9/20 – C-Town

Okay, maybe somebody out there can answer this question for me…why is it called C-Town if it’s in Broadview Hts? Shouldn't it be called B-Town? And it’s not just the bar. There’s C-Town Pizza and the C-Town quicki-mart (would you like a spoon straw for your Slurpee?).

Oh, but that’s not the only question I had. Read on, if you dare.

Why is it called a clam bake when the clams are not baked? And the answer is: Originally and/or traditionally, the items of a clam bake were stacked in layers of soaked seaweed and baked over glowing hot rocks in the sand. I’m thinkin’ that technically that’s not a clam bake either, since the wet seaweed would steam the stuff. Hey, what do I know?

But wait, there's more – unbeknown to me, we were picking up radio signals through Mudcat’s guitar. The chatter could be heard quite clearly through the ear buds, but not as easily just from the amp. When the first bits of chatter came through, I asked Jake (who was not wearing ear buds) if he could hear that. He did the concentrate on listening thing and then said no, so naturally I started to wonder if I’d finally taken that step through the looking glass and/or if I’d be able to find my way back. Sure would have made singing White Rabbit more interesting...not really, but it did make me wonder, because the voices in my head were doing the "turn or burn" speech. So, I asked Mud if he could hear the voices in my head. I wanted him to ask me if the voices in my head were telling me to repent like the voices in his head were telling him. When he answered that he could hear religious stuff too, it made me feel much better. Hearing the chit chat in between songs was amusingly annoying or annoyingly amusing, it sort of switched back and forth.

Oh yeah, they had a Big Buck hunting game there, but this one must have been the deluxe model, because it was also a safari game (see first post for Den Too for previous sighting of a Big Buck game). There was a patchwork of animal print on the base of this game and one of the prints was zebra. Oh guess what I was wearing...that’s right...zebra print. And let’s not forget about my rug (not that rug, ya big perv) that’s leopard and tiger. I was oh so too very afraid that the boys who were "hunting" would notice and turn the guns on me. They didn’t.

There was a crew at the end of the bar who were very happy with the songs we did. I was shocked and amazed to see them swaying with their arms up and singing along to I’m Leavin’ On A Jet Plane. One guy even did the lighter thing.

They danced for some of the songs and one guy did this weird dance thing with his sandal. I guess it was his version of dancing with a broom. Maybe he thought he was Fred Astaire. He wasn’t.

Pete and Linda ventured out to show their support. Thanks!

But, my favorite part of the evening was when people at the bar literally stopped in the middle of their conversation to turn around and watch Jake play. Yeah, he’s that good. And it happened a few times during the course of the gig. I don’t know if he noticed, but Mudcat and I both did. Way to go, Jamaica Jake!

9/6 – Scoreboard’s

It was pretty quiet for a Saturday night, but there were a couple of guys there who were feeling no pain and they decided that it would be a really good idea to come up and sing “Amy” with us.

One of the guys bought us a barley soda (well, we each got one. It’s not like he just bought us one and we had to share).

Mudcat has a new fan (and deservedly so). She’s a cute little girl who was there with her parents. When I walked by their table while doing a sound check, she looked up at her mom and said with great enthusiasm, “he’s a really good singer”.

The gig was going great until…I think I may have coughed up a hairball. Of course it was right in the middle of a song. Not just a song, but in the middle of “Bobby McGee”. Oh well, I weathered through it and life goes on.

Other than that, it was a pretty low key gig. Fun, but low key.

9/5 – Rider’s 1812 Inn

This is a bed & breakfast place. Very quaint. I almost expected to see Dick, Joanna, George, and Stephanie…

It was a rainy night, but not in Georgia. Although, it could have been. I just don’t know.

We had a wee bit of technical difficulty early on, but Mudcat fixed us right up and we went on to do the gig technologically sound.

Well, now we can add paper airplane to the list of items that have been thrown in our general direction during a gig. Once again, glad it wasn’t tomatoes…or boots, like last time.

