Open Mic Online

I just finished creating a website for the open mic night that I'm hosting every Thursday night in Fraser. The web address is: www.cyberyaniv.com/openmic

I posted a few of the perfomances from last Thursday's show. My idea is to post a few new recordings every week and hopefully it will help the whole thing grow.

I created the new pages and links to mp3's using Microsoft Word and a program called Cyberduck. It's very easy to use. Posting in the future won't be hard at all. I don't know how to make the site very elaborate, but it doesn't need to be.

I'm going to make a link to the open mic page from my www.cyberyaniv.com homepage the next time I'm in Denver. I use a different program for that page, and I don't have it here on my laptop in the mountains. I'll probably be able to link up the new site tomorrow or Tuesday.

I hope people get a kick out of hearing themselves on the site. It could lead to any variety of new projects.

Ho Ho Hi There

It's funny when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I always wish them the same back.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and the waitress says "Enjoy your meal" and you say "You too" and then you realize that you're an idiot. Maybe it's not the same exactly, but there's some sort of similarity with the Merry Christmas thing.

A Week in the Life

I've had one of the busiest weeks I can remember. Including tonight's show at the Down Under, I will have had 8 gigs in past 8 days. It's great, but I'm beat.
A week ago Thursday, I had two gigs. I played for an hour with Hunker Down at Herman's Hideaway and then drove up to Winter Park to host open mic. Hunker Down played a wedding on Saturday and back in Winter Park on Sunday. On Tuesday, I played background music with Matty Brown for a Christmas party. Wednesday night, I led a kid's Hanukah show. Last night was Open Mic night again at the Crooked Creek and tonight I'm playing Motown music with a new group called Juicebox.
After tonight, I'll have a little break. I'm playing next Wednesday with Julie Geller, Open Mic on Thursday, and twice on New Year's Eve, but I think that's it for the rest of December. It's been a bit of a juggling act, but it's gone well. It's good to be busy.

Looking for a little shuteye

Of dogs and fish no difference
Is known upon the bottom of the sea

--Chris Fuller, "Storyteller Moon," www.chrisfullermusic.com

Quote

Bob Dylan about the death of Hank Wiliams:

"The silence of outer space never seemed so loud."

Less alone

Here's a quote from an article in this month's Keyboard magazine about the electronic musician BT:

BT sees the human affinity for music as ultimately physical. "Our bodies are living polyrhythms," he says. "Lungs taking in air as the heart beats to an entirely different meter, as we walk along to a third rhythm, and we don't even have to think about it! The beauty of dance music, of any music, is the auditory driving that brings everyone onto the same wavelength. I don't mean because of drug use, and I don't mean any crystal-toting hippie bullshit. The connection is physiological, it's primal, and it makes people feel less alone."

Open Mic

Last night was my first round of hosting open mic night at the Crooked Creek. I think it went alright. I had fun anyway and I think the response was good.

I opened up the night solo and played five songs. I've heard the complaint that the host often plays half the night and no one else gets to play enough, so I was sure to keep my solo set short. I opened the open mic with Fuller's "5:00 in the Morning." It was the best tune I could think of to start the whole thing. Then I played one of my own songs called "Dorothy," then Bowie's "Major Tom," then "Step Inside this House," and finished with "Lawyers, Guns and Money."

Diogo and Travis played next and I joined them on bass. Towards the end of that set, a woman put a note on the stage. The note offered Diogo a gig at Deno's Pizza in Winter Park, so I think he was happy about that.

Next Andy Irvine played guitar with Greg Travis on drums. I played bass again--actually I played bass most of the night. We played all blues songs and Matty Brown and Kay sat in and sang some words. "Stormy Monday" was fun.

Next Matty led a set of some of his originals and some more old timey stuff. Andy Straus sat in on mandolin. Then Andy took the lead and Greg played washboard. That's when the gig started to sound a lot like a Hunker Down gig, only with me on bass and Andy Irvine in on electric guitar. Some guys from Denver were there, and I think they're going to come out to our Denver Hunker Down shows next week.

Inbetween a few of the sets, a local older guy named Al got up and performed some poems he had written. One was about someone he knew who died in Iraq and he got very emotional. Apparently he's doing a full two hour poetry show tonight at coffee shop in Fraser.

At the very end of the night, Matt Petty played a short solo set. He actually has a great voice. He closed the night very well.

All in all it was a good first shot. It flowed pretty well, and there were enough performers to fill the night. I don't think that anyone felt like they didn't get to play long enough. Only people I knew came to play, besides Al the poet. Some people who I thought would come didn't, but hopefully they will in the future. It was a fairly solid night. One thing I'm not going to do again is bring so much gear. I had three car loads of stuff including Greg's drum kit. I'm definitely going to simplify the rig. In fact, I need to go over to the Crooked Creek right now and pick up the remaining speakers I stashed in back.

In like a lion, out like a lamp

I thought of that phrase in the car today. It's mine now and you can't have it.

Folk

People in mountain towns are different that people in the city. Generally speaking, city-folk are much more interested in accomplishments whereas mountain-folk are more interested in simply enjoying their lives. I'm on the fence.