January 22nd, 2020. Mike P Ryan at El Golfo open mic III!

A Lovely night of new artists, Mike P Ryan showing why he wins award after award, and introducing Heather to El Golfo. Oh. And duck.

New-to-me artist Quinn Kay kicking off the list.

Holy crap.

The duck.

It was a quiet night. Kind of moody, a little sad, and slow. Betwixt illness (I kept getting texts from friends saying they’d planned to come out but that they were sick) and Folk Alliance (a LOT of the local music community’s down in New Orleans a’workin it at FAI) and the fact that it was COLD… well, I guess we were going to have a slow night eventually. I was sad that it was the first night that Heather got to see.

Mike P Ryan

Mike’s a smart writer. He’s winning awards left and right right now BECAUSE he knows how to write a song – yet despite it being a calculate process – he loses no soul to the machinery. He’s got a lot of James Taylor to him, and yet he doesn’t lose the feeling that everything he’s singing to you is deeply personal. He has a clarity of vision that I can only ever aspire to, because I’m too invested in the weeds of my own heart to be able to get outside and make sense of it all.

Plus – damn he makes his guitar sing.

Mike P Ryan joined by Heather Aubrey Lloyd.

The El Golfo open mic is made possible in part through the support of Dave Eisner and the House of Musical Traditions. Our featured artists are supported through the generous donations of our audience! Gallery here : http://www.ilyaimy.com/wordpress/?p=16358

Video here: https://youtu.be/KtHLfjyPJ7E

The El Golfo open mic happens every Wednesday at El Golfo in Silver Spring, MD. Signup at 6.30pm, performances at 7.30pm. 2 songs / 10 minutes whichever’s shorter, with a family-friendly environment – and is hosted by rob Hinkal of the band ilyAIMY. Rob’s Open Mics were declared a National Open Mic by Shure Microphones, “Best of DC” from Dcmusicdownload.com and have received recognition from the Library of Congress.

Tonight we were graced with: