tired and INSPIRED

i told you guys about recording in SD, and it was awesome. im going back monday but i got most of the stuff done. staying at jesse barrera's house for a couple of days was an awesome experience. jammin in the middle of the mornin, having breakfast at hash house, meeting all the family and friends, it was awesome. so whats it like hangin out with a rockstar? the same as hangin with a brother or best friend. so chill, no cockiness, no arrogance, just the same ol' vibe i get with all my close friends, it was so humbling and just DOPE.

special thanks to clint for recording me, and thanks for letting me hit it up one more day on monday. jesse, (myspace), is a talented songwriter and singer who is also in the band My American Heart. him and larry soliman started the band back when they were like 15. those are two filipino-americans who have successfully broke the barrier for the rock music scene. the last night i was in SD i chilled with larry, jesse, our good homie alan, and the girls gracie, michelle, and tin cagayat!

anyway, i had a show last night at Ocean Java, a coffee shop that Jesse's mom owns. and it was just awesome. met a lot of BlogTV people, a lot of fans, and a lot of new faces. it was so dope seeing so many people crammed up in the coffee shop (even though at times i know it must have been uncomfortable) but thank you to everyone who came. the adrian william project opened it up with 3 awesome songs and me and jesse were screamin like girls for em hahah. then yultron, then the kneehighs (a dope rap group), then alan ladan, who plays sickk jazz piano and did an old school R&B jam set. jesse went up and i sang "Sweet Time" with him, an original he wrote, and he did his set with alan on the keys and me occasionally. we sang our new song that we wrote on monday "She Was Mine" at the end of his set and i messed up on the words but its all good! hahah

my set was up, and i played Starlit Nights with Jesse, So Quiet, Something Happens, MidKnight, then hopped on the guitar to play Showstopper, How's San Diego Pauli-Johnny Rocket's, My Soldier, and then I Just Want You =] and that feeling when everyone is singing your songs is just unexplainable. thank you so much for that. jesse and i convinced larry earlier to sing with us, so the last song of the night was like a freakin dream come true man. we sang TIRED AND UNINSPIRED by MY AMERICAN HEART. larry (lead singer), freakin jesse (lead guitarist), and me, aj, who has been a fan of them for years. i remember buying their ALBUM in best buy with RB because i saw their "Process" music video. i never thought i'd be playing and singing a song with them. it was truly an inspiring moment for me.

so many people from moval/riverside came down, including cathy nguyen and christine concepcion, two of my favorite people to sing with, and my sister among others. the car ride there was me, my best friend rb, and kris l and cathy. and another car followed us with my other best friends dusty kris and fred with christine and jasmine. adrian william project and tabitha came from the valley too, and nicole, caroline, serena, and kim also making long drives. but special thanks to kelvin, elissa, and friends for coming out from freakin LA!!! ya'll are so awesome. =)

shoutouts to the BLOGTV people, genesis, goshnicole, rheza mae, huskyboydrew, sweetserenade, and many others. ya'll rock.

heres a video of the surprise encore performance of "Tired and Uninspired"

-AJ

"search ocean java aj rafael" to look up all the videos from last night!