Tag Archive: open mic


I haven’t posted about Rob Case’s Open Mic – Poor David’s Pub in a while. Hell, I haven’t posted in a while period – with the exception of the post the other day. It’s been a strange year and a half after all. But before getting back to regular posts, I need to mention the open mic.

If you haven’t listened in and watched the Monday night show, make tonight the night you check it out. Rob and Lynda Case, who run the show, have regulars that play each week (I’m happy to say I’m one of those) and guests who also return at some point. We hope to begin doing live open mics back at Poor David’s Pub soon.

In the meantime however, the virtual open mic is also a fundraiser. Each donation is split between Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival. So do yourself a favor tonight – tune in for some good “live” music and then support two venues with one donation. You won’t regret it – we have a good time!

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

Okay, so the wild animals are a stretch. But a very large cat likes to settle back under the bushes in front of the house – driving our dogs bananas periodically. The cat looks like the burned cat at the end of Sweet Home Alabama – but half again as big. And I did have to get rid of a dead mouse in the middle of the driveway – for which I’m sure I can thank the cat. But there is no universe where a mouse is a wild animal, so, well, you know what, oh – never freaking mind!

But Poor David’s Pub and Kerrville Folk Festival are both real entities. At least for the moment. Like many venues across the country, they are trying to keep the doors open (and the festival/family going in Kerrville’s case). And until the government decides to, well, govern, it’s up to us to help.

A group of songwriters get together on Mondays on Zoom/Facebook to play their music in support of the two venues. Some are regulars, but there are always new songwriters in the rotation. Your duty – should you decide to accept it – is to watch and listen to the show and have a good time on a Monday. If you like the music and are so inclined please donate. The donations are divided between Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival.

The show can be found at 7 p.m. CST on Rob Case’s Open Mic – Poor David’s Pub page. Rob is the host and his wife, Lynda, is the staff, the whole staff, and nothing but the staff. She spends hours inviting new songwriters and scheduling the shows as much in advance as she can. She stays in the “production” room during the show, reminding Rob of anything he missed or filling him in on new developments. And that’s not all she does. So if you watch the show, throw a comment Rob and Lynda’s way saying thanks.

In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I am one of the regulars and I’ll be playing about 8:15. After Poor David himself talks all things PDP. It’s going to be another great show tonight. I say it every Monday, but it’s true. The cool thing is you don’t have to take my word for it – show starts at 7 p.m.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

 

The memorial for Mr. Troll (Danny Ramon Mallow) in the parking lot of Poor David’s Pub was enjoyable, successful, social distanced, and appropriate. There was a ceremony before the memorial in which they marked his spot in the cactus garden with his picture and bowler hat for the memorial.

I had the honor of starting the show following the host, Rob Case. Thanks to Anni Howe, I have pictures. You can watch the whole thing here. We were playing on the stage from Bill’s Records and Tapes. Which was appropriate considering Troll had showcases at Bill’s on that stage.

Speaking of Mr. Troll, and Poor David’s Pub, you can see a number of the performers from the memorial “live” on Monday nights at 7 p.m. CST on the Rob Case’s Open Mic – Poor David’s Pub Facebook page. It’s always a good show and donations split between Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival.                                                                                                                     

And, in the spirit of shameless self promotion, I have a show at Poor David’s Pub on Friday, December 4. More information in the next post.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

For those of you just tuning in, the World’s End Tour that I had to cancel earlier in the year was to begin and end at World’s End Brewing in Canon City, Colorado. I thought calling it the World’s End Tour was perfect during this bullshit (collectively, but feel free to pick up to two). Fortunately, Tom Martinez from World’s End Brewing sent me a text asking if I wanted to play in October – he was doing social distance shows.

I played on Saturday, the 10th, and the crowd, though small and changing through the evening, were appreciative and responsive to my show. I also had a virtual mini tour throughout the weekend from hotel rooms and a friend’s house. The mini tour ended on Monday night, the 12th, with Rob Case’s Virtual Open Mic benefiting Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival.

The open mic – which started out good – is now a smooth running show made up of great songwriters. I include my appearance on the show as part of my tour, although I only play about fifteen minutes. Any exposure I can help give the open mic (please share by the way) is all that much better.

Live shows are slowly returning and will continue to do so (albeit slowly). However, if we don’t help the venues out, there may be a lot fewer places to play. Same with the craft breweries. Some places have already given up the fight.

I’m returning to World’s End Brewing on the 20th of November. In the meantime I’ll be playing livestream shows at venues and breweries in support of the #SaveOurStages and #SaveCraftBreweries movements. I don’t know if the second one is a real movement other than just Cyndy and I, but I want to do my part.

More on that later, but for the moment, plan to listen in and watch the open mic on Facebook – tonight and every Monday night. Don’t forget to donate what you can. Donations will be split between Poor David’s Pub and Kerrville Folk Festival. Tonight is the Halloween version with a costume contest and you don’t have to play to enter the contest. Message Rob on the open mic page for the Zoom info.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

Tune in tonight and every Monday night for a stellar show of songwriters performing their songs. On Mondays they perform to benefit Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival – two of Texas’ oldest continually operating venues. All venues across the country – and, indeed, the world – need assistance. We can only focus on local venues. Thankfully, due to Save Our Stages efforts and concerts, songwriters across the country are doing the same thing in their small way to save the venues.

