give him in response, and having a lot of fun with us. He gave us the largest donation of our day. It turns out he is a Facebook employee - Zahan. He offered to help us get up and running on Facebook. He was a really fun and kind guy. We also have a pic of him in the photo section. He's the guy in the red jersey watching us as we sing on the sidewalk. We played Fix You, by Cold Play for him. He told us that he has seen Cold Play perform the song, but that our rendition was more passionate. I should say Alex's rendition, because she definitely carries that song. These are just two of many stories from our day. Thanks to everyone!
Reply
Revelation has been our most challenging recording project so far. When we play Revelation live, it is just two voices, obviously, and has a very different feel. But for the recorded version, we arranged it as more of a choral number. This plays into the theme of the song. It is written with a hint of 'worship music' style, but upon closer examination, it is more like inverted worship music. It was originally entitled Anti-Praise, because that is part of the message. What kind of a god would actually be into being praised? Maybe fostering love among people would be a more important priority...
Reply
All of our music has been recorded and mixed using only a set of Grado Labs headphones donated by Mark Wait. The headphones had been retired from service for pro audio engineering at a classical FM station where Mark is an engineer and on-air personality. The foam covers long ago disintegrated, so all of this music was produced with some degree of discomfort as well. Alex said that she liked the discomfort though. You can see her wearing them in the photo captioned "Recording Revelation." Sadly, the Grados have finally died - one speaker is blown. So, at Mark Wait's instruction, they will be replaced with a set of AKG 240 semi-open studio headphones. Revelation is the last song mixed on the Grados. It was a good ride! Thanks Mark.
Reply
When we first posted the song You and Me, I warned that it was an early mix. Literally within a week of recording it, Alex had her piano tuned. So we knew we should re-record the piano. We did! Last night! So we have posted a new version of the song. We also re-recorded the vocals and added a few new elements. So, please take this new version of You and Me for a spin and appreciate the way it sticks to the road!
Reply
Many people are important to our formation and continued existence. Alex's mom, Angelique is just that - angelic. She has been an engine of forward motion at every step of the way. She supports, participates and appreciates. And she joins us on stage every so often. Thank you Angelique.
Our friend Danielle Gelhaus has a lovely voice, and we often call her up on stage to help us out. She never hesitates, and she always enhances the quality of the experience - for us, and for the listeners.
Of course there are many more. We'll do sporadic messages like this, thanking people, as time passes.
Reply
Semi-Precious / Blog
Bayview Mercantile Event! Oct. 20 in SF. Sweet!
This will be so cool. All Good Pizza is a wonderful family owned, organic / local, etc. gourmet pizza ... trailer ... situated at an outdoor, park-like environment, and they will host the Bayview Mercantile event on 10/20. There are picnic tables, umbrellas, pumpkins, lovely plants, and amazing food. We will provide the music! We are SO excited. I am on record, months ago on twitter, asserting that All Good Pizza is the BEST pizza on the west coast! Check out www.allgoodpizza.com Plus there will be other vendors and treats on site. Last time a vendor was giving out HUGE servings of local, organic gelato. And parking is generally not a problem. Right across from Flora Grubb. This will be a good day.
We did play the Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday event last week. Unfortunately no one, not even us, heard us. But it was a fun and surreal evening, regardless.
Reply
Some Shows in the Works!
We are super delighted to be booked at the Atlas Cafe in San Francisco for November 22. This venue was recommended to us by our friend Zahan, the Facebook employee we met while singing on the sidewalk in Santa Cruz. After months of wrangling about being paid in Swiss Francs, we have it arranged. We'll do two sets of an hour each. Which for us is on the short side, so we'll haul out everything good. We'll have numerous new songs in our set, including some Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jefferson Airplane and One Republic. And some new originals too.
And... this coming Friday we'll play the Oakland Art Murmur. We have been told to play on the corner of Telegraph and 26th, with no amplification, so we hope this makes sense on some level. We hope it doesn't turn out to be the Oakland Art Murder. Will it be freezing? Dark? Empty? We have no idea. Peace and love.
Reply
Summertime, and the Living is Easy...
We played a private outdoor birthday party this past weekend. The weather was perfect, and we just played and played, lit by a few flashlights and candles, eventually.
Reply
Completely Organic
You have been waiting for the opportunity to watch and listen to Semi-Precious play music while you simultaneously buy fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, potstickers, jams, crepes, in a spot where you can see a nun in full regalia selling baked goods, right? Well, no more whining about 'not having your needs met.' That situation will unfold this Saturday morning at the Shadelands market in Walnut Creek, on Wiget & Mitchell. We will have a bucket handy for cleaning up all the blown minds.
