Mr. Troll
The Poor David’s Pub open mic on January 16 was one of those nights when the open mic is a mutual admiration society. Fortunately, for venue owners and hosts, they do not happen all that often. But on occasion, only a few songwriters show up. Granted, it was Martin Luther King, Jr. day. But a few of us figured that playing the open mic was a good way to celebrate the day. We played a few songs that MLK Jr. would have appreciated.
But the point is we sang our asses off. It was the best show you never saw. Even Troll muscled through his set admirably well – despite coming off of a case of strep throat. Cat McGee came across stronger and more confident than I’ve seen her – and I’ve seen her a good number of times. Her voice was in powerful form. Songs such as Sleeper Awake and Suspect. But the one MLK Jr. would have appreciated is City of Steeples.
Darren Rozell followed with his original country songs, with a little blues thrown in. I took the stage after
Cat McGee
Darren and played a good solid set myself, which included Peace Be With You, my song that includes MLK, Jr. Kathleen Farris, a newcomer who hadn’t expected to play, played a few of her songs. Then Joe Cat showed up after his gig at Opening Bell. I wasn’t able to stay for his full set, so it’s a good thing he played my favorite song of his first – Silver Thread City.
It was a solid night of good music. And you missed it. As I have said previously, I am writing about the Poor David’s Pub open mic specifically, but also about open mics in general. This one wasn’t the only one you missed. To paraphrase Droo D’Anna, one of many open mic hosts, about the Wednesday night open mic at Tutta’s Pizza:
“If you’re not coming out to our [insert day] open mic at [insert venue], you need to seriously reconsider your life…all the fun is being had here.”
Keep supporting live music.
Keep writing songs that are in your heart.
Peace be with you.
I mentioned a few posts back that I had people talk to me while setting up my sound system. They were friendly and well-meaning, but they kept asking questions. Which disturbed my routine and I missed a couple of steps. It’s harder to find the problem later when you think you’ve done everything as usual.
A friend from high school, Claudia Noble-Stooksberry, posted in a W.T. White Facebook group. With the Valley View Mall shortly becoming a memory itself, she asked for memories of the mall. It was finished in 1973, before our senior year. As you look at the picture of the McDonalds, ponder this: McDonalds and the Target to the right behind it were the only businesses there. Most of the buildings you see in the picture were not there. The McDonalds was half the size it is now. Across the street from both was a lot of dirt that led to a dirt cliff. On the hill, at the top of the cliff, was Sears. When they put Christmas lights up, you could see them for miles around.
long hair then, much like I do now, but it was a little more red then. I had to wear a wig at work. It was the closest I could come to red – cheaply – but it looked on the purple side to me.
Anyway, people gathered around, ate food, and visited while listening to the performers. There was a station set up on the wall with Happy New Years decorations on the wall. On a bench sitting to the side were hats, glasses, and other props for people to wear in often humorous pictures. Since I was a visitor – as it were – I didn’t take any pictures of people posing for New Year’s pictures.
When a dog or dogs bark on TV – or there are any animal sounds at all – Buddy heads to the television. Our son, Conner, rescued Buddy from his former “owner” who had him chained on a short chain in the backyard. His food and water bowls had ants crawling all over them. Conner told them he was taking the puppy and brought him home.
and partly – again, still – because he can. He still gets this look on his face that says, “this house is freaking cool!” Having Misty to play with is a bonus. At times it seems like he remembers before Conner brought him home. If we do a certain thing – we haven’t quite figured out what it is – he’ll snap at us. Not to hurt us, more as an automatic response.
As the last hours of the year come to a close – and the emails wanting me to give a donation for matching funds come to a head – I hope that you have music in the plans for tonight. Whether the plans involve playing or listening, I sincerely wish you an enjoyable evening. As always, be careful, safe, and sane.
Chasing After Wind 