The day after my big birthday bash, Diane Kufner sent me a page of "verses" for me to make into a song. I kind of forgot about it until last night just before going to bed. A few tweaks, a few more, and I surprised myself by having a full song.

Today, I surprised myself even more when I was able to post it online in "The Facebook."

CLICK HERE to see the video.

The good news is that I made it through my Seven Days of Austin Music challenge just fine, including the grand finale last Sunday night at BBR (and later in my living room).

The bad news is yesterday's cedar fever problems have progressed into an all-out cold today. At least, I hope it's a cold. It could the plague. Or worse. Had to cancel dinner with Kaye, Paul and Mati this evening, and I'll miss the open mic at Sunset Bar & Grill tonight.

...and on the seventh day, John partied.

What an incredible way to wrap up my Seven Days of Austin Music: an open mic night and birthday bash all rolled into one . . . with a great after party to boot!

It was easily the BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY I'VE EVER HAD! A lot of my favorite songwriters and performers stopped by and sang a few songs, including all the Drinks on the House gang, plus: David Patrick Dunn, Paul Teneyuque, Kaye Reznick, The Better Halves (Jimmy Joe and Chrissie Natoli), Joe Gee, Byrd & Street (Tommy and Kathy, respectively), Danny Fast Fingers, and A.J. Lots of them also came over to the house for an after party that didn't end until 4A.M.

Completing the guest list were family and friends: Brad, Sue, Olivia, Wade, Kirsten, Will, Kati, Jim, Diane, Diana, Joanna, her son David (lots of Davids that night!), and a few friends of friends, too.  I'll be smiling about this for weeks to come.

Had to make a last-minute change to the schedule last night: Instead of catching The Love Leighs downtown, I saw the John Traphagan Jazz Trio at Kohnami's closer to home. It was a lot of fun, but as I'm writing this, all I can really think about is tonight's show with all my friends at B.B. Rover's Cafe & Pub.

(Above: Jimmy Joe and Chrissie Natoli close the show with a four-handed guitar version of "Jerry's Breakdown" as Shawnee Kilgore and Average Joe look on.)

It's always a treat to see The Better Halves perform, but tonight I also met Shawnee Kilgore, a beautiful and talented songwriter, and I got to hear Average Joe play again (Joe often performs at BBR).

Tommy Byrd and Kathy Street played to a packed house at Threadgill's World Headquarters last night to celebrate the release of their fourth CD, "Words & Music."

I'm hoping they'll be able to come up to BBR Sunday to hear David's song, "Big Weather Tonight," and possibly agree to record it.

I think I first met Tommy and Kathy seven or eight years ago at one of their earliest gigs at Rovers. I'm not sure, but it might have been before they released their first CD.

After Threadgill's, I drove up to Cedar Park to perform at Paul Teneyuque's open mic at Sunset Bar & Grill. The crowd wasn't really into it last night, but after one particularly noisy table left, things got better. By request from Paul's daughter Kelly, I tried to play DPD's song, "33-1/3 RPM." Got most of the lyrics right. Later, with Paul on bass and another Dave playing drums, I surprised myself with a pretty passable version of Harbaugh's "She Said No."

All in all, a great night.

Despite the depressingly small crowd (what's wrong with you, Austin?), Emily put on one helluva show last night at the Rattle Inn.

I think my friend Kevin Marin stole the show last night at Star Co Coffe House's open mic. He backed up several people, including Paul Teneyuque and Kaye Reznick, but I think the highlight of the night came with his solo bit, using two harmonicas to perform some classical music that really wowwed the crowd.

It was an incredible evening, with more talent in one place than the law allows! Usually, I have the only 12-string guitar at these things; however, last night I was one of FIVE 12-string players (only four of whom played better than me).

Heard Will Callery perform again last night, this time at Poodies Hilltop Roadhouse in Spicewood. After the show, David Dunn invited me to his place, and we played songs until the wee hours. Only downside was having to fight some of the worst morning rush-hour traffic just go