Open Mic in Santee

Normally I'd be on the other side because I like to be able to see the guitar player's chord hand, but in these things you just kind of end up where you end up and don't waste time worrying with it.

Open mic at the coffee house/deli is not like open jams of the good old days. Mostly it is a little gathering of old codgers who socialize and like to play. They get up on stage, play and sing old folk songs, mostly, and then the next one gets up to do it.
There was a group consisting of three very dissimilar people who had something special.

The oldest guy, maybe 60ish played a big drum--one of those African things I think, kind of a tall drum. --, another guy, maybe 40ish, played a bass acoustic guitar, and the third guy, a Mexican looking guy about 25 played electric through a tiny VOX amp.
They were great, with an unusual sense of dynamics, how to make less be more. Total class, and great vocals.

Enough about them. Cliff, the other guitar player up on the hill--the one who has been around this area forever, and is quite the p[layer songwriter, and I played a few tunes.

The troube with open mic like this is that they can only let people play 15 minutes or they can't give everyone a shot. By the time we quit, I felt like I was yet to settle in. We only did three tunes--maybe 10 minutes. Since neither of us could see the time, Cliff figured don't risk being rude. Half the place knows him and wouldn't mind but it is good to be considerate.
However, it is like a tease situation. Kiss but don't touch.

Even so, it was worth doing. It gets a little notice and notoriety.