Another Open Mic

Three months ago, I wrote about Darling Wife's and my debut as an acoustic duo at an invitation-only open mic in a friend's basement. We were invited back to his next open mic, which was last Saturday afternoon.

Last week was busy enough that last Thursday night came and went, and we still hadn't rehearsed at all. I was certain we wouldn't be able to rehearse Friday night either (Greta's senior prom) - which meant we'd have to cancel, as we're not going to go unrehearsed and play in front of people (no matter how informal.)

Surprisingly, we did manage to practice on Friday night after getting our prom girl off to the ball, and it went much better than I expected. We agreed on a few songs that we basically knew and didn't play at the last open mic. Then, almost as an afterthought, I suggested Sarah McLachlan's "Building a Mystery." It fell right into place, and after two times through, I think it's our best song. So, much to my surprise, we actually were going on Saturday with the intention of playing.

The open mic was 2:00-6:00, and just as last time, we hoped to be one of the first to go. Bud, the host, and his house band were first up, and did a killer electric set. The highlight was the Allman Brothers Band classic "Whipping Post." Then another guy went, and then we were up.

Accompanying my favorite Canadian vocalist....
(Photoshop credit, SL, with apologies to SM)

We had prepared four songs, assuming we'd play three - but it was a full house, and everyone got two songs. We led off with "Building a Mystery", then played Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain." I think they both went well, and were well-received by the crowd. It was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again.

Gear-wise, I was playing my Martin, and had the soundhole pickup in. I forgot to ask the sound guy if I was running through a pre-amp. I don't think I was, and I probably should have been. But I think I sounded okay.

Then we settled back with a cold beverage and watched a number of our friends play their two songs. Fun afternoon.

We're getting a nice little repertoire together, and we even have our own little binder of songs we can play as a duo. Very exciting.

Random YouTube Links

A few links I've enjoyed.

1. I've never seen Jimmy Fallon's show, but here are two musical clips from it:

• Two Neil Youngs. Absolutely brilliant.
• U2 Busks in the NYC Subway

 2. I'm *loving* a band called Mandolin Orange. A guy and a girl who both sing and both play various acoustic instruments. This is exactly my taste in music right now. Here's a clip of them doing a gorgeous version of Bob Dylan's Boots of Spanish Leather (proving yet again that Dylan songs are best sung by someone/anyone other than Dylan himself.) It looks like they're on the road promoting a new disc, and my fingers are crossed that they'll be at the folk fest this year.