Paninis - 7/3

How nice it was to be back at a patio gig.  And the weather cooperated.  Well, at least the rain held off.  It was most humid, but we had our fans going, so that helped.  Have to position mine just right, otherwise I have the Steve Vai thing going on with my hair.

Was super duper surprised to see Craig and Ria!  The umbrella on the table in front of them was closed and blocking our view of each other, so if one or both of us moved, it was kind of like playing hide and seek with a little kid.

Jake really rocked it out (as he always does), but this time he added a harmonica to the mix, which made Heart of Gold even better.

Giant Eagle - 6/28

What a fun treat to see Jane and Janet! We had no idea that they would be there and they had no idea that we would be there. It's kismet.

This time around, the food tasting table next to us had beef tenderloin with a red wine sauce and oh my great good heavens, was it tasty.

Of course, Mudcat found the dessert table! They had cake, so I wasn't interested. Frosting I like, cake not so much.

Oh yeah, we met Trisha, the new Justin. She was very nice to us and she seems like she'll be a lot of fun to work with.

As always, a good time was had by all.

Mars Bar - 4/19/13

What a nice little neighborhood bar.  And by little, I mean that if it were any smaller you wouldn't be able to change your mind in it.  We were in the "overflow section", separated from everyone, but it was a small enough place that we were still able to see everyone and make some eye contact. 

Mudcat's friend from the music store (sorry, friend....can't remember your name) was there hanging out before heading off to his gig.  He gave us the thumbs up on his way out.

And it was a night to celebrate as the news reported the capture of the second Boston bomber!

Giant Eagle - 4/5/13

Interesting gig....both Mudcat and I were on the tail end of a nasty cold, so neither of us were at our best or even our mediocreness.  Parts of some songs came out as just squeaks and there were some songs that were just out of the question to even try.  But, we weathered through.

Our little Pebbles girl was there again and now she's used to seeing us so that she doesn't have that deer in the headlights look or that seriously concerned look.  This time someone was standing in front of her, blocking her view of us and she did the lean from side to side thing to try to see around this person.  It was pretty cute. 

Other than that, it was pretty uneventful.

Giant Eagle, North Olmsted - 3/22/13

What a fun night! 

Let's see ~ thanks to Joani, Bernie, Dennis, Jane, Brad, and Gayle for stopping out and 
staying for the duration.  I have found that it is actually possible to laugh and sing at the same time. 

Also saw the same little girl who tried to get the dollar back out of the tip bucket the last time we were there.  Oh my goodness, is she cute.  Her hair was done up like Pebbles Flintstone and she watched us by just moving her eyes.  Her head stayed completely still.  She had this serious expression like she was processing everything.  Finally she broke out into a 3 second "dance" and then went back to being serious and eyeballing us again. 

There was a pre-teen girl who made me feel like a rock star, because she kept tugging at her mom's sleeve and pointing over at us and then finally came up closer and took some pictures from her phone, then scurried back to her mom to show her.  Then she was oblivious to us and the world around her while she absorbed herself with whoever was on the receiving end of her text messages. 

I felt like a big star again after the gig when we were doing some grocery shopping (okay, stocking up on wine and beer) and their fishmonger came up to us and asked if we could set up near his counter the next time we play so that he could really hear us.  I have no idea how he recognized us because his area was in the back of the store, around the corner (but not the bar in Lakewood) from where we were set up in the produce section in the front of the store. 

Looking forward to playing back there again in a couple of weeks. 

Tommy's - 3/21/13

Okay, ready....here goes and I'm sparing no detail.  This is exactly what happened ~

























Honest, that's it.

Whole Foods, Beachwood - 3/15/13

Pretty uneventful other than Jake realizing in mid gig that he had another gig right after that he mistakenly thought was the next night.  Thank you, Betty for saving the day for him and bringing the equipment he needed.  You're the way best chick!

We saw some familiar faces, specifically our favorite nameless couple.  Talked with Pia, our new friend and jazz singer after the gig. 

And we saw a couple of celebrities (well, they looked like them anyway)....Gibbs from NCIS and Patrick from Anger Management.  I guess that would make them characters and not the actual celebrities.  Technicalities.

Quarry Hill Winery - 3/9/13

We were a little concerned when we pulled in and found only 2 cars in the parking lot...guess how many people were working then.  If you guessed 2, you would be correct.  I swear it was like one of them called everyone they know and told them to get out there, because shortly after we started playing, the place filled up.  Then we got concerned again when we took our break and people started leaving, but the good news is that the amount of people who left were replaced with the same amount of people, so it was the same packed house but with different faces.

