Zephyr, PBR, and the regulars…
Played tonight at Zephyr – it’s a total dive on Virginia, nestled comfortably between the adult bookstore, the Wonder Silver Peak, and a Chinese Food restaurant known for booting cars who happen to stray into their parking lot. Tonight was my first time there for open mic. Got there at nine and I was one of three people in the bar. Met Jackson, the emcee, who informed me that unfortunately someone had taken apart the sound system in the sound room. The soundboard was totally bare and all the cables were in a pile on the floor. He didn’t know much about it, so I decided to help. We gave it our best, plugging in mics, checking phantom power, but all to no avail. Thankfully Jess, another patron, called the sound guy, Mike. We waited till 10:30 to get the sound up and running.
Jackson played bass – some original tap style stuff. It was cool, and we talked later about tapping and Michael Hedges. He’s a good guy.
Then I got up and played Desert Skies, Feel Like Dancing, Leaves, Get the Words Out, Helter Skelter, and Sirens. My voice felt weak, I think I was tired and I hadn’t warmed up much, after sipping water for an hour waiting for sound. But the folks there (there were probably six or seven by the time I got started) seemed to like it just fine – especially “Dancing”. I’ve got try to find a few more songs that seem to carry as much weight to balance out the set…
After I finished, Ted “Zeppelin” – a Zephyr open mic regular – played a number of songs that he rarely finished. Rather, he would just stop and drink his beer. Sometimes he’d resume his song after taking a pull of PBR. Sometimes he’d just jump into something new. The rest of us listening at the end of the bar weren’t sure when to clap, but Ted didn’t seem to care so neither did we.
Rebecca, the bartender, said I earned myself a PBR – thank you Rebecca! I sipped it while I talked to Jess “Monkeyblaze” who recruits bands to play for different local events associated with Burning Man. We exchanged info – hopefully I’ll be on my way to a gig here soon!
I’m Chuck McCumber. I live and work in Reno, NV, where I’m finishing my MBA at UNR and where I play at open mics (and an occasional paid ::gasp:: gig) around town. Cecil’s Refrain is my long time music project and this site is a place where I talk about my experiences playing and the fellow musicians, artists, and fans that I meet along the way. I’d love your feedback. And if you’re ever looking to jam, hit me up.
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