I spend a great deal of time cruising around Houston checking out local music venues and open mics.  I am convinced that the local music scene in Houston is second to none.  I know there are a lot of cities out there that are “known” for their music scene, but I’m talking about the great variety of musicians and welcoming venues. There are well over 30 open mics and/or jams every week in the Houston area.  Pretty much any night of the week in any part of town there is a stage that welcomes local musicians.  It truly is a huge and supportive community.  Many thanks to everyone who keeps the local music scene alive through your participation either as a musician or a music lover.

With the Easter weekend approaching we had a light turnout at The First Tee this last Thursday.  That was no damper on the great music and good fun we had though.  The First Tee has been an excellent venue for our open mic.  They have a nice stage, an appreciative audience and an excellent staff.  Thursday night is also Steak Night.  Come in early and get an awesome steak, potato and salad for a price that even starving musicians can afford.  They start cooking at 5:00 and keep going until they run out.  Most nights that is pretty quick so make sure you get there early.

Here is the roster from Thursday April 22, 2011.

 Zane Nordin opened the show.

Keith Craik is our "house fiddler".

He is happy and able to play just about anything.

Van Buchanan was next up and opened his set with

"Four Strong Winds" as a tribute to Earth Day.

John Durr is a member of a great

classic rock band called The Remnants of Polaris.

He also comes out regularly and plays solo for us.

We haven't seen Donnie Sands for a while, 

and it's always a pleasure to have him on our stage.

Our good friend and regular Josh Wager took the stage next.

Josh got Keith to back him up as well.

Bruce Ross is another regular favorite at The First Tee.

Jason Hykle is certainly no stranger at the First Tee either

although we're not used to hearing him so late in the evening.

Jason got some excellent backup guitar from Willie B.

Brandon Jentzen was in the house last week.

We haven't seen him in a while....something about a day job.

Anyway great to see him back at The Tee.

Jason Waggoner is relatively new to our open mic.

Jason is a new transplant in the Houston area and is just

beginning to scope out the local music scene. 
He seems to like what he sees, and we sure like

what we hear from Jason.

Chrysa Ford has been coming around to listen at open mics for a while.

Recently she has worked up a few songs and is performing a-Capella.

As mentioned before Willie B was in the house.

Jason Waggoner backed him up for this set.

With a roster like this and a healthy handful of listeners it was a great night of music at The First Tee.  Come on out and join us every Thursday night for a fun and friendly acoustic music open mic.

Hope to see you out and about this week!

First Tee February 17, 2011

Last Thursday night at the First Tee marked my 100th Open Mic since taking over from Josal. We've got a good core of regular musicians and a fairly steady showing of new and occasional players as well.  One of the things I really like about The First Tee Open Mic is the number of people that come in to listen.  It's always a plus to have an appreciative audience when you are on the stage and adding our guests to First Tee's regular folks is just the mix to make it happen.  So, once again I would like to thank everyone for supporting local music and especially Open Mics.

We opened the stage with Jason Hykle,
receiving some backup from Keith Craik.

 This was Steve Orta's first time at The First Tee, but he is no stranger to my open mics.

Brandon Smith was up next with a fun set of original country songs.

We then moved on to TC Smythe and Stephen Daly. 
Sunny Side Up? Slap & Tickle?  Whatever they call themselves they are always entertaining.

Chris Mitchell is another first timer to The First Tee. Chris plays some excellent jazz on his Soprano Sax. 

Bruce Ross was a nice follow to Chris with his rich gospel voice and inspirational songs.

Larry Sepulvado was next up to "play some songs for ya".  Larry's originals are always crowd pleasers.

Josh Wager is back in full swing as a regular open mic player.  It's always nice have him on the stage.

Although Hunter Nelson is a favorite regular and Rhew Fletcher has been out at previous venues this is the first time we've gotten to hear Mythical Jungle Lake. Joining Hunter and Rhew was Benji Cooksey adding some fine harmony to the mix.

Chrysa Ford is a fairly regular spectator at open mic, but this night she decided to get up and sing a little a Capella number.  Very cool.

Amy Waters followed Chrysa keeping the estrogen charged on the stage,

and then Andrea Thompson closed us out for the night.

