A night at the Opera.....Okay, the Open Mic at Judge Begbies

January 3 2018

Squatch sounds with Leon

      I'm trying to do a blog on my new phone so if things come out weird just get over it. I'm at Judge Begbies for the open mic. Bart just finished two original songs and five minutes of  jokes. Gotta love an open mic. I still have several acts in front of me. Right now a first timer named Victoria is on stage. Very nice voice. 

Victoria ...sweet voice!

Judge Begbies is one of the few venues for songwriters to play to a crowd that's listening. Gregg Gorrie who runs this open mic also runs the Monday night at the Heritage Grill. Every one gets on when Gregg's running the show. 

      Donja is on stage right now. She teaches classical guitar and plays gypsy music and sings in some Eastern European language that I don't understand. The chorus sounds like " I ate a mouse, ate a mouse, ate a mouse.!" Maybe it's a song about a cat?

Donja the Gypsy Crooner

Donja always does an excellent set. Very lively and very well played. Impossible not to tap your feet.

      The level of talent here tonight is very good. A few cover tunes but mostly originals. This guy who plays a jazzy kind of blues with a ton of chord changes. Easy to listen to.

Jazzy Blues guitar guy

I'll be up pretty soon. Whoops. I'm up now! I scurried to get my guitar out of the case and tune up so there wouldn't be too much dead air. Gregg kept talking and when he saw I was streaming live he played to the camera and gave me a big intro! Then I stood there mumbling at the mic for a couple of minutes tuning and trying to get comfortable in the tiny space that passes for the stage.Maureen and Mark the percussionist duo joined me Maureen on the cajon and Mark on tambourine and shaker. I was having an issue with stepping on my chord, crammed into the corner I kept banging my guitar on the shelf that's there and stepping on the cord. I settled in told a story about teaching our kids to love one another then played my protest song Paris. There was quite a good crowd last night, the first open mic at Judge Begbies of 2018. The response was good and I followed it up with Love Monkey, a story inspired by Elvis our five pound, 16 year old Pommypoo's love affair with a Gorilla stuffy 4 times his size. He takes the Love Monkey out for a date three or four times a week! He's like 112 people years old! People really like that song and I could hear people singing the chorus with me. For my third and last song and with my 61st birthday looming on the horizon I played the song I wrote last year for my 60th birthday Old Man in the Mirror. Again well received. I was ready to leave the set when Gregg gave me one more song. I finished with The Question I song I wrote when I woke up one morning and realised that the lovely Lisa and I had been married for 15 years and I was still crazy in love with her. Also I was in deep shit for being a dickhead about something or other. Ever since the first time I told the lovely Lisa that I loved her I have tried to ask her The Question every day. Did I tell you I love you today. For years that line bobbed around on the edge of my consciousness. For years I tried to build a tune around that phrase to no avail. Then two days before Valentines Day it was there! I woke up with it in my head and had it written by lunch. I streamed the whole set live on facebook then posted it on my page. Not the best sound but not bad for a phone.

      I hung around and listened to a couple more of the acts before I paid my tab and was home with the Ratdogs before 10. I watched four episodes of  NCIS, two of them NCIS New Orleans. I watch them because I recognize so many of the places they are filming. I love New Orleans. It's the same reason I watch Blue Bloods. In the last episode I watched they were filming in cousin Squidly's apartment building . He lives in Midtown Manhatten between Times Square and Central Park.

Cousin Squidly and his girl Julia in Times Square at Thanksgiving

      Chef Boy R Lisa was up at 1 am and I gave her a kiss as I passed her in the hall on my way to bed. I usually stay up when her call time is before 2 am. This week she works only two days because Monday was a holiday. Yay! In those two days she will work at least 25 hours. Then four days off. She is amazing! Don't tell her I said that! The lovely Lisa doesn't read my Blog so she will never know. Well, she does read it when I write something that pisses someone off and they rat me out! 

Help me Squatch! Help me!

      I have things to do today and I am off to do them!

That's all I've got

Till next time

Peace Out Y'all