The Wood ‘n’ Lips Open Mic Newsletter

Stop by the Wood ‘n’ Lips Open Mic at Frubble every Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Hi Everybody,

After my minor health adventure it was great to be back in the saddle and playing to a full house once more; it looks like we’re getting back into the swing of thing.  This evening we miraculously had just enough time slots for all the performers.

6:30 Tim Woods:  I played what I consider to an anthem for our open mic, Kate Wolf’s “Give Yourself to Love”; another favorite of mine is Jud Strunk’s “A Daisy a Day”; I finished with Tom Paxton’s “Last Thing on My Mind”; and Merle Travis’s “16 Tons”.

6:45 Bob Arsenault with Greg Gross: Bob showed off some of that flat picking that he is known for; they started with an instrumental of “Home Sweet Home” (trad.); Greg led the duo on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”; Bob reciprocated with “Blue Ridge Mountain Home: Greg’s response was “Cabin in the Pines”; their final tune was Bob’s signature tune, “November Rain”.

7:00 Chuck Fitzgerald:  Chuck is the new president of the San Diego Folk Song Society; they hold a song circle on the second Sunday of the month at the New Expressions music store.  His first tune was an original he wrote in memory of Allen Singer, called “The Prize”; next a nod to John Prine with “Fish and Whistle”; and his own “Having a Bad Day”.

7:15 Bob Wilson: Bob’s our historian; he dusted off the 1918 tune “Jada”; “Little Lilly” (Ma, He’s Making Eyes at Me!); and “Paddling Madeline Home”;

7:30 Big Al: The Grateful Dead’s “Loser” was Al’s first choice for his set; next were Cold Play’s “Green Eyes”; Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” and “Out on a Weekend”.

7:45 “Something Like That”, aka Chuck, Bruce & Mark:  The newly constituted trio gave us “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” (Gerry and the Pacemakers & Ray Charles); Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved”; and finished with a rowdy “Mississippi Queen” (Mountain).

8:00 Les Armstrong, Alton Simpson & Ray Poe with Bill Compton:  Alton was back to kick up the beat for the guys; they did “Hello Trouble” (Eddie McDuff & Orville Couch); Ray Price’s “Burning Memories”; The Oakridge Boys’ “Elvira”; Bill joined them for Willie Nelson’s “Whisky River”.

8:15: Cliff Niman & John Seevers:  Cliff brought some accompaniment in the form of John Seevers on harmonica; The Carter Family’s “Gold Watch and Chain”; Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Polly Von” (the harmonica added a hauntingly beautiful feeling to Polly Von); they ended with a great song by Cliff called “Slow Down”. 

8:30 Jesse Eisenbarth: Jesse writes his own material; his showcased his talents with “Field of Flames”; “Big Blue Eyes”; and “I Can’t Fall Asleep”.

8:45 John Movius with Greg Gross & Tom Barbarie:  John enjoys the heck out of playing lead guitar and has Greg join him for some rhythm guitar; he also likes Ricky Nelson and treated us to his “Lonesome Town”; Greg stepped down and Tom came up to play John Denver’s “Oakie From Muskogie”; and Charley Prides “I’m Just Me”.

9:00 Bob Setzer: Bob was experimenting with recording, hopefully he will be successful and we can relive the evening at our leisure; T Rex “Cosmic Dancer”; his own “Shut the Whole World Out” and “The Mountain Song”; he closed with Simon & Garfunkle’s poignant “Richard Cory” .

9:15 Greg Gross:  Greg put a little frosting on our open mic cake with Leonard Nimoy’s “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggings”; Kenny Loggin’s “Danny’s Song”; and John Prine’s “Paradise” (Muhlenberg County).

It was good to have such a nice audience to hear our talented slate of performers.  You can’t ask for better than that. 

God Bless, and see you soon,

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

Photos by Greg Gross, Tim Woods