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.