My “retirement” from the Food Service Industry

(The first post in what will soon be a blog that will be separate from this one)

Friday I gave my two weeks notice from a job I have held for the better part of 9 and a half years to embark upon something else, something entirely different than the jobs I have been doing since the time I was 18.
Food service, I say to you, it’s been fun…

In 1994 I moved to Maryland from my parents' home and started upon a long “career” of sorts in the food service industry. This was after spending 2 years at a fairly cushy high school job (the public library) but then needing the freedom and independence and even more desperately needing to get out of my hometown and find a better life.

And that led me to fall into the quick and easy gainful employment (whatever that means) of the service industry, with the jobs that are easy to get, but oh so painful and unrewarding.

But I was lucky. After a false start at a bakery at the tourist-y Inner Harbor in Baltimore (personal note: beware of any new occupation that requires you to buy tan pants) where I was asked, quite seriously, “Where’s your smile???”, I found a job at a deli downtown. (Okay, actually, the bakery let me go, which might technically be the one and only time I was ever “let go”--like a turd--from a job…I believe my manager’s exact words were “I think you might be better off looking for another job.” I can probably talk about this later. Anyway…)

I walked into a little deli and asked if they were looking for “counter help.” They were, and though it was a tough job with a fairly demanding boss and initially low pay, I survived an early push to sack me (I’m a slow learner and up to that point had very little food service experience.) I wound up thriving in an environment that turned out to be very nurturing and comfortable. The boss who wanted to fire me wound up looking at me as a surrogate son…admittedly, this is not a relationship I am entirely comfortable with, but it allowed her to be more forgiving of my shortcomings. I stayed there an astonishing 6 years before I jumped on an offer to work at my favorite drinking hole, the Irish Pub. After 6 years, I left the deli, free of what had at times been a very trying experience, but one that I was happy to have had. I said “I’m never going to do that again,” meaning I would never stay so long at a job like that.

9 and a half years later...

Oh, I love the pub. I have worked there through the entire Bush Administration. I was there on 9/11. I watched Super Bowls, worked St. Patty’s Days, made many friends, watched more than 40 servers come and go, cooked many hundreds of burgers, cleaned the toilets many hundreds of times, and washed countless dishes…but almost more importantly, The Pub has been a constant in my life. When I started, I was single. At the end, I am married. I went through girlfriends, rental properties, cars, friends, acquaintances, people I never want to see ever again, and all the while the Pub was still there, a constant presence in my life. It is an anomaly in a business that is by nature volatile and uncertain: a restaurant that has been open and under the same ownership for almost 30 years. It is not run by some crazy iron-fisted autocratic despot, like you are used to seeing on the Food Network or in big restaurants. It is instead run simply by Bill, who could never be called autocratic. Hard work and the luck of the Irish have been with Bill and his wonderful family, and he somehow makes it work. I have been there for the Pub, and it has been there for me.

And now, after all this time, almost 16 years in the food service industry (some jobs I have yet to mention that may have fallen through the cracks: Produce clerk, Pizza delivery man, I was a prep cook for three days at a job I was ill-suited for both in skills and mentally, I washed dishes at a crazy busy breakfast place) I am proud to yell from the mountaintops the one thing I have wanted to say for years:

I am retiring from the Food Service industry!

Oh, okay…don’t burn your bridges, never say never, yeah, I get it. But I’m 34 years old, and for various reasons I will explore shortly, I need this part of my life to end. And now, thanks to a fortuitous series of events, I am about to embark on a career change, one that takes me hopefully quite far from the reality of the kitchen/deli counter/dish room/what have you.

Meet the new me. Davey G: Ramp Agent for Southwest Airlines.
Stand by…

DGK10 show recap.

