Last week was exceptionally busy, as I played/hosted music events three out of four nights. On Tuesday, I went out to Robey's Pub in Reynoldsburg to relieve Mike Dudley after he played an afternoon set. The city was teeming with musicians on St Patrick's Day, and I was more than happy to be a part of it. Nick brought his bass guitar and Carl Bennett helped out on cajon a bit. It was a fun couple of hours.
Wednesday was the O'Toole's open mic. I was surprised to see a full band setting up when I got there and it took a while to figure out that they assumed they could play a mini-set to essentially audition for a Friday night show. There may have been a bit of miscommunication, but it worked out. They played about eight songs and I was able to get set up by 9pm. We had just enough musicians to fill the time nicely.
Friday night was my return to Leap-N-Lizard's in Hilliard. It's a modest-sized place, but we had a great crowd. I brought in John Mullen to play my breaks, and Gabrielle Johnston sang several songs with me. We had our own form of entertainment as a very drunk guy danced to some of my songs before finally being told he had to leave. Which he did, eventually, on his bicycle. It was a little distracting at times, but I really had a good vibe there all night, and hope to be back soon.
This week, I'm only playing out twice, for my O'Toole's open MIC, where we'll have a featured band playing. That will be an actual scheduled event and essentially an audition. Friday, I'm playing the open MIC at Java Central in Westerville, and will be joined by Rachel Karryn, the young singer I've worked with for over a year. It's been a while since we've performed together, and I'm looking forward to it.