Blog Archives - THE John Davenport

Quick review of 2015

12/31/2015

Finishing and releasing my first solo CD marked the highlight of 2015 for me musically. Truthfully, I'm still trying to make the jump from open mics to opening act, and I am slowly getting more paying gigs.

During the past 12 months, I played at 26 venues in 14 cities. Most of them were either regular or semi-regular open mic nights I attend and/or host. I identified the non-Austin venues below:

American Legion Hall (Round Rock)
Bad Girlz of Texas (Canyon Lake)
B.B. Rovers Cafe & Pub
B.D. Riley’s Irish Pub
Crawfest (North Richland Hills)
David True’s House Concert
Dunn Brothers Coffee House (Addison)
Dylan’s Burger House (Dallas)
Edge of Town Saloon (Pflugerville)
Freddie’s Place...gone now, but not forgotten
Junior’s Icehouse (Round Rock)
Kathy Murray & Bill Jones Halloween House Concert
Keep Austin Weird 5K Fun Run
Legacy (Leander)
Lucky Lounge
NeWorlDeli
Owl Wine Bar (Elgin)
Poodie’s Hilltop Roadhouse (Spicewood)
Sheraton Austin Hotel
Sunset Bar & Grill (Cedar Park)
Tea2Go (Waco)
Tom’s Tabooley
Tyson’s Tacos
Twin Creeks
Walburg Biergarten (Walburg)
Watercrest (Bryan)

In other news, I had my third and hopefully last hand surgery on my left hand (index finger this time). I bought a Bose PA system, sold my Breedlove 6-string (to help pay for the Bose), and wrote about a dozen new songs.

Here's hoping the good times keep rollin' in 2016.

Poodies open mic

12/30/2015

Joined David Patrick Dunn on stage at Poodies Hilltop in Spicewood, TX for an open mic show. Diana snapped the photo of me blowin' harp to David's "Bayou Baby."

Another surprisingly HUGE open mic

12/27/2015

L-R: Me (harmonica), Lynette Wolfe (upright bass), David "Lefty" Gardner (guitar), Dave Wilcoxson (guitar). Not shown: Jay Dee Hicks on cajón.

Between the post-holiday blahs and the storm, I thought we'd have a smallish crowd tonight. Boy, was I wrong. Thanks to Overdue Bill, Trey Hunter, Carlos Rumbaut, Lynette and Lefty (Lynette Wolfe and David Gardner), Dave Wilcoxson, Janet & John, Kaye Reznick, Emin Navarro, Douglas Clyde Martin, Jay Dee Hicks, Josh Ribakove, David True, Helen Haake, and Travis for making it a very memorable open mic night.

Feeling better for great OMN

12/21/2015

I'm still fighting the lingering effects of bronchitis; however, I managed to give a good performance on four songs at the B.B. Rover's open mic tonight.

Paul recorded The Happy Christmas Song tonight. It wasn't my best performance, but considering how I couldn't sing a note a week ago, it's pretty good. The video also has subtitles, but you have to click on the CC icon to see them.

Last night's Folk Uke show

12/20/2015

Cathy Guthrie on uke, and Amy Nelson on guitar.

Thoroughly enjoyed Folk Uke's show at the Saxon Pub last night. Cathy and Amy were hilarious, as usual. Their new song, in which Amy professes her love for Cathy has a new verse for Cathy's response. They also mentioned that they have a new CD coming soon.

New profile pic

12/19/2015

Thanks to the artistry of renowned New Orleans artist Betsy Williamson, I have a new FB profile pic today. Thanks, cuz.

Thank My Ukulele

12/13/2015

The Thugs from TUG

Two days after my complete inability to sing at The Legacy, I managed to sing Thank My Ukulele, a short little ditty I wrote specifically for TUG ( the Tuesday Uke Group), at Kevin Carroll's Ukulele Joy VI. I barely had enough voice to get through the short song, but I made it. Hooray.

Kevin Carroll organized a great show of a dozen acts or so of current and former students at NeWorlDeli. Special thanks to Betsy's brother Bill for the photo above, and to Nancy for shooting the video.

My worst performance ever

12/11/2015

Played my usual monthly gig at The Legacy today, and thank goodness Paul was there, too. After several days of fighting a persistent cough, I rested my voice all morning before the gig, hoping to be able to get through at least a few songs on my own, and let Pablo carry the lion's share of the rest.

Didn't work.

What had been a cough is now full blown laryngitis. When I tried to sign, my voice rasped like a 90-year old smoker and cracked like a pubescent teen. It managed to limp through "Folsom Prison Blues in a Minor Key," which uses my low range, and I spoke the lyrics to "Last Chance Tattoo" because a little girl who had been at last month's show requested it.

Fortunately, Paul--working without a set list--managed to save the day. I felt completely useless.

Travel Channel at Lucky Lounge

12/9/2015

Went back to the Lucky Lounge with Paul. The Travel Channel was there early in the evening, and the crew taped part of Lynette's show before the OMN with her band, Dodge the Bullet. They interviewed Lynette and grabbed some crowd shots, but basically bugged out before the actual open mic started.

This damn lingering cough is still bothering me, so I didn't sing at all that night, but I played cuatro to back up Paul.

American Legion Hall-Round Rock

12/4/2015

Played a few songs at Emin's open mic in Round Rock. Very small crowd.