North America Guitar Tour
Miami
July 17, 2014
In 1980, I was unable to stay at a junior college in Seattle due to various circumstances, so I left the country and transferred to another school. At that time, a teacher who was close to me asked me, "Which do you prefer, Boston or Miami?" I immediately answered, "Miami." The reason was that the weather seemed good. However, on that very day, riots broke out in Miami, and while glued to the TV news, I decided to go to Boston. The next day, I told my teacher about it and she wrote me a letter of introduction to Berklee College of Music. At the time, my goal was to stay in the United States, so honestly, anywhere was fine. After more than 30 years, I was excited to be heading to Miami, a place I had missed once before.
However, my excitement was short-lived, and as I got closer to Miami, the number of cars with reckless driving increased. At least, it was the most stressful drive I had ever driven. As I was being pushed, I headed south, and I got a message from Mr. D, who I was supposed to meet in New Jersey at the end of the month, asking, "What are your plans for Miami?" When I replied, "Nothing in particular," he sent me the helpful information that I could play on a terrace called Boca Raton. I thought for sure it was an open mic venue, but when I went to the address he specified, it was an empty terrace facing the beach.
I felt a little annoyed at myself for coming all the way to Miami and thinking, "What am I doing?" But when I pulled myself together and started playing the guitar, several people there gave me thumbs up and nodded with smiles, which saved me. After a while, a child came up to me with a dollar bill in her hand and dropped it at my feet. At this point, I had closed the guitar case and put it next to me. I said, "Thank you," and looked up, and saw a person who seemed to be the parent looking at me with a smile, so I nodded to him as well. Feeling a bit greedy, I opened the case and put it at my feet, but since it was already dusk, the sparse crowd had completely disappeared, and the only person who came was someone who knew Mr. D, so I asked him to take a photo as evidence.
Judging from the atmosphere of the city, I realized that sleeping in the car was dangerous, so I had to find a place to stay before it got dark, and found a cheap motel online and booked it. I could see someone shouting and waving a bottle of alcohol on the street from my window, so I locked the door securely and went to sleep.
*People mentioned in the text are listed by their initials until their identities can be confirmed.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home