Open Mic Night

Last night I attended open-mic night at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana with my new friend Anthony and his girlfriend. Ok, maybe he's not at the "friend" status yet but he is nice guy. I had no intention of being anything other than a casual observer but Anthony had signed me up before I had arrived.

If you are unfamiliar with open-mic, the process is pretty simple. Hoards (or maybe just a handful) of musicians of various skill levels bring their favorite instrument to the bar (in this case a coffee shop but they do serve beer) and sign up to perform a song (you must play original music - no covers). You then proceed to sit through varying degrees of bad songs while anxiously awaiting your turn to be a star. When your name is called you take the stage, mumble a few words into the microphone, and then play your tune. Afterwards, you go back to your table and wonder how long you should sit there while others play their songs (it's considered somewhat rude to just leave right away).

So this is the position in which I found myself last night. I was not prepared to play so when they called my name and Anthony slapped my back and told me to go for it, I had to think quickly. If you know me then you probably know that I hate most of my original songs so I had to think fast.

I decided to whip out a song we used to play in GhostTown (my old band) called "Alabama". It's a bit of a honky-tonk sounding tune and was in direct contrast to the low key music others were playing but my job in life is to stir things up, right?

All in all, the song seemed to go over fairly well (I'd like to think it was more than a polite golf-clap). It felt really good to sing again in a non-karaoke situation. In my mind, there is no question what I was put here on this Earth to do. It's too bad that you can't pay the mortgage doing what I was put here to do.

Anthony's song was good. He seems to be a good songwriter and has a great voice as well. We even talked of hitting up another open-mic last this week.

Is this the beginning of another musical journey for me? I don't know, but maybe it's time.