What’s been happening –
The past few weeks have been busy! The main focus has been the Assembly Line Concert at AJ’s Cafe in Ferndale. This has been madness for the past few days. I was supposed to play Saturday (day 2), but a scheduling snafu prevented that. A couple days later I showed up for my 4am shift and Monday and had a blast.
Had a bit of a run in with the local law that morning. Pulled into my parking spot on 9 mile at 3:30am and got out of my car to see a Ferndale police car do a u-turn, put his lights on, pull up behind me and spot me. Needless to say, this was not a hassle I needed at that hour! A couple seconds later, the car pulled next to me and rolled his window down. My buddy Ed Ungerman, instructor for the PFDC and one of Ferndale’s finest, decided to wish me a good morning in his own way. What, Ed, you’re not gonna pull your taser on me? No pepper spray? Weak, man! Hahaha…
Tuesday night I went out to the Solid Grounds open mic like always and played a few tunes to warm up for my midnight shift later. One of the songs I played was a new one called Home (Momma was a Cross to Bear). See the post below for info on this new one!
Jim Humphries came out and played some awesome harp for me out at AJ’s that night! Also, thanks to Rick, Nichole and Tina for coming out so late to catch the set. AJ was very cool and jumped up at the beginning of my set to say a few very kind words about me. Thanks AJ!
Dar and Jim break it down at the Assembly Line Concert
Thursday night, Jim and I headed out to catch Darwin Mamassian, host of the Solid Grounds open mic, do a set out at AJ’s. He did a great job! I took a bunch of photos and Jim got up and played some harp with him. Lots of Tuesday night regulars were there!
Last night was a show at the South Lyon VFW Hall with my friend and fellow musician AT Smith. AT is a bluegrass,-old-timey wonder to behold. We played for over four hours and had a ball.
What’s happening -
Tonight will be the second of three straight shows in three days for me. Jim and I will be playing at Solid Grounds from 6-9pm. Tomorrow night is going to be a real treat! John D. Lamb has invited me to play at his Songwriters Showcase at Memphis Smoke. I’ll be performing alongside a few other amazing talents. Not to mention the man himself! JDL.
Thursday, April 2nd I’ll be at the Assembly Line Concert again doing a set from 3-4pm. I think this will be the LAST ONE! Haha…
Friday, April 3rd is going to be a very fun evening! I’ve been asked to play at a wonderful store in downtown Northville called Gardenviews. Jim and I will be rocking out during the First Friday Art Walk from 6-9pm!
I’m really excited to be hosting an open mic fundraiser for the Plymouth Fife & Drum Corps on Friday, April 10th at Solid Grounds. We hope to have a bunch of performers from our various corps families. Fun goes from 6-9pm!
On May 16th, I’ll be doing an open mic spot right before the Kitty Donohoe show. Jim Bizer hosts an open mic show called Mama’s Coffee House.
Also, a couple of music/arts festivals have booked me for the summer. First, I’ll be playing at the Ella Sharp Art and Wine Festival in Jackson Michigan on Saturday, June 13th. I hear that Jan Krist and Jim Bizer will be there, so you KNOW it will be a great show! Not sure what time I’ll be going on. Stay tuned.
And finally, I’ve been asked me to host the open mic show on Friday night of the Nor-East’r festival in Mio on Friday, June 12th. Thanks for thinking of me for this Craig! Looking forward to a fantastic summer full of music, fellowship and fun!
Hope to see you soon!
John
March 28, 2009
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Another rough weather day yesterday! Snow, sleet, freezing rain were on tap for Michigan on last night’s Tuesday Night Music Club open mic at Solid Grounds. Also on tap was a hot bowl of Mike’s Chicken Chili Soup!
Another very nice turnout for the weather! Ira was back. He had not shown up since around March if I remember right. Seven Bridges was there along with Darwin. Tim from the EA posse told me a friend of his was thinking of coming out. Brian Milne showed and played a great three song set. He said he was real nervous, but it didn’t show. Great job Brian! Dar and I noticed when he started playing 13 Days by JJ Cale that the opening chords and strumming are identical to Lennon’s Working Class Hero. </trivia> Kathy, Ann and a few others were there too! Great night.