Also special thanks to Keith Craik for backing up so many other musicians on his fiddle.

So there you have it!  A great way to mark 100 Open Mics.  It's alway a good time at The First Tee, but this great group of musicians and fans make this Open Mic very special.  Many thanks to all.

First Tee February 10, 2011

What a fun night we had last Thursday with an excellent turnout of musicians and fans.  We are really building a good following of listeners with the fine talent that has been playing at The First Tee Open Mic.  We managed to get the attention of America's Got Talent!  They sent out a representative last week to promote their open auditions and to sign up people for scheduled auditions.  As things turned out Josh Wager got a scheduled audition and I've heard through the grapevine (OK it was on Facebook)  that our friend Donny Sands went down to the open auditions.  I have no doubt both of them represented us well.

Besides the presence of the lovely Esmerelda from America's Got Talent we had a great line up of music.

We started the evening as we often do with Jason Hykle,
backed up by Brandon Jentzen and Keith Craik.

Brandon then took his turn at the microphone, again getting
some back up assistance from Kieth Craik

Dennis Glendenning was up next making his first appearance on the First Tee Stage.

Willie B followed  and rocked the house as he is known to do.

Hunter Nelson was next up and has become a regular favorite here.

Steve and Kevin have also become welcome regulars.

C-4 Ebrahimi and Guitar Dave came up next with a fine mix of tunes.

Amy Waters then took the stage

and was followed by Andrea Thompson.
Apologies to Andrea.  It seems I always miss someone in the photos.
This week it was Andrea.

John P. Barton made a rare appearance at the First Tee. And
who is that interesting fellow looking on from the back?

and then Josh Wager took the stage garnering some attention from Esmeralda.

Bruce Ross followed Josh

and Doug Michaels wrapped up the evening 

with backup from Guitar Dave and Bruce Ross.

Many thanks to all of the musicians that keep coming out and keeping this open mic alive.

Also a HUGE thank you to over a dozen folks that made it a point to show up just to listen.

Join us every Thursday night at The First Tee for a great Acoustic Music Open Mic.

First Tee Open Mic 1/13/2011

So last Thursday night....freezing outside....drizzling rain...just nasty ass weather, and still better than a couple of dozen people cruised into the the First Tee for Open Mic. We had fifteen musicians and eight guests (not to mention the regular First Tee steak night crowd) come in to enjoy the music and camaraderie of open mic.  It's a lot like a big family, except you can walk out and leave 'em standing at the bar if you want.  SWEET!

We had a lot of our favorite regulars along with some first timers at The First Tee and a couple of first timers for Ramblin' Mic.

The evening started off with Jason Hykle

 

Don & Jacob made their first appearance at the First Tee

and managed to get people up on the dance floor!

You may think this odd for "open mic", but not here at the First Tee

Brandon Jantzen followed.  With help from his special toys

he layed down some very cool grooves.

John Ward took the stage next....no picture....sorry.

Then for the first time on a Ramblin' Mic stage

Thaddeus Brenamen

Thaddeus invited the Reverend Johnny to join him for a couple

And then The Reverend did a couple more on his own.

Brandon Smith joined us on this cold night

and brought his friend Scott Oder up to help him out.

Scott stuck around and did a few on his own as well.

It was Amy Waters turn next,

and Bruce Ross followed her

Doug Michaels is no stranger to the First Tee Stage, but

he was joined by Michael ? who was here for the first time.

It was right about this time that things got a little fuzzy and I quit taking pictures.

(Why does this always happen shortly after Doug shows up?  Couldn't possibly be the drinks he buys me.)

Suffice it to say, Micheal stayed on stage for a couple and then 

Hunter Nelson joined him.  Hunter has been on Ramblin Mic's stage before,

but this was his first time at The Tee.  Hope he makes it a regular thing.

My old friend James Mendiola came sliding in the door just before I closed it down.

It's been quite a while since I've seen James, so we kept it rolling into overtime to let him play.

Many thanks to everyone for supporting my open mics and live local music.  There are many fine open mic venues all over Houston.  If you like live music, I encourage you to get out and explore a little.  When you hear something you like make sure you show your appreciation.  

Hope to see you out and about this week.