By the eve of October 7th, we were rolling into Pinedale, WY. This was total happenstance – when I was setting up the trip I was looking for a landing pad that would get us to within range of Yellowstone without a heinous drive from Fort Collins – and yet within range of still being able to maximize our already limited time in the park. Our friend Susan (Suzibird) came to our rescue with extended family – her cousin JJ Lives in Daniel, WY and after some swift digital introductions, she was all too happy to put us up for the night.
After we figured out the timing, she also mentioned that the Rock Rabbit, in Pinedale, WY (about 20 miles south of her place) had their open mic on Tuesday nights and asked if we’d be interested in checking it out. Ever hip to hip places recommended by the local hip people – we said sure!
We wandered over to the Rock Rabbit, but we were stupid-early, even by MY standards – so we took the opportunity to wander around town. At this point we’d met up with JJ who said that she’d chatted with the owner of the Rabbit who was eager to have us – and beyond that she’d chatted with some of her local friends and family and had convinced them to make a night out of it.
We absolutely were NOT prepared by how many people would respond to JJ’s summons and when we rolled back to the open mic the place was PACKED with people waiting to meet us.
Enough said, really. “Working the Line”, a sculpture by Jerry McKellar sitting out front of the Pinedale Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale, WY.
Rather than signing up on a list or anything we were encouraged to set up out own gear and turned loose on the sound system. We played a quick four songs, rocked the house, and sold an absurd number of CDs. The food was amazing and people even better.
We stuck around for most of the rest of the performers, a lot of good talent here in this little town, and the Rock Rabbit’s PA was delicious. My only lament was that, still sans pickup, the host offered one of those Dean Markley humbucker thingies – and it was truly, truly atrocious.
The rest of everything sounded amazing – and my voice especially worked really well with their PA system (and our mics). There was some awkardness to having to eventually leave – with our mics, cables and mic stands, but one of he other bands had come EXPECTING to set up their own rig so the changeover was pretty painless.
the Rock Rabbit! The host of the Rock Rabbit open mic jamming with a mandolin player who’s recently moved here to Pinedale, WY from New York City. a bluegrass trio that had come together to jam for the night. the “green room” at the Rock Rabbit included an old radio that made me think of our friend Steve back in Bloomington, IN. a great full house here at the Rock Rabbit in Pinedale, WY. We made some great friends tonight and the host remarked that there were about triple the normal number of people in the place.
