At the Charity Show After-party last weekend, I was asked to sing a song (Bob Marley’s “Is This Love”) with the fantastic Toyama-based band Loose Kingdom, and I had a blast singing with them. I’m pleased to announce I’ll be joining them again as a guest singer for a few songs at the ‘Masqued’ event at Mau Fine Arts Studio this coming Saturday (June 19), and if all goes well I’ll join them as a co-lead singer for their final* show on June 18 at the Artist’s Cafe in Toyama! So if you’re in the area, come on out and support us!
*Unfortunately for us, two of the three band members will be leaving the country in August, but I’m grateful for the chance to share this last bit of glory with them.
It’s been soooo long (almost 2 years, I think) since I made a video of myself playing music, so yesterday I decided to make this one for you. Here’s me covering Kate Nash’s “Foundations” on the uke. It’s not often that a fun pop song will hit me emotionally, but this one does for sure, which makes it one of my favorite pop songs of the past few years. Enjoy!
I’m way behind in posting this, but the February 27th debut gig of our band, Big Larry D and the Husky 3, made it into the “Newspaper of Northern Japan”—a newspaper whose title makes it sound far more widely distributed than it actually is (it’s the local newspaper for our prefecture). You can almost recognize us in the very small picture at left.
Band members from left to right: Chris Noel, Paul Hala, David Myers, and myself
I wrote a new song! It’s been almost 2 years since I wrote anything new and this one almost literally flowed out of me uncontrollably. My girlfriend moved to Australia a few weeks ago and she’ll be there for a year, which apparently makes good material for a folk song. It’s called “Can you wait for a bit.”
This is just a quick, unpolished demo I recorded with the ukulele. There’s meant to be a harmonica solo in there after the second chorus, but I don’t have a harmonica at the moment so it’s just the uke. Also, I had to work hard not to slip into my Dylan voice, so my voice sounds a little different than normal.
Why Try To Change Me Now - Fiona Apple (Originally by Cy Coleman)
I didn’t know this song existed until about twelve hours ago, when I heard it on the most recent episode of House, and since then it has reached a play count of 10 on my iTunes.
Wait— make that 11.
Japan fun fact #226:
The song Auld Lang Syne does exist in Japan, but somewhere along the way someone made all new Japanese lyrics for it and changed the title to 蛍の光, or The Firefly’s Glow. The general theme of the song is still the same—this sort of mix of nostalgia and hope for things to come—but it’s not a New Year’s song here. It’s instead a song that a lot of stores play on their PA systems 10 or 15 minutes before closing time, to let you know that you need to get your ass in gear.
Earlier this week I went to Tokyo to see my old friends, an indy band called Yucca, who had a show on Wednesday. I’ve been back to Tokyo a few times since I lived there, but this was the first time that I actually had free time to explore and see places that I’ve been missing. I had forgotten just how much I absolutely adore that city. It’s one of the greatest towns on the planet as far as I’m concerned.
Anyhow, while I was wandering the streets during the day on Wednesday, I took some video with my Digital Harinezumi camera, which I’m mostly enjoying using. It’s a small camera which takes videos that mimic the look of old 8mm films. Usually I really love the style that it produces, but sometimes it simply looks like crappy digital video. The shots I got of the band playing are definitely my favorite.
The song is Tokyo, by Headlights.
Currently watching: Kouhaku Uta Gassen
On the evening of New Year’s Eve every year Japan’s biggest music stars gather in one concert hall to participate in a boys-versus-girls singing competition called “Uta Gassen.” The Japanese TV network NHK has been showing “Uta Gassen” for the past 60 years and it is one of the biggest TV events of the year in Japan. I’ve heard a ton about it, and I’m excited to finally be watching it for the first time.
About Me
My name is Lawrence Denes.After spending 5 years studying Japanese language, culture, literature, and history in St. Louis and Kyoto, I now live in Japan, in a town that most Japanese people have never even heard of, lost amid the rice fields and vending machines.
Please feel free to ask me anything, or send me an email.
