Open Mike - March

Great night last night, we had a very busy stage with lots of musicians coming and going. Including the largest combo to grace the stage at our open mikes yet: Uncle Meat and the Highway children

Liam Glen was also a new face. 

I reckon I sang about 6 songs which is a pretty good record for me.

Stephen attended his first open mike and along with Javier we brought a much more "jammy" feel to the proceedings. 

Practice, Mollys, Tricky Theatre...

Sandra came round for a run through of the Open Mike setlist.... she was in good spirits and brought a muso friend with her. Afterwards we took Leah to Mollys and then a quick trip over to Cindy´s session at the Tricky Theatre. 

Open Mike Prep with Stephen and Javier

Javier, Stephen and I had our first session outside of the mine at my place today. We prepped some stuff for the Open Mike and the Jam session. It was sounding pretty excellent. Almost felt like I was in a band again.

Open Mike Prep with Sandra

Today I had very productive 'prep' session for the open mike with Sandra. We have the setlist fixed and we'll go over it again once before Tuesday. 

I find it unbelievable, but a year ago today. Fraser and I had our first gig together in the Jet Lounge:

It was a pretty mediocre, but it marked my return to the stage after 8 years away from it. So I thought I’d bum myself up a little and look at what I’ve achieved in the past year.

• I’ve played 27 gigs in 8 venues across 2 countries(26 of them were in the Netherlands)
• I host 2 regular events; one weekly, one monthly
• I perform regularly as twiddley electric guitarist, an acoustic rhythm player, and a reluctant vocalist
• I’ve bothered my arse enough to get a website
• I have moved my repertoire beyond covers of 90’s grunge bands.
• I have written at least 2 songs with Sandra.
• I’ve engineered, recorded and mixed several songs to a pretty decent level.

This past year has given me the confidence to call myself a musician again, and not just play to my bedroom walls with little ambition or direction. The difference this makes to my life cannot be underestimated and I question why I’ve waited this long to get back into it.

So. What next?

I’ve got to the stage that my week is so filled with music things that I have to manage my time quite cleverly. The open mike nights and jam sessions keep me active, but they also give me a great excuse not to be creative. This and the lack of a consistent band means that songwriting continues to elude me. It is still the one thing that I want to do which I can’t seem to achieve. 

 

 

Busy Busy Busy Jam Session.

Last night's Jam session was packed. There was a great vibe.. Following a Les Claypool concert, Stephen has taken to Bass playing with a tad too much fervour, but we had stellar performances from all the usual suspects and I even managed to keep folk in their toes by slipping in a Tina Turner cover sung by yours truly in between the inevitable funky jams, and it wasn't Acid Queen!!! 

Home Alone.......

Karolina is off in Greece, and I feel I should be achieving stuff, but I don't seem to be very creative or productive. I take the opportunity to redesign the living room as a recording studio, but the hour I can snatch after work to try and do something feels like a chore. All hugely frustrating.