(Pictured: Me, Scott Alexander, Paperback Tragedy, and the Pfisters)
One of the best compliments I can ever get for a show I put on has almost nothing to do with my actual performance. It is something that I might overhear someone saying but that is never actually said to me: “Wow, this is a really weird crowd.” Weird, as in, the people you see at this show would most likely never be at the same place at the same time anywhere else but at a Davey G show. To me it is fun to get groups of people who may like pop-punk hanging out with hard-core fans or fans of comedy of just plain well-wishers, friends, girlfriends, wives, etc. There’s bands and people that I like who don’t all fit into the same mold, and that’s really what this show was about for me.

The Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show at the Windup was a very personal show for me. In addition to celebrating 10 years of something this monumental, it also coincides with a major change in my life: a new job in a completely non-food service related area (more on this in an upcoming blog). I can’t lie--getting up and announcing this to the crowd and getting such a wildly positive reaction made me more happy than I thought possible. My words were heartfelt, my thanks are real. As I said toward the end of my set, this was not a Davey G and the Keyboard retirement show, just the marking of an occasion.

For the record: I played 22 songs, plus an encore. 10 songs were from the “Generica” album. The songs “Lost in the misery,” “Bowl Games,” “Boppity Bop,” “You Just Made My List” and “Why Must We Wear Pants?” are songs that I probably haven’t played live since the very beginning, and “Nervous Breakdown” and “Theme From a Sci-Fi Discussion Show” are songs that I’ve never played live. I borrowed my closing line from the late Frank Zappa: “Good Night, Baltimore, wherever you are!”

Wild Bonerz opened, filling in for the late cancellation of Man-Friend. Scott Alexander, Paperback Tragedy, and the Pfisters all rocked with reckless abandon, and I thank them all for doing so.
Thanks to everyone who came out, and hope to see you at the next one!
--Davey G.

Rambling words about Davey G and the Keyboard a fortnight before the Davey G and the Keyboard 10 Year Anniversary Show (a short series) Part 2.

Part two of two. Read part one.

For my 10 year anniversary as Davey G and the Keyboard, initially I had pictured doing one big show with a dozen bands and maybe making it an all day thing. Quickly I realized that this would not be desirable for anyone. It’s very hard to expect people to stick around for 12 or so bands and then face the very real possibility of it all backfiring for me, the “headliner,” as all but the most dedicated fans run out of gas before I’ve even started.
Instead, I chose the two-date option, with bands or parts of bands that I have played with over the past 10 years.

Which now gets me to those bands…

Pfisters. I haven’t actually played with them, but Darren and all the Sidebar crew have been stalwart supporters of Davey G over the last several years and I really appreciate that. Ditto for Matty of the Mandroids, with whom I have played twice, both times at Free Comic Book Day at the Collector’s Corner.

Paperback Tragedy has been there pretty much since the beginning, when they were still known as Brat. Will West is kind of a personal hero--he’s a true musician who plugs away year after year, true to his craft and a great guy to boot. Him and Paperback Tragedy get nothing but respect from me.

Scott Alexander and I go back to 2005, when we met at the Talking Head Club Gong Show. Since then we have shared a stage or two or three, and he recently appeared on the People’s Court and won.

Man Friend, the Davey G tribute band…what can I say? Ken and Co. have put together a tribute band in my honor. I honestly can’t wait to hear what my songs will sound like coming from someone else.
http://www.maximumsciencefiction.com/
Rare Candy’s brand of video game music has been a great fit for any bill I have been on. Ditto for Markitect’s brand of solo indy rock. A friend of mine is convinced that 4th Grade Security Risk is the best band name ever. Can’t argue with that.

Common questions people tend to ask me:

So…where do you perform?

I have performed many times at the Sidebar and the Windup Space. In the past, I have played the Ottobar (back when it was on Davis Street), I frequently played The Talking Head (ditto), and Winchester’s Comedy Club. at Source of the Nile (Pittsfield, now defunct), Spotlighter’s Theatre, Metro Gallery, Lionheart Café (Albany), Schenectady Cable Access, Hampshire College, a couple shows at Once Twice Sound and at Free Comic Book Day in Parkville, and for a time back in ’01 I had the Davey G Variety Show at Winchester’s for a couple of shows.

Dave, I know your middle name doesn’t begin with a “G.” What gives?


