Two Sundays ago was my last time to host an open mic at B.B. Rovers, but I returned as a guest for the chance to perform with and visit my friend David Patrick Dunn. He's the guy who gave me my first change to play on stage and who encouraged me to keep playing. As I said last night, "If you don't like my stuff, blame David."

Finally got the Kaye Pasa Trio to play at Four Bullets Brewery yesterday in my childhood hometown of Richardson, Texas. We had a great time, but it made for a long day. Left Austin around 9:30 AM, and finally got back around 11:30 PM.

The Happy Hour Ukuleles played before us, and it's always fun getting to see my friend (and Honky Tonk Hymnal co-writer and co-producer) David Harbaugh perform. Hope to see more of him on stage soon.

As for the Trio, it was our first gig since I returned from my 10-day trip to Minnesota. We may have been a little rusty in a couple of spots, but overall, I think we put on a good show for the folks. I even felt brave enough to open the second set with "Don't Dallas My Austin," which--in hindsight--might have been a triumph of courage over common sense. Oh, well. Everybody seemed to have a good time. 

After six nights camping (read: RVing) in northern Minnesota, I searched online for somewhere to play.

I found an open mic night at a Minneapolis coffeehouse simply called The Coffee Shop. Despite its smallish storefront, it had a surprisingly large back room for the show. The crowd loved my allotted three songs, and the host gave me a wonderful compliment after I played: "I suspect there are 30,000 people at Ordway Theater waiting for The John Davenport to perform. Luckily for us, he took the wrong exit and ended up here instead." Needless to say, this was a nice ego boost. 

Afterward, I went to St. Paul to find Plum's Neighborhood Bar & Grill. Great bar, great sound system, and the host doubled as a great sound engineer. It also attracted a bigger crowd of musicians, limiting everyone to two songs each. 

A "house band" consisting of a lead picker and bass player offered their talents to anyone who wanted them to play along. Several of the regulars brought chord charts for them. They were very good, so I invited them to play with me. 

Most everybody before me played slower (and often beautiful) songs. I opted for a different approach and opened with "Beer and Pretzels for Communion." The crowd really came alive, and by the second chorus, I even got several "halleloos.”

I closed my two-song set with "Hot Pepper Tamale." Now I had the attention of several bar patrons not there for the OMN, and they joined in with the horns. The song received a huge applause, and almost everyone there stopped by my table to voice their appreciation.

I love The Twin Cities!

Tonight was my last time to host the open mic night at Rovers. For over five years, I've hosted the third Sunday each month (as well as countless other times when I was asked to substitute for a scheduled host who either forgot or otherwise couldn't make it). Time to move on.

Rovers will always hold a special place in my heart. It is my neighborhood pub, and it was the first place I ever performed solo on stage. It's also where I met Paul Teneyuque and Kaye Reznick (the other two-thirds of the Kaye Pasa Trio), along with many other musicians, including: Tommy Byrd, Kathy Street, Chrissie and Jimmy Joe Natoli (a.k.a. "The Better Halves"), Johnny Blue, Brigitte London, Kevin Marin, Judith Miller, the late Boomer Castleman, Lois Hess, Joe Gee, Jezebel Jones, Carlos Rumbaut, Overdue Bill, and many, many more.

Special thanks to David Patrick Dunn, co-owner of Rovers and the driving force behind keeping live music there. His mentoring helped me get started performing my songs.

The Kaye Pasa Trio played at the Craft & Racked Wine Bar in Round Rock last night. It was our second or third time to play there, and we had a fantastic crowd! We all felt great after the show because the crowd was so involved with our performance. These are the gigs that mean the most.

The Kaye Pasa Trio played at Dino Panichi's new open mic night at The Uptown Social in downtown Georgetown last night. We're hoping to get a gig there soon.

The Kaye Pasa Trio returned to the outdoor stage at Twin Creeks Icehouse for a very HOT July show last night. I think this is the only time I've ever performed wearing shorts. Despite having two or three fans blowing on us, I had to wipe my hands periodically with a towel to keep my guitar neck from getting sticky with sweat.