Playing

So, after laying out for a week or so, I showed up at the Thurs coffee house open mic.   It being the one before Christmas, I figured it would be an interesting event.

A lady I've never played with (with whom I've never played) asked me to play.  That worked pretty well.  She sang well and kept a steady guitar going.  It was good to just lay in a little background.

Then a guy I haven't seen for at least 6 mo.s asked me to play.  The time I played with him, long ago, I didn't feel like I was able to do much with the tunes because of the complexity of the progressions and trouble feeling the melody.  Not that he doesn't sing well.  It is just the sort of thing that's tough to get a handle on the first time.

Well, tonight was different.  That happens.  It all has to do with where my mind and attitude are.  I couldn't play any of it now from memory, but at the time I was able to play all up and down that progression, and in a way that worked with the song.

Then Cliff played, and as often is the case, he wanted to play stuff that I could nail.  He covered a song written by a friend of his, in C minor.  I'm not sure how it sounded to others, but that may be the best I've played.  We also covered a John Mayall tune, something about Don't blank blank blank with your jive.  Blank stands for, I don't know the word.

Laying off, and not playing for a little bit helped.  I played some yesterday so I wasn't rusty.  It is rare that I play on that many songs, especially including some I haven't played, without hitting any notes I sorely regret, or feeling like I have limits and need to play it safe.

Still, you never know how it sounds unless someone sends a recording or video.  They may have both. It felt good and that has been missing.  That probably came through.  Most fun I've had playing in quite awhile.

Some people before us did Christmas stuff.  One guy did such a nice job, both vocally and on guitar that I opted not to play any seasonal tunes.  The ones I would have played were mostly the same and I liked the guitar version better.  That opened me to jam on that minor key thing and the Mayall tune.  And other song too. Kind of a bluegrassy version of House of the Rising Sun.  I believe this version is the original which predates the Animals by maybe 100 years.  It's actually a very old song.  I really like both versions, but this one is perfect for Cliff.