3 gigs in 24 hours! Seriously. The Enclave on 6/19 then both the Skyway and Mojo's Coffee House on 6/20. Good thing we have over 250 songs in our repertoire so we didn't have to do cookie cutter gigs. Each one was unique. So, grab a big cup of coffee....it's gonna be a long post.

6/19 - Enclave

Thankfully, the changes that Timothy L. Vegas is making to the joint are not changing the Enclave feel...fresh coat of paint everywhere and the stage is now giant sized....we like that. The main change, which I think is a great idea is that they are now open until 3:00am on Friday and Saturday. So get your drunk asses over to the Enclave to sober up before you head home... providing that you're already in Willoughby.

Kayla sang back up on her favorite song ("If I Only Had A Brain") and we changed "Layla" to "Kayla" just for her.

Our sketcher friend was there again. I really need to get the nerve up to ask him to look at his sketches during our breaks.

I'm hoping that the artwork that used to adorn the walls at the Enclave will be coming back once the paint is dry. We look forward to seeing what's new each time we're there.

Jake had a wee bit of a breakdown when he discovered that his favorite poster was gone, but don't worry....he'll be alright.

6/20 - Skyway

This was at the airport in Put-In-Bay (not on the runway, silly ~ at the bar) for a Browns' Backers charity rib cook off. Once those ribs got goin', the scents were just heavenly, but also somewhat torturous, because we had to wait until our break to have any.

While we were waiting to be let in to set up, Mudcat found a 4 leaf clover for me. How cool is that? I saved it to press when I got home, but it did not like being in the van in the blazing sun and it dried up. But don't you crafters worry your pretty little heads...I stuck it in a bowl of water when I eventually got back home and it took a while, but it rehydrated itself. Figured the worst that could happen is that it didn't work and I'd end up destroying it in the process and seein' how it was already to that point I gave it a shot.

We were scheduled to play from 11:00 - 3:00 and then another band was supposed to take over for the afternoon/evening. That band cancelled at the last minute and we were asked to play longer. We ended up playing longer, but only until 4:15, because we had to catch the ferry back in order to make it to the Mojo's Coffee House gig. Well, Mudcat and I took the ferry back....Jake flew back in the Project Mojo Corporate Plane with Col. Smoker, who's entrance could have been scripted. While we were making announcements of 50/50 raffles, Col. Smoker (a.k.a. Jake's dad) made his entrance, so Mudcat announced that too.

Rod Hood and Felix Wright were there to sign autographs and mingle. A couple of Pittsburgh players made their appearance too and remarkably, no blood was shed. Jake changed the lyrics of "down by the river, I shot my baby" to "down by the river, I shot a Steeler" and I think the Dawgs appreciated it. Oh, yeah ~ Dawg Pound Mike was there and also the Dawg Bone Lady...see~

This Mojo is so savagely Caucasian that by the time 4:15 rolled around you couldn't tell where my red shirt ended and my skin began (and that was with SPF50 sunblock). Yeah, I got a little crispy, but the good thing was that the weather did a complete turn around from the morning, otherwise I don't know what they would have done or where they would have put everyone.

6/20 - Mojo's Coffee House

So, we make it back just in time to set up again. Oddly enough, Jake got there about 3 seconds after we did even though he flew back while we drove back, but he flew into Medina and had to drive back out and we just drove directly in from the ferry.

We were all so tired that we could barely see straight. I think that if Jake would have closed his eyes he would have fallen asleep standing up.

Betty and her crew were at this gig, so that was a nice treat for us (hopefully for them too).

And Don was back and stayed for the duration. It was nice to see him again.

It was a pretty uneventful gig or if it wasn't I was just way too tired to either care or remember.

So, there ya have it ~ a Mojo marathon.

6/13 - Crabby Joe's

What a great place for a gig! The water's edge, under a spacious canape and on a stage. We felt like rock stars (well, one of us did).

