In the Gazebo at Harvest Fest - the open mic!

Jack Cran playing my guitar. Host Don Lowe scanning the horizon.

All in all  Sunday Oct 12 (Indigenous American People's Day - ha!) was a beautiful day of clear skies, just right temperature and friendly folk.

With all the great music down on Bank Street - the Pears, the All Stars, the Blue Yodels -  up on the green was wide open. The gazebo was the location of the Harvest fest open mic hosted by Don Lowe. His set up made for a great sound! I even saw a New Milford officer tapping his foot as he kept watch on traffic.

 My timing was good and I was lucky enough to play for half and hour - around the area I saw host Don Lowe, Jack Cran, Cira Montrays, PJ Shurik, Bob Brophy and Chris Ellis. Afterwards I got coffee down on Bank St and spied Nancy of the Pears packing up from their gig.

Though the audience was mostly down the street the folks who stopped and listened were really wonderful!

Christopher Ellis playing Don's guitar

Open Mic Host Chris Ellis has NEW Venue at RIVER BISTRO

Chris Ellis who hosted the fabulously popular Open Mic at 59 Bank Street - has moved his operation to THURSDAY nights at the River Bistro (next to Boardman Bridge on Route 7 a couple miles north of Big Y) in New Milford.

He's teamed up with a co-host Al Burgasser and the whole thing runs very smoothly, from 7-11pm. It started June 5th, and is acquiring a broad following of talented, skilled musicians and even a few poets! Prepare to tap your feet and smile!!! If you are a player come out and be heard. It's a supportive listening musical community that makes you feel welcome. It's a great place to try out your new songs.

 At the Bistro, you can get a drink or a great meal or both. Personally I like a small salad with their home-brewed coffee. (The Oreo Cookie Pie looks pretty appealing though!)

*** Feel free to "like" the event's  Facebook page  if you are a FBKer.  Or just visit the brand new website Chris is building at http://www.thursdayopenmic.com/  ***

The view of the river from the River Bistro parking lot. NICE!

i'm on an Open Mic binge

Things changed a bit at home and I am on a binge of getting out hearing live music and open mic singing! Yay! Before this I was on a binge of staying home and watching reruns. The change was brought about because my caree's meds were rescheduled while she was briefly in a rehab facility recently. She is doing well on the new regime! Partly I am spurred by the thought that things could change again at any time and I should get up and get out while I can...Also in the extremes of cold and heat I am less inclined to venure out. So while conditions and weather are favorable - I have been checking out various open mics -

• the Tuesday Open Mic at the Hideaway Kitchen Bar in Ridgefield hosted by Fred Ball, 
• the brand new Thursday Open Mic at River Bistro hosted by Chris Ellis (former of Tuesday Open Mic at 59 Bank), 
• the open mic at the new Town Crier in Beacon NY hosted by Don Lowe, and the 
• Wednesday Night open mic at the All-American Valley General Store (not sure of the hosts name) in Seymour.

People have been so kind! Great audiences and some fantastic music.

I've also heard recent and wonderful performances by Don Lowe at the "Grovin' in New Fairfield" series,

Shannon McMahn at Kolekolo World Coffee in Middletown,

 Two Dollar Hat at Vivo in Danbury,

and of course the wonderous Pears at Fast Eddies in New Milford. No photo for that. Sorry.

Instrumental epiphany at the Irish Cultural Center

For quite a few years now I had been playing a big red guitar called Henry, pictured left. He was a flame top Kort guitar. I thought the finish was pretty and the tone was nice, Fishman pickups etc. But lately I had been feeling like playing and singing at the same time had become a struggle. I discovered why recently.

I went down to the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center on July 31 to play in a new Wednesday night music open mic there, hosted by Bob & Felicia of the Blue Yodels. It was right here in town, perfect location for me and I couldn't think of a good excuse not to try it out. When I got there though - I kinda had second thoughts. I hadn't played anywhere in ages, and had never been in the place before, had no idea what it was like. So decided I'd leave Henry in the trunk - just watch the show and check out the lay of the land. Maybe play next time.

That was my plan anyway. Plans often go awry. Bob chatted along in his best professional host / MC way and pretty soon he'd talked me into doing a couple songs. So I used his Blueridge acoustic. Wow. It was a different experience - so comfortable and easy after Henry.

