on the way Burley ID

This morning i got FB message about yesterdays show. 

"Thanks so much for sharing your talent and humor with the crazy geologists, cowboys and ranchers in Elko last night!"

As i see this was a "real" crowd. No wonder i liked them. 

Today's shock was the ... snow. I couldn't believe it! Keeth wanted to make a snow man but i didn't think that it was a good idea. We didn't have time for that. We had a 4 hours drive to Idaho.

 The road in Nevada was amazing! We saw the most impressive views on this tour.

This type of the road inspires for the endless stories so K talked ; ) I am a good listener. When K stopped talking i offered him to make that snow man over there 

but K didn't show interest anymore. So we kept going until we reached Burley ID. We were very happy to enter reception desk. Our hotel rocked! 

Elko NV

Elko is a gold mining town in the Wild West desert. Lots of dust, casinos and motels (no international tourists)

Today nothing happened. Keeth spent all day working until he passed out in his office

At 5pm we left for the rehearsal and got caught in a sand blizzard. 

Tumble weeds were all over the road hitting the cars. I felt like the a real cowboy ... ready to play Chopin

We made it. 

I enjoy my times alone with the piano in the big halls. 

Keeth is a great help. He takes care of the stage set up, mics, lights and sound check. He takes care of every detail that i always forget. All the pictures from the concerts are taken by him. He is on his feet all the time even during the show. He charms all the CD buyers. Everybody likes Keeth. The concert went really well. Audience was responsive and very loud. My style!

After the show i convinced K to go to the local bar to play pool and to have Bloody Mary's. K vs R 4:0 in pool games (i think that only 1 of his games was fair) 3:3 in Bloody Maries. They were awesome!!!  

on the way to Elko NV

the concerts at 10 am are hard for musicians. Today i performed for junior high schoolers. They can be challenging. Some teachers don't like dealing with the tween's atitudes. Me? I like them. I love punks and rebels. They are my kind!!!  Today we had a rocking classical show and Keeth was the best paparazzo as always.

It was at the gymnasium. The acoustics could be really mean there. Not today. Amplified piano and great lighting were a great addition to the energy that unexpectedly possessed me (in the morning?). 

I also played piano ; )

sometimes under the accompaniment of djembe.

 

Students were so "psyched" and so was i. 

The principal of the school (on my right) and Roger from Concert Association (on my left) are taking good care of their school district. The organization was exceptional.

Then we changed oil of the car and hit the road. Next stop is Elko NV. What a long way. All of a sudden Keeth got interested in classical music history. That was the best time killer (for me). Then i tested him with classical radio. He got "B +" and we stopped to look at the Devils Bowl. When i saw this i almost got a heart attack from beauty.

and then the Devils Bowl started to pull me down. I needed help

so did Keeth. He used "crisis hotline". 

"Thank you ma'am! We are both still safe. Yes yes we will leave immediately and go to Elko. Thanks again!"

Here i felt safe. 

The road was very long for obvious reasons.

We almost stopped by Beverly Hills for a drink but ... we changed our mind. 

Tomorrow is the concert. We better rest.  

Boise ID

since the morning i didn't feel well. I was tired, cranky and not inspired. The concert supposed to be at night in Boise. Short but torturous drive. The sun was on my side and made things worse. At the restaurant perky hostess asked how do we enjoy the sun. Well, i told my most sincere answer. She didn't go for other question. Thank God! The hotel that we stayed was the best so far. Keeth was like a "business shark" in his own office.

The waiting for 5 pm coffee  already "adjusted my chemicals".

On the way to the show we were escorted by police cars. The city was very excited about our arrival.

but ... where is everyone??? ... to our disappointment the door of the venue looked very lonely. There was still 2 hours to show time.

The hall was fantastic. It had the world standard acoustics. You could hear every whisper on the stage.  

The concert Steinway that was rented for the show felt like butter. During rehearsal I couldn't detach myself from the instrument and the great sounding stage. Wow!!! 

The hall was almost full. That affected the acoustics and the ... CD sales (ha ha ha). I was very excited to give my best. 

I love love loved it!!! After the show we returned to the hotel and planned to celebrate at the hotel's bar however ... hmmm .....our room seemed to be safer ; )

Bloody Mary's tasted heavenly! Cheers!

Ontario OR

yesterday was day off. Driving in the boring desert to Ontario OR

and resting all day. I still can't believe that Oregon has a desert. Ontario is right in the middle of it.  The heat is following me. I do not enjoy it at all. In the heat the world looks empty and very shallow. I closed my curtains and stayed inside until the darkness came to the desert. Much better! Next day a concert and the master class were waiting for us. The master class was improvised because i didn't really know what to expect. It went really well. Here is the feedback from one of the participants:

    I want to thank you particularly for this morning's workshop in Ontario, Oregon. You gave me much inspiration as a teacher: gave me points in which to improve as a teacher, and helped me see the things I am doing that are right and good for my students. I am the gal who was showing the piano to some children as you first came on stage. I am a Musikgarten teacher, with my private studio here in Ontario. Musikgarten is very much comparable to how you learned, with singing much solfeggio, helping students to first develop a musical ear, and then to sight read (a must!), and teaching piano in group classes. In this country it feels like I'm swimming up river against the traditional methods of teaching, but I press on! Thank you, thank you, for giving the workshop and for your teaching efforts! ( And, btw, I deserved the 'F' grade! Kids must learn to think!)    

During the master class I was myself. I even gave an "F" for the teacher who tried to help student in order for him to look smarter. That's her letter above ; ) After the master class i was sooooooooo awake! I also was a little nervous because the Steinway felt not powerful enough for the hall. I poured my heart out to Keeth in the car and he called me an "annoying and wining %#@ ". He was right. I love having him around and we don't need shrinks ... yet. At night when we came for the sound check  we improved (cheated a bit) the piano sound.  

The change into tuxedo always helps me to get in the mood. The concert went great. I felt like in my own living room. 

At the end i always enjoy people and signing CDs. 

Another city and another concert is over. Boise OR is next. Can't wait for the new experience

 

Baker City OR

What a torture was to wake up! We had to get on the road in order to make to our shows in Baker City OR. Long drive. I knew that we will have to drive through the desert. We were scared of boredom however we couldn't avoid it. 

I tried to entertain my raodie but ... it was too early and each time i would get this

I got the message and went to sleep. I was awaken by the classic rock tunes. Keeth was totally in trance ... playing air guitar. I guess we all share the same opinions about air guitars. In order for him not to look so pathetic strangely i had a guitar pick in my pocket and gave to him. After that he sounded much better. 

Then i was very impressed with the drumming skills. 

All of the sudden appeared mountains and cows and i knew that the boredom and the air concert will come to an end. Finally!

Our next 2 destinations. Today - Baker, tomorrow - Ontario.

Here we are

and here is our motel 

Maggie took care of our linens. She delivered them to us in no time

  

but there was a little disagreement with one costumer

Maggie won the dispute. Time for pagan rituals.

We had really good lunch at the place where only locals eat. Keeth asked me not to photograph because were getting a lot of looks. That was a good idea. We made it and went to give a concert for high schoolers. It went great. Here is post concert discussions

The evening concert had a different feel then our last concerts even the size of the dressing room door was different. Luckily i watch what i eat.

Time to rock out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Count Dracula

not anymore ; )

Before our hard day was over we had one more show. I loved them!