Carol is our new best friend. She bought a CD! That’s only part of the reason she’s our new best friend. She also bought my soup (which was dee-lish) in lieu of buying me a drink, since I was drinking water. Yeah, I was pretty shocked at my choice of a beverage item too. I must have panicked. Okay, the real reason that Carol is our new best friend is because she really liked us and she was very supportive all night. Did I mention that she bought a CD?

8/30 – Tony’s Tribe cook out

This was a private party, back yard cook out, pot luck type event. Tons of food. Someone even brought home made macaroni and cheese. You know how I love m&c, but I don’t love it enough to eat it cold, which it was when we took our break. Shoulda nagged Mud all through the first set about stopping to eat so it could be like old times…nah.

There was college football on the big screen and an interesting version of a golf tournament going on, not to mention the great play area for the kids (although, most of the kids decided that it would be way more fun to play with the extra microphone than it would be to play in the inflatable castle. Especially Mike. He was Jake’s favorite kid there).

Joe, one of the kids there, sat in on a couple of songs with us, playing Jake’s guitar. He was pretty good.

But, Sidney was our little rock star. She started out all shy with the microphone while sitting in the chairs that were lined up so the kids could feel like they were at a concert, then she scootched up to sitting on the ground in front of us facing the rows of chairs. That progressed to standing next to me, which quickly turned into sharing my rug (which worked out, since I finally found someone shorter than me). She kept looking up at us while she sang back up. Wasn’t quite sure if the look was for her cue to come in or wondering why we weren’t singing when she thought we should be. Then she progressed to her very own mic stand. Apparently, she liked singing more than she liked playing the maracas, because she gave those back to me pretty early on. She was very polite and said thank you to us before she left.

There was a pooch that could have used a doggie downer, but fortunately we all stayed upright and the equipment stayed in tact.

It seemed like everyone had a great time. We ended up doing 2 encores (and I’m not talkin’ TV dinners).

Thanks, Tony! Hope to see you next year.

8/23 – The Brew Keeper

Many mojo thanks to Betty and Bernie for your support and for bringing your friends, neighbors, countryman. But most of all, thanks for mojo-izing Chase (who I will be calling Jake until further notice).

One thing they have at the Brew Keeper that I never noticed before is a baby monitor type devise that let’s them hear when the front door is open. It plays an annoying electronic version of “be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home”. It was on the ledge right next to us, which was fine until it started playing. I thought that Mudcat had some new thing set up with the equipment. He didn’t. And I quickly found a new home for the monitor. No, I didn’t throw it away…geesh.

Our new friend, Joe requested a couple of songs; “Bobby McGee” and “Amy”. Then he went outside. So, we waited for him to get thirsty again and to resurface, which he did. Then I sang “Bobby McGee”. He went into the brew room at the beginning of the song and came back out right as we were finishing. We followed with “Amy” and he decided that he should take his beer and leave in the middle of that song. Perhaps he was afraid his beer was aging too quickly…

Mudcat and Jake did their very own private Idaho (I mean private Oshkosh) version of “I shot the sheriff”. Most entertaining indeed.

Bernie requested Betty’s favorite song, so Jake sang that. It’s a wholesome family song.

Aside from that, a good time was had by all.

8/16 – Larchmania

WHAT FUN!!!

This was a private block party - their 2nd annual. This year it was actually more like a street party than a block party. Unless you went to one block and partied, and then went to the next block. It could be a progressive block party. Is that what it would be if Progressive insurance merged with H&R Block and had a celebration? Maybe not.

All the neighbors were being neighborly and the little kids were riding their bikes and/or having water balloon fights, couples were walking hand in hand down the sidewalk. It was all oh so too very picturesque, so I called it our Mayberry gig.

But that name changed when the 2 girls who were feeling no pain from their barley sodas started dancing in the street. They were nice drunks and they were having fun. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Oh no, wait that’s the hokey pokey.

Chase made his gig debut! Welcome. He did a great job and I believe he had fun as well. What a concept…

He and I were dessert judges during our break. We both took that job quite seriously. As Chase put it, “butter and cake…my 2 favorite foods”. He’s wise beyond his years. And yes, we were called Paula and Simon.

I got my very first autograph request, even though it was from a pre-schooler. He asked me for my “autograft” and lifted up his shirt for me to sign his back. I was pretty sure that his mom would not appreciate my writing on her son, so after some discussion, he and I decided that his bike helmet would be a much better place for me to sign. So, I did.

We were invited back for next year, so I that’s a way good thing. We’re looking forward to it!

8/1 – Solon Freeway Lounge

William and his crew were there at the beginning and for a while we thought they might be it for the duration, but eventually more people started to filter in and we ended up with a nice group.

It was just border line too hot, but there was a big old fan right above the bar that William was nice enough to turn toward us.

I got another gig wound to add to my list. This time it’s my big toe, but don’t worry me…I’ll be alright. Let me just say that a 75-ish lb Behringer will win over a big toe every time.

Other than that, I got nothin’.

7/26 – The Crow’s Nest

Merry Christmas!

No, we didn’t sing any Christmas carols, although we did get a request for some.

What a grand time we had! Everyone at the bar was so much fun, especially Mario and Michelle. They were there for the duration.

Mario came up and sang with us and Michelle alternated between being mortified and swooning like he was a big rock star. Very interesting to watch.

Another boy came up to sing too, but I don’t know his name.

What I do know is that a good time was had by all!

And we had our own private Idaho nature channel goin’ on during the drive ~ got to see another heron on the way out there. Then on the way back, Bambi was at the side of the road looking ready to spring into Frogger action at any moment. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. At least not to us…

7/19 – Brew Keeper

They have an actual “stage” now. Much better than rearranging the tables and jamming into a corner.

Much to my surprise, Dede was there with some friends. What a nice treat it was to see her and to meet her friends. They stayed for most of the gig, but ended up going outside on the patio so the boys could smoke cigars.

Beverly and Julie were there for a wee bit, too.

And our Bobby McGee guy was there long after he said he had to leave, but that’s okay - he’s a great supporter. Wonder if he’s athletic…get it?

Other than that, it was a pretty quiet night...really quiet for some.

7/5 - Brutus' Sports Bar

This was the place that I did my very first gig 2 whole years ago. Re-mark-able...

It was also the gig that I discovered what a manipulative little bitch looks like when he grows up. And it's not pretty.

According to that manipulative little bitch, we played under a cloak of darkness and we were not allowed to have any fun. Oh yeah, and bass was "verboten".

I'm tellin' ya, singing the words "I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone" took on an entirely new meaning.

The great thing about this gig was that it was part of Independence Day weekend and that was to be taken literally. Yeah, Mudcat!

7/5 - Tyler's 16th birthday party

CONGRATULATIONS, MUDCAT ON YOUR 400th GIG!!!!

This party was WAY out in the country. It was as far east of BFE as you can get.

Today's sign was "no spaghetti". Kinda like "no soup for you", but different.

They had a dog who looked like Petie from the Little Rascals. Oddly enough, the dog's name was Petie. Go figure. There were about 850 other dogs there too. They all were very nice to the humans and they played nicely together as well. Although, one of the dogs was "playing" a little too nicely and I'm pretty sure he was gay (not that there's anything wrong with that).

We set up shop next to the port-o-potties (yeah) and the company's name on the sign on the door was BJ's... makes ya wonder, doesn't it? Well, it made me wonder.

When we sang our version of "happy birthday" to Tyler, he was one step ahead of us doing his cartwheels. It was when he did the forward somersault that the trouble started...and then he was thrown into the pool by his friends, but as hot I it was I don't think that was a bad thing. The dogs were even jumping in there to do a few laps to cool off every couple minutes.

If we could combine the main and side dish items from this party with the desserts from the 4th party, that would be a way good buffet. These people knew how to make mac salad. I'm all about the food.