Brian Keith Howard from Seven Bridges joined me for Drew Nelson’s song WalMart and one of mine, Help Me Be Good. In the “lightning round” Seven Bridges came up with me for John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy.
Glad to get a little live music in so close to Christmas. Lindsay and Dustin got in a little after I got home last night. Must’ve been a tough drive. The car was completely covered in ice. Today has been sleeting and freezing rain and now rain.
I wonder if there’s any of that soup left…
J
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Where to begin…
Last night was a great show at Solid Grounds. Darwin Mamassian started us out with a great set. If you haven’t see this performer, you should! He has a very cool vibe to his music. Also was good to see Dar’s family out for this show.
Big thanks to Brian Keith Howard of the band Seven Bridges for sitting in with me on guitar last night. Keith gave the music a great new layer! Thanks to Vick, Dave, Lisa and Rick for letting me borrow him for the night. Hope to be able to have Keith sit in from time to time in the future!
It was great to see how many folks came out for the show! As I said from the stage last night, you could’ve been anywhere last night, but you chose to come out and listen! Thanks so much! Felt great to play my newest song, Better Man. It was written at Lamb’s Songwriter’s Retreat last weekend. Got some very cool comments about it afterward.
Tonight was a completely different deal, but just as cool! Craig Carrick invited me out to his place to check out a show and I finally got out there this afternoon. What a show to pick for my first Carrick House Concert! Barbara Payton was nothing short of AMAZING! Truly a show I will never forget. Her band was top notch and her vocal ability was stunning. I will never hear a Janis Joplin song again without thinking of her.
This has been an amazing weekend! I’ll be back to work tomorrow morning, but will stay busy booking shows as I have the opportunity. Not to mention writing and practicing!
John
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Darwin and I pretty much had the coffee shop to ourselves tonight! Even after being gone for a few days last week I managed to get out to the Solid Grounds open mic. Dar and I call it our “bowling league”. It’s a lot like that! The occasional strike and gutter ball, but without the beer and smoke. Do they still smoke in bowling alleys?
Since we were pretty much the sole performers, we got a ton of tunes in. It felt good to play a few songs that I had never played or had not played in awhile. Tonight marked the Solid Gounds debut of Better Man, a song that I wrote at Lamb’s Retreat last weekend. Seemed to be received well. Also played Irish Love Song, which I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever done there.
Although I’m still coming down a bit off the high that was last weekend, I can’t wait for Saturday! Dar and I will be rocking the coffee shop! Brian Keith Howard (guitar zen master extraordinaire) will be my special guest Saturday night, so come on out!
See you soon,
John
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Another great evening at Solid Grounds coffee house tonight! Tons of performers and lots folks there to listen. Place was rockin’! Seven Bridges, Darwin, Mark, Ann, Greg, Ed and a whole host of usual suspects were there. Met two new ladies named Angel and Nancy. They were too much fun!
I had not played Jesus and John Lennon publicly in a long time so I did it tonight. Unfortunately I also have not played a harmonica while playing in some time and the thing completely got out of place during the song. Got through it though. Should’ve had Jim come up! Doh! Finished up the first round with Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson.
Keith and I did fellow Michigan artist Drew Nelson’s song WalMart v2.0 (with a little Johnny Cash thrown in) for the “lightning round”. Keith will be joining me for the Solid Grounds show on November 22nd! Be sure to come on out!
Harbor Springs, here I come!!!
John
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What a great evening of friends and music at Solid Grounds in Northville tonight. Darwin and I split an evening there and had a blast. While I was on stage tonight, I realized that this show was a “first” of sorts. As much as I’ve been playing out the last few years, this was the first show I’ve booked as a solo act. All the others over the years have been open mics or performances with my band Arlington Station. The last Arlington Station show was (I think) August 15. Tonight marked my first show as a solo act. Pretty cool. Glad to share it with friends.
Dar did his usual great set! A friend of mine from work, Jim Humphries was there to play some harp with me but he found a place on stage during a few of Dar’s tunes as well! Sounded great! Dar had me come up and help with a new original of his. Felt great to play together!
Jim came up and played along with me on a few tunes during my set! What a great sound! All those afternoons on the sidewalk of Ethan Allen paid off! Dar came up near the end and led us in Neil Young’s Helpless. I followed Dar on guitar and sang harmony. Will the Circle Be Unbroken was last. Dar, Jim and I all played to finish off a great night of music.
