Debut of an Acoustic Duo

I ended my last post with the question:

Will we actually perform as a duo in front of real live people (granted, a small group of friends)? Stay tuned to find out.

I'm thrilled to report that, yes, Darling Wife and I played as a duo in front of real live people. We rehearsed every day last week with the basement PA, and it's as much fun as I thought and hoped it would be. We got five songs down pretty well, and Saturday afternoon rolled around quickly.

The occasion was an invitation-only open mic hosted by a friend of ours from the Downingtown meetup. He invites people over to sing and play in an "open mic" format, where you sign up and play a few songs when it's your turn (as opposed to an open jam, where everyone sits in a circle and plays together.) The jam was 2:00-6:00, and we arrived right at 2:00, hoping to go early (but not first.) We signed up in slot #3, and then realized with a little alarm that no one was taking slots 1 or 2.

Thankfully, our friend Marylou came in and grabbed slot #1. She asked if I'd play mandolin with her, and since she was doing simple songs, I was happy to play chords along with her. She also grabbed an acoustic guitar player and a dobro player, so there was a nice full sound. I can't remember everything we played, but the "I Know You Rider" by the Grateful Dead was a good song that sounded great. That's a song that begs for a little jamming, but I'm still not comfortable enough to play an improvised lead, so I nodded "no" when she looked me. Ah well, still so much to work on.

Then, with slot #2 still open, we were up. Bud had announced a three song limit for everyone, so we whittled our five songs down to three, I plugged in my Martin, she did her "testing...1...2...3" into the mic, and we were off and running.

• "You Can Close Your Eyes", James Taylor
• "Five Hundred Miles", Kingston Trio
• "Comes a Time", Neil Young

There were no major malfunctions, and I think it went well. It was over before I knew it, and then we spent the next couple of hours watching other people and chatting with folks. It was a very fun afternoon, and when I asked Darling Wife on the drive home if she'd do it again, she said "of course."

That's music to my ears.