7/4 ~ Meadows Neighborhood Fireworks

On the way to this gig we saw a most interesting and questionably worded sign ~ Eggs and Kittens. We also saw a crane (the water type not the lifting type) and the ever listing Nessie.

This was a private idaho party for the 4th and everyone was so very nice. Tons of kids, very family oriented. Well, family oriented with adult beverages.

Our biggest support group was the kids. They set up camp about 3 feet away from us. Madison had her pink Hannah Montana guitar, complete with a mat and a microphone ("hey, good lookin' ~ we'll be back to pick you up later").

The food was a catered pig roast and tons of side dish items (although Joani's mac salad wins hands down) and gobs of great dessert items.

One little boy quickly became my favorite munchkin, because his plate had 1 of each kind of dessert item. That was it. And he was all by his own self right in front of us jammin' away while he put on his sugar buzz. His dad brought over a hot dog for him and he took an obligatory bite of it only because his dad held it for him and practically forced it on him. I so wanted to tell his dad that if he put frosting on it the kid might eat it. Maybe that's why I don't have kids...

When we were packing up, Madison's friend came up to me and asked me if I was excited about the fireworks. I told her that yes, yes I was (because I really was). Although, I'm pretty sure it was for different reasons. Her thing was that she got to stay up WAY past her bedtime, which is 8:00. My bedtime is 8:00 only if I'm butt ass tired from too much play time.

6/27 – Solon Freeway Lounge

Oh guess what, it rained. Gosh, what a shock. Kinda like our own version of the Farmers’ Almanac. But, everyone adapted again by cozying in under the awning.

We had another “priceless” moment. This guy was sitting at a table with a group of friends, having a nice conversation and a split second later he was flat on his back on the floor, but still sitting in his chair. Turns out that one of the legs snapped off. It was a heavy duty plastic chair, but apparently not heavy duty enough. He was given a heavy duty metal one as a replacement. The best thing about all that was that he didn’t spill his beer. It ended up being a bottle full of Corona foam, but no spillage. Now that’s a professional.

Our new friend is William. He was most happy with the songs we did, but I felt like Bobby and McGee were having a tug of war with me in the middle. Not so pleasant, but I persevered. Don’t worry about me…I’ll be alright…

6/21 – The Swiss Chalet

It’s like déjà vu all over again…

We were able to leave everything set up from the night before, so that was a wonderful treat. However, it rained quite a bit during the night and their roof leaked. Guess where it leaked. That would be correct. Fortunately, there was no damage to any of the equipment other than it being a bit soggy.

And speaking of the whole déjà vu thing, there was another bachelorette party and what do you think was the name of the bride-to-be? Think back…not that far back…Angie. Now what are the odds of that? Okay, all you mad scientists can stop trying to calculate the odds, it was a rhetorical question. And rhetorical is going to be my big word for the day. Not that it’s that big, but it just sounds good.

We had lots of dancers again, who remarkably found ways to fast dance to slow Beatles songs…over and over and over…

For our viewing pleasure this time, we got to see some guy ooze off his bar stool and crumble onto the floor, wedging himself between the bar and the stools. Not that we took pleasure in seeing someone in that state, but it was pretty amusing. It happened during one of Anno's songs and in the middle of it she did the "priceless" thing. I can't believe she didn't bust up laughing. And it took a while for his friends to notice that he was one with the floor. What’s even more bazaar to me is that he was out on the dance floor not 5 minutes before that and appeared to be just fine.

Pete, Linda, Paul, and Little B. came out to show their support (of us, not the guy on the floor).

We played Clue again, but it wasn't as much fun this time.

And we acquired a new best friend. Thankfully, this guy showed up near the end. He was quite a Chatty Cathy. He was also quite drunk and we got to see him hurling on the sidewalk after the gig. Let's say it was the alcohol and not us.

6/20 – The Swiss Chalet

For this gig I thought that we should change our name to the Robinsons and sing “we are family”…Swiss Family Robinson…get it? Okay, maybe not.