When I went home, I took a look at the shape of my guitar with the image of that Blueridge in my head. Henry was kinda thick-bodied, and thick-wasted . And I am a short and short-armed finger picking player. Getting my fat arm over Henry's bulk pressed him into my brisket right where I needed to expand to get air to sing. It was a no win situation and I was wrestling with something just a bit too big. As I practiced afterwards, It just didn't feel right anymore.

 On Friday I went down to the guitar center and traded Henry in on a Luna Oracle Dragonfly, a cutaway like Henry. (Now I know some folks like to have a collection of instruments. I like to travel light and I can only play one at a time. A trade-in deal made economic sense as well.)  My Dragonfly, she's just a little thinner, has a more pinched in waist to allow my arm a clear path to the strings, and also a thinner neck and finger-board built for my small hands. As an added bonus she has an on-board tuner. Woohoo!

First Casablanca open mic last night

Al Rivoli (above) who plays and sings at quite a few area restaurants, hosted his first open mic last night. It's on Wednesdays 7-10 in the Casablanca Restaurant's small bar. The food is good, the coffee really excellent. It looks like this room might well open to a large side-porch in summer also so stay tuned.  Michel Rae (left) and Sal (below) did a duo and they performed solo also. They are both members of The Hip Relacements. See them if you can!  Michel and Sal are at the Blue Chip next Thursday I hear.

 I had a great time, and got to play two sets since it was a first run and there were not too many signups. I did my first live performance (world premier haha) of Elves on Expresso and I think my new tune caused a few near-dancing moves at one table!

Some surprises always at an open mic

It's hard to know what open mic to attend. Lately they are multiplying.  This week I stayed close to home. I went to Molten Java's Thursday open mic which is run by J.D.Hull, shown iabove (on the right)

He opened the night as host, followed by Mr. Happy Cloud, Sean Ward who's quirky delivery is always jars my stodgy brain into writing poems. There was a rapper poet, a duet by some teen-agers, and  a number of other acts. I did three originals this week (Blow me away, Love Makes You Free, and The Marigold Song). Then a young fella named Luke in a plaid shirt came to the mic. He sounded pretty good. JD closed the night and during his last set a woman from the audience who'd been working on a laptop all evening, on the spur of the moment asked for song she knew. (She is on the left in the photo at the top.) Then she got up and sang it and sounded great! She is shown above. Don't know any names this week. If you do, add them in a comment below.

At Molten Java's mic: Nicholas Wells and group

I was really weary Thursday night and decided to stay close to home. I headed for Molten Java in Bethel, and among other folks at the open mic, I heard a really tasty ensemble before I left at 9:30. The singer-songwriter (on the right) is Nicholas Wells. He has a good voice and interesting material, well put together. He also had two very good players with him, and though I don't know their names, they really added a wonderful intricacy to his material. The skillful violin was always weaving around in a very organic way and the base anchored everything, kept it honest. Nice work all of you.

Songwriters workshop & Open mic

September 1st was another great night at the Hideaway Cafe in Newtown.

I heard a variety of acoustic acts and if my phone could shoot in low light I might have some pics. Jeff Smith, Mary Mitchell, Jay & Richard, Joe Vee and many others turned in some fine performances.

Earlier there was a songwriter's workshop with Daryl Gregory who suggested daily journaling as a source of ideas for songs.

I played three original songs: In Search of Our Dreams, Stranded in the Starlight & Love Makes You Free. And thanks Lou for the pic!

Open mics - two fabulous acoustic venues

1) Michel Rae Driscoll, a wonderful warm, country singer-songwriter, runs a Thursday open mic at the Hideaway Cafe in Newtown. There were quite a few folks I knew there. Every one was very supportive. On July 14, I only played one song. It went over way better than I had expected.

2) Chris Elliot, an accomplished singer-songwriter and guitarist with a great voice, runs Tuesday Night Open Mic, a great open mic at 59 Bank Street, in New Milford. I had more callouss by this time (July 19) so I played two songs.  Everyone was so supportive. I always do better than I think I am going to. (I found out later I won the open mic gift certificate. a nice surprise)

Every time I stop playing for a while it feels like I have forgotten everything. I didn't even have callouses when I started up again in the beginning of the month. Though I feel I have forgotten, I haven't. And though I seem to dread the act of performing now, once I start, I just enjoy it so much, and I get such great comments.