Thanks to all our friends and family members who came out to support local music. We really appreciate it. And, finally, a huge thanks to Teresa and Rita at Solid Grounds for letting us take over the place once in awhile.
Night!
J
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Stopped by Solid Grounds for the Tuesday open mic. Started sort of slow. Dave & Lisa showed up and said Keith was coming. He and Vick showed up a little later. I did a few covers my first time up. 7B did a few songs as well. Darwin was there and did his usual awesome job. There was a “new guy” there, though, that blew me away. Turns out dude was Greg Stryker! I used to listen to his band years ago! We may have even shared a stage with them back in the Satin Steel days. Greg is a wonderful singer and songwriter.
Anyhoo… a few times during the night we all sort of got up and jammed. We did Peaceful Easy Feelin’ with Dave, Lisa, Keith, me, Greg and some others. When I got up for my last song I got everyone back up for Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Then Keith and I did Folsom Prison Blues. And lastly, Greg and Lisa did a fun version of Bon Jovi’s Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
This was a great example of why I play. And even though I had no coffee tonight, I am gonna be wired as can be for the next few hours trying to come down off the high of tonight. Wooooo….
See you all Friday, October 24th!
John
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Tonight – Solid Grounds Coffee House in Northville.
Well, I’ve managed to play out live three of the last four evenings. Lots of folks came out tonight to play. Maybe it was because tonight was the one year anniversary of Steve Kovich’s open mic night. Congratulations Steve!
I played It Ain’t Easy Being Me, Your Rocky Spine and my new one, Love Does the Rest. Big fun! Unfortunately it’s not gonna last. The next month is going to get pretty rough with some commitments that I have to take care of. I’ll keep playing in the basement and on the sidewalk at work on breaks as much as possible. Hoping to be able to concentrate on some writing as well.
Talked with Darwin a bunch tonight. We are talking about booking a show at Solid Grounds in October. I’ll post it on the schedule when we figure out what will work for both of us. Not sure I can do anything before the middle of the month so late October probably.
Out.
John
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Tonight – The Plymouth Coffee Bean open stage.
Earlier today Dar called me up to say he was going. So, I went. We sat and listened to some really talented younger musicians and then got to play back to back. We each stuck to original material tonight. I did Help Me Be Good and Nothin’ All Day. Maybe I’ll get out to Solid Grounds tomorrow and work on some of the brand new stuff at Steve’s open stage!
Out.
J
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Last night was the first show in the Baseline Folk Society’s 2008-2009 season. Just like last week at East River there was a full house. Lots of performers chomping at the bit to get some stage time. Darwin, Steve, Kenny, Rise Again, Kathy Nieman and Paul Murphy were all there. Lots of other familiar faces. And, just like last week, I was near the end. So I wouldn’t feel rushed I only played two songs. Did Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers and my newest offering, Love Does the Rest. And I still rushed them anyway. Ah well. Live and learn.
Last night was a LATE one. Didn’t even get done until after 10:30pm. I don’t really know how the organizers can help keep the shows a decent length other than limit us to two songs (which I hope they don’t do). Mike had asked all the performers to shorten it up and get right to the music, but some chose not to. It’s not bad if you go in the first half, but performers in the second half really feel the crunch of time.
Rise Again asked me to come out to eat with them again last night. Dave offered to pay but I didn’t take him seriously. To his credit, he came through! Thanks Dave! Had a great time of conversation and food to cap off a good evening of music. Thanks guys.
In other news, I’ve been kicking around the idea of putting together a Songwriter’s Workshop. Just an informal invite to a few of my friends to drop by the house or a local coffee shop to talk about the writing process and play some new songs off one another. It’s likely I won’t have time to consider this more until after the first week in October. Stay tuned!
I’m off to bed. Hope to see you at a show soon.
John
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The past few weeks have been busy! The main focus has been the Assembly Line Concert at AJ’s Cafe in Ferndale. This has been madness for the past few days. I was supposed to play Saturday (day 2), but a scheduling snafu prevented that. A couple days later I showed up for my 4am shift and Monday and had a blast.
