Tuesday, March 15, 2005
A New Open Mic
OK, first off, my apologies to Joe for not making the inagural Border's open mic. Of course, last week I missed my two 'regular' open mics, Cheers and Dunn Bros. so I hope that makes things a little better.
Border's has a little coffee bar area in the front of the store, and it's a nice little venue to play in. Plus the walk in traffic allows you to reach a completely different audience than any other place I normally play. OK, maybe that woman and her six year old daughter looking for a hardcover Dr. Seuss book aren't my core audience, but if they stop and listen for a moment, and leave with a smile (or just shaking their heads) I'm happy.
I tried out some new stuff tonight. I've been playing a Springsteen song, Sherry Darling for quite a while now, I'm not sure if it's a Slappy is Jebus kind of song, but I like playing it. I also debuted I Know All the Presidents in Order, the high school kids in the crowd didn't know what to think, but Brian enjoyed it and accused me of showing off. Knowledge is a good thing. Speaking of 'Good Things,' I also debuted Home Sweet Home, the Martha Stewart homecoming song. I did have to whisper the "she was someone else's bitch" line, but that became somewhat of a running joke through the night for all the performers. It also elicited a response of "It's a Good Thing" from Joe and a suggestion that I should do an album of songs about Martha Stewart. I can see it now, It's a Martha Stewart St. Patty's Day.
It was good to see Brian play again. Every time I see him he's a little more confident as a singer. We talked a little bit about comfort in music, he'd be happy to just play bass, I'd be happy to just sing backup vocals and play harp. Seems we used to be in a band where that's what both of us got to do, but that just didn't work out. But he did play bass for me on I Will Survive and I played harmonica for him on Conservative Man, so we got to help each other out a little in that department. His songs Staring at the Ceiling and Let's Get Hammered Again are really turning into great songs. I hope I see Brian at more open mics, not just because he's a good bass player (an open mic can never have enough unselfish bass players), but because he's a heck of a songwriter. Hey Brian, the Songwriter's Invitational is coming up soon.....
A young lady named Allison showed up tonight. All I can say is fantastic. I've never gone to a new open mic and not run into someone who impressed me who I'd never seen before. So at Border's it's Allison. We told her about Dunn Bros. and I hope we see her there tomorrow night. It's amazing how the talent just shows up when you start one of these open mic things. Sometimes I think there's more good musicians in this town then there are places for them to play.
BOJ
Border's has a little coffee bar area in the front of the store, and it's a nice little venue to play in. Plus the walk in traffic allows you to reach a completely different audience than any other place I normally play. OK, maybe that woman and her six year old daughter looking for a hardcover Dr. Seuss book aren't my core audience, but if they stop and listen for a moment, and leave with a smile (or just shaking their heads) I'm happy.
I tried out some new stuff tonight. I've been playing a Springsteen song, Sherry Darling for quite a while now, I'm not sure if it's a Slappy is Jebus kind of song, but I like playing it. I also debuted I Know All the Presidents in Order, the high school kids in the crowd didn't know what to think, but Brian enjoyed it and accused me of showing off. Knowledge is a good thing. Speaking of 'Good Things,' I also debuted Home Sweet Home, the Martha Stewart homecoming song. I did have to whisper the "she was someone else's bitch" line, but that became somewhat of a running joke through the night for all the performers. It also elicited a response of "It's a Good Thing" from Joe and a suggestion that I should do an album of songs about Martha Stewart. I can see it now, It's a Martha Stewart St. Patty's Day.
It was good to see Brian play again. Every time I see him he's a little more confident as a singer. We talked a little bit about comfort in music, he'd be happy to just play bass, I'd be happy to just sing backup vocals and play harp. Seems we used to be in a band where that's what both of us got to do, but that just didn't work out. But he did play bass for me on I Will Survive and I played harmonica for him on Conservative Man, so we got to help each other out a little in that department. His songs Staring at the Ceiling and Let's Get Hammered Again are really turning into great songs. I hope I see Brian at more open mics, not just because he's a good bass player (an open mic can never have enough unselfish bass players), but because he's a heck of a songwriter. Hey Brian, the Songwriter's Invitational is coming up soon.....
A young lady named Allison showed up tonight. All I can say is fantastic. I've never gone to a new open mic and not run into someone who impressed me who I'd never seen before. So at Border's it's Allison. We told her about Dunn Bros. and I hope we see her there tomorrow night. It's amazing how the talent just shows up when you start one of these open mic things. Sometimes I think there's more good musicians in this town then there are places for them to play.
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 10:10 PM 
