Tuesday was a strange, strange day. I felt my first earthquake: a 5.8 centred in Mineral, VA – I was at House of Musical Traditions where the grinding began and we thought it was a truck, and then the rumbling went on and I became sort of convinced that we were victims of a flash mob – that 20 people had somehow snuck into the shop and then were stampeding and vandalizing the upstairs – and went ON and we all realized it was an earthquake and that we really ought to be outside.
THAT’ll get your heart going.
A popular past-time at the Acacia Sears Teavolve open mic is knitting. Acacia’s working on a quilt, Rowan’s girlfriend is making… something… there are hats and scarves being perpetrated… and squid This band _________________ and the ___ had come down from New York City, sniffing out an open mic tour to get them out of their home town. Great vocals, very, very fun twin guitar playing and a good drive… I hated breaking a string on our set because I felt like it undermined my ability to be a good networker – we simply weren’t as impressive as I know we can be. Still, it’s good that string-breaks on stage have become enough of a rarity that I’m now embarassed by them. The one good thing about losing my Monday night open mic in Takoma Park is that I’ve been able to frequent Acacia Sears’ open mic in Baltimore. Above, Acacia Sears and Hon Patton cover Heather’s tune “Silent Little Bells”.
We lost an autoharp. There were some other damages, but in rob’s world, that was the primary effect. An autoharp fell off its display shelf and the plastic chord bar coverings shattered and springs and chord bars scattered everywhere. Heather was at a Starbucks watching the windows ripple. I watched Twitter light up as the shockwave raced across the country. My friends Chelsea and Beau had noticed it about a minute before it hit us… the friends in Philly, Raleigh, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island… messages of concern from Missouri and contempt from California… all within minutes. Cell phones were down, Facebook was up.
Later I was talking to a fan about how different this was from 9/11 but how parts of it felt the same. Most of my friends in DC were SURE a bomb had been detonated. That never even occurred to me. There wasn’t a flash, no smoke…
That night I hosted my Trax on Wax open mic and it was well populated, but people were well spread out. I usually think of that little spot as a “success” when we hit 20 people. Rather, when 20 people attend, not when I manage to smack 20 people over the course of the night (though I could deem that a success too). And I think we DID have 20 people, we had 9 performers (including one four-piece band) and their friends… but people came in half-our waves or so, and I think we never had more than nine people in the room at any given time, which just looks pathetic. However, one of those people sidled over to me during James Bartlett’s set and sort of blew my mind.
He had horns. I’ve seen these prostheses before, and his were relatively small. He had various piercings that spoke to me of someone who was unlikely to be in my social circle, and a Decepticon belt buckle that spoke to me of someone who was likely to be in my social circle… I eyed his record choices… sound effects, spoken word and the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. He asked “when’s the guy in the black shirt up? I’ve gotta go work.” He wanted to know when Mike Geezey was performing.
The Performer Mike Geezey has become a mainstay of every Baltimore open mic I attend and whether he’s a genius or just strange remains to be seen. Having gone to art school, I’m a firm believer that he may well be BOTH. He has the potential of having a cult following, however, and I believe I’ve met the first member. “I heard him on 98 Rock this morning and I came to see him”. When I asked him about the records he’d chosen he explained that he liked to “spin with interesting stuff” and that he was a DJ. The sound effects record focused on the sounds of different jets starting up, taking off and powering down. The spoken word seemed to focus on Christian mythology and the Poe… is Poe.
I should’ve gotten a card. I should’ve gotten more information. I need to see this show.
Unfortunately, I was kind of dumbfounded and when I went back… he was gone.
A very, very surreal day.
