David P. Dunn called yesterday afternoon to tell me he had picked up a last minute gig as featured artist at B.D. Riley's Irish Pub. He asked if I could come down to support him, and if I could drive Diana down there, too.
Joe Gee hosts the Monday open mic there, but unlike other open mic hosts, Joe doesn't double as featured performer. Instead, he schedules other musicians to play a 45-minute set before the open mic begins. (NOTE: I didn't know this until yesterday.)
David had a good set, and I was glad to have been able to bring Diana downtown to see him. I signed up for the open mic list, and got the fourth slot.
Honestly, the crowd had been a little lukewarm to the first three acts. I was lukewarm to the first act, too, but I felt like the next two acts deserved better.
My plan to open my three-song set with "Eulogy" changed when I stepped on the stage. On a spur of the moment, I decided to open with "Don't Dallas My Austin," which seemed appropriate for my first Sixth Street show. I'm so glad I made the change because the microphone stand began slowly slipping toward the end of the first verse. I was forced to squat lower and lower on stage to sing into the mic. The audience saw what was happening before Joe did, and I hammed it up quite a bit while trying to catch Joe's eye.
The crowd loved it.
Joe rushed back on stage and tried to fix the mic stand (he also hammed it up a bit), and he ultimately managed to swap it out with a new stand during the song's lead break. I finished to a big applause. All in all, it was a great way to start.
With the crowd in a comedy mood now, I abandoned any thought of doing a serious song. I went straight to my old standby, "Hot Pepper Tamale," which they also loved. They enthusiastically helped out with the horns, and with Diana's prompting, some of them held up "hook 'em horns" fingers, too.
Applause, applause, applause.
I wrapped things up with David's song "Mary Rode Joseph's Ass." Most of the crowd loved it immediately. The three folks at the table closest to the stage seemed taken aback at first, but they quickly got into the spirit, too, and sang along with the chorus. I got the biggest applause of the evening. What an incredible ego-boost!
During the next act, Joe Gee told me he wants to schedule me as the featured act sometime next month. I must admit that I had quite a bounce to my step when I left the bar.
Joe Gee hosts the Monday open mic there, but unlike other open mic hosts, Joe doesn't double as featured performer. Instead, he schedules other musicians to play a 45-minute set before the open mic begins. (NOTE: I didn't know this until yesterday.)
David had a good set, and I was glad to have been able to bring Diana downtown to see him. I signed up for the open mic list, and got the fourth slot.
Honestly, the crowd had been a little lukewarm to the first three acts. I was lukewarm to the first act, too, but I felt like the next two acts deserved better.
My plan to open my three-song set with "Eulogy" changed when I stepped on the stage. On a spur of the moment, I decided to open with "Don't Dallas My Austin," which seemed appropriate for my first Sixth Street show. I'm so glad I made the change because the microphone stand began slowly slipping toward the end of the first verse. I was forced to squat lower and lower on stage to sing into the mic. The audience saw what was happening before Joe did, and I hammed it up quite a bit while trying to catch Joe's eye.
The crowd loved it.
Joe rushed back on stage and tried to fix the mic stand (he also hammed it up a bit), and he ultimately managed to swap it out with a new stand during the song's lead break. I finished to a big applause. All in all, it was a great way to start.
With the crowd in a comedy mood now, I abandoned any thought of doing a serious song. I went straight to my old standby, "Hot Pepper Tamale," which they also loved. They enthusiastically helped out with the horns, and with Diana's prompting, some of them held up "hook 'em horns" fingers, too.
Applause, applause, applause.
I wrapped things up with David's song "Mary Rode Joseph's Ass." Most of the crowd loved it immediately. The three folks at the table closest to the stage seemed taken aback at first, but they quickly got into the spirit, too, and sang along with the chorus. I got the biggest applause of the evening. What an incredible ego-boost!
During the next act, Joe Gee told me he wants to schedule me as the featured act sometime next month. I must admit that I had quite a bounce to my step when I left the bar.
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