Introducing 'For the Love of Mic,' Santee's Open Mic Night Newsletter

organizes the at every Thursday and compiles a weekly newsletter about the show, which Santee Patch will be publishing. Come join the fun this Thursday!

Last week, the nice weather was back—and so were several of the younger performers.  We had a full slate from the beginning so we were off to a good start.

6:30 I opened the show with:  The Zac Brown Band’s “Country Fried” (a premier performance for me); Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds”; Hank William’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart”; Johnny Cash’s “The Reverend Mr. Black”; and “Old Love”.

6:45 Travis Cronan, Kaya Hall & Jon Luke returned to play some Slightly Stoopid tunes, instrumentals  “Closer to the Sun” and :Devil’s Door; The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge”; S.S’s “Collie Man”, with Travis singing; and more instrumentals, John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing”; and “The Sun is Shining” by Slightly Stoopid.

7:00  Courtney & Chelsea Soares paired up to do Michelle Branch’s “Leave the Pieces When You Go”; Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”; Katherine McPhee’s “Terrified”; Allie & A.J.’s “On The Right”.

7:15  Pamela Reinagel with a couple of assists from Greg Gross, “I’ll Fly Away” (Albert E. Brumley); a Yiddish song, “Dona Dona”; “One Tin Soldier” by Jinx Dawson & Coven; the traditional tunes, “Motherless Child” and “Wayfaring Stranger”.    

7:30  Greg Gross stuck around for his set, which was next, and did; Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”; “Harmony”; CCR’s “Proud Mary”; and Jimmy Buffet’s “Come Monday”.

7:45  Ray Poe started with a Marty Robbins’ tune, “I walk Alone”; then he had his twin brother Raymond Poe join him for Jimmy Rodgers’ “Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia”; Ira Stanfield’s “Supper Time”; and a Jimmy Davis tune, “Someone to Care”.  The brothers are the “real deal” from down South, with some beautiful harmonies.

8:00  Bill Lipscomb was up to following the boys; he did Dan Seals’ “I Think God Must be a Cowboy at Heart”; songs off his own CD’s: “Believe” dedicated to a former musical partner who has been having health problems; a newer tune, “The Truck Driving Girl”; and the autobiographical “The Highway’s Child”.

8:15   John Wayne returned after an absence of a couple of months; he Lefty Frizzel’s “The Long Black Veil”; Charlie Pride’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”; Marty Robbins’ “Don’t Worry”; and Clint Black’s “Killing Time”.

8:30  Big Al added a new Neil Young tune to his repertoire, “After the Gold Rush”; Cold Plays’ “Green Eyes”; and Neil Young’s “Out on a Weekend”.

8:45  Bob Cool & Bob Arsenault, (again with some help from Greg Gross) did some Bluegrass standards: “Big Eyed Rabbit’s Gone”; “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”; with Nita Homan, Willie Nelson’s “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”; “Arizona Waltz” and Bob Cool’s “San Diego Breakdown.

9:00  Ian Douglas, a very good performer with a nice voice, was back for a second time, after about a year absence; he did: his band’s (Goodnight Caulfield) song, “Rear View Mirror”, his own “Ghosts in the Machine”; and Bayside’s “Meghan” (originally by Smoking Popes).

9:15  Sarah Tamanaha closed our evening with a fine set of: Lenka’s “The Show”; the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame”; Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts”; Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”. 

The young people that were here this evening have been coming for over a year and their development as performers is notable. I like to think our open mic played a bit of a hand in that.

Greg and I sang everyone out with “Happy Trails”.

It was a spectacular night at the Friendly Grounds. You need to be sure to put us on your entertainment calendar, drop by occasionally and see your friends.  It’s a devilishly addictive elixir that can raise your spirits and give you the added energy to take on the weekend.

God Bless and have a good week.

-Tim Woods, Greg Gross, and the Wood ‘n’ Lips open mic crew

Thursday nights sign-ups start at 5:30, drawing for time slots at 6:15, music from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.