He plays for the love

For at least two days out of the week, during the afternoon, a guitar man sets up his instrument, amplifier and microphone near the base of the Newport Pier. And, he plays.

He plays for you. He plays for everyone.

During a set he’ll attract most people, causing some to dance, others to nod their head in rhythm. Even when they don’t understand the words, they acknowledge that the man has talent.

When Tommy Twang plays one of his favorite songs and sings in Japanese some just marvel at how an old, white man can knock out the lyrics so cleanly. The song is called, “Ue wo muite arukou,” better known as, “Sukiyaki,” in the U.S.

The hit from the early 1960s is easy for Tommy Twang to understand. He can relate. The lyrics talk of a man who walks while looking up so that the tears don’t fall because of a love that left.

Tommy Twang doesn’t want to cry any more. He is Tommy Twang, the street performer.

What’s his real name?

He won’t tell you. All there is to know is that he can play, and each song he delivers has a story. There are many stories of his life.

And so he plays.

“When I play the music, I become embedded in the song, and that’s not a bad place to be,” Tommy Twang, 59, says. “When I’m in that song, I am in there, really in there. It’s a fantasy world. It’s something that takes you out of reality. You’re in the song. It’s a good place to hide. Sometimes I hide in it too much.

“When other people get into that song with me and we are in that same space, it is awesome.”

In reality, Tommy Twang is much more than a street performer. But for the few hours during a set at Newport Pier, he’ll play for money. He does his best to sound like the original songs, but he’ll also put his signature on the piece.

When “Sukiyaki” breaks into what is supposed to be a whistle solo, Tommy will blow the same melody into his harmonica.

Sometimes he won’t sing, like when he plays guitar favorite, “Sleep Walk,” or the surfer’s delight, “Pipeline.”

He has many other songs, mostly covers now.

He won’t try to impersonate Bob Dylan, but there are times when he sounds exactly like the legendary folk singer. He can play so many songs. Dylan ballads get him in the mood.

They take him back to a time when life seemed simple. Yet he believes the music provides the perfect arrangement for the beach.

And, so he plays.

His life is all about the music. He says he doesn’t care too much about the money being dropped in his can. He does it for the love of the music.

Usually before he performs, he’ll surf at San Onofre or at Newport. Sometimes he’ll perform at Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier.

He’ll also hit Hollywood, playing at the Farmers Market there. He normally plays at Newport Pier on Fridays and Saturdays.

When it was raining this week, he played in coffee shops. He mostly stays away from bars. He’s been sober for a little more than nine years after battling alcoholism.

He just throws himself into the music. For now, it’s his way of life.

When night comes, he’ll go home to his boat in the Los Angeles Harbor. Then he’s back up at dawn ready to surf and ready to start all over again.

“Some days I don’t make enough to cover my fuel and my parking,” he says. “But I keep playing. It’s a very simple life. I can make a living doing it.”

Even in a down economy he makes enough to get by. While the weather was cruel for business this week, Tommy Twang made good money during the holidays.

It wasn’t always like this for him.

Once upon a time, Tommy Twang wasn’t all about the music. There were so many other duties to occupy his life: a wife, children, careers.

At one point he was running a successful stained-glass-window company. Then he went on into the real estate business. He was also a general contractor and later became a highly successful land developer in Northern California.

He lived in a large home, settled into the upper-class life. Who would’ve thought that he would leave it all behind?

In an instant, just like that, he left that rich life. Or was it taken away from him? He won’t say. Just like he won’t reveal his real name, Tommy Twang won’t tell too much of his past.

Maybe that’s part of the reason, you won’t know his name.

He says he suffers from major depression. It’s been an ongoing battle for him since he was a teenager. But his music helps.

“What I do with my music, that’s part of my therapy to be alive,” he says. “It’s a life or death kind of a thing. What helps me the most is surfing in the morning and playing music the rest of the day. I throw myself into the music because I have to.”

Just recently, he has been experiencing a new way of life. He’s been a street performer for a year and just before that he had what he calls, “a reversal of fortunes.”

He says the change affected him financially and mentally.

“I had to reprioritize my life,” he says. “I started to realize that the most important things in life are not the material things. I know when I play music, it makes people happy. I’m used to watching people dance exuberantly with a heart full of happiness I just thought I would play out here and try it. It’s amazing. It’s not for everybody. You certainly don’t get rich doing it. Very few people can make a living at it. But it’s not about the money. There are a lot of other rewards.”

Tommy Twang says he thoroughly appreciates playing for children. The thought that he might be the kids’ first introduction to music thrills his soul.

He also enjoys the compliments. Sometimes he’s asked to play at parties.

Through the music, he tells stories. There’s more to his repertoire than covering songs. He’s written his own songs and once had a band called, “Tommy Twang and the Electric Stimulators.”

“We were hot, man,” he says.

Tommy Twang has always had a love for music, ever since he started with the accordion as a boy and later heard his father jam with his friends in the living room, playing for a band of their own.

He says he studied music at Cal State Dominguez Hills. He also has a strong love for art, the stained-glass-window-design work, as well as clay artistry and airplane models.

When he lived in Northern California, he built a replica of the original Wright Brothers airplane and took it out for a flight.

Now he’s all about the music.

“He’s been doing this his whole life, and he really loves it,” says Marika Zoll, a psychologist and a friend of Tommy Twang’s. “He’s a skilled musician. At this point in his life, he’s not doing it for the money. He does it for the love. He’s a true artist.”

Tommy Twang keeps playing the music. He plays for you. He plays for everyone.

Some times when he’s done, he walks while looking up.