This place is all open with walls-o-windows that look out onto the vineyard and I am really looking forward to going back there in August.  Definitely taking the camera then.   Anyway, it's a big open room with the tables and the bar all together.  A couple older men walk in and take a seat at one of the tables.  They're sitting adjacent to each other with one of the men facing me.  During one of my songs, that man gets up and moves to the other side of the table so that his back is to me.  I felt a little dejected, but then decided that he wanted to watch the TV that was on the wall behind the bar.  After a short time, they both get up and move to the bar.  I mentioned this whole scene to Mudcat to get his take on it and he said that the men were waiting for a spot at the bar to open up.  I never made that connection, because it's usually the other way around where people wait at the bar for a table to open up.  Whatever the real reason, I'm going with this one so that I can believe that it wasn't my singing that caused their move.

Giant Eagle, North Olmsted - 3/8/13

I think their dining under the tower food and wine  tasting (although this time it was beer) is starting to catch on.  A lot more people than last time. 

We did see some familiar faces, in particular a young couple with a toddler and a baby.  The mom had the little girl put a dollar in our tip bucket.  Mom had to guide her daughter's hand and when she took the dollar out of the wee one's grip and let it fall into the bucket, the little girl tried to take it back out.  Pretty cute. 

Thanks to Brad, Gayle, Linda, John, Ted, Nora, and Little Pat for stopping out!  They came in shifts, so that made a nice balance through the evening.  Nora and Pat stayed for the duration.   Those girls are troopers.

A few people danced their way around the produce section where we were set up.  I get a kick out of watching people dance in a grocery store. 

I kinda like playing in the grocery store, especially because we don't have to make a stop on the way home for snack items. 

Burntwood Tavern - 2/28/13

Apparently, it's not just special occasions that have this place hoppin' (last time we were there was Valentines Day).  Whatever the reason for the crowd, we were happy about it.  

Tried some new food items this time and they were just as dee-lish as before.  I highly recommend it, especially during happy hour when their appetizers are half price.

G-Man showed up just before we started, which totally surprised me.  It was great to see him again.  And in true Gordy fashion, he surrounded himself with women.  I had to laugh when I looked over and saw him sitting there with his harem.    

We had a guest singer at the very end.  Didn't catch his name, but he did a really good version of Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay. 

Whole Foods, University Hts - 2/22/13

Oh my goodness, the little kids were so amazingly cute. I love watching them watch us. They're all so serious. Would be interesting to know what their little minds are thinking. One of the boys looked like a miniature Ed Grimley, but was somehow able to make that look completely adorable. And one of the little girls looked like Cindy Lou Hoo.

What a wonderful treat it was to see Tom again!  Haven't seen that boy in about 4 years.  Didn't have nearly enough time to catch up, but it was nice to chit and chat again. 

Ilene, of course was there and we tried to do her favorite "Scotch and Soda".  Still needs some work on my part of things, but it'll get there.  It is a neat little song and I'm glad that she requested it.  The bulk of our repertoire comes from requests.  If we don't know it, we'll learn it.   

Here's an odd thing...well, it's odd to me ~ I saw 2 women sporting the same look.  That's not the odd part, it was the look that they were sporting.  Flip flops.  Keep in mind that it's February in Cleveland.  They both were wearing long pants and winter coats that were buttoned up tight.  Neither of their feet appeared to have issues that would require flops instead of shoes.  Guess it's kind of the same concept as wearing shorts and a sweatshirt, which I've done...so never mind.

Burntwood Tavern, Brecksville - 2/14/13

Happy Valentines Day!

It was interesting to me to see the variety of people who go out for Valentines Day.  Of course, there were tons of couples, but also groups of girls, couples on a double date, guys buddied up together who seemed to be "out of touch" with women, groups of friends, and oddly enough there were a couple of loners, although I'm thinking that those boys were probably regulars and they were not going to let a thing like Valentines Day come between them and their beverage(s).

I felt bad that we didn't have many romantic songs, but most Blues and Rock songs are all about pain and suffering.  No one seemed to care, especially the couple who got up and danced.  I specified that they got up to dance, because we had some chair dancers, which is fine with us.  Enjoy the music however you want, just enjoy!

If you haven't ventured out to the newest Burntwood Tavern (4th in a series), you should make a point to go.  Good atmosphere, wonderful service, and they have some great happy hour specials.  We were happy.

Giant Eagle, North Olmsted - 2/8/13

Looks like we're on the grocery store circuit, which is fine by us, it's just a little odd sounding that a band would be playing in a grocery store. 

Giant Eagle in North Olmsted recently added their "dining under the tower" to their many perks.  Six different wines and six different food items for $6 from 6-8pm every Friday.

We were set up right next to the first tasting station that had a yummy beef item and the perfect paring of one of their featured red wines.

Joani and Little Pat came out to support us, although not together, but they did kibitz with each other, which was nice to see.  Jake's friends ventured out as well and stayed for a bit. 

