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Open Mic #2 at Caffe Lena

Second time is the charm. :)

Last night was my second open mic at the iconic Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs. It was largely the same crowd of seasoned and extremely talented blues musicians as last month and I was tremendously better prepared for the scene. And I didn't let the intimidation factor get to me like last time. You know, the guys who can play more notes than I can hear, the sideways glances that say, "he brought guitar again," and the pictures of Bob Dylan on the stage over my shoulder. This month, I took the stage as a student who had practiced with focused intent for the prior month and put on a show instead of thinking I could just show up and play a couple songs I fool around with in the basement. What a difference.

My first song was Hungry Blues on my Sawzall box dobro. The lyrics were given to me by Ron "Oily" Sprague and I did a speaking version of the song. I set the crowd up for a few laughs before starting. I got a few laughs where I wanted them and good round of applause afterward. It is a great, funny song. I was prepared with my lyrics sheet in case I choked, but didn't need it.

My second song, I pulled out my garbage guitar and played "Baby Please Don't Go" with a bourbon bottle. The whole thing. It sounds intentionally pretty bad, as if I'm a sad, miserable drunk lamenting the loss of his woman. I've changed the end of the song to suit. It is a little funny-sad.

I had enough self-depreciating comments and humorous quips mix in that I felt like I had the crowd on an upnote, especially those who saw my first performance last month, which was an unqualified mess. They are set up.

I wanted to tear them down. I did my version of "Goin' Down Slow" which is a perfect song about my experience before, during and after having cancer at 29 years old. I spent all day in a local public school working with different teachers including an awesome group of students with autism and an 11th Grade English class. The English students were reading from "Death of a Salesman" and I picked up a new line to add to the song since it fit perfect.

You know, when you break a deposit bottle, you can't get your nickel back.

I had my eyes closed the whole time and I wish I could have seen the crowd. I almost cried when I got the round of applause and cheers at the end. I felt like I did what I wanted to do.

If you are interested, pics of the Sawzall box dobro, garbage guitar and videos of all three songs are here on my page, although none are from last night - only previous versions. I'm going to have to get someone to do video for me in the future.

Other highlights from last night:

I thought I'd be the only one on stage with heavy metal, but a local musician brought his tuba and a former opera singer to do two great songs. The vocals were incredible and the tuba was perfectly matched. I loved it. This woman can sing. Incredible. Absolutely incredible. It felt really great when she saw me after my set and offered her honest compliments.

I also met fellow (new) CBN member Ronald Whitford last night and he brought his CB Ukulele. I was pretty amped up after my set so I wasn't giving him the attention I wanted for his three songs, but what I heard was excellent. It felt great to have a fellow CBN member there last night.

Price of admission was $5. Value for your money right there.

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Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 31, 2015 at 6:09am: Thanks for reading Jim. I learned fast that I wasn't just sitting around the campfire strumming along with little purpose other than passing time. The mic, lights, stage, pictures on the wall and audience all change that. They want something to watch and hear.

It felt good to do my job and put on a show that affected the audience. I was really happy to get compliments from the most proficient players and the singer from the featured act.

I'm a little sad that there is not an acoustic blues open mic every week, but I'm happy I get a full month to practice for the next one. I may try one of the "open" open mics that are every Thursday. The ones I have attended are dedicated to acoustic blues only.

Comment by Jim Morris on March 31, 2015 at 5:43am: And you're right - it's not like your a doctor or an airline pilot where a mistake can be fatal. Usually no gets damaged too badly by a song not done as well as you might like! Any performance you can walk away from is a good one. That's what pilots say about landings.

Comment by Jim Morris on March 31, 2015 at 5:39am: Good deal Eric! I'm glad it went so much better this time. Preparation is what makes the difference in so many things but on stage jitters sometimes erase hours of practice! The vids Ron posted were excellent and I'm sure he was great in person. Keep at it and keep letting us know how it's going.

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 28, 2015 at 2:49am: Thanks Glenn. :)

In my (maybe not humble) estimation, I've become pretty good at building guitars. Not saying I'm better than anyone but the benchmark I set for myself. My playing and singing is the area where I can realize the most improvement now. I reckon this will oscillate as my interest in taking on some whacky new build idea increases at some point. It used to be I would be intensely focused on building guitars and I would play and sing in the moments between doing some work on the bench. Right now, it seems to be the opposite. I go downstairs to practice, play and sing and if I look at something that catches my eye, I'll take a few minutes and tinker with it.

I will have another post after the April open mic. Fourth Wednesday every month.

I encourage anyone to do this. No one is going to die. I'll bet no one is even going to be mean, especially to someone just starting. Don't expect failure, but don't let it stop you either.

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 27, 2015 at 12:44am: Hahaha!

There's a line in Hungry Blues that goes,

People 'round me always weep and moan

Pretty women try to take me home

I stopped the song and said, "No they don't."

Everyone laughed in agreement.

Comment by the anonymous pick on March 27, 2015 at 12:39am: gonna need a groupie bus now . ;-)

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 27, 2015 at 12:13am: Thanks for having a read, Clock. :)

Comment by Clock The Wolf on March 26, 2015 at 2:01pm: (•‿•)

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 26, 2015 at 2:49am: Thanks Matthew. I have my 3 song set for April picked out. Time to start practicing. :)

Comment by Matthew Borczon on March 26, 2015 at 2:32am: excellent!! You will only get better and better. Glad you went in with what you learned from last time instead of letting it psych you out. Great work