The Wood ‘n’ Lips Open Mic Newsletter

Hidey Ho Neighbor,

We’ve been on a string of amazing evenings with first-rate performers and a large, and sometimes rowdy, audience. 

That our open mic is a major social event is evidenced by the decibel level of the crowd; unfortunately we don’t have a volume knob to control the din of the audience (or the blender).  They say the best performers are the Honky-tonk players because they have to learn to be heard above the roar; I guess that could be considered a silver lining to this issue.  I’m reluctant to say anything to the gathering because I understand the social side of the open mic’s draw, but I do wish I could figure a way to get people to temper their voices a little during performances while still enjoying themselves. 

The open mic addresses three equally important elements: a person’s desire to play music and share it with others; the wish to hear and see great music performed (and encourage new performers); and the social aspect of enjoying and establishing new friendships.  It’s a balancing act and we’re fortunate to be in the position to provide this service to our friends.

6:30 Tim Woods: I led off with Kenny Loggins’ “Return to Pooh Corner” before playing a couple of tunes I had written for Marge and my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, “Dear Friends” and “Looking at My Life”; I followed those with the other song I like to play for Marge, “Old Love”.

6:45 Ray Poe, Alton Simpson & Les Armstrong: The boys played Porter Wagoner’s ”Another Day Another Dollar”; Wynn Stewart’s “It’s A Pretty World Today”; Gene Watson’s “Farewell Party”; and Buck Owens’ “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”;

7:00 John Bosley:  Brought some of his new stuff, including: “Whisper I Do”; “Put Your Name in My Heart”; “Living This Way”; “She’s a Beauty”; and “Salty Stew”.  I sense a new CD coming.

7:15 Mitch Wilson: The finger-stylist played his own “Mr. Usher”; the Beatles “Eleanor Rigby” with an ending of “Secret Agent Man”; more of his own,  “Planted by a Stream”, “Hidden Lullaby” and “Chords in Search of a Melody”; Reginald Heber’s traditional Christian tune, “Holy, Holy, Holy”; a medley of  “Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and Paul Simon’s “59th Street Bridge” finished his set.

7:30 Gregory Martin Campbell: Tuned up with a quicker version of his quick “Guitar and Microphone”, before launching into Del Shannon’s “Runaway”; Eddie Haywood and Judy Spencer’s “Soft Summer Breeze”; Big Mo’s “Filling Station”; “This is My Father’s World”, a praise tune covered by Amy Grant; and  Glen Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.

7:45 Conner Brown:  Did a great job of Bob Dylan’s “Song to Woody”, a memorial to Woody Guthrie (he slipped Allen Singer’s name into the lyrics); his own “Please Don’t Walk Away”; Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”; and another original, “Everything, Every Day”.

8:00 Tom Barbarie, John Movius & Mark Pullin, Carol McCollum & Roger Hale: The gathering of terrific musicians brought together an impromptu bluegrass band and gave us a very together-sounding set of: “What Have They Done to the Old Home Place?”; “Soldier’s Joy”; “Faded Love”; “Little Old Log Cabin with the Little White Washed Chimney”; “All the Good Times are Past and Gone”; and “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”.

8:25:  Bob Carpenter: Returned for a second week, he played two tunes on his ukulele, the un-ukulele tunes, Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces”; and Ray Price’s “Heartaches by the Number”.

8:30 Bob Setzer and Christa Jordan: Has once again become a regular with our open mic, now that his car is working.  He brought his friend Christa along; she’s a self-taught lead player. He played his own “What’s Eating Me”; and, with Christa, “Shut the Whole World Out”; they ended with a short little un-named jam tune.

8:45 Anthony & Christian: It’s been a couple of years since the pair has played for us and it was good to have them back. They brought us a Foo Fighters tune, “Everlong”; Radiohead’s “High and Dry”; and Coldplay’s “In My Place”.  Welcome back guys!

9:00 The Pony Tales: All three members of the group were present, Doreen, Mary, and Lynda.  Their harmonies were especially tight as they played Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”; Ken Graydon’s “Windmill”; and Chris Lay and Les Buffum’s “Night Train Down the Yellowstone”.

9:15 Greg Gross:  My co-host was our final performer and played to a dwindling audience; he gave us a fine set of Jim Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”; Annie Lennox’s “Step by Step”; the traditional “Wabash Cannonball”; and closed by  leading the audience in a round of “Happy Trails”.

Once more, it was another evening of terrific music from talented musicians.

God Bless and have a good week. Come see your friends soon.

Tim Woods, Greg Gross, and the crew