Everyone seemed to like us with the singing along and the tips, not to mention the manager telling us that we sounded great. I think those are pretty good indications that we did alright.

Apparently some boys on Pooh Bear's fishing charter did alright too. Hey, I didn't make up the name. If I had it would have been something fishy....Anyway, when they came back in from their excursion the head Pooh Bear took their cooler of fish and proceeded to hang the fish on the display board for the charter and then took the boys' picture with the hanging fish. Yeah, I don't think the people who were eating at the time enjoyed that as much as the boys who caught the fish did. Kind of made me rethink having the walleye, but I had it anyway.

We got to see some Canadians out for a family jaunt. As in geese, not people. The wee ones were so cute, all fluffy and waddling around. The teenage Canadians...not so cute. Their gangling selves looked like they had no desire to be seen with mom and dad, let alone their younger siblings. Gosh, sounds like us. Anyway, they wandered around while mom scolded us (we were there first) and then went back into the water.

There were also 2 swans (although one of us thought they were ducks). They were absolutely beautiful, but they kept their distance from us. At least they didn't scold us.

And then the sun set....enter mayflies into the Project Mojo equation (3 mojos + 8 billion mayflies = 1 messed up mojo). Pretty sure that Jake will not become an entomologist.

Everything was fine while it was still daylight, they just sort of milled about. But after the sun set they gravitated toward the lights (specifically our lights on stage). Thankfully we were just about finished. Mudcat ended up looking like one of those statues with birds all over it. He was covered in mayflies along with his guitar and his mic stand. One mayfly became a part of Mud's guitar during one of his songs. It was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it lived a full life (considering their life span is only 24-ish hours).

They ended up turning off the lights inside the bar to try to keep the mayflies out. Thankfully, they didn't close the big overhead door to keep us out.

6/12 - Jackalope

This was a patio-ish gig. Their main patio area is all enclosed with glass panels for the back wall and glass garage type doors on each end that were open, so it was pretty much like being outside. The side patio was all open and what a lovely view...

Lake Erie isn't so eerie is it?

We also got to see a heron just hangin' out on the pier until he took off to find another spot to roost. I think a heron in flight is as close to seeing a pterodactyl as we'll ever get.

Now on to more important stuff ~ food. Their desserts looked absolutely scrumptious. Jake and I wanted to be dessert judges in the worst way. I also wanted to get one of each to take home. Maybe the next time we play there (that would be Sat, June 27th from 9:00 - midnight) I can work out some sort of trade....kinda like "will work for food". Hey, the worst they can say is no.

We had a pretty steady crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy the music. That's always a plus. There was a group dining inside who came out to finish their drinks and sing and dance. They were a lot of fun. My favorite thing about them was the girl who requested "Mercedes Benz" and sang the line "I wait for delivery" as "I work for deliverance".

There's something about Jake's guitar....this time I didn't touch it, but somehow got myself hooked on it. Kinda like hooked on phonics, but different. The deliverance girl had to free me. How fitting.

Jake had his first (and I'm sure he hopes his last) encounter with midges, although the amount at the Jackalope paled in comparison to the ones at the Red House.

Ooh, and there were magic fairies flying around. Fine then, they weren't really magic and/or fairies...just some sort of cotton like puffs from the trees. But isn't it way more fun to picture magic fairies than cotton like tree puffs?

They have a really cute play area that looks like a boat. Of course, I wanted to go play on it and Jake being the mature one (well, compared to me that's not saying much) scoffed at my idea and asked me if I didn't think that was being a little bit childish. It's being child-like, not child-ish.

Remember that you can't do anything about getting older, just don't ever get old.

5/29 - Scorekeepers

It's a patio gig and the sun is blazing hot, so we set up and sweat through it....for a while.

But let's back up to how it all started with bad omens ~

The guy who booked us wasn't in yet and no one else seemed to know what to do with us. So, Mudcat waited it out until a phone call was made to give us clearance to proceed. Maybe these people should be working for Home Land Security or Border Patrol.

