Playing out, with McGee and G!

Well, it’s been a little while since I played original music out in public. But tonight marked the third week in a row I’ve played at the open mic at Bob’s Espresso Bar in North Hollywood. The first week, I was just checking it out, but the last two I played with my fantastic songwriting partner Leslee McGee. She’s an excellent singer as well as a great lyric and melody writer. We’ve only been together maybe 2 months, but have already come up with 6 original tunes, and more coming! I am really looking forward to everybody hearing this new stuff. I’ll be working on some demo recordings, and we’ll be starting to scare up some gigs around town. I haven’t been this excited about a project in quite a while!

It’s funny, too, because the message of this music comes from a very positive place. Which is wonderful. But anyone who knows me from my past would know that my tunes were often a lot darker in tone. So, it’s different for me. But it’s really fun to play, and so far, the response has been very encouraging! We’d been rehearsing and performing with me playing acoustic guitar, but tonight Leslee talked me into playing the electric, because she wanted to do this particular tune, the music of which gets all fuzzed out and psychedelic at the end. And it worked out. Some of the people clapped along or played little shakers etc., which was really fun (though I had to concentrate to keep them from getting me to speed up!).

Bob’s is a cool little place, on Lankershim in NoHo. It’s run by Bob Romanus, who among other things, played cool guy Mike Damone in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. But Bob’s also a recording artist, and really encourages artists of all types. Tonight was very eclectic, with a couple of comedians, a rapper, a guy playing amazing dumbek-like drum, plus several singer/songwriters. We’ll be there next week, too, on the 18th! Bob’s Espresso Bar