Oh guess what, I saw an eagle on the way out there! Honest, a real live one. I did.

Geneva-On-The-Lake is like a really scaled down version of Put-In-Bay, so we had a lot of people doing the wander in and wander back out thing. Most people danced a couple songs before heading back out.

A bachelorette party with Angie as the bride-to-be stayed with us for a while. C-Man sang “Angie” to her. Pretty clever, huh? Her maid of honor dragged her up on the stage for that song. Then we sang our version of “happy birthday” to her, but changed the words to “happy marriage”.

Some guy who clearly couldn’t decide if he was a break dancer or a gymnast (by the way, he was neither) made us all pretty nervous. We were a wee bit concerned that he was going to be a brake dancer as in brake his neck. Thankfully, he left the dance floor before anything horrible happened. I’m quite sure he woke up the next morning (afternoon) with aches and pains that he had no memory of self inflicting.

We had our own version of Clue goin' on. Remember that game? Well, we actually had a few versions of it, with one of those versions being more Clue-less than Clue.

Oh, I almost forgot about the moon. It was still pretty full, so there was some howling goin’ on.

6/14 – Mel’s Crows Nest

What a lively group we had!

William was the ring leader for the first shift. He really wanted to hear some country songs. ONLY country songs. C-Man sang a Buck Owens tune and Mudcat did a couple of Johnny Cash numbers. The closest thing to a country song that I sing is “Bobby McGee” and as I was singing it, the bar pretty much cleared out. I’m choosing to believe that it was because the group was waiting for a table in the restaurant side and it became available at that precise moment and not my singing that caused the mass exodus. Yeah, that’s it…

“Giddy up Dave” was clearly the HWIC (head weenie in charge) of the second shift crew. And what a crew they were! We had dancers and singers (kinda like country and western, but different).

Got to see some chick riding in the back of a pick up truck on the way home. She did not look happy. She did not look like any of the other dwarfs either…

6/13 – Solon Freeway Lounge

Friday the 13th…..

There must be some connection between our playing there and the weather being funky. Remember the flying umbrellas? Same place.

This time we were able to make it through almost the entire gig before the rain hit, but we were able to finish up on the patio with out having to tear down and rebuild. There were just enough chairs for the people who were still out there toward the end to move in under the canopy with us. I’m believing that it was the threat of the storm and not us that scared people off, because the patio was close to being full for most of the gig.

One of the girls was trying to request “take this job and shove it”, but all I could get from her was the “shove it” part and I thought it was a command rather than a song request. We don’t know that song.

Big G was our guest performer. He played the maracas. He and his buddy were a lot of fun and they’re great supporters when we play there.

Got to see Tiger Woods play sidewalk golf during one of our breaks. Interesting…

6/12- Bar One

We played on a stage, but the only way to get to it was by a spiral staircase. I have enough trouble with those things just by my own self, let alone lugging band equipment. And we were about a c-hair away from the ceiling, so it was most unpleasantly warm. I drank almost an entire picture of water and then of course had to pee (I know, I know…TMI). Guess where the bathrooms were…yeah, downstairs. Down 19 very steep stairs and then back up 19 very steep stairs. Yes, I counted them. And then there was actually a step up to get to the bathroom once you got in the door. GEESH

Definitely counting this gig as exercise.

The patio was full for a while, but there were only a few people inside. It was pretty low key, except for Sarah, the bar goddess. Pretty darn sure that she was a cheer leader in high school.
During one of the sets, I kept noticing the same guy pacing back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the patio. Every now and then he’d stop, but he kept looking in at us. I couldn't figure out why he didn’t just come in. Then on one of his passes by (the last one), he was carrying a pizza box (I’m assuming there was a pizza inside). So, I guess that’s one way to kill time while you’re waiting for a pie.

Hey, that could be our new slogan…Project Mojo: a good way to kill time while you’re waiting for a pie. Think the boys will go for it?

