Matt Nathanson San Jose 2009 Chavez Plaza

I heard a new Matt N song on radio last night, KFOG, catchy but did not grasp the title. This a.m.– funny, I woke up thinking it was Monday but realized a moment later I had skipped Sunday entirely — I am hunkered down at Ah-Sigh-ee in the former Jungle Copy 2, next to Mac’s on Emerson, across from Lytton Plaza, beneath Rick Kimball’s TCV.

A traveler with a Glaswegian brogue chatted me up for a few minutes, plus another local, before rushing off. In and out in a matter of days, solving someone international HR problem for Europe. Could not say, or was too discrete, and I knew better than to ask, but he did say he had heard of Kimball. (Not to be confused, clearly, with Richard Kimball of “The Fugitive”). Mark from Cambridge and Glasgow also warned me of my typical “Rangers of Celtics?” line — those are still very real fighting lines. We digressed into my rap about Alan Black: worked in a book store, ladies dug his accent, booked “Trainspotting” into a pub months ahead of the Hollywood/Industry treatment, writes for the Chron on association matters. He hipped me, this traveler or “international man of mystery” he seemed genuinely flattered and thanked me for saying so that I asked if he was a football coach, to a singer, friend of the family, James Bay (not the body of water in Canada, hooked up or ensnared by Universal Records it would seem).

Meanwhile Passenger came on the player, here at Acai, and he claimed a larger recognition that I had: Michael Rosenberg, aka Passenger leaving member of the band of the same name; I am the 467 millionth person to connect the dots:

coda: Hi, Matt. This is Mark Weiss from Earthwise Productions of Palo Alto. How are you? Hey I heard a new joint last night on KFOG. Good luck with that. Hey, I’m gonna check back and maybe even hit you via your team, but if you are off the road around January 30, I am doing a little gig in Menlo Park, near Palo Alto — hey, I remember you used to do nooners at Menlo, either the school or the college — at Cafe Zoe, it’s the Earthwise Productions 20th anniversary series, and since you were so cool about playing my show, at Cubberley and CoHo on the way up, maybe you can come one down, strictly on the down low if you want, and strike a few chords for us. Cathleen the owner is a real fan of yours – -and of course I am, still — and you might find it worth the while. Obviously I’d be in your debt. Happy holidays, to B_ and y’all. My number is 650.305.0701 or you can suss me out at Plastic Alto.