Reply
Covered!
This page features our original music, but live, we play a lot of cover songs. We decided to do some quick and informal recordings of a couple, and we are posting them here for a while. In Your Arms is by Kina Granis. Live, this is often our opener. Kina and Alex have a lot in common, musically and demographically, so it is logical we would cover some of her music. The other cover, Wild World, is by Cat Stevens. Before he became a Muslim, Cat Stevens wrote astonishingly beautiful and compelling music. After Cat Stevens became a Muslim, he changed his name and stopped sharing music with us. He then become known for calling for the death of author Salmon Rushdie (a knight in England, a Harvard Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award winner, among other things). This song is from before Cat Stevens' religious enlightenment, of course.
Reply
On the Streets
[written this morning...] For the record, today you can look down upon Semi-Precious, playing somewhere on the sidewalk along Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz.
[Written this evening...] It has now happened. It was such a wonderful day. We met so many fun, kind, sweet and happy people. Where to even start? This would be 20 page blog entry. We learned a lot too. First, the wonderful people. It was such an interesting range of reactions. Probably our favorite moment was when a little girl - five or six years old - stopped dead in her tracks, just to watch and listen, through two songs. She resisted all urges by her parents to keep walking. She was genuinely moved and transfixed, even at her young age. After the second song, she came forward, donated some money her parents had given her, and shyly told Alex she had a beautiful voice. It was simply the sweetest thing in the universe. Her name was Zedara. You can see a photo of Alex and Zedara in the pictures section of this page - second photo. It was just priceless.
There were many such nice experiences. Our day finished up when we gave what amounted to a private show to a guy who had cycled down from San Francisco! Of course we didn't realize that at the time. He arrived, where we happened to be playing, quite exhausted from his trip. He got a huge sandwich, and listened while we played. He ended up really engaging, requesting songs, making do with the closest approximations we could give him in response, and having a lot of fun with us. He gave us the largest donation of our day. It turns out he is a Facebook employee - Zahan. He offered to help us get up and running on Facebook. He was a really fun and kind guy. We also have a pic of him in the photo section. He's the guy in the red jersey watching us as we sing on the sidewalk. We played Fix You, by Cold Play for him. He told us that he has seen Cold Play perform the song, but that our rendition was more passionate. I should say Alex's rendition, because she definitely carries that song. These are just two of many stories from our day. Thanks to everyone!
Reply
Revelation - New Song Added!
Revelation has been our most challenging recording project so far. When we play Revelation live, it is just two voices, obviously, and has a very different feel. But for the recorded version, we arranged it as more of a choral number. This plays into the theme of the song. It is written with a hint of 'worship music' style, but upon closer examination, it is more like inverted worship music. It was originally entitled Anti-Praise, because that is part of the message. What kind of a god would actually be into being praised? Maybe fostering love among people would be a more important priority...
Reply
The Grado Labs Headphones
All of our music has been recorded and mixed using only a set of Grado Labs headphones donated by Mark Wait. The headphones had been retired from service for pro audio engineering at a classical FM station where Mark is an engineer and on-air personality. The foam covers long ago disintegrated, so all of this music was produced with some degree of discomfort as well. Alex said that she liked the discomfort though. You can see her wearing them in the photo captioned "Recording Revelation." Sadly, the Grados have finally died - one speaker is blown. So, at Mark Wait's instruction, they will be replaced with a set of AKG 240 semi-open studio headphones. Revelation is the last song mixed on the Grados. It was a good ride! Thanks Mark.
Reply
You and Me - New Version Posted
When we first posted the song You and Me, I warned that it was an early mix. Literally within a week of recording it, Alex had her piano tuned. So we knew we should re-record the piano. We did! Last night! So we have posted a new version of the song. We also re-recorded the vocals and added a few new elements. So, please take this new version of You and Me for a spin and appreciate the way it sticks to the road!
Reply
Thanks
Many people are important to our formation and continued existence. Alex's mom, Angelique is just that - angelic. She has been an engine of forward motion at every step of the way. She supports, participates and appreciates. And she joins us on stage every so often. Thank you Angelique.
Our friend Danielle Gelhaus has a lovely voice, and we often call her up on stage to help us out. She never hesitates, and she always enhances the quality of the experience - for us, and for the listeners.
Of course there are many more. We'll do sporadic messages like this, thanking people, as time passes.
Reply