It has been a bit over three months since my last open mic report, that of 12-19-07.   Before things get too backed up (again), let me take a few moments to list out my open mic appearances since the last recap...

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008:     Barrington Coffee House,   Barrington, NJ         On Thursday January 3rd at BCH's open mic I played two tunes, Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Ferdinando Carulli's "Allegretto."   My idea was to try to show, in just two selections, the broad range of music that would be covered in my upcoming show with Steven Paul in the same venue on Saturday January 5th.   I think "Folsom" went well, although the audience reaction seemed more curious and muted than enthralled; afterwards Scott "Trif" Trifeletti gave me a clue as to why, explaining that he had done a double-take when he realized that it was me singing Johnny Cash, with vocal styling he hadn't heard me use before.   My performance of "Allegretto" did not go as well as that of "Folsom," I think because I had not done a classical fingerstyle warmup beforehand.   Both numbers were played on my Oriskany baritone guitar.

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008:     Studio LuLoo,   Haddon Township, NJ         On Tuesday February 19th I played the LuLoo open mic as the bassist for The Johnny Elliott Band, with Johnny Elliott on guitar and vocals, and John Shaughnessy on drums.   This was the first public performance of The Johnny Elliott Band to feature this personnel configuration, with me on bass.   We covered CCR's "Green River," then played Johnny Elliott's "You Go Your Way."   I recall that "Green River" went pretty well, but "You Go Your Way" was a bit rough in one or more spots.   I played my Aria electric 4-string bass for this set.

Thursday, February 28th, 2008:     Barrington Coffee House,   Barrington, NJ         On Thursday February 28th at BCH's open mic I played my own "Jet Set Girl" and then Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," both on my Oriskany baritone.   My first number of this set used to be called "Airport Girl," until one critical listener commented that the song title was terrible, at which point I changed it.   This open mic appearance was my first time playing this song out with the new title and associated lyrical changes, and for one or more reasons I was extremely nervous during the performance of it.   My second number, the Cash standard, featured Steve Goldstein on lead guitar alongside me, and went more smoothly did than "Jet Set Girl."

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008:     Studio LuLoo,   Haddon Township, NJ         On Tuesday March 4th at LuLoo's open mic the Johnny Elliott Band played Johnny Elliott's "Goin' Away" and Elmore James' "Shake Your Money Maker."   I recall that "Goin' Away" went well, but "Shake Your Money Maker" had at least one rough spot.   This was my second public performance with the Johnny Elliott Band, with Johnny Elliott on guitar and vocals, and John Shaughnessy on drums.   I played my Aria electric 4-string bass for this set.

Thursday, March 20th, 2008:     Barrington Coffee House,   Barrington, NJ         On Thursday March 20th at BCH's open mic I played Aaron Shearer's "Miniature Tarantella" and an instrumental version of Kansas' "Dust in the Wind."   This was my first public performance of "Miniature Tarantella" since my attempt to memorize it, and frankly it was disastrous, as I feared it would be.   "Dust in the Wind" went much better but that number is much easier to play and a much more rehearsed part of my repertoire.   Both numbers were played on my Aria classical guitar.