We get all set up and we're ready to start and a string on Jake's guitar breaks. I swear I had nothing to do with it.

The bartender tells us that every day for the past 3 days she's been scheduled outside and every day for the past 3 days the weather forecast made no mention of rain and every day for the past 3 days it's poured down rain.

Enough bad omens for ya? Here's what happened ~

There's a fundraiser going on inside for Shelly, who has breast cancer so we had a lot of people coming out to hear us and then going back in to hear the DJ announce someone else's ticket number as a winner.

While they're outside listening to us, I start to notice that most everyone is looking up at the sky and pointing. Of course I had to turn around and look up too and I saw that the sky had turned most angry indeed. It certainly took the mystery out of why it stopped being so blazing hot.

Then we feel a couple of rain drops...no big deal. Then we hear some claps of thunder...no big deal. Then the lightning...starting to be a deal. Then we found out just how angry the sky really was. We're talking no amount of anger management could have helped.

I tried to grab an umbrella from one of the tables, but couldn't budge it. The boys tried to help and it still wouldn't budge. Then one guy who was making his way inside stopped and suggested that we move the table over...the edge of the umbrella was under the overhang. In our defense, we're musicians not engineers.

So now we're the only ones still on the patio, stuck under the umbrella with all the equipment scootched into a jumble, the rain is coming down in a torrent, the thunder and lightning are putting on quite an audio/visual show and Mudcat turns into Carl Spackler and announces that the heavy stuff won't be coming down for a while.

Jake is appointed "runner" to get the equipment inside. He became instantly drenched. Eventually, Mudcat helps him and he becomes instantly drenched. I played the girl card and stayed under the umbrella (hey, one of us had to hold it up and since I was still dry it seemed like the logical choice).

Now comes the task of de-jumbling all the equipment and drying everything off with the towels that Mudcat has in his Mojo survival kit. He must have been a boy scout, because he's always prepared, although I think adding a canape to the mix for future outdoor gigs might just earn him a merit badge.

Betty came to Jake's rescue with more dry towels and dry clothes and Mudcat took one of our Project Mojo t-shirts to change into, but both boys were still soaked.

Just then, Joan shows up to hear us play. Great timing girlie. Had a barley soda with her and chatted for a bit while trying to help dry stuff off and re-organize.

And because the fundraiser peeps had their very own DJ we were sent home, but not before he called a winning ticket number and the girl who had that ticket came up to us to turn it in for her prize. Have another beer.

5/24 - The Treehouse

This was a patio gig, but the TV's were all inside (stupid, stupid, stupid basketball). And apparently there were no smokers there or they decided to quit cold turkey. I take that back, we did see about 4 tables worth of smokers on the patio....as we were driving away.

We did have some supporters, though. There was a couple who stayed longer than their dogs at home would have liked and there was a girl who was walking home from dropping her car off at the garage and heard us, so she decided to stop in for a bit.

I'm thinkin' that because it was Memorial Day weekend, the Cavs were playing and it was just a wee bit cool for hangin' out on the patio with no heaters, oh yeah and the Greek festival was going on down the street AND the Taste Of Cleveland was happening, we really did okay with the number of people who were there.

A lot of people stopped on the street (sidewalk) to listen to a few songs before moving on, even from the other side of the street. The best part was when Jake went to investigate. He went across the street, sat down on the church steps (see mom, your son does go to church!) and came back to report that it sounded pretty much the same from across the street as it did up close and personal. That BOSE system is pretty great.

Almost forgot about the people in the adjoining patio who were enjoying a spirited game of corn hole. One of their players came up to sing. She and Jake did a duet.

So, everything is going along all fine and well and we see a helicopter circling above and circling and circling some more. It also seemed that we were in the very middle of that circle. I was beginning to think that ASCAP is a pretty serious business or that Mark and Little Pat were somewhere close by.