Community at open mics – it’s a thing! I’ve missed my own, Heather’s been running things while we’ve been gone. I have no impression as to whether or not she’s enjoyed herself or not – and frankly I’ve been very, very glad to have the time AWAY from my open mic world – but I’m beginning to miss it a bit. We’ve only hit a couple of open mics while we’ve been out (just two? Three?) – four actually, including the one where we were a featured artist – and they’ve given me reminders of things that I both LIKE and DISLIKE about open mics. Watching one where I felt kind of like I was really intruding on the local jam session, watching another (last night’s ) where the host and his partner went out of their way to foster a sense of community. It was a little monotone (guys with guitars) but opened things up to full bands later in the night and it’s always kind of awesome to be someplace where THAT’S an option.
Last night was really, really a nice version actually – our new friend Tom did marvelous job of welcoming us, really laying out the format of the night, being friendly and helpful and, once I mentioned that I run open mics too, putting me to work! There are worse things than feeling I can be useful on a night when there’s naught to do but hurry up and wait.
Well – and listen of course. A couple of very fun players – from Dougie, the 85 year-old performer with the yodel to his voice and the sparkly bow-tie, to Drew Delneky, singer/songwriter from Chicago with a powerful pop voice and tight guitar chops and a little bit of a Sublime obsession. I went through my usual Love hate sequence – (Love for the guy also named Robbie who flips his guitar the way I do and has a beautiful song about East Baltimore – hate for the guy who’s a clear Jeff Buckley disciple in voice and playing, to the point of referring to Hallelujah as a Buckley cover) – and generally enjoyed myself. Fredericksburg is an aight place to be for a night. Not a bad place for breakfast either.
Traffic… back to the extended DC metropolitan area, I guess. Glad we’re going to give THAT aspect of “home” a miss for another 48 hours or so. 58 hours actually.
