I am so amazingly blessed with such wonderful friends. We packed the place at B.B. Rover's Cafe & Pub tonight. Whenever someone got up to play (or use the bathroom or whatever), someone else grabbed the empty seat. It was literally a standing-room-only crowd.

See more photos of the party here.

I'm not sure I can successfully list everybody who played, much less everyone who showed up to listen and enjoy the party. Special thanks to David Patrick Dunn who not only let me take over Rovers for the night, but also acted as emcee for the whole event.

The fun started with a special three-hour open mic which included: Average Joe Crane, Carlos Rumbaut, Chris Beirne, the Cool Hand Ukes (Gary Goble and Nancy Virginia), Dad Gummit (Lisa Fancher and Wendy Hale Davis), Drinks on the House (Dave Jutras, David Harbaugh and Terry Kufner), the Happy Hour Ukes (David Harbaugh, Don Aspromonte and Richard Delcamp), Helen Haake (a.k.a. "Hell Bell"), and Jim Cleveland.

Clyde (Douglas Clyde Martin, Eddie Block, Jay Dee Hicks, Josh Ribacove and Lisa Fancher) kicked off the scheduled acts at 8 o'clock. Lynette & Lefty (Lynette Wolfe and David Gardner) were next, followed by Kathy and the Kilowatt (Kathy Murray and Bill "Monster" Jones). Paul Teneyuque and I (John y Pablo) took the stage next with Carlos Rumbaut on conga, and The Better Halves (Jimmy Joe and Chrissie Natoli) provided the grand finale.

Non-performing guests (and I'm probably forgetting a few) included: Anna Lewis, Betsy Hamblen and her brother, Dan Hicks, Danny Fast Fingers, Debra Parr, Diana Bordelon, Frances Rigsbee, Jay and Joanne Garrett, Kati DeHaven, Mardi Wareham, Margaret Koppelman, Mila Valentina, Nancy Fitch and her S.O., Nancy (Average Joe's girlfriend), Richard Leslie, Sandy Lynn, T.J. McNamara, Tom (owner of Twin Creeks Hall), and Will Davenport.

Busy week before my third annual Belated Birthday Bash. Watched Smiledon at Juniors in Round Rock on Sunday. Played with Paul Teneyuque at The Water Tank on Monday. Performed with the Tuesday Uke Group at Westminster Manor Wednesday evening, and then went to the Whip In to watch CLYDE perform. Saw Folk Uke (with guest Dallas Wayne) at the Continental Club Thursday, and then watched Lynette & Lefty perform at the Lucky Lounge before playing a few songs at the open mic there. Drove to McKinney Thursday to say goodbye to long-time family friend Fran Shippy, and Friday I'm scheduled to perform at The Watercrest in Bryan as part of John y Pablo.

I made it to GIddy Ups in far south Austin, just in time to see the Godfather of Austin Blues, W.C. Clark sit in with my friends. Unfortunately for Bourlan, his amp blew a fuse during the final song of their set, but W.C. stayed to play a while and invited David to continue on the gutbucket and Melvis on the harp.

Bourland and David each said to me afterward that it was their career highlight. I was impressed with how cool Buster Gutbucket stayed while thumping on his washtub bass by this Austin legend.

My original plans for the past two evenings called for two open mic performances on Wednesday and going to the Folk Uke show today. Didn't quite work out that way.

As evidenced by the blurry shot above, I played at the Iron Cactus on Wednesday, but by the time I got to Anderson Mill Pub, I was too tired and the list was too long to wait to play there.

Today, my plans to go to the Continental Club, an Austin icon, to hear Folk Uke fell apart as the strong winds blew a lot of allergens my way. Hopefully, I'll get to go to Folk Uke's show next week at the Continental.

As part of my new year's resolution to expand my choice of venues, I played at The Water Tank this evening. The "Tank" hasn't had an open mic in a long time, and I became the first guest to perform there this year.

And the hits just keep on coming! My nights as host at B.B. Rover's open mic nights continue to be well-attended and well, just great!

Tonight's performers: myself, Overdue Bill, Cranius the Astounding, Woody Woodall, Alex King, Danny Fast Fingers, Kaye Reznick, Bourland & Mel, Linda Murphy, Mardi Wareham, Travis, Philip Young, Carlos Rumbaut, Lynette & Lefty, Paul Teneyuque, Joe Gee, and David True. Just great!

Although I thoroughly enjoy the places I played in 2015, I need to perform at new venues. When I noticed a last minute FB post about an open mic at Bookwoman, I decided to swing by there before going to NeWorlDeli to see Byrd & Street.

Bookwoman provided a "listening room" atmosphere, completely unplugged. First time I've performed sans microphone in public, and given the vocal qualities of the other performers, a little intimidating. Still, I had a great time. Ana Bee and Heather Miller were among the other performers, and I invited them to Rovers this Sunday for my open mic.

With my hair freshly braided thanks to a cute stylist, I played first at Walburg tonight (above left), and then rushed down to 5th Street in Austin to play at the Lucky Lounge. Tried a "reverse set" at Walburg: "Hot Pepper Tamale," "Daddy is a Cowboy Now," and "Don't Dallas My Austin."

At the Lucky Lounge, I was the opening act, so I kept it all upbeat with: "Don't Dallas My Austin," "Hot Pepper Tamale," and "Last Chance Tattoo." Lynette Wolfe gave me all sorts of on-stage hell for the tattoo bit, all in good fun, of course.

As much as I enjoy Austin's open mic scene, I'm getting tired of three-song "sets." Hoping Paul can find John y Pablo some more paying gigs soon.

Worked all day to find and arrange the photos I wanted for the YouTube video of Don't Dallas My Austin, but it was worth it. This is the opening song on my CD, and for some reason it seems to be gaining popularity whenever I play it, even when I'm not performing in Austin.

I have successfully ridden this old planet one more time around the sun. Looking forward to celebrating with friends in a couple of weeks at my annual belated birthday bash at B.B. Rovers.