So grab a cold beverage and maybe something to eat, then go to Rob Case’s Open Mic Facebook page at 7 p.m. Central time. Settle in and watch a line up of seasoned songwriters playing their songs. Tonight’s line up is in the picture to the right or above, depending on your device. I play at 10:15 – just sayin’.

And please, don’t forget to donate. The donations are split between the two venues and they could use your help. The donation links are also in the picture. Please be generous – let’s make sure when this crap is through we still have places to play.

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Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

I didn’t play the cajon this time around so I took up less room.

I got  back yesterday from my Mini World’s End Tour this last weekend – the extended World’s End Tour was the tour I had to cancel earlier in the year and will hopefully schedule again next year. The mini tour consisted of four virtual events and one live, social distanced show at World’s End Brewing in Canon City, Colorado. Friday’s show had to be cancelled due to spotty reception. I thought I would start with an end of tour story first – for various reasons. The last show was the Poor David’s Pub/Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriters Showcase on Monday, donations during which are split between the two venues to support them in this difficult time we find ourselves in.

The show went very well for all of the songwriters. I was playing from my hotel room in Amarillo. You can find the show at Rob Case’s Open Mic – Poor David’s Pub Facebook page, as well as the donation links.

I woke up Tuesday morning and fixed coffee that was pretty passable for hotel coffee. I packed the stuff in the van and headed to Sam’s to get gas. After I got gas, I pulled into a parking space to place my order on the Whataburger app. There was a location not too far from Sam’s, but it was out of the way. I picked the location on I40 and Grand.

I ordered a biscuit sandwich with egg, extra bacon, and no cheese. I added an apple pie for later on the road. I picked the card I wanted to use to pay and tapped Checkout.

The next thing I saw on my phone was No Cheese not available at this location.

What else is there to say?

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Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

I’m getting ready to leave for the mini tour this weekend surrounding my first live show since March. Today I’ll play a half hour set on my YouTube channel from the hotel in Amarillo at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Tomorrow I’ll play a half hour show at 8:30 p.m. CT from my friend’s home in Colorado.

Saturday, I will be livestreaming the last set of my show at World’s End Brewing in Canon City, Colorado at 9 p.m. CT. The set includes a tribute to John Prine on his birthday.

Sunday, I will be playing another half hour set at my friend’s home at 8:30 p.m. CT. The half hour sets will include stories behind the songs. All shows before the open mic on Monday will be on my YouTube channel.

Monday night, I will be playing in the Poor David’s Pub/Kerrville Folk Festival online open mic on Rob Case’s Open Mic Facebook page or on my Facebook page from the hotel in Amarillo. It’s always an enjoyable show with a variety of good songwriters and is always a fun time. It you would like to play at a future open mic, contact Lynda Case. Donations during the open mic are split between Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival to save the venues.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

 

My song, Poor David’s Pub, will be released on Monday, August 31 on all the regular sites. The single release party will be the Poor David’s Pub/Kerrville Folk Festival Virtual Open Mic hosted by Rob Case on Monday Night 7 – 10:30 p.m. CT. The proceeds from the song, as with donations to the open mic, will go to Poor David’s Pub to be split with the Kerrville Folk Festival. Let’s help these venues keep going!

Watch and listen to the open mic on Facebook on Rob Case’s Open Mic – Poor David’s Pub page, or my page.

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Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

 

As you  may gather from the title, the virtual open mic on Monday night is a Zoom meeting shared on Facebook. Hosted by Rob Case, with the more than able assistance from his wife, Lynda, the open mic replaces (for the time being) the live Poor David’s Pub open mic. It also benefits Poor David’s Pub and the Kerrville Folk Festival. The show below is from Monday, Aug. 24.

More about the open mic itself shortly, but first the reason for the title. While the Zoom meeting is going on one laptop, I have the Facebook video going on the other laptop so Cyndy can hear it, too. However, as you may or may not know, there is a short time delay between Zoom and Facebook. During the open mic a few weeks ago, I was talking to Cyndy and forgot about the delay. When the song ended on Facebook, I clapped on camera so they could see me clap. Sadly, he had already begun the next song.

But wait, there’s more… one of the performers said something to me – again, watching on Facebook. By the time I got my headphones on, unmuted the mic, and answered them, they also had begun their next song. Thankfully, they hadn’t started singing yet. Needless to say, I’m much more careful now.

Back to the open mic. There are always different and unique songwriters. Not a bad way to spend a Monday night. And if you would like to play, contact Lynda Case on messenger. The list from the show below is Rob Case, Allen Larson, Cat McGee, Jackie Sue Langford, Darwin, Dan Roark, John Mason, Don Wall, Baylis Laramore, Scott Thornton, Jenni Mansfield Peal, Rick Valente, and Harry Hewlett.

Check it out! Then tune in on Monday. Or join us and play.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

Since live shows are not possible at the moment, the single release party for River That Flows will be the Poor David’s Pub/Kerrville Folk Festival open mic hosted by Rob Case, Monday night, August 10, on Facebook from 7 – 10:30 p.m. I will play about 8:15 p.m. The open mic will be on the Rob Case Open Mic Page. I will be sharing the show on my Facebook pages, personal and music.

River That Flows is the first single from the coming album, Southern Plains Revisited. It is a reissue of the last recording Joel Nichols and I did as Southern Plains before he died in 1999, plus a couple of songs I recorded but didn’t use on my Chasing After Wind Cd.

Tomorrow’s post will tell the story of Southern Plains and the last recording in the 90’s.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark