First, a disclaimer. I have likely mangled the spelling of everyone’s name. For that I apologize. I spelled them as I heard them, and it wasn’t the kind of night where I wanted to interrupt the flow of the evening by fact checking and tracking down spelling.

It was, however, a delightful evening. Scott Carrino, owner of the Round House Cafe had invited me to be part of the Round House’s Open Mic night, an irregular gathering of musicians and others.

I haven’t been to an open mic kind of thing in…. oh maybe 35 years… so I had no idea what to expect. And I haven’t done a public reading of my poetry or fiction in a fair number of years either.

What a treat the night turned into.

Deena Chappell started the night off and was our host/MC for the night. She sang us a new song, and one other that had a sensuous smooth guitar solo. She was a pleasure to listen to, and as an MC…. well she seemed to know all the musicians, so she gave the night an warm, intimate feeling all the way through.

Peter Main is evidently the magic man of local music. He’s in several bands, and according to Dana, also writes about a song a minute. He sang three for us, and he had me hooked from the first when he did a Lou Reed kind of ballad (assuming Lou Reed could stay on key.). Quality stuff.

Most of us were of, shall we say, “a certain age.”. But one of the great things was that there were also a lot of young people there, taking it in, and as I would soon see, taking part.

Gavin McGuire started off sounding shy…. until he began to play. He did covers of songs like “The Scientist” and “Big Plastic Trees”. Not the kind of covers that try to sound like the originals – he made each song his own.

Suzanne Cohen said she hadn’t done anything like this in a long time (I could relate), and then brought us three songs, including the touching, funny self-written song “I am your mother.”

Steve Greer. He sat in front of me last night and early on I overheard him talk about being nervous. But if there was ever anyone who seemed to be one with his guitar, it was Steve. He played us three lullaby type songs, so sweet and tender. I could have listened to him all night.

These two sisters, Delainy and Zoe, made the night in my opinion. They did a longish set, singing as individuals and together. Already they have found their own voice, and sang with verve and confidence. I’d pay to go see them again!

Then Scott Corrino, after having been up since 3AM, serving and cooking for all of us, closed out the night. As always, his songs were magical, especially “Monkey Mind” which has become a favorite of mine in the last year.

It was a good night. A night of music and encouragement. A vital night, full of life and music. I felt a little odd being the only non-musician there, a little like an interloper. But it was worth it to hear all this local talent. If you are from the area, or even close, I’d suggest the next time they have one of these, you find the time to take it all in.

Be well. Travel Wisely,

Tom