Eric's House Of Ego

I have been playing the mandolin with the squirrel every day. Things are moving along nicely.

I went the open jam today. I had a hard time since I was near the sound system they use so we can all hear the vocalists. I need to move to the other side of the circle the next time. I only led on one song. Only Coffee House In Town. I actually got everyone playing along. Other than that I just played guitar when my ears weren't screaming.

At Boheme, it was a ok set. I pushed myself a little too hard.

Only Coffee House In Town - It seems to be the usual opener now.
Standards - great version, nice and relaxed
Nice Guys - Ok, if a little unfocused
How Can I Miss You? - my working on low key stuff lately showed, it was a bit of a mess, but not as much of a mess as
Crank Generation - where I fell apart totally, much to the delight of the sunday boys ... it was fun ...

So it was a good night, and a pretty good weekend.

I'm tired now ... night

Scary stuff, in the last week or two things have been happening.

I went to Bali Satay's open mike for the first time in ages and found that they were doing their open mike fight night. I entered and won. I will be in the finals next week.

I spotted an article in the local newspaper about the Pickers Circle. I hadn't seen these folks in ages but I used to go and jam with them once a month at a place in Des Moines. The place closed down and I lost contact with them. I went last night and had a blast. It's a lot of old time music and newer music with an old time feel. There were 4 or 5 guitar players, a guy with a banjo (and he's a monster) and a resonator set up for slide, another guy with a resonator set up for slide, a guy who plays fiddle and mandolin, a really young girl who plays old fiddle tunes (who it turns out has been playing since Xmas, I told her that I officially hated her, she giggled) and a 15-something year old guy who wants to be Buddy Holly.

I got to play guitar for two solid ours. Playing with these folks is a lot of what got me going originally. They do wonders for my hands and ears.

And I will be appearing in their Pickers Showcase on the 27th.

So, two shows (albiet it short ones) in a week. Weird.