Ashford Arms Open Mic 7/17/2010

Ashford Arms Irish Pub hosts a great open mic every Thursday.  This open mic is growing in popularity each week, and this week had two newcomers that found us via www.openmichouston.com.  It's always great to see new folks showing up at open mics.

This week Marian Ritter returned to Ashford for her second time on our stage.

Van Buchanan was out and about and it's always a real pleasure when he can find the time to stop in and play some music for us.

 

David Myers has become a good friend of Ashford's Open Mic and we are sure glad to have him sitting in.

Captian Rick made his way up from Kemah to play for us.  Not only did he bring us a nice selection of songs, he brought his friend Ken (who also lives on a boat) to join him on the Jews Harp.

Brandon Jantzen was in the house. 

As was Holly Reich.  

And let me just take a minute to give a special thank you to both Holly and Marian.  Open Mics are so dominated by men that it is always a real pleasure to have some women come out and join us.  Thank you!

Josh Wager followed Holly on the stage.  Josh is really starting to build a reputation for himself.  He will be featured at JP Hops House Hard Times Soup and Music Kitchen Wednesday July 28th.  You can catch a full Josh Wager show there for FREE and eat some great home made soups for FREE and enjoy an excellent selection of beer. Check this link for more info JP Hops House

Anthony was a new comer this week and brought some fine vocals and guitars skills to the stage.

Zane was next up and gave us some originals as well as some fun Johnny Cash covers.

Pedro G. has found his way back to the Ashford and it's good to see him back.

Donnie Sands was another new comer.  Donnie has a great voice and guitar skills and played some nice originals as well as covers.

Last on the list this week was Vincent DeCarlo.  This was Vincents second time at the Ashford and he brings a lot of good talent to the stage.  

Many thanks to all of the players and music fans that come out each week and support live music.

Churchill's Open Mic 7/13/2010

I really enjoy Tuesday night's at Churchill's Bar & Grill.  It's a comfortable place to relax, have some drinks, visit with friends and listen to music.  Most Tuesday nights have a fairly good crowd.  After all, it is lady's night and Churchill's offers great drink specials to all of the ladies.  Mostly though, I really love the music.
  

This week we got started off with John P. Barton.

 

Josh Wager made his way out from way down on the south side of Houston to share a few songs with us.

Kim and John were hanging out with friends at Churchill's this week and decided to pick up the house guitar and entertain us for a while.

Randy Soffar makes it in on a regular basis these days and brings us some of his fine rock originals as well as some classic covers.  He gave us some Dylan this time due to a special request

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Kim wasn't done on the stage and picked up the guitar herself to give us a couple more songs.

Then she inspired the boys so they joined up.  John, Josh, and Jerrod harmonized their way through a few more. 

And that was a fun and entertaining night of music at Churchill's.  We do this every Tuesday and would love to have you come out and join us.



 

Ashford Arms Open Mic 7/1/2010

My my my!  The Ashford Arms Open Mic is growing every week.  We've always had an excellent selection of musicians and fans at the Ashford, but every week we bring in a couple of newcomers....and their fans.  It's really great to see more and more people turning on to the Houston Open Mic Scene.

Speaking of newcomers, and because I haven't posted in a few weeks I'd like to say thank you to these new players that have come out recently.

Scrambled Yeggs opened the show a few weeks back. 

I ran into David Myers at a GoGirls Open Mic event and invited him to join us at Ashford. That, he did.

Vincent DeCarlo heard about Ashford Arms from Drummer Dave.

Ronnie found us on the internet.  (The internet is our friend.)

And that brings us to last Thursday when we had yet another new player out. Marian Ritter opened the show with some fine guitar playing and singing.  

Steve Orta joined us after a long absence.  

Zane Nordin then took the stage and got a little help from Keith Craik on the mighty blue fiddle.

Doug Michaels was also back at the Ashford after quite and absence.  It's always good to hear Doug.

David Myers has become a regular player at the Ashford and we are glad to have him.

Brandon Jantzen followed David.  Brandon has become a great friend of the Ashford Open Mic with his unique styling.

Ronnie has also been making regular trips to the Ashford and Churchill's since first arriving on the scene.  His heartfelt style of music is excellent.

Amy Waters was there.  Yes she was.  I keep wanting to call Amy a new comer, but she's not really anymore.  I'm am just amazed that she hit the stage so soon after learning to play and she is making huge improvements every week.

Pedro G. is yet another that has been absent from the Ashford roster lately.  We're glad he decided you come back out.  

And of course "Drummer Dave" Dempsey was there to keep everyone on time.  Dave does a great job  and is a very gracious and attentive drummer.  Thanks Dave!

And thanks to everyone for keeping open mics alive and well in Houston. 

Churchill's Open Mic 7/5/2010

Well it's long past time that I sat down and got some pictures posted.  My day job has been keeping me hopping for the past few weeks and I just haven't had the time.  I'm still busy, and that's still good, but I'm going to try to squeeze in a blog post or two to get everything up to date.

Tuesdays have been a little on the slow side for the past few weeks, we've had graduations, vacations, holiday weekends, basketball playoffs and world cup.  The days are staying light later and the rain has been crazy.  In-spite of all of that we still have a great time at Churchill's Open Mic every Tuesday night.

Last week we got some great jams with Willie B and Stephen Daly.

Amy Waters got up next.  Amy was bitten by the open mic bug a couple of months ago and has become a devout regular both at Churchill's and at the Ashford Arms on Thursday.

 

Brooklyn drops in at Churchill's after work quite often, but it's usually too late for her to get up and sing a few songs for us.  Last week was different.  She had the night off and came out early for her first time performance on Churchill's stage.

Je' Reece was back in the house last week.  Je' came out a month or two ago and after getting everybody talking about him, disappeared for several weeks.  It was great to have him back with his soulful sound and style.  He got a little help from Stephen Daly on guitar.

John Barton followed Je' and played a fine mix of covers and originals.  John has huge repertoire and is quite entertaining on stage and off.

And finishing up the list was Alan Young.  Alan came out to Churchill's celebrating his 50th birthday.  We weren't going to let him get out without playing us a few songs.

Once again a great night of music at Churchill's.  We are there every Thursday night with an Acoustic Music Open Mic. And remember, Tuesdays are also Lady's Night at Churchill's with great drink specials for all of the ladies in the house.  Come out and join us!