Ron and I head up to Peaberry’s Open Mike in Simsbury. We’ve haven’t been there since gas prices made it prohibited to drive a hundred miles to play two songs. This is a very active open mike with a lot of regulars that use the forum sto work on stuff. Denise has been picking the most difficult jazz standards to learn – she did “Laura” last night – phew… Eric Paradine always has new-to-my-ears candy- he did a great “I wanna run away to the circus” song that I’d like to cop. Rick Johnson – always playing interesting stuff, and picking the melody out of all those chords, Mike had his pluckabilly style on electric guitar. A good open mike
The main reason for the trip was to debrief my friend, Ron Anthony, who just returned from his trip to Memphis for the Blues contest representing the great state of CT. We all know Ron is good, and he’s more than a blues player, more than a songwriter, for that matter, too. But is great that other folks got to catch Ron. Other players, the judges, gave him great support. And he played really well. And he had great ribs and fried green tomatoes, time with Suzie in a classy hotel, and saw and heard great bands. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to share a bigger stage, and I felt that I came away with the new feeling that maybe I belonged there. That’s something that sticks, and Ron showed some of that moxie in his first song at the open mike. Taste of Memphis….. hmmmm. To Bethlehem on Friday for the IceHouse, GD open mike and a rare Monday gig for a seniors brunch – perhaps ~150 people. Mini tour 4356a