In the old days, my forte as a singer-songwriter had been putting emotion and eccentric personality in the music. I used to be very  comfortable and confident. I knew I had meaningful tales to share and people seemed to really get something out of it.

But in classical singing, technique is king.  You are conforming to an ideal of interpretation in a long line of those that came before you and you are always being judged against this ideal.

Anyway I ended up with 15 years of singer-songwriting confidence drained out of me, by my decade in classical just by being out there and working professionally in a highly politicized arena where all participants and much of the audience is constantly judging, holding to some mythical perfection. Acoustic/Folk Open mics are different. You offer a song, sing it with heart and it is appreciated for what it is, no matter how old or odd you are.

I've gone back to my first performance art, and I'm loving it.

Freight St Gallery Poetry Salon: Eccentric, Entertaining

I have never spent a better $5.  What did I get?  A wonderful poetry open mic hosted by Victoria Munoz, and Terri Klein with eccentrically costumed poets: The classic Beatnik Poet, Archy the CockRoach (of Archy and Mihttabell fame), Gengas Kahn in a pointy hat, Dirty Bob, Sylvia Plath, etc etc etc


The night began with Fabulous Fiddlin' Dan Gardella's sureal act, where in an eccentric, spontaneously choreographed performance, partially done from a 55 gallon steel trash can, he displayed his creative showmanship outfitted in a Mad Hatter type mask. (He looked like an animated musical Jack-In-The-Box in the trashcan.) You simply could not stop tapping or stomping to his infectious rhythms.

At intermission, there was another concert - a half hour of Daniel Stevens, a truly incredible classical guitarist who played, among other things, Usher Waltz by Nikita Koshkin,  based on Poe's story the Fall of the House of Usher. Then Victoria joined him for a few flute and guitar duets.  (She also has some oil pastels up at the gallery.)  Subsequently Edgar Allen Poe had a new funeral. Poe's corpse was played by Dustin Byrne  one of the Gallery founders.

There were also Halloween cookies, cider,  a tasty homemade-like apple spice cake brought at the  Flour Garden Bakery in Woodbury. Merlot, coffee, fruit and cheese....  a raffle, a costume contest won by Dirty Bob (the photo didn't come out....)

One of my favorite costumes of the night was Terri's costume as Archy the Cockroach, based on the Archy and Mihttabell stories.  She had extra arms sewn into her all-brown costume.  (On the left you can see her shaking hands with her other arms...)  Victoria wore an authentic Day of the Dead shirt featuring skulls labeled as famous poets.   Gengas Kahn, owner of A store called Shock n Awe, had a pointy leather hat and a huge fleece-lined suede coat. Jack Beasly gamely performed some Hip Hop song lyrics even without his musical computer setup.  Joan Pavlinsky came as Sylvia Plathe in a "Death is an Art" Apron and pearls, Robin Sampson as the beatnik poet-in-black with angled black beret,  Dirty Bob, better known as Alon,  from the Duo XponX,  had hideous stringy hair and WWII pants tied with a coarse rope. There was someone from Goshen dressed  in period Victorian? garb, though I don't know who her character was.  For my costume I used the classic white sheet with a few holes.   I read my ecology horror poem, Ecotechnicon in as erie and energetic voice as I could muster, as I waved my ghost costume around. Sorry no photos of this part.

So next time you hear about a poetry salon at the Freight St. Gallery GO!!!!  It is an event not to be missed.   Check out http://freightstreetgallery.com.

Two videos below give you and idea of Dan and Daniel's talents:
http://www.youtube.com/v/QTWpXs1pKec&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0    http://www.youtube.com/v/BdD9tPROkV8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0

Gearing up for performance: testing the songs and the pipes

This past week at Wednesday Poetry both the open mic and the feature (Poet Will Nixon from Woodstock, NY), brought forth some novel and interesting material - and that always makes me happy.  Nixon is a very funny guy which was a nice change from the heavy and the heart-rending - though those can be powerful.  It was a great night.   For me, I brought my guitar and tested out a song of mine that I had rescued from my forgotten tunes pile...   It's called I Bet It All On You -You can listen to it over on my Youtube page. First I read it as a slam-syle poem, then I played it. The audience was very kind and appreciative.