“G” is a tribute to Warren G. Harding, one of the greatest President of our age. I have no idea, it’s just a name I chose long ago and it happens to rhyme with a lot of words.

What’s with the lotion?

You gotta stay smooth in this business…
Actually, I did it at the very first show, and it stuck. It just always gets a reaction. I used to use a fresh bottle for every show, then I started watering it down, which makes it much messier-looking and far more effective. And if you don’t have any idea of what I’m talking about…

Dave, you have so many great songs: what’s your favorite?

Great question! Very insightful! I love all my songs like they were my children. I’d like to believe that at any one time during the show, I am playing somebody’s favorite song. From a performance perspective, I like Wash the Dish. From a personal listening perspective, I’d go with either Milwaukee or I Wanna Be a Real Musician--I’m especially proud of that one because it’s one song that doesn’t use a pre-set and also I play drums on it.

Most popular song?

Man Friend, hands down. A lot of people tell me they like one song or another, but everyone seems to like Man Friend.

I like that flyer better than I like you: Who made it?


That flyer was made by Mr. Alex Fine. He does excellent work: this is the third flyer he has made for me. When I see he has done such great work for a show I’m doing, I feel a great need to raise my game and do the best show ever. Here’s his info. www.facebook.com/alexfineillustration

So it’s been 10 years: What’s next?

Difficult to say…I will keep performing and making new songs. I have been doing a lot of writing, with a book out in zine form and others in the works. I just want to create, perform and enjoy my life. Odds are, if you are in touch with me either personally or over various social media, you will know about what I will be doing next.

http://www.facebook.com/daveygandthekeyboard
http://twitter.com/daveygandthe

Anything else?

Come to the Davey G and the Keyboard 10th !!!
Saturday, May 22 at the Windup Space!
And
Saturday, June 12 at the Sidebar!

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you at the show!
--Davey G.

Rambling words about Davey G and the Keyboard a fortnight before the Davey G and the Keyboard 10 Year Anniversary Show (a short series) Part 1

10 Years…a career that started on the couch of a house on Maryland Avenue…yes, the Davey G and the Keyboard trajectory has taken many turns. From the time that my old band, Lampstand, (for which I was not a keyboardist but a drummer) had it’s final meeting (a reunion eight years after our breakup) on July 2, 2000 until now, it has been quite a trip. Little did I know that the reunion of my high school band would ignite a desire within me that would last for so long. I’ve written about a lot of this before, so I’ll try to be brief in recapping it all…

Read about Lampstand here then come back and read the rest…

After that last show, I became inspired to return to the stage. After a summer of writing songs and goofing around on an old Kawai X20 keyboard, I had a set, and then a show, my first. September 2, 2000. 23 people showed up, and an act was born.
http://davecookson.tripod.com/daveyghistory.html

A few months later, I had a “tour” with my old band mate, Kneil, who was at the time in a band called Bromp Treb. I played in front of a green screen at Schenectady Cable Access, then a house party in Pittsfield, and then a show at Hampshire College. It was then January of 2001, and in those 3 shows, I really felt like I was on to something, setting a course that neither of us could have been aware of at the time…
2001-2002 was a heavy period of performances. Davey G and the Keyboard, as I was now calling myself, was getting off the ground. I had a fairly important show at the old Ottobar, then got a series of shows at the now defunct Winchester’s Comedy Club. I played and I played, and then I stopped, in 2002, and did not return until 2005...

When I came back to the stage in 2005, it was to much fanfare, more shows, more focus. I put together Prepare to be Keyboarded, then two years later I worked on what I had hoped would be my masterwork, Chairman of the Keyboard. This album was an attempt at more “professionalism,” an attempt to compensate for some of the rush jobs of the past. It was nothing if not an exercise in anal-retentiveness, at least as much of that as I am capable…

2008/2009 were also busy years, playing at the Sidebar, my home away from home.
Which brings me up to now, 10 years after the release of “Generica,” and the Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show (s)...

Next: The DGK 10 lineup and comments….