10/28 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

This was our Halloween gig, but SOMEBODY, who will remain nameless, JAKE chose to not wear a costume this year. He did not get the thumbs up from his "old girlfriend" like Mudcat and I did for our costumes. Mud was a surgeon, I was a cowgirl. Did I mention that Jake didn't dress up this year?

Mandy looked adorable as a flapper, but she looks adorable even when she's not in costume.

Some of the kids were dressed up, mostly of the princess and witch variety, East Side Chuck was not dressed up this year either and he was a little too busy enjoying his date to pay any attention to us.

Jim and Paula were there....also NOT in costume and Paula had been over the moon about dressing up when we had talked about it at the previous WF gig. I have a feeling there was a compromise involved.

Tony was his cheerful self. It's always a pleasure to talk with him.

A super duper cute little boy was there with mom and dad in tow, sporting his red guitar. "Do You Know the Muffin Man" is the extent of his songlist so far, but it's a song that Mudcat didn't know. Perhaps we'll add it to our repertoire. Perhaps not.

10/22 - Stop 45

It's not the old hole in the wall joint, it's across the street. Same name, different set up.

It's a wine bar with a train theme going on with an actual working model that goes around the room on a shelf up by the ceiling. Unfortunately, it wasn't running....guess I could have asked Tom to turn it on for us, but I didn't. They also have the obligatory wine theme as well.
Interesting combination.

As we're bringing in the equipment and looking at our little corner of the world for the evening, discussing what could go where, one of the patrons comes up to us tells us to have a seat and stick around, because the band will be starting soon. Good to know. And then he left.

During the middle-ish, everyone got their checks at the same time and then did a mass exodus. That was not a good thing, playing to an empty place, but we kept going and soon enough, second shift came in.

We didn't eat there, but the pizzas that were coming out of the kitch parading by us on their way to the tables looked pretty tasty.

10/15 - Sammy K's Steakhouse

Our happy bar manager attributed their lack-o-peeps to Homecoming and to some other community activity, so we ended up doing just 1 set and called it a night.

At least the few people who were there were appreciative. That's always a plus.

10/14 - Cabana's

This was an odd weather night. On the way there, we saw a rainbow. Not so odd, but stay with me. Following the rainbow and in a short amount of time, we got rain, thunder, lightning, and hail. No pot of gold, just weather.

We met some nice people who chitted and chatted with me before we started. The guy's brother is in a band and does benefit shows. And I've slept since then, so can't remember the name of the guy or his band.

A couple of girls did some dancing and they stayed for the duration. Not so sure if they ended up staying because they were enjoying our music, or if they were just waiting out the weather. Let's go with both.

10/7 - Whole Foods, University Hts

We were bumped from the stage by the Juice Weasel. Okay, fine...that's not what it's really called, but it was some sort of juice-o-matic (not to be confused with the bass-o-matic). Where did they put us, you ask? In front of the eggs. So close to them that if we backed up too quickly, they would have been scrambled egg ready.

Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. Mudcat had to be on his toes to dodge the worker bees coming out of the back with their restocking supplies, most of which were on giant carts. And we were in direct line of the line to get to one of the tasting tables, which meant that the people who had carts and who were there strictly to shop decided to go "off roading".

One woman thought it would be a great idea to run her cart over Mudcat's mic stand, which sent the stand careening until the microphone became one with Mudcat's face, because my reflexes were not quick enough to right it before it made contact. Sorry, Mud. And what a trooper, he never stopped playing.

Then there was the woman who asked me if we could make change. We make change, that's what we do. She wanted to tip us, just not that much. And she asked me this while I was singing.

And if you don't believe this all happened, just ask Jim and Paula. They were our witnesses. Although, they were probably getting free juice and missed everything.

10/1 - Riverside Wines

Now, this gig I remember ~

Thanks to Betty, Bernie, and their crew for coming out to celebrate and offer support!

While we were doing our thing, I noticed a couple girls talking to each other and the girl who was drinking red wine and wearing a white blouse (you see where this is going, don't you) was the animated one and after she did one hand gesture too many, her red wine and her white blouse became one. She was horrified. And then seemingly out of nowhere, their server appeared with a travel size spray bottle. He gave it to her and she spritzed like a mad woman and then gave the spray bottle back to her server. After the gig, I asked him what that magical formula was and he told me that it was Oxy spray, so I had to get some. It's quite the wonderful pre-laundry treat. As a matter of fact, it completely took out spaghetti sauce that was covering my sweatshirt and jeans the other day. And when I say covering, I do mean covering. The sauce was even on the back of my shirt, but the story of the spaghetti sauce shower is a blog unto itself.

And Bernie, what did we learn at this gig? I'll tell you, because I know you weren't paying attention to Jake's instruction. Do not try to make Jake read a text message from your phone while he's in mid-gig. You're welcome, Jake.

9/23 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Well, since I'm just now posting about this gig and it's been over a month, it's going to be a short post. Really short. Unless I keep writing about how short it's going to be.

I do apologize for my neglectfulness with this blog, but I've been busy out my eyeballs and unfortunately the things I like most to do (this blog would be one of those things) keep getting pushed further and further into the abyss.

It seems that none of the gig's blogworthiness is making its way back to me, other than Tony being nice as ever. He's our go-to-guy for wine and he always makes time to chit and chat with us.

And I've got to believe that our regulars were there....East Side Chuck and the Dancing Sisters. Hey, that might be a good name for a band.

9/19 - Rudy's Bar and Grill

The grill part of this bar & grill was a teeny tiny kitchen, but a lot of food was making its way out of there. Everyone getting a good base to soak up all that alcohol.

It was so nice to play for a full-ish house and it's also been so long since we've played in an actual bar that we forgot just how sticky spilled alcohol can be. But don't worry about us.....we were alright. All the squishy sounds each time we took a step were sort of amusing to me.

A girl came up to ask us to play something that she could dance to and we had to wonder exactly what kind of music she was referring to, because there were people dancing while she was making her request.

And those boys in Vermilion really take their pool seriously (the cue ball kind, not the swimming kind). I thought that Jake was getting ready to jump in and be the bouncer to break up a dispute, but they seemed to work it out themselves.

Then we get to the end of the evening and Mr. Plastered decides that he wants to play the tambourine. As he invaded our inner sanctum, his foot made direct contact with Jake's then full water glass. Amazingly enough, the water missed Jake's foot board but it immersed all our
cords. It's remarkable how much water a single glass holds after it's spilled.

This guy must have been a regular there and/or the sticky floor was due to his previous spillage because he knew right where the towels were kept and went to get some to sop up his mess.

While he was wiping up the water, he never missed a beat with the tambourine. It was probably a much more interesting view from the bar than from our vantage point ~ he was bent over at the waist, wiping the floor with one hand, banging the tambourine against his upturned butt with the other hand.

The good news is that we didn't get electrocuted and their cleaner's job was made easier, because the water spilled on the sticky part of the floor.

9/9 - Dragon Ranch

Okay, so sue me....I'm writing this a month after the fact. Let's see if I can overcome the CRS.

From what I recall, it was a pretty low key gig, but I do remember a couple things ~

Jake's pilot peeps flew in and stayed for the duration. That was awfully nice of them. And they appeared to be staying because they were enjoying themselves and not out of any obligation. What a concept.

There was also a couple with their son, who had been asked to audition for some musical somewhere.....hey, I barely got all the gory details at the moment, so be amazed that this much is seeping through.

And Ed & Penny came out before heading off to Vermilion for a jam (musical type, not toast type). Ed was completely awestruck by Jake's guitar playing. And with good reason ~ Jake is phenomenal!

9/3 - Riverside Wine

The place was consistently full all evening, which surprised me with it being as warm as it was. I figured that everyone would want to hang out in the AC.

The party at the table directly in front of us was already in full force when we got there and they stayed for the duration.

And the trains were pretty consistent all evening as well. They seemed a lot longer this time, like whole songs worth of long. Oh well, it kept things interesting.

Along with the people and the trains, there were an overabundance of bugs and with Jake being the bug whisperer, we were able to carry on with no screaming or flailing about.

9/2 - Whole Foods, University Hts

WELCOME BACK, JAKE!!!! All is right with the world.

What a treat it was to see Big Rig Bernie again. He made a surprise appearance, but I think that the word got out, because there was a plethora-o-people there this time. I'm talkin' a lot.

And thanks to Jim and Paula for coming out. It was good to see you both again.

Our new friend, Eileen gave us quite a few pointers. In writing. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Those were the highlights. We had our usual tiny dancers and a couple older ones as well, but nothing earth shattering.

BW3, Strongsville

Once again, we were Jakeless and once again, I was not diggin' it. And yes, I told him that he can never leave again.

And once again, he didn't miss much. Nobody trampled through the equipment as we were setting up and nobody had sex in the parking lot. I mean really, how can you top that?

One of the guys in a bachelor party requested that we play some Beatles, because the groom-to-be really like them. We played "Oh, Darlin'" and quickly realized that was a bad choice for someone who is about to get married. So, we tried to save ourselves, but ended up playing a couple more good-love-turned-bad songs and then it hit me that we knew one happy song ~
"Happy Together". Oddly enough, after we played the happy song for him they took the bachelor party inside. Oh well.

8/19 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Well, we were Jakeless and I don't like it. Not one bit. The nerve of him to go on vacation. Geesh.

Although, he really didn't miss much at this one and I think it's because his absence effected everyone, not just me. Jake's favorite fan was concerned when she didn't see him, so I explained his lack-o-presence to her. She accepted it, but like me was not happy about it.

The only dancers we had were our regulars, who are starting to come out of their shell with us. Two little girls who are sisters and as different as night and day. One of them is a little tomboy and the other one is a little princess, who brought ballet moves to "The Letter". Betcha that was never in The Boxtops' and/or Joe Cocker's wildest dreams (oh no, wait....that's the Moody Blues).

8/18 - Panini's, Chagrin Falls

I think we're jinxed when it comes to this Panini's.

Last time was the power outage. This time was the rain/thunder/lightning. But at least this time we still got to play, just not outside. And of course the storm stopped about 3 seconds after we started, so all the people coming in paraded past us on their way outside to the patio and then paraded back as they were leaving. During our break I suggested to the boys that we tear down and reset up outside, but noooooooooooo.

Thanks to Jim and his crew and to our new family of friends for staying inside with us. You guys made the gig for us!

8/13 - Jammy Buggers

We all asked the same thing, so here ya go ~ Jammy Bugger is British slang for a lucky individual.

It's a neato-peato place, especially if you're out and about and hungry between 10pm and midnight. They have a $3 menu, which includes a 1/4lb cheeseburger. How great is that?

There are some fun little games stashed under the coffee table, which Jake and I tried our hand at (inside joke for Jake). They also feature local artists' work and are all around friendly people. Just go there.

Our new friend, Paul and his crew were our big supporters. They even requested originals. That just never happens. And I think it's time that Jake names his guitar, but it has to be a stripper name, since Paul so deftly slid his tip into the G string....

8/6 - Riverside Wines

This was the first time playing here that we were able to be outside. And I believe it was also
our first deck gig. Patio gigs are nice, but what a great set up they have ~ a multi-layered deck with flowers and fountains (too many in Jake's opinion) that overlooks a ravine into the river. On the opposite side of the ravine is a train track. A very active train track.

The trains made for a nice backdrop to Folsom Prison Blues and Driver 8.

We had a nice little support crew along the side, that is when their attention wasn't on the trains. How refreshing it was to see that inner child poking through the surface of some of the adults. Remember when we were kids and we would give the universal hand signal to truck drivers so that they would blow their horns? That's what these people were doing to the train drivers....would they be conductors or engineers? Either way, those guys made it very clear that their horns were in good working order.

Aside from all the train stuff, I got to be Spider Woman, but I didn't get to wear a neat suit that shoots webs out of the wrists. So, I guess it was more like spider patrol, keeping the arachnids from encasing us, along with our mic stands in their webs. You're welcome, Jake.

With 10 minutes to go, the rain started up again. And how ironic is it that it happened while I was singing, "crying on the corner, waiting in the rain" and "all of my life I've been waiting in the rain". We closed up shop early to avoid the downpour that never came. We'll sing for 10 extra minutes the next time we're there to make up for it.

8/5 - Herb's Tavern

Unfortunately, we didn't get there early enough to enjoy a Herb Burger. We'll have to plan ahead next time.

It never ceases to amaze me how we can make ourselves fit into tight spaces. Somehow, we made it work and we had fun doing it. I suppose that if our musical careers come to a screeching halt, we could always get jobs in the circus as the clowns in a Volkswagen.

Dorothy is a trooper, she made it out with her foot in an air cast. Poor little thing broke her toe. Ouch. Suzie kept her company. Thanks, girls for coming out!

Jim, Marilyln, Irv, and Judi were there to support us as well. You guys are all right.

Mike was driving along Detroit, minding his own beeswax when he realized that we were playing on the patio. It was too late for him to turn back, but he said he'll catch us there next time.

8/4 - Panini's, Chagrin Falls

Although this won't appear on the gig counter, I still felt it blog worthy.

We make our way to Chagrin Falls, which is not like going around the corner, but not the bar in Lakewood. Wait a minute....we actually did go there after the gig that wasn't. Anyway, we get there only to discover that moments before our arrival there was a horrible accident that took out a utility pole, so Panini's was without power.

To ease his frustrations of having no power, no generator, and no customers, the manager got his golf clubs out of his car and started hitting balls through the parking lot to the woods behind. Thankfully, he hit them high enough so that no cars or Mojo van was injured in the process.

We hung around for a bit to see if the situation would improve, but it did not. We'll be back there on Thurs, the 18th to try again.

7/30 - Dockers, Kelleys Island

What fun to be back at the islands again!

We decided to make a day of it, which started with the glacial grooves. To most people, it's quite an impressive sight. Jake is not most people.

Everyone of us has our strengths and mine is clearly not put-put golf. I started out keeping pace with the boys, and if high scores won I would have been the grand champion. I did however get a hole in one and I'm pretty sure that "one" is the key word there, as in one time.

Had dinch (kinda like brunch, but between lunch and dinner) at The Pump, then headed down to the Casino bar to catch Armstrong Bearcat Band for a couple songs.

I do believe that the set up for bands at Dockers might just be the best ever. Not only did we have a stage, but we had a wonderful view of the water.

Mudcat was right at home when a jet ski pulled up to the dock. Those are his favorites (or not).

I like it that the bar had water dishes set out for the visiting dogs. Real dogs. And they even put ice cubes in the water for them. How nice is that?

So, I'm in the middle of singing Crazy on You when this seemingly normal guy walks up toward the stage, looks me in the eye, then his expression changes to completely insane and he starts jumping up and down, flailing his arms around like he's having a fit and not fit to have it. This goes on for only a few seconds and then as abruptly as he started, he stopped, turned around and walked back to his place at the bar in the same normal way he started out. I'm not
sure what that was all about, but I'm glad he put that space between us again.

Johnny C. came up and sang Folsom Prison and he did quite a good job with it. Then he started ad libbing with the words and was most entertaining.

This gig's super duper cutie was a little boy who was probably 2-ish, give or take an ish who thought it was way more fun to just run around with a maraca having mom and dad take turns chasing him than it was to shake it to make some noise. When mom and dad needed a break from running after him they brought him up to the front of the stage and held him while he looked up and up and up at Jake with an expression like he had just seen his first real giant. Then the mischievous look resurfaced, complete with that knowing grin as he wiggled his way free from his parental clutches and took off running with maraca held high.

Some of us are people watchers and some of us are not. Mudcat is not. There's a table directly in front of Mud with a couple who start out their stay with us friendly enough toward each other, but as the beer flowed, apparently so did some hurtful words. It got to the point where the guy was grumbling loud enough to the girl that I could hear his grumbling over our playing. She starts to cry and then puts on her sunglasses to hide the tears she's dabbing at with napkins. Here's where the part about Mudcat not being a people watcher comes in to play ~ he starts up all these songs that have to do with love gone bad, breaking up, etc. I felt horrible singing, "I'm gonna swallow my tears" as this poor girl is crying. Thankfully, he didn't start playing Happy Together.

And of course there were the drunken island girls who tried to dance, but ended up doing more hanging onto each other for balance than they did dancing. One of them tried to request a song and I'm pretty sure that I got a little tipsy just from her breath.

Everyone seemed to have a good time (except for the fighting couple). We certainly enjoyed ourselves!

Then on the ferry ride back, we got to feel like real celebrities when this girl points toward us and says, "hey, you're the band from tonight...you guys were great!".

7/29 - BW3, Medina

Okay, here is a fashion statement that I was unaware of ~ wearing a backpack like you would wear a backpack when camping, but a seemingly empty backpack. There was a guy (a.k.a. Backpack Boy) who never took his backpack off the entire time he was there, he even adjusted the straps to make sure it was tight. It was a most odd thing indeed.

Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we got to be on the patio. We were set up at the opposite end of the main doors and it was most amusing to see the people who were leaving during the second set look over at us like we had just magically appeared. It made me wonder exactly how long they had been in there.

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful gig.

Oh yeah, thanks Jake for making me laugh and laugh!

7/28 - Fat Little Buddies

If you're looking for the perfect patio to enjoy an adult beverage or two or six, Fat Little Buddies is where you want to be. They seem to have a little bit of something for just about everyone.
We even had a stage!

The rain stopped just in time for us to set up and it stayed away through the entire evening, however it was so horribly humid that we had to wipe down all the equipment before we packed it up.

Thanks to Marilyn and Jim for coming out and enduring the thick air and the biting bugs.

We had some dancers, including a tiny dancer who seemed to be much more interested in seeing how still he could stand than in dancing.

And our guest singer entertained us with chorus and verse (or was that verse and chorus) after giving thorough and detailed instructions to Jake.

7/23 - The Pub

This was a mixed emotions gig, since it was our last one at the Pub for this year. Happy to be there, but sad because we won't be back for a while. Thanks for everything, Matt. We look forward to being back next year.

As always, the bread pudding was just scrumptious. I do believe that we'll be going back at some point this year just for that.

We missed seeing Rita. Of course, it was the one time she had a Saturday off. Make sure to ask for her if you go to the Pub for dinner and/or bread pudding. She's a doll.

Rosemary, Betty and Chloe came out to see us. What a treat having my smallest of girlfriends there!

Judi and Irv, what can I say? Thanks for being there.

Peter and company stayed for the duration. It was nice to see them again.

The neighbor lady (I'm sorry, but I don't know your name) walked between the raindrops to come over and support us. She's never missed a gig, but always leaves before I get a chance to go talk with her. The first time she was there, she told Mudcat that she was sitting out on her porch and liked what she heard, so she had to come over and see us.

There was a little boy watching us bring the equipment bags in and after we had everything in, this was our conversation ~

Little Boy: That's a lot of suitcases.
Lola: You're right, it is.
Little Boy: What's in them?
Lola: Everything we need to play some music for you.
Little Boy: Why aren't you playing now?
Lola: Because we have to take everything out of the suitcases first.
Little Boy: When will you start?
Lola: As soon as we have everything set up.
Little Boy: How long will that be?
Lola: Until we're done.
Little Boy: Oh

Enter Little Boy's little brother. He just stood there dramatically plugging his ears with his fingers (and yes, we were still in the setting up stage).

It was a fun start to a fun gig.

Thanks again!

7/22 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Rain, rain go away....my umbrella decided that this would be a good time to break, so I made a dash for the door and even though Mudcat was kind enough to get as close to making it a drive through as possible for me, I still got soaked. He had a golf umbrella to try to keep himself and the equipment dry and he got soaked. Jake had an umbrella as well and oh guess what, he got soaked. Thankfully, the storm had pretty much run its course by the time we were done and we didn't have to repeat the soaking process.

Jake asked me to remind him to get flour for his mom when we were done. I thought he said flowers, not flour so my response was, "what did you do?". Hope the zucchini bread turned out good!

They must have had an incredibly dee-ish appetizer at the sampling station near us, because that area was crowded during most of the 5x7. Hey, do you think it could have been because they were listening to us? That's a pastability.

7/15 - BW3, Strongsville

This was the Sex in the City gig. More like Sex in the Suburbs, but we'll get to that later. Gotta start from the start.

So, we're on the patio just starting to set up. These 2 guys decide that it would make way more sense to cut through the patio doing a serpentine thing all around the equipment bags to get inside. That kind of stuff annoys me to no end, so I had to bitch about it to someone...lucky Jake. He was bringing more equipment on to the patio and missed it. No sooner did I get done telling him about it when these same 2 guys come back out and repeat the process, but this time some of the equipment is set up. I asked them where they lived so I could come over to their house and walk through their shit. For some reason, I never got an address. Go figure.

During that whole set up process, I managed to pinch my finger (not to be confused with pull my finger) in the mic stand, which resulted in a lovely blood blister. But, don't worry about me...I'll be alright. It's just a flesh wound.

Thanks to Linda, Judy, and Chris for stopping out! It's always nice to see some familiar faces. They got there just in time to see the moon rise. And it's always fun to sing "Moon Dance" during a full moon.

Maybe that full moon had something to do with all the over active libidos...back to the Sex in the Suburbs.

As I was singing "Fire", these 2 guys (but not the same 2 guys from before) are walking to their car and one of them breaks into some really sexy dance moves while the other one sashays along with him. Pretty sure there was a little more than just dancing going on there.

Now, the tables on the patio are quite close together, so what happens at one table is not easy to block out of your sight from any other table. Keeping that in mind, a table with a family who were having a nice wholesome time is opposite a table with a couple who were also having a wholesome time (one of them had their whole tongue in some part of the other's mouth) during "One Way Out". Jake said that he never realized that was a make out song and I never realized just how long that song takes.

And then there was THE COUPLE ~ they leave on the guy's motorcycle during the first set, so big deal. But, during the second set they come back on the bike (well, duh), she gets off of it and starts doing these stretches that are way more provocative than cat like. Apparently, she needs to stretch before a good workout...I mean before sex.

They both get into the van that he parked the bike next to and thankfully the van was not facing us. Let me tell you that moon roof was doing double duty ~ it let the full moon in and it let the full moon out....wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. Oh, but I have to say more.

Not only was the van rocking, but from where we were set up on the patio, we could pretty much see everything through the side windows and like a bad car wreck it was really difficult to look away. I was tempted to take the tip bucket over to them and tell them it was our donation for a room, but I was afraid that if I got that up close and personal I would have to wash my eyes out with acid. We were also tempted to turn our stage lights onto full strobe and spin them around to face the van, but we didn't.

And as if that whole thing wasn't bad enough, the guy gets out of the van and then zips up. I will never eat at Hot Dog Heaven again.

7/9 - Dragon Ranch

Dede and Lori came out for supper and to be our groupies. Thanks, girlies! They stayed for the bulk of the gig until the call of ice cream won out over the joy of being a groupie.

That was the highlight of this gig.

7/8 - Cebar's Euclid Tavern

This place has such a great stage with a shared wall to the kitchen, which has a handy dandy pass through opening complete with a food shelf. The side wall is home to a smaller shelf for drinks. Chuck's dream gig (or Danny's....no more drum case abuse).

And as Project Mojo luck would have it, the weather was finally decent and that meant that pretty much everyone was outside on the patio where we weren't.

The few agoraphobes in attendance were most appreciative in their individual ways. We even learned a few new "dance" moves.

Our new friend, Kevin was quite pleased that he stopped in for an adult beverage while out for a walk around the neighborhood. He really liked our selection of tunes and took our card with the promise of coming out to see us again.

7/4 - Meadows Fireworks

This was our 6th year at Vic and Amy's as the warm up act for the fireworks. As always, they were most gracious hosts, the food was wonderful and a good time was had by all!


We missed seeing Mary Lou (Vic's grandma) and singing her favorites to her. Hopefully, she'll be back for the party next year.

The ultralight (flying lawn mower, as I like to call it) made it's annual appearance, so that was fun to see.

And it's usually the kids who are the dancers, but this time one of the neighbor ladies let her inner child loose and danced a bit.

Of course, the fireworks were grand. Looking forward to doing it all again next year.

7/1 - Whole Foods, University Hts.

I'm still getting used to playing to the olive bar, but at least there are people to go with the fruit. Or are olives vegetables? Okay, now I have to know. One moment please, checking....
According to the world wide web, olives are the fruit of the olive tree. Now what was my point?

We were also right next to the sampler table for the 5x7 that had biscuits topped with vanilla ice cream and fruit (now, these I know were fruit ~ strawberries and blueberries).
Gotta love it when a food item can be patriotic. And thankfully, there were some leftovers that we got to sample before we packed up. And if you'd like to know how to make them for your own self, just ask Jake...he got the recipe.

Of course, a Whole Foods gig is not complete without kids; a cutie little boy who was a miniature Mudcat right down to the baseball cap and the tapping foot, the little girl who was in awe of Jake (pretty sure she thought he was a giant), and the tiniest of kids who clearly was experiencing live music for the first time, but she didn't seem to mind....after all, we're not as annoying as what you would think.

6/25 - John Palmer's Bistro 44

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was definitely the quietest of times.

SHHHHHH!!!

6/24 - BW3, Medina

Started out to be a patio gig, but with the weather being Seattle-ish, they moved us inside. Don't know what it is about BW3 and the rain (see BW3 Strongsville blog).

After bringing our equipment in through a 5 mile long maze, we were not rewarded with cheese at the end of the maze, just a table full of people where we needed to set up. And they were just being served their wings and another round of beer, so we knew it was going to be a wait.

Trying to stay out of the way, we piled our gear around and in front of this game that is similar to "the claw", but this one had the prizes hanging from strings and in place of the claw was some sort of scissors device to cut the string to free the prize. Sounds easy enough, right? Not according to the note on the front of the machine that informed the game player that the string doesn't always cut, so keep trying. Wow, if people are that desperate to give away their money, I am quite sure that I can come up with some sort of scam (I mean game) to take their money (I mean test their skill).

While we're waiting for these people to eat and drink, the manager comes over to us and asks us to move our things because some kids want to play the game. Move it where exactly? We moved it in front of the servers' station, which made for some fancy footwork on their part.

After a bit, we were finally able to set up, but in the same space that a table with 4 bar stools was occupying and let me tell you, that is not a lot of space. I had to sing sideways....kinda felt like one of the Supremes, but with out the fancy dress and bouffant.

We had a surprise guest ~ Big Rig Bernie and his fearless fliers. Thanks for coming out, it was great to see you!

6/18 - The Mustard Seed

A make-over occurred since the last time we played here and the place looks great. Not that it looked bad before....

And for crying out loud, be careful out there ~ it was injury central with broken arms, wrists, legs. One man had a cast on his elbow and an air boot on his foot. I don't know what's happening over there, but I'm glad we made it out in once piece.

There were lots of appreciative people and that always makes for a nice gig. Thanks everyone!

6/17 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Always a fun time to play at the 5x7.

This time, we were scootched over so that Jake was the only one of us who had a room with a view. Mudcat and I could see down the ice cream aisle, which wasn't getting much traffic.

There were some familiar faces this time around. And how did I know this if I didn't have view, you ask? Jake told me.

And their carrot cake is yummy, that is if you like carrot cake. Was so happy to have a sample!

6/11 - The Pub

It was great to be back on the patio (well, we're always on the patio...I meant with the walls down and the heaters off). And we were along the inside wall rather than across the back this time.

There was a bridal shower going on that took up the back area. I don't know about you, but I've never seen men at a wedding shower, except for the groom, but about half of this party were men and they actually played the shower games along with the women. I'm thinkin' that all the trays of shots we saw Rita taking to their table might have had something to do with their participation.

Thanks to Dorothy and her Beau for stopping by and staying a bit. It's always great to see you!

Judi and her crew of Irv, John, Donna, and Sheril came out to eat, drink, and be merry as well.

And our neighborhood friend walked over and stayed for the duration. She and another couple actually chanted "encore" and I'm pretty sure they meant for us to sing more, not for their server to bring them a frozen dinner.

6/10 - BW3, Strongsville

Started out as a patio gig, but we ended up inside because of the threat-o-rain that turned into real droplets.

It was nice of them to reroute us to an inside spot, however it would have been even nicer had there not been a hockey game in the main dining room/bar area. Apparently, people were more interested in the hockey game than in us and it wasn't an option to have the game and our gig share the spotlight. Because of that, we ended up in the furthest, most remote corner of the building.....far, far away from the viewing public with the exception of 4 tables who wanted family time and were quite happy to be in the overflow section.

Phil, Jackie, and Ken stopped by for the second set, which was a good thing because by then the families were gone and that left just us.

Chris, Alisa, and Biz also stopped by for a bit to keep track of the placement of my feet.

6/4 - Panini's, Concord

What a great patio! And it was huge...well, the patio was, not so much our space. But that's okay, it was big enough. Don't worry about us....

The best thing was that we only had to carry the equipment about 3 feet. Got to park right outside of the gate that lead to our spot.

It was an interesting evening, what with the woman who just had to plow through our set up to get outside (hellooo...patio...you're already outside) so that she could talk to her little dog. And I double checked with Jake to make sure I heard her correctly. I did. She was talking to her dog.
But it's okay, because she told us that she wouldn't break anything. This was right before we were getting ready to start and then we closed the gate behind her before we got underway. She came back, but used the door just like everyone else.

Then there was the chick who interrupted Mudcat's introduction (guess she didn't care who we were or what we were about) to request that we sing happy birthday to her friend and when we started our version of the song, she turned around and gave us the look of death, but haha ~ joke's on her, we didn't die.

And then we had the "maraca incident". Birthday requester and her non-birthday friend came out of the incident unmaimed, but I'm pretty sure that Jake was secretly hoping for a cat fight.

Let's not forget about Mark, who came to the realization during his debut of "Down by the River" (using his phone to display the lyrics in lieu of the karaoke machine we did not have) that telling people you sing with celebrities is where he should have left it.

6/3 - Whole Foods, University Hts

Rarely do we have an actual stage to play on, but we did at this Whole Foods gig. A stage in a grocery store ~ what a concept.


Our new friend, Eileen saw us through from start to finish. Thanks!


We had some dancers; a brother/sister duo. Their mom sure has her hands full.


At one point, Jake thought that we were in Lakewood rather than University Hts, but I set him straight.

5/13 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

There are just way too many cute kids who's mom and dad frequent Whole Foods.

This time around we had twin boys, probably around 2-ish years old. Dressed alike in their khaki pants and oxford white shirts was where the similarities began and ended with these little guys.

One of the twins looked like a miniature version of dad and the other one looked exactly like his mom. The boys were having pasta...mini-me-dad had everything under the sun mixed in his, all bright and colorful, while mom's clone had plain noodles. His shoes were nowhere to be seen, his little shirt tail was hanging out and he wanted nothing to do with dad trying to get him to chair dance (or cart dance in this case), while the dad look-alike, who was still fully clothed and shoed insisted on getting out of the cart so that he could dance and jump.....and run.

And it seems that each time we play here, we see a celebrity. This time around it was Janice Joplin. Obviously, we count people who resemble celebrities as being true celebrities. It doesn't take much for us.

5/7 - Dragon Ranch

The Kentucky Derby was on every TV in a place named after the Northfield race horse, Dragon Again, so what do you think people were paying attention to? I'll give you a hint: it wasn't us.

Toward the end we had some favorable comments, so I guess we filtered through on some level.

4/23 - The Pub

PROJECT MOJO'S 600th GIG!!!! (and no, I did not add an extra zero)

And that's 600 gigs in the course of 6-ish years. Is that just crazy?

Thank you, Betty for spending time with us before hand and for treating us to our celebratory meal. You are the way best! And thank you for inviting your group(s) out to see us.

Looks like we have a new groupie (as long as her parents drive her to our gigs). She is quite fond of science fairs and is now an accomplished shaker of the egg.

And we still have some CD's left over that didn't make it into the hands of those congratulating us during our break (see Mudcat's FB post for that little contest), so join us for our 700th gig and you just might be a winner! Don't worry, we'll remind you.

4/22 - Whole Foods

I was doing the Sister Christian thing and singing at my church's Good Friday service, so missed this gig.

But, according to my sources there were a lot of babies there.

Once again, this is why the boys don't write these posts.

4/8 - Cabana's

Yet another familiar place to me where I vaguely recall pounding down some adult beverages....

We had a celebrity in our midst, but didn't find out until the last song. It was Beetlejuice. Well, if you didn't look at the guy and just listened to his voice. Dead on. He sang Folsom Prison Blues with Mudcat.

And Beetlejuice was amazed that anyone would take a baby on vacation. Not sure if he felt that the baby hadn't lived long enough to need a vacation or if it really wasn't a vacation for the parents...probably that one.

And the guy who paid us told us that we were much better than the other band they had in there....they were terrible. Thanks, I think.

4/2 - Sammy K's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUDCAT T. BASS!

No ball room dancers this time, but we did have a back up singer.

Our new friends; Jocko (the back up singer), Sally, Barb, and Fernando stayed for the duration. They were a lot of fun, plus they talked to me after the gig enough that I barely had to do any of the tear down. I like those people.

3/26 - Red Hawk

At least it wasn't snowing a blizzard like every other time we've played at the Red Hawk. A nice change of pace. Thanks to the parents of the Lake Catholic Cougars, we had quite a crowd. They were celebrating having had a great season and thanks to their leader I got to have a big old lesbo moment when I sang "you're just too good to be true" to his wife. That's right....his request to his wife to have the girl sing. Ah, the logic of the drunken mind. I changed it up to "he can't take his eyes off of you" and then I pretty much told her that she knows the rest and I stopped singing. A couple were trying to teach their little girl how to shoot pool, but she did much better with out their instructions. At least when she was doing it on her own there were no stray cue balls making their through the air in a bee-line to us. Shortly after they left, the woman returned by her own self to meet up with their friend and left again with him...probably to shoot pool. Oh, and let's not forget about the woman who pulled up a chair at the table in front of us and then just sat there staring at us, clutching her purse (which was not a clutch purse). Jake and I were pretty sure that she put the mal occhio on us. For those of you who are too lazy to look that up or thought that I failed to use spell check before posting, it's an Italian curse. Okay, so what are the odds of us seeing this EVER, but twice, and both times coming home from a Red Hawk gig ~ a car going the wrong way (as in heading toward us) on the highway. This time there was no need to call the police to report it as we had just passed a catching speeders kinda guy. Pretty sure that driving-the-wrong-way guy made his night.

3/25 - Dragon Ranch

Okay, not a Chinese restaurant. I'll admit it ~ that's what I thought it was just based on the name. Oh come on, I'm not the only one who thought that. It's a golf course/sports bar/restaurant combo complete with a trophy room that doubles as the lobby. The Dragon is part of a race horse's name Dragon Again who apparently wasn't when he won all those trophies. And the food must be exceptional based on the amount of people willing to wait for a table and the wait didn't let up until well into the evening. Everyone was super duper nice to us and the diners really seemed to enjoy our music. One gentleman even bought a CD!

3/18 - Whole Foods

We were back to our normal spot as an end cap opposite the water where we have a great view of the bread/deli/dairy section as well as the main aisle and the check out. Jake was right ~ it's the perfect spot. I just can't get over all the cute little kids. This time we had a miniature Harry Potter and another little guy who looked exactly like a teeny tiny man, pushing his very own teeny tiny grocery cart. Too cute. Then there was the little guy in the Gap t-shirt who got confused about the venue and his gender....pretty sure he thought he was at Mardi Gras and that if he flashed his chest I would give him beads. And we had some dancersby (passersby who dance/walk). But the best thing has to be the cardboard-disguised-as-rice-cake-disguised-as-pita-bread machine. It was most entertaining. I want one. It makes the "bread" and then shoots it out into a plexiglas box. Although, if I had one it would have to make something else...anything else.

3/12 - BW3, Broadview Hts

Lots of peeps there for the basketball games who actually stuck around! Guess March Madness has its up side.

Tons of thanks to Jake's entourage and to Betty and HazMat Bernie for being part of the madness.

The most exciting news bite is that Jake seems to have rounded the bend and is on his way back to being human again from his lengthy battle with the bug. Welcome back!

3/11 - Claddagh Pub

Thanks to Mark & Gina for venturing out! Glad you're starting to feel better, Gina. And Mark, you are just way too funny with your song remakes. Thanks for making me laugh.

And speaking of song remakes ~ Mudcat was on a roll with them, especially turning "Layla" into "Laundry". Did you know that Eric Clapton did his own laundry at a real life laundromat while he was in LA? We didn't either until Jake told us about the video snippet, which clearly shows that Mr. Clapton has mastered the art of shirt folding. Wonder how he is at origami...

Our "stage" was certainly a new and different twist for us. Having closed the section in which we were to set up in direct line of the open kitchen, it was a true test for the Bose to see if it could broadcast around corners to the people who were seated at the bar.

3/5 - Riverside Wine

What a lovely treat to have Jake back with us! Not quite the picture of health, but at least he's upright.

Thanks to Betty and Bernie for making it out. It's always great to have your support.

People seemed to be enjoying themselves and us (which is always a plus). One guy who was sitting off to the side of us came up after I sang "White Rabbit". He asked who sang that song and in all my smart-ass-ish-ness said, "I just did, didn't you hear me?". Hahahahaha...I crack my own self up. It was Gracie Slick, by the way.

During the break, I headed off to the ladies' room, but it was occupied, so I stepped back to wait my turn. As I was waiting, I noticed the sign that's usually at the front of restaurants....Please Wait To Be Seated. I wonder if someone there had a sense of humor or if its placement was just a koinkidink. Either way, it made me chuckle warmly.

2/27 - Trading Post

Definitely a way better summer time gig, since those bikers are pretty strict about not introducing their bikes to road salt. And who can blame them? But there were a few truck driving bikers who ventured out for their Sunday afternoon libation.

And to entice them out during the winter, a new video game has been added. It's called "Turkey Hunter USA". To shoot the birds, simply use the safety orange rifle that is tethered to the game. Apparently, the biker boys would rather try to "win" a stuffed animal from the claw machine. That's a very popular game. And the amount of stuffed animals in that game did not diminish during our stay, but the amount of money in that machine sure did increase.

If the boys get tired of talking to each other or watching TV or listening to us, they can choose from a variety of reading material found in the magazine rack by the door (the main door, not the bathroom door).

One of the boys decided to actually pay attention to us and requested that we play some White Snake. When ever we get requests, we do our best to accommodate and this was no exception. If a White Snake song was what this guy wanted then a White Snake song we would do. So I sang Mama Cass' "Dream A Little Dream". That's pretty close, right?

2/26 - Cebar's Euclid Tavern

Nope, not the same Light of Day joint, two very different Euclid Taverns.

We didn't realize that there was a band playing before us (hey, we were the headliner with an opening act!) until we got there and started to unload equipment. It was a most disconcerting experience. Turns out we weren't bumped nor was the other band our opening act.

We thought that everyone would leave once those boys pulled up stakes and moved on, but people hung around and really seemed to enjoy themselves.

I would have enjoyed myself more had Jake been with us. Pretty sure he would have enjoyed himself more to be playing his guitar on a stage for a near full house rather than being home with a fever, coughing up a lung.

2/19 - The Pub

It's always a great time at The Pub! The food is dee-lish, the beer is cold and Matt and his crew are always super nice.

Thanks to Betty, Sue, Jeff, Rita, and Eric for coming out to show your support, but more importantly thanks for enduring the 40 minute wait for a table.

Ooh...did you see the full moon and/or did you howl? I sure did. While I was howling, Jake turned into a werewolf. I was a wee bit terrified. It's just not something you see every day (or every full moon). Hopefully he's back to normal by now.

And if you missed us this time around, don't you worry your pretty little head ~ just come back on April 23rd, which is the next time we'll be playing The Pub.

2/12 - Euclid Tavern

Yes, the same Euclid Tavern where "Light of Day" was filmed. So, I guess in a round-about way we shared a stage with Joan Jett ("girls have balls, they're just up a little higher that's all") and Michael J. Fox ("pain is temporary, film is permanent").

Thanks to Lightnin' for sitting in with us. What fun! And thanks to Gina for being our photographer and our support.

If you were thinking about voting for the green man, then Rafael is the name to look for, not Charlie. He was the green man on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". Two very different kinds of green.

We truly did meet East Side Chuck. Truly. And his name was actually Chuck. I had just finished singing "Dream Boat Annie" when Chuck asked me when we would be back again, so I told him that we won't be back for a while. I crack my own self up.

Oh yeah, Jake was a whore. I mean H-O-R. Oopsie.

2/11 - Scoreboards

Scoreboards or Union Sation? You make the call. We were at Scoreboards....Bernie was at Union Station. Thanks, Dave for keeping Bernie company and for your support as well.

At first glance, the dads bringing their daughters in for a Valentine's dinner was cute, but as I watched the girls try to make their way to the bathroom, that cuteness quickly diminished. The girls couldn't have been more than 9-ish and they were done up like prom queens. Clearly they had been taken to the salon to have their hair and make up done. They were wearing fancy dresses and both girls were trying to walk in high heels. What in the world are they going to have to look forward to when they're grown? Oh well, that's just my opinion.

And you know you're in the country when people ride their snowmobiles to the bar. A group in full snow mobile attire stopped in. Maybe the place is a biker bar in the summer and a snowmobiler bar in the winter. Seemed to work.

1/29 - BW3, Broadview Hts

WE MISSED YOU, BETTY! Oh yeah...we missed you too, Bernie. But, don't worry about us....we were alright. Barely.

Nothing much to write home about on this one. We had to wait for stupid, stupid, stupid basketball to finish before we could start. I so enjoy basketball. Or not.

Paul was gracious, as always. Thanks, Paul!

That's it.

1/28 - Whole Foods

We got to be on the other side of the store in the nuts and dried fruit aisle and that section made for much less people watching. Not that there weren't people stocking up on nuts and fruits, but that was the only aisle we could see. Our usual spot was being used as one of the tasting stops during the 5 x 7. There's just a lot more going on in the bakery/deli/dairy/salad bar section.

As always, there were some cutie kids. Our new little friend, Giana played the maracas for a bit, but only after she gave the tambourine a test drive.

And we owe a debt of gratitude to Chris (a.k.a. East Side Chuck). So ~ gosh thanks, Chris....we never could have got there on our own.

1/20 - Fat Little Buddies

Aside from the nuclear heat setting on their thermostat, it was a most pleasant place. And I have it from an"old" man that it's a fairly common bar trick to keep the heat set at scorch to get people hot, so they'll drink more to cool off. Yeah....I don't know, it seemed like I drank about a gallon of water and didn't get any cooler. Perhaps if I had replaced the water with beer then even if I didn't cool off, I wouldn't have cared so much about being warm.

And I discovered that Bernie is a man of many talents. One such talent being the ability to close his van door without leaving the comfort of his bar stool. I think it might have been magic.

1/15 - Riverside Wine

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This was our first gig of 2011 and what a nice (and oddly interesting) way to start ~ Riverside Wine is a wine store (don't despair, they also have beer), but with a twist. They have a bar at one end and tables at the other end. Imagine a Convenient store turned wine store; the bar takes the place of the check out area, the tables take the place of the produce section and wine bottles take the place of everything that's on the shelves.

And you can get food there too, provided you get the cheese plate as that's the only item on the menu.

I'm looking forward to playing back there in the spring/summer when we can be on the deck. I do believe the deck area is bigger than the entire store. The deck overlooks the Cuyahoga with a train track at the top of the bank on the other side of the crooked river.

And wouldn't you know it ~ I went outside to check out the view and 3 seconds after I came back inside, a train went by. I was bummed. Went back outside after we packed up and it was deja vu all over again (thank you, Yogi Berra)...as we were pulling out of the parking lot, a train went by. DAMMIT!

Six of the people who were enjoying their wine and cheese plates were the girls of Girls' Night Out, who were quite the chair dancers and back up singers from afar. They also did all the moves for "Stop In The Name Of Love" and they joined us for "Bobby McGee". Thanks, girls!

And thank you, Bernie for supporting us on our ground breaker gig of the new year (and for requesting/insisting/demanding the encore).

12/11 - Wing Warehouse

Our last gig of 2010 and it had to be here.

Warehouse describes this place, but an empty warehouse describes it better.

It was the best of gigs, it was the worst of gigs. Well, I'm half right.

11/20 - Sammy K's

What a neato-peato place this was....kinda like 3 joints all rolled into one. Ooops, wrong kinda joint. You know what I mean.

Anyway, there was an interesting mix of people. Most interesting were the ballroom dancers (after all, we are a ballroom band). Seriously, they really were ballroom dancers, complete with coordinating outfits and special dancing shoes that they changed into after their arrival. I was impressed with their moves, but was scared that the guy was going to loose his grip and drop the girl head first onto the floor. Thankfully, that didn't happen. And you haven't lived until you've seen the ballroom dance version of "Folsom Prison Blues". We have.

Their patio bar is open year round. It's like its own Private Idaho and I was not convinced that we were actually outside.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention our new friend, Al? According to Al, one of his closest friends is Joe Walsh, whom he opened for at the old Hullabaloo (hey, if I remember that place then so do you....we're not that old!). He also took his kids to see Joe play at the old Front Row (again....remember that place?) and they got together back stage to sing to Joe and share some "back in the day" stories. So, we did some James Gang and Eagles tunes for Al, which seemed to make him happy....although that could have been the beer.

11/6 - Mojo's Coffee House

As always, pretty low key.

The regulars were there, some even hung out for a song or two before taking their coffee on the road.

One woman came in, got her coffee and left, but returned in moments to sit for a bit, so that was nice.

12/4 - Mojo's Coffe House

Our new friend, Miranda was chief cook and bottle washer.

Crew Cut Colonel & Betty were there and we must apologize to Betty for not doing her favorite song...just yuckin'.

We had a memorable 2010 at Mojo's. Best of luck to all our Coffee Clan in 2011.

10/29 - Whole Foods

This was our first Halloween gig complete with costumes.

Thanks to Karen for stopping by and for pulling up a chair to make her self into and end cap. And because she was in the bakery section, I have to say it ~ nice buns, Karen!

We always have fun at Whole Foods, but this one especially with all the costumes that somehow make us take on a completely different personalities (well, in my case I can just reach in and pick one out....pretty sure I'm host to a multitude. Just call me Cybil).