Quite a few people had the same look of "what the what?" when they walked in and saw us, but quickly recovered and hung out at the tasting tables to listen while they sampled the food and wine.

There was a couple with their cute little girl, who was about two-ish, give or take an ish and their infant daughter who slept through the whole thing (not sure if that meant we were boring or soothing).  The older of the 2 girls decided that dancing/running would be way more fun than sitting in the cart and off she went.  Took her a while to get to that stage...she kind of had the deer in the headlights look right at first since it was probably the first live music she witnessed, much less having that experience in a grocery store.  Little kids are way better at getting through the processing part and then on to the fun part than adults seem to be. 

One little boy was trailing his parents and as they passed us he put his hands over his ears.  Of course it was during one of my songs, so I was torn between being amused and having my feelings hurt.  I opted for being amused.

Mustard Seed - 2/2/13

Well, it's Groundhog Day....again.

Glad to be back at the Mustard Seed after a long leave of absence! 

Talked with a lot of people at this one (between sets and after the gig).  Everyone we talked with seemed to like our music. 

Our new friend, Mark came there on a whim and ended up staying for the duration. 

And oh guess what, I saw East Side Chuck.  Guess this would make him South Side Chuck.  Would really like to know where he's from since we see him quite often in Beachwood.  Didn't get to talk to him, because we were upstairs in the middle of a set and he was downstairs making his way to the checkout.  I'll just have to wait until we see him again in Beachwood.  Hey, maybe he's our following!

The other thing we saw was a heron, but not at the gig. Mudcat spotted him on the way home flying south through a blizzard.  At least he was headed in the right direction.  Perhaps the warmer weather fooled him into sticking around longer or coming back early. 

Whole Foods, Beachwood - 1/25/13

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKE! 

And not just any birthday....his 21st.  That's huge.  Well, technically it was his birthday eve, but it still counts.

So, we were just getting started with setting up and Jake gets a call from his neighbor that the police are at his house.  Yikes!  Turns out that someone tried to break in, but only made it as far as opening the sliding door...opening it just enough to let their 2 labradoodles and 1 border collie out.  Can you imagine the look on the would-be robbers face when he saw those dogs?  And then the look on his face as he's running away with 3 giant crazed dogs on his tail and it dawns on him that he should have slammed the door closed first before he took off.
Thankfully, nothing was taken and the neighbors retrieved the dogs.  As far as I know, the stupid robber got away.

We were asked to sing happy birthday to Jen, but had to wait until she showed up.  The plan was that the girls would give us the signal and we would do our best to embarrass Jen.  Made it through the entire 2 hours without the signal, so we figured that Jen decided to do something else on her birthday and we started to tear things down.  Just then we hear a group of people "singing" happy birthday to Jen.  We were not about to turn things back on to join in. 

As always, there was a wee one who just had to dance, but was oh so too very shy about it.  Her mom kept encouraging her to come over by us and dance so that she could video the event, rather than just watching her daughter being a delight.  Ah...technology...forever changing the course of memorable moments.

Whole Foods, University Hts - 1/12/13

She's baaaack....

The new year started off right at Whole Foods, which is one of our favorite places to play.

We got to ham it up in our usual spot by the deli (get it ~ ham it up...at the deli), but they've added some items since the last time we were there.  One of those items would be dried mushrooms.  There was either a cooking show on that morning that aired an amazing recipe calling for dried mushrooms or people were laboring under the illusion that these were magic mushrooms.  Oh, I crack my self up....illusion...magic mushrooms.  That one I wasn't even trying for.  Anyway, I digress.  There had to have been at least 4 people who were not leaving without some of those mushrooms.  And of course, they had to have them the second after we started setting up.  One guy waited to make his way to the shrooms after we were set up and did a delicate balancing act over Mudcat's foot board.  And there was a woman who at first appeared to be watching us after we started playing, but her attention kept going to those stinkin' mushrooms.  Since we never moved so that she could swoop in and snag up a carton, she eventually moved on.

There were a lot of familiar faces, including Ilene, our "Scotch and Soda" gal. 

And lots of little kids who either love us or hate us.  It's pretty funny that the ones who can't talk yet can sure get those feelings across.  Fortunately, more of them liked us than not.  Some were even dancing and clapping, but doing it all shy-like in between their parents or while hiding behind them.  

Super duper good to see Betty again!  So glad that you could make it out.

Well, that's about it for this gig.  Tune in after the 25th when we'll be at the Whole Foods in Beachwood, or better yet just come out there for the 5x7.  It's a sampling of five different food items and five different wines for $5.00 from 5:00 - 7:00pm.  Not a bad deal at all.  Plus you can do your grocery shopping while you snack and drink.