I am getting ready for the four forty-minute sets deal again, and trying to bring the songs I used to play back into working memory. I am  right at the stage of prep, where my voice sounds good, and words come, but sometimes right in the  middle of something, I draw a blank on the next chord.  I know this means I need to get out there to open mics as much as I can to harden up the muscle memory again.  Over the years, I have learned that muscle memory really helps in performing and the only way to seal the memory is to heat it up repeatedly (sort of like the hardening process for metals) - that is, to play under fire in front of an audience over and over.

So, I thought I would re-enforce my Wed, Night experience with a little Friday trip. So Friday I rolled down the hill to a nearby open mic - one that's not advertised much - at the  East Coast Music Mall. Customers and students are invited at checkout or during their lessons.  It's really open mic/jam every other Friday night from six to nine, right in the store. (Sometimes it's weekly call the store for details) There are lots of under-age players with their parents. It's a nice supportive environment for young players to get used to an audience.

Nonetheless, this old bat (me) waded on in there and signed the list. There were other gray heads as well as a metal head or two, and styles ranging from folk to jazz with a lot of rock sandwiched in the middle. When my time came, I asked for advice on the settings of my Cort's builtin equalizer and pickup, then I said hello and gave my name, and launched into the first tune. I played "I Bet It All On You" and "Love Makes You Free" and then tried to quit -- but the audiences requested one more (you get a full 15 minutes), I turned to the sound guy. "I know you have at least one more tune in there..." he said so I played "Smooth As A Wishing Stone"(Long pond is cold) too.

Folks there were so very kind... Both the parents and the young players were very complimentary and encouraging.  A couple suggested I should go on the coffee house circuit. Another said he was glad I played the extra tune and that he would have been happy with a half hour more or so....   Of all the things I do and have done - my own songs with my own voice yield the most positive responses....

Like the little polish priest Father Olbrys told me "Choose to do that which only you can do......"  Though I am a firm atheist, I'm running with his advice.....

Matt Scott – incredible musician at Molten’s open mic

Well, I went down to the open mic at Molten Java and I signed up to play. Got there late and was last person on the list. The MC was a fella named JD who helped each act set up, and tapped the one to go next.

There was a guy there, Matt Scott, who was a true master of his craft – he played an instrumental guitar piece entirely using the hammer-on technique. While I have heard people use that in a variety of ways over the years and use it a little my self — I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANY THING LIKE THIS – I was transported by the wax and wane of it. The guy is an incredible instrumentalist who really knows his axe. He was able to clearly delineate a melody with accompaniment and a base line and express a full range of dynamics from Pianisamo to Forte!! Later, at the very end he sang a piece and YIkes he is a great and expressive singer as well.

Matt also played a rather unique instrument which he called a harp guitar … it was a beautiful acoustic with a sort of sculptural extension and a second neck and gear head. The second head held bass strings. On this he once again played both a regular guitar line and the base part….

Another really cool thing that happened was at the very end, JD played “Lola,” with Sean, that crazy singer-performer-poet guy from Wed Nite Poetry – Sean sang and played harmonica…. At first it was pretty low key, but then Sean sort of went crazy and it was very amazing to watch and hear!!! I really enjoyed that number a lot.

A fellow named Neal (also from WEd Poetry) played some folks style songs on an electric guitar, and a young man who’s name I didn’t get played well.

There were also quite a few of the usual folks who play and run out, not stopping to hear the rest of the room.

I played three songs. LEt the Wind Blow Me Away, REady to Fall, and Wishing Stone. Got a nice response though I felt pretty rusty. All in all I had a great time!!! Go MOLTEN JAVA!!!!

Georgetown Saloon - great spot, great open mic!

Played tonight (Tues Sept 16, 2008) at the Georgetown Saloon open mic. That’s run by Marc Hubberman.

WHAT A GREAT OPEN MIC… so many great acts. I played three of my own songs, Stranded and Ready to Fall, It’s love that makes you free, and Wishing Stone.

What a great Audience they are too!!!My friend Robin went with me, and I tried a Saranac India Pale Ale for the first time. Not bad at all!!!Thanks Marc Hubberman and Georgetown Saloon for a great time!!!