I got to meet Asano Sho today at the Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festival!
We talked a bit and I made sure to tell him about Bachido, so who knows, this place might soon be bustling with pros.
Sweeeeet!!! 
I met him once in Hirosaki. He’s such a nice guy. His shamisen maker was also very kind.
Yeah man!! That’s so awesome!!
Truth be told, when I first read the title of your post, I thought, “Uh oh, his shamisen broke…” 
Cool!
“Truth be told, when I first read the title of your post, I thought, “Uh oh, his shamisen broke…” ;)”
Same here!
yeah i thought the same :DDD Good job Jamie and i envy you for meeting Asano 
Geez you guys are so negative. When I read title I thought it was leading to some cool new discovery or achievement.
Well meeting Sho is kinda like that I guess.
I’ve had the incredible honor of working (performing) with mr. Asano on two glorious occasions
And I can say that not only is he one of the Most talented players he is also incredibly friendly and very natural when collaborating with other musicians.
lol I’m going to have to go with Kevin on this one haha.
I thought for sure that it was going to be something of excitement!
Good stuff man~
I know when you come across these types of situations, you always end up thinking (If I only had my shamisen with me right now…)
lol well at least I do~
You are negative when you perceive us as negative We are the most optimistic bunch because when we set the expectations low while waiting for the forum thread to open, we put ourselves in a situation where we can be pleasantly surprised by the contents being of a better nature than what we imagined. Thus, in a situation like this where there was no broken shamisen, we come out with an increased positive vibe due to this pleasant surprise.
Love.
Haha Yeah!
The solution?. . .
Keep your Shamisen with you at ALL times!
(well… a bit Hypocritical for me to say that since I recently traveled to Tokyo without my Shami. Also when I go to work or take a shower I often leave it.)
Hmmm. Oh well Not quite as dedicated to it as I used to be in the good old days when I literally would have it with me all the time.
I visited Shamisen Katoh and “Almost” got to meet Norm Nakamura (hopefully next time)
Rock On!
Woa I missed the wise words of Karl!
Yes indeed my friend you win the positive outlook contest
this time…
But there is always NEXT TIME.
Mwahahahaha!
lmao Kevin
You are right, the simple solution is to always carry the shamisen!!
I was going to say, “big words for a guy who comes to Tokyo without his shamisen (^_-)” hahaha
Yea, hopefully we will have a chance to meet sometime soon~
Oh by the way the clip posted up above is Mike Penny, Asano Sho and me at the 100 year anniversary of Takahashi Chikuzan’s birth. That was held in Chikuzan’s hometown of Hiranai.
Dayum, what an explosion of forum posts within 24 hours!
Hahaha!! What a hilarious exchange. I will say, Karl wins the “I accept your apology” response of the week! Well said sir. I too often have very low expectations, and thus makes me all the more pleasantly surprised! 
That’s one thing I always appreciated about Kevin though. From the very moment I met him, he was always super enthusiastic about… everything! Any musical style, anything at all, he was stoked about and willing to try. (Whenever I dish this much praise, it feels like I’m giving a eulogy)
Ah, everything… except Lady Gaga. You wouldn’t believe how much prodding Grant and I had to do to get Kevin to adapt her songs to shamisen.
Did you arrange to do that performance with Asano Sho, or was it suggested that you guys get together?
I was like, “Wahhh!!” when I saw first watched that video last year. Such an awesome event that you all played with Asano Sho, and the only record of it happening was just a video humbly titled, “Asano Sho, Kevin Kmetz, Mike Penny-Takahashi Chikuzan memorial”
If it was me preforming with him, the starstruck side of me would have wanted to plaster that event all over Facebook. “OMGOMGOMG I’m playing with Asano Sho!!! What are you doing on Friday, losers??”
But then again, I’m a little cruel.
:DD HAHA! That’s exactly what i would do also :DDD
Thanks. Glad you guys like the clip. That event was put together by Yoko Satoh (remember her?) the wife of the late Sadaki san who was Chikuzans dear friend, supporter and even promoter. I honestly cant remember how Sho, Penny and me were selected for the event but I am sure it has to do with Sho joining Monsters of Shamisen during our last concert which incidently also featured Vincent Waussi the creator and muti talented African Shamisen master who has coined the phrase “AFRO Shamisen”.
Gee. I should really get back in touch with Vincent. I really love his Shamisen style. Have you guys heard of him yet?
now i have thanks for sharing Kevin