So I've been ignoring the weekly invitations, until the organizer added the magic words: "If the owner likes you, he'll hire you for a real gig!" Well, that's a whole 'nother deal...
Still, I stalled a few weeks, finding excuses not to go, on account of dreading how much I hate Open Mics. But this week, I couldn't think of any excuses to tell myself not to go, so I went.
Found the place, and it's kinda nice: restaurant upstairs, and lounge/bar downstairs, with a tiny little stage in one corner. When the guy finally arrived, he produced a sign-up sheet. I wanted to see how it's supposed to go before getting up there myself, so didn't want to go first, so I put my name in the second slot.
The guy, Eddie, cleverly got up and broke the ice by doing a few songs himself first, and then went to the list. Turns out I was a total sucker taking the second slot, 'cuz, naturally, nobody took the first one. Rookie mistake.
But I'm not new to performing, just performing there, so I got on up and did my thing. The good part was that there weren't many performers there, so we each got to do four songs. The bad part was that virtually everybody there was there to perform.
But it turns out that these guys, all "regulars" and pals, just do this on Tuesday nights for fun, and they're pretty much rank amateurs. Ukulele, and beginner guitar strumming. One guy, who the other guys seemed in awe of, just sings along to backing tracks. And, seriously? "Ipanema"?
So with that baffling encouragement, I did another three songs ("You've Got a Friend", "Please Come to Boston", and "Over the Rainbow"), getting pretty solid applause from the 6 or 8 guys in the bar and the few civilians, and stepped down. The other guys filed up and played, mostly their own "funny" songs (the only ones I can remember were "Too White to Sing the Blues", and something about how ASCAP had shut down some other bar's Open Mic night).
I stayed around to be polite, and to see what the competition was like. While one guy would be playing, the other guys came over to me one at a time to tell me how good I was, and how they hoped I'd come back again next week, etc. And after I'd heard a few of them, I could see why they were so impressed, in comparison...
I stepped outside where it was cooler, and Eddie came out to tell me how good I was, and to ask where I play. I told him that I was down to just the street corner in Laguna, and he said that I should be playing 4 or 5 nights a week in bars, like he does, at a hundred bucks a pop. What?!?
I told him that I didn't know how to get gigs in bars, or even where to try, and he said that he'd get me the names of the bars and owners around town. Unfortunately, that town is Long Beach, 30 miles from my house, minimum. But hey, to get to play for money, I'll drive.
Eddie says that I just have to get a CD with a few songs on it (my CD has 25) to the owners, and they'll hire me. He says that "nobody around here does what you do". He's probably right about that -- he himself has a "huge repertoire" of 200 songs (my list is 304, this week), but he has a different style than mine, and he's younger so I'm sure his list focuses on a different era. Whatever, I sure hope it's as easy as he says it'll be -- I'd love to be a little less unemployed, especially if the job is playing music.
Also, Eddie also asked me to come back next week and be the "Featured Performer" -- play 20 or 30 minutes, and he'll pay me ten bucks. That's not much of a paycheck, obviously, but it'll pay for the gas to get there and back, and I have a feeling that getting to know Eddie will be a good thing. Before I left, he introduced me to the owner of the place, and although he didn't jump up to offer me a job, maybe after he hears a little more next week...
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