First Tee Open Mic 7/7/11

I’ve been hosting open mics for a few years now, and as anyone in this business will tell you there is no way to predict what kind of night you will have.  However, when word got out that Josal  was in town and planning on being at The First Tee, I was pretty certain it was going to be an exceptional turn out.  Indeed it was.  

Open mic is far more than a few musicians showing up to try out new songs, or brush up old ones.  It’s far more that new players working through stage jitters.  It’s far more than entertainment for the local bar patrons.  Open mic is a community of folks that love live local music.  They love the camaraderie and  they love the community.  Some come to play, some come to listen, but everyone comes to take part in the open mic. 

Last Thursday at The First Tee was a perfect example of that.

Pete Bosshart kicked off the evening,

and got some help from Keith Craik

Captain Rick followed with some First Tee favorites.

  The Captain was joined by Ken Jensen on the Jews Harp.

He also managed to get Josal up for some great harmonies.

Jason Hykle was next up and also took advantage of our fine

house fiddle player Keith Craik.

Randy Soffar joined us this week and got request for some

of his old Z Rock songs.

It's always a pleasure to have Jeff Norem on our stage with

his Chapman Stick.

Then Josal took the stage and was joined 

by Willie B and Keith Craik.

Although that was a hard act to follow Peter Cornish 

did exactly that without flinching.

Mitch Tiffin joined us tonight.  He's been spending some 

time writing new songs and brought them out for a test drive.

John Durr of The Remnants Of Polaris was in the house

and took us back to the 60's ...it's what he does best.

The Reverend Johnny followed John Durr,

and Josh Wager was next up.

Clyde Sayre was in the house for a good time.

Glynace Eastam made her first appearance at 

The First Tee Open Mic. 

And we're always happy to see Larry Sepulvado on our stage.

Bruce Ross closed down a long night of great music

and invited Steve Telfer with his flute to the stage.

Many thanks to all of the players and listeners that keep open mics alive.  

Hope to see you out and about this week.

First Tee Open Mic 6/23/2011

I’ve been cruising around a bit lately to check out some of the other open mics around town.  Two things are apparent.  Open mics are abundant, and they all have unique qualities.  I’ve sat outside under magnificent Live Oaks.  I’ve sat in rooms with remarkable sound systems.  I’ve heard very talented singer-songwriters.  I’ve listened to garage bands at blues jams.  I’ve been to high dollar wine bars, trendy coffee shops, ice houses and neighborhood bars.  Regardless of location or format,  one thing they all have in common is people that love to play and listen to music come together to swap songs and experiences,  and enjoy camaraderie with like minded people.   One such example is The First Tee Acoustic Open Mic every Thursday night.

We’ve been experiencing strong turn-outs of talented folks as well as an appreciative audience.  The First Tee is a friendly neighborhood bar that supports Houston’s live music scene with bands, open mics, and an occasional jam.  Come on out and join us every Thursday night.  You’ll be glad you did.

Last Thursday we kicked off the evening with Van Buchanan

Reverend Johnny dropped by for one of his occasional visits.

Jason Hykle has been a steady performer at our open mics for quite some time now and it really shows.

 It was good to see Larry Sepulvado on our stage.

I couldn't help but join in on a couple of  Larry's songs.

Doug Micheals followed Larry and brought his 12 string out.

Bruce Ross was up next.  Please don't let this crappy picture

reflect on Bruce's talent.  I'm not sure what I did wrong, but 

this was the best of five shots.  Sorry Bruce.

Josh Wager is another favorite regular at The First Tee.

 When it was time for Jason Waggoner to take the stage he recruited

Jason Hykle and Bruce Ross to join him.  And now we're jammin'.

Zane Nordin brough his keyboard out last week. 

May I point out that shiny new keyboard stand?  It doesn't have

quite the character of the Bud Lite cases,

but it sure is more convenient.

Then we got into another little jam session with

Doug Micheals, Jason Waggoner and Bruce Ross.

Clyde Sayre slipped in later in the evening and played a few for us,

as did Lance Johnson.

 And what I was saying about camaraderie.....

Lance and Clyde

Clyde and Van

Sarah and Van

That my friends is why we do it!

Hope to see you out and about this week.

First Tee Open Mic 6/2/2011

All open mics go through cycles it seems.  They’re up, they’re down, they’re gone, they’re back up again somewhere else. We postulate reasons about the weather, the sports season, the school cycles, the economy and who knows what all.  Truth is we don’t know why.  What we do know is that open mic is all about people.  It’s about musicians.  It’s about music lovers.  It’s about regular patrons. It’s about new clientele.  Without all of you fine people that show up, there just wouldn’t be any point at all.  There are great open mics all over Houston and none of them would be successful if people weren’t interested.  With that said, I’d like to thank each and every one of you that support my open mics as well as the others around town.  Your presence and energy make it happen.  Thank you , thank you, thank you

The band of many names started off the show last week,

this time under the name of  Beard Painting.

Jason Hykle, Chris Meacham and Joe Martin.

Steve Orta hasn't been around for a while.

It was good to see him back on our stage.

Brad Bowman made his first appearance at the

First Tee Open Mic, but he is no stranger to

the open mic scene.

Peter Cornish made it back again.  He's working in 

Houston for a few months so hopefully we'll see him back soon.

Van Buchanan celebrated his birthday with us.

It's always fun when Van is in the house.

Hunter Nelson followed Van and played a few of

his originals. 

Bruce Ross followed Hunter, and also stood in

on Bass Guitar for several performers

Another newcomer to the First Tee stage was

J.W. Wind.  J.W. host his own open mic

every Tuesday night at Hefleys on West Gray. 

Check it out!

Zane Nordin rolled out the keyboard for some fun tunes,

and got some help from Bruce.  By the way Zane,  love

the keyboard stand.  Finally a good use for Bud Light.

Ray Sauter made it back for his second appearance

at The Tee.

C-4 Ebrahimi took her turn with a few her original songs.

Vivien Micheloni was in for her second apperance.  Vivien 

is very new to public performance and is doing a great job

of playing through the nervousness.

Ryan Tierney was yet another first time player

at The First Tee Open Mic.  Turns out Ryan and I 

share some history.  It was cool to run into him.

Lance Johnson made it in late but still got up to play for us.

And we finished off the night with a few jams. 

Here is Bruce, Ray, and Dave running through a 

David Allen Coe.

As always it was a fun and entertaining evening at

The First Tee.  Join us every Thursday for 

good friends, fun and music.