6/7 – Mel’s Crews Nest

A private party in a private club. Now that’s private.

But, I need to start from the beginning (it’s a very good place to start, you know). Since this was on Put-In-Bay, the experience goes way beyond the gig.

Let’s see…during the drive out there we discovered that Nessie is still there and she’s still listing.

We saw some swans. Not the Swan who sings with us, but the water fowl.

Let me ask you this ~ if you saw a sign advertising waterfront property, wouldn’t you assume that the water would be a lake or an ocean? Yeah, me too. Well, it was technically waterfront property, but the water was more like a fountain pool, but with out the fountain.

While we were waiting in line to board the ferry, we saw a guy and 2 girls walking together. The guy was in the middle with a girl on either side of him and he was holding hands with both girls. The girls didn’t seem to mind. Neither did he, for that matter.

Ms. Motion Sickness (that would be me) did okay on the ferry ride over. I was shocked and amazed.

We set up early so that we could have some time to cruise the island. The Perry monument was open and according to Ranger Rick, it’s taller than the Statue of Liberty’s torch. That’s pretty tall. The view from the top was amazing. Ice cream (double chocolate chunk) in the park after the tour was way fun for people watching.

Jane, our hostess for the evening was a big fan of rock and roll. John and Marie were there and John proved to be a very nimble dancer. We actually had quite a few dancers. It seemed that a good time was had by all. I had a grand time, except for when a mosquito decided to graze on my neck during a song when I couldn’t do anything but let him feast.

The ferry ride back was an event all by its own self. Waiting in line for 2-1/2 hours was interesting. And no, I’m not exaggerating (this time). You can ask Mudcat and/or C-Man. They’ll tell you the same thing. I started a game of "I spy"to pass the time, but it was short lived. Of course, I had to be an ass and spy something green when we had a line of trees to the side of us and it was a specific leaf that I spied. Once we snaked around to the front-ish of the line, I spotted a tree with a wad-o-shade, so off I went to sit under it to wait out the time.
There were signs posted telling bikers that they were welcome and that’s a good thing, because 28 motorcycles exited the ferry that we ended up boarding. Yes, I counted them. What else did I have to do?

We finally boarded the ferry and got out of the van to stand on the deck during the ride back. The ferry started moving and so did the waves. The swells came over the front of the boat and as the first one hit, I was turned around saying something to Mudcat and never saw it coming. The back of me got completely soaked. That water was a titty bit nipply even though the air temp was hellish. I realized that probably wouldn’t be the only swell, so I made my way around the front of the van and just as I got to the other side, another swell hit, this time soaking the front of me. Apparently, I was the entertainment for the people standing on the upper deck. All I could hear was their collective "oooooooh" as I got drenched. Once again, I did okay with not getting sea sick (or lake sick in this case).

The heat got to C-Man, though so he ended up trying to not be sick all the way home. He made it all the way back with out hurling, which was a very good thing.

It’s been determined that we islanded successfully.

6/6 - Key West

No, not Florida. Key West in Westlake.

We had a little rock star there. The cutest little boy was waiting for a table in the restaurant side with his parents and he was wearing junior ray bans. SO cute.

Mudcat has almost perfected his impression of Eric Clapton’s “thank you”. It’s close.

C-Man was E-less, but persevered.

Swan joined us for the last (or so we thought) set. We had everything but 1 cord packed up and then were told that it was a 4 hour gig, not a 3 hour gig (kinda like a 3 hour tour, but different). So, we set it all back up to start again so we could finish again. It was truly déjà vu all over again. Thanks, Yogi.

During one of the breaks, I saw the bartender make a really pretty drink, so I asked him what it was and what goes in it. Can’t remember the name, but I can remember all the ingredients. Which is truly sad, considering half the time I can’t remember where I park my car (aside from my driveway - I can usually find it there, even if I have no recollection of how it got there) or what I went into the next room to get. So, if you want the ingredients list so that you can make your own pretty foo-foo drink let me know.