I substituted for OMN host Missoula Slim at BB Rovers tonight, and Slim missed a really good time. We had a couple of BBR first-timers (Sonya Jevette and Anna Lennard), and a few I haven't seen in a while. Thanks to Chris Byers, Alex Heath, Sonya, Trey Hunter, Overdue Bill, Anna, Terrence Swift, James, and Shawn for stopping by to play.

Click on photos above for enlarged view.

Here are a few photos from the Austin Ukulele Society' Ensemble performing for the "runners" in the 2015 Keep Austin Weird 5K Fun Run. It was my second year to play with the AUS ensemble for this uniquely Austin event, billed as the slowest 5K race in the world. The "runners" would usually stop to hear a full song before continuing the race.

Click on photos above for enlarged view.

Paul and I play The Watercrest in Bryan once a month, usually on the last Friday of the month. We had a larger than normal crowd today, but as usual, they were attentive and appreciative. We always enjoy our time there.

Photo above by Will Davenport.

On June 24, Paul and I performed for a large crowd at Freddie's Place. The iconic south Austin music venue will close its doors at the end of the month, ending its 30-year run.

Wednesday was the final open mic night for Freddie's, and despite the humidity, the place was packed. Special thanks to Lynette Wolfe for once again being the hostess with the mostest, and to fellow performers Jack McCabe and Sonya Jevette for sharing the photos above.

Click on photos above for enlarged view.

The Day of the Dad open mic was a lot of fun last night. Many of my regulars were there, including Overdue Bill, David True, Yovi, Joe Arabie, Paul Teneyuque, and--back for the first time after her surgery--the wonderful Kaye Reznick.

I had a fairly good night, but I need to remember to bring the harmonica holder that clips to the mic stand. It's less intrusive.

Emily Rose stopped by to watch her friend Julian Ruck perform with Melissa Peterson (?), a fiddle player from Ft. Worth. They'd played together before in Chico, CA, where Melissa is known simply as "Texas."

Julian and Emily were on a return trip from NYC where they had dropped off 70 pounds of video and documentation for their recent Guinness Book of World Records entry for the longest, continually running live music performances. See Evidence Across America for more info.

The original event(s) took place in Chico, CA, and from the way they spoke of it, Chico sounds like a young Austin.

Click on photos above for enlarged view.

Played an unusually long set at the OMN hosted by Clyde at Twin Creeks Hall (formerly Enchanted Tavern back in the 1970s). They kept asking for more, and I managed to include eight of 11 songs off the CD in the set.

Played with Paul Teneyuque and David P. Dunn for Lisa's (nursing school) graduation party at B.B. Rovers on Saturday. The highlight of the evening came when we played "La Bamba," and Paul got the whole crowd singing "La Lisa." David put down his guitar and danced with the guest of honor.

Paul and I went to Freddie's Place for its open mic last night. It was our second week in a row, but this time, we backed up each other on stage.

Carlos played congas with Paul while I was on the cuatro. Sadly, the tone of the congas and the tuning of the cuatro were off a little, making it sound to me like the cuatro was woefully out of tune. In fact, I was sure something was amiss with my D-string, so I spent the first song trying to play only the G-, B-, and E-strings.

In the middle of the second song, I moved to a different spot on stage where I could hear the monitor better, and everything was fine after that. Seems like I should have some sort of drummer joke here.
 

I was very pleased that Helen Haake showed up for the monthly meeting of the Austin Ukulele Society. I met Helen a couple of weeks ago at a pickin' party in Pflugerville, and I really liked her uke style. I told her about the AUS, but I didn't really expect her to show up. She even played "Punk Rock Girl" during the open mic part of the evening.

My old college buddy and former roommate Arnold Steed was the first to tell me he'd bought my album online at CD-Baby a few days ago. Thanks, Arnold.

Former co-worker Vangie Stice-Israel told me she got her online CD via Amazon.com. Took me a while to find it on the Amazon site, but now I have the link to it there, too. Thanks, Vangie.

It's also available on iTunes now! Think I'm gonna walk with a little more bounce in my step today.