After months of Facebook lurking on the Catawba Coffee Songwriters Series, I made it to one as a performer. This coffeeshop is nestled in downtown Mount Holly NC, a small town on the west side of the Catawba River. A great cat named Douglass Thompson organizes these events every Friday and Saturday. Pretty much all of the NC songwriters have passed though these doors at some point over the last couple of years. The shop is tiny for such an event and performers play completely unplugged, a style that takes me back to the early/mid-nineties when I didn't own a PA and coffee houses didn't let you use one.
I arrived an hour early due to my expedient exit from Charlotte in hopes of avoiding rush hour traffic, which I mostly did until I passed 485 and neared the river. I ordered a soy cappuccino and kicked back as a light rain pattered on the sidewalk outside. Eventually one of the performers and an old acquaintance Don Eidman showed up. We commenced talking about music stuff and set the room up for the performance by moving a few pieces of furniture to make the stage area against the storefront window facing Main Street. Next the other performer Jay Coriher showed up and we fit in with Don and me right away, making jokes and pulling out his harp rack. Wow, three dudes with harp racks! Rare in these times.
As I had noticed in previous pics and videos of this series, the other players freely jam along with your songs, usually playing tasteful leads or even comping chords if the are good. This show was no different, and the guys played leads and harp licks along with my songs so I jumped in doing the same. Thankfully, these cats were tasteful players who knew when to lay in and when to let you sing. We made some really great music for the people who came to the show or those who were just stopping by for coffee. I see why this has become such a popular stop on the local songwriter circuit.
After and hour, we took a break and Louis Beeler, a long time acoustic guy that actually has used the monkey The Acoustic Guy for years in addition to being the founder and operator of the Tiny Stage video series, played a few songs using my guitar. Then we resumed the songwriters swap and played for another hour. The jams intensified to the point it seemed like we were a trio. Fist bumps abounded and we retired the guitars and all went our own ways. What a great night! I can't wait to return.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
5/14/19 Tommy's Second Tuesday Songwriter Night
Two weeks ago I answered a Facebook post from Mark, the booking guy at Tommy's Pub, which sought singer-songwriters to play the Second Tuesday Songwriter Night. Mark gave me a choice of slots and I took the earliest one at 8:00. I knew this meant some of the other players and their friends wouldn't all be there at the beginning, but I like playing early and I tried to get the word out to people I thought would come. I had 6 friends come out, and when they joined the people already parked on barstools, Tommy's seemed crowded, although more people showed up after I played.
I experimented by bringing a typical acoustic electric guitar rather than one of my "fine" guitars that have after-market pickups installed in them. I also used a reverb pedal. The sound was at least as good as my nicer guitars and the concert body was easy going for performing. It was also nice to have a guitar that was not as expensive in case anything undesirable occured. That said, I really like my Martin dreadnought guitar. At this point I felt unsure about my future choices in performing with various acoustic guitars, but at least I had confirmed that the sound will be pretty good no matter what guitar I use. Interestingly, 3 other songwriters used concert bodied Martins of different degrees of quality, the worst being the woman whose battery was failing in her preamp.
I played the songs that I felt were right for the barroom venue, which included Drinking a Beer, Get My Kicks, Wooden Porch, Briar Creek Blues, and Sitting on My Back Porch. People clapped, a couple of songwriters paid careful attention, and my friends enjoyed the set. I screwed up a few chord changes but rolled with it as if they were correct. I even uploaded my videos from the show, mistakes and all, because I thought the ice was good enough to justify posting them despite the irregularities.
I stuck around for the whole show, watching the different approaches to song craft and performing. One guy, a well-known Charlotte luthier played an acoustic electric lap steel guitar, another performer played songs he write 30 years ago in high school with newly minted lyrics, and a well-known former venue owner played as a humble performer after years of denying my friends the opportunity to play her club. I met a cool dude who was the final performer and avid open mic'er in town. He gave me the skinny about various songwriter events and acoustic open mics.
I had fun and managed to complete my 3 week stretch of 3 shows while suffering from severe laryngitis. None of the shows featured my best singing, but the fact that I could sing at all seemed a miracle. I left satisfied and ready for some serious vocal rest before the June shows.
I experimented by bringing a typical acoustic electric guitar rather than one of my "fine" guitars that have after-market pickups installed in them. I also used a reverb pedal. The sound was at least as good as my nicer guitars and the concert body was easy going for performing. It was also nice to have a guitar that was not as expensive in case anything undesirable occured. That said, I really like my Martin dreadnought guitar. At this point I felt unsure about my future choices in performing with various acoustic guitars, but at least I had confirmed that the sound will be pretty good no matter what guitar I use. Interestingly, 3 other songwriters used concert bodied Martins of different degrees of quality, the worst being the woman whose battery was failing in her preamp.
I played the songs that I felt were right for the barroom venue, which included Drinking a Beer, Get My Kicks, Wooden Porch, Briar Creek Blues, and Sitting on My Back Porch. People clapped, a couple of songwriters paid careful attention, and my friends enjoyed the set. I screwed up a few chord changes but rolled with it as if they were correct. I even uploaded my videos from the show, mistakes and all, because I thought the ice was good enough to justify posting them despite the irregularities.
I stuck around for the whole show, watching the different approaches to song craft and performing. One guy, a well-known Charlotte luthier played an acoustic electric lap steel guitar, another performer played songs he write 30 years ago in high school with newly minted lyrics, and a well-known former venue owner played as a humble performer after years of denying my friends the opportunity to play her club. I met a cool dude who was the final performer and avid open mic'er in town. He gave me the skinny about various songwriter events and acoustic open mics.
I had fun and managed to complete my 3 week stretch of 3 shows while suffering from severe laryngitis. None of the shows featured my best singing, but the fact that I could sing at all seemed a miracle. I left satisfied and ready for some serious vocal rest before the June shows.
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