A Man, a Plan, a Canal, Panama! (Oh, and a Piano and a Dog)
From the Village Voice under the title “Sometimes You Just Say ‘Fuck It,” Throw a Piano in the Back of a Truck, and Play Your Way Down to Panama.”
A couple of years ago, [Dotan] Negrin, a 26-year-old native New Yorker, sunk his life’s savings (about $10,000) into a GMC box truck and an upright piano and hit the road for five months with his now-three-year-old Jack Russell/chihuahua mix, Brando, making his living entirely from playing piano in dozens of American cities.
Since then, he’s done two more such road trips around America, and in about two weeks, he and Brando are planning to head out on their most ambitious trip yet — a 10,000 mile journey from Manhattan to Panama. This time, he’s bringing a cameraman along for the ride with the intention of putting footage together to pitch to TV networks for a travel show idea Negrin likens to Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, but featuring music instead of food. He’s Kickstartering the project in the hopes of raising $10,000 to pay his cameraman and a post-production crew upon their return. He’s close to his goal — the project funding period goes until Monday morning — but he’s going through with the trip whether or not he makes that goal.
