KJ Paul - Karaoke in San Francisco

Bon Scott made a surprising return from the dead for a one time only appearance at Rocketfish this Thursday!
Bon Scott

Other unexpected guests included sightings
Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries

Elton John

members of Squeeze

and Joan Jett

The night was filled with amazing performances!

I often choose my radio station based on what I want to sing in the hopes of finding new gems. That is great when driving around, but when you are at your computer why not just enter one of your favorite singing songs into Pandora and create a channel based on it!

My new favorite song to sing is Wasted Time by the Eagles and here is what Pandora came up with:

1. Bob Seger :: Against the Wind -- Sang it!
2. John Lennon :: Imagine -- Added to my list!
3. Counting Crows :: A Long December -- Added!
4. The Eagles :: The Last Resort -- One of my staples.
5. Styx :: The Best Of Times -- GREAT IDEA!
6. Jackson Brown :: The Pretender -- Hmmm, will give it a shot.
7. The Beatles :: The Long and Winding Road (Naked version) -- Will give the Paul McCartney version a shot.
8. The Eagles :: Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over version) -- tough one, but love it. Wish I had that version!
9. Journey :: When You Love a Woman -- Whoa! Got to try it (-1:)
10. Bob Seger :: We've Got Tonight -- Sang it.

Wow, ten great songs in a row. Stop it already! I now have this weeks worth of materials to sing.

Once you have your list you can check my karaoke book to make sure I have it. If I don't you can check if it is available on either TriceraSoft or Karaoke-Version. Let me know if you find any songs I don't have that are available and I will gladly buy the song so you can sing it at my show. Your suggestions really help me build my book, so don't be shy about asking.

I've opened up the comments for a few weeks, so click on the title of to go to the post and let me know what you find.

Come sing songs about "walking" in LA at the Atwater Crossing, 3245 Casitas Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90039. 7pm-11pm tonight, Saturday April 21st, 2012.

Here are some song ideas

Los Angeles Walks karaoke fundraiser

Roger Niner will be hosting at Rocketfish and KJ Paul will be hosting karaoke at Jack's every Third Thursday starting this Thursday, April 19th, 2012.

Is Thursday the new Sunday? Will people hope between the various karaoke nights? It will be a great night of karaoke for sure!

KJ Paul:
Jack's Bar
24th Street @ Utah
near Potrero Ave.

Roger Niner:
Rocketfish Lounge
18th Street @ Connecticut

This Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 7-9pm KJ Paul will be hosting karaoke at the Los Angeles Walks karaoke fundraiser.

Come sing songs about walking! Here are some songs with "Walk" in the title.

What would you sing for this event???

I was wondering what American Pie was all about the other day, so I typed "Meaning of American Pie" into Google. I guessed Buddy Holly right, but there is a lot going on in that song. It is a very interesting read:
UnderstandingAmericanPie.com

Lightnin Joe, a Chicago Blues singer based out of Seattle stopped by The Lookout in San Francicso on Monday and sang a few songs.

Lightnin Joe ROCKED the harmonica while singing Mustang Sally.

He also sang one of his original songs called Bad Whiskey. Bad Whiskey is available on iTunes as part of Lightnin Joe's album, Sweet Honey Pie.

There were quite a few great singers and the recordings are great. Here are all the recordings from Monday February 28th at the Lookout in San Francisco.

It was a slow night at the Rocketfish on Thursday, but is was oh so fun once again. We sang a bunch of great songs, but the the highlight was the "Uncomfortable" Rockblock.

I am starting to get the recording thing down and the quality of the recordings have been improving quite a bit over time. For example, check out the recordings for Sunday nights karaoke at Dalva or Monday at the Lookout. There is a lot of timing and juggling of priorities involved and there are a lot of subtleties. Here are some of them:

• how much reverb to add
• keeping the volumes from creeping into the clipping zone
• vocal levels vs music levels for each singer/mic
• mute/unmute unused mics to minimize/add noise
• how much compression to add to each mic in use to either
  • fill out the voice
  • or compliment the singers dynamic range
• add or reduce the singers mid-range
• keep the volumes in the room as well as for the singers in check
• separate EQ-ing and levels for the recordings vs the room
• label each recording for the website
• mark which recordings go on the site and which don't
• keep track of who is waiting and who has left for the night
• MC the event
• Keep the crowd going, dance and have fun
• figure out who is next based on
  • how long have they waited
  • have they had a chance to sing yet
  • is their group happy with how often they have been called
  • how many people are in the queue and will everyone even get to sing
  • personalities
  • special needs like is it their birthday, need to catch BART etc.
  • have they sung in a group sing

I could go on...there is a lot to keep track of... and then to do all that while people are talking to me, I am drinking booze, and then there is the most important part of my job
flirting with the girls!
:)

I will be adding the ability to log into kjpaul.com so you can manage which songs are available and in what order they play etc.. You will be able to rate songs and although you won't be able to see how a song is rated, it will effect which songs make it to the best of pages etc. that I will be adding... It will be a couple of months...so be patient. Even more big improvements are coming!

Yes, there will be karaoke at the LookOut tonight (1/16/2012)... some have asked, so just want to be clear. Come to the Lookout and sing a few songs! 8pm-2am.