Open Mic is a community tool. It brings musicians and people who love music together. It creates and sustains hyper local culture. We love what's happening on Main Street and Commercial so we want artists to thrive here on 4th ave. Every Tuesday and Wednesday Night from 7:30 -11 pm. Local music lovers volunteer their time to host and sustain the scene. Guys like Patric Spenser, Greg Monforton, and Robin Tivy are regulars that host and play and honestly love the community.
If it's your first time, don't be shy, please share your stuff. Afterall, sharing is caring. 

Robin Tivy
Mountaineer by day – Musician and Blogger by night
Years lived in Kitsilano: +30

April 2008

Hello music lovers,
I haven't written one of these music blogs in a
while. I just got an email from David Muskett, now back in England,
asking what has become of my blog. So here it is.

DAVID MUSKETT AND CHELTENHAM, ENGLAND
Anybody
who was at the Wired Monk last year remembers David Muskett, and the
incredible energy he put into being the host. David's now living in
Cheltenham, England, and its just gotten warm enough over there that he
was sitting out playing his guitar. He's into Neil Young (Old Man) and
Joni Mitchell "Case of You" these days.

As it turns out, Betsy
Waddington (my special one) was in David's new home, Cheltenham, 12
years ago. She was on a bike trip from Oxford, and her bike broke in
Cheltenham. (flat tire). A guy picks her up, takes her to his house,
his wife feeds her, and he finds a bike pump the kids have abandoned
and gives it to betsy for the rest of her trip. She stayed in a nice
bed and breakfast in town. Betsy says its a really pretty part of
England, so we're all glad to hear from David Muskett.

Anyway,
here's some news. Betsy and I continue to go over to the Wired Monk
every week. In addition to the usual Tuesday session, the last couple
of weeks I've gone over on Wednesday as well. And other nights as well,
to see Erica Mah and Nanci Ahearn.

Greg Monforton is the host
these days on Tuesday night, and Patrick Spencer is host on Wednesday
night. Traditionally, I've always gone on Tuesday, but lately I've been
investigating Wednesday nights as well. (Partially to look for the old
timers who used to come to the Monk last year). I can't get there till
about 8:30 on Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AND JOHN PRINE
Wednesday
was pretty wild last night (April 16), the room needed to be tamed.
Lots of people talking, and not enough people listening. One person
playing gave up part way thru a song because nobody was listening. The
list of people playing was already filled up, so it didn't look like
I'd get a chance to play.

The previous Wednesday night, Steve
Beck and I had planned to do a beautiful version of a new John Prine
song we've learned. "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness". How did I find
that song? It all started on our Easter trip, when I realized I was
missing the John Prine song "Clocks and Spoons", which my brother Jim
always sings around the campfire. I loved it so much, that I figured I
should look at some John Prine videos on YouTube. You know how Youtube
works - you listen to one video, and then it suggests you should look
at some other related video. And so somehow Youtube thought I was the
type of person who would like to hear Iris Dement sing with John Prine,
so I couldn't resist. First one I watched was "In Spite of Ourselves"
with John Prine and Iris Dement. http://youtube.com/watch?v=F5axlwCBXC8

Anyway,
after I watched THAT video, and a few others like "Our Town" with Emmy
Lou Harris, Youtube really knew I'd like to listen to "Speed of the
Sound of Loneliness" with John Prine and Nanci Griffith. http://youtube.com/watch?v=AAfwiOxaRbk

So
I dug up the chords and learned the song. And that very night, Steve
Beck (a real John Prine fan) phoned me to see what time we were going
over to the Wired Monk to see Erica Mah. So I said come over an hour
early, and we'll sing a few songs of our own first before walking over
to the Monk.

Steve liked the song, and so he went home and
learned the beautiful Nanci Griffith harmonies for it. So then we made
a plan to sing it together at the Wired Monk Wednesday session. Steve
went there early to put us on the list, and I hurried there from my
hockey game at UBC, and I didn't even have a beer. But alas, when I got
to the Wired Monk, it was ABSOLUTELY PACKED, with so many people
standing that you could hardly move. It seems that a music class from
UBC had come "en mass" and booked all the slots, so Steve was unable to
get us onto the list. Steve had to go home before 11:00. As it turns
out, Patrick Spencer, the host, got me onto the list dead last. The
place was still pretty wild, so I knew that an obscure song like "Speed
of the Sound of Loneliness" would fall flat, so instead, I did two
proven crowd involvement songs: "I Can't Stop Loving You" (Don Gibson
1958) and then "Only The Lonely" (Roy Orbison 1960). These went over
really well at the Wired Monk, just like the old days. People always
love it when somebody like me attempts a song done by somebody really
great like Roy Orbison - and I even managed to hit some sort of high
note in the second half.

As with everything else in this blog,
there is a YouTube video. Look up "Only The Lonely, with Chris Isaac,
to see what I strive for.

Anyway, on the same wild Wednesday at
the Wired Monk, there was a guy I'd never seen before called Morgan,
who seems to be into the same "crowd involvement oldies". So I invited
him over to the monthly Thursday night music nights we have at my house
(2nd Thursday every night).

THURSDAY MUSIC NIGHTS AT MY HOUSE
The
last Thursday night session at my house was also pretty wild, with more
people and instruments than ever. Piano, violin, recorder, mandolin,
and lots of guitars, and sometimes penny whistles.
Steve Beck was
there, and so eventually Steve and I DID get to do our beautiful
version of "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" for the assembled masses.

At one point in the evening, Tom Campbell from across the
street also came over, and so we sang "Grey Funnel Line", our most
beautiful duet, for the masses. But my place was a bit too wild, and so
the full beauty didn't come out.

Also at my house that night was
Jeff Sember, who played on piano most of the night, along with Bev
Macleod on violin. He regularly comes down to the Wired Monk. We had
both the living room and adjoining dining room filled with people
playing, with the piano and fiddle dominating the dining room.

How
did I meet Jeff Sember? The answer is neighbourhood parties. If you
haven't had one yet, you should, and you may find that you have lots of
really interesting people living right on your own block! What I did
was draw a map of the houses and addresses in the neighbourhood, then
find out who was in each one, and then invite them to the party. That's
how we met Jeff was when I organized a going away party for neighbours
Sol Pavony and Sharon. Sol suggested it should be a music party, and
he'd bring his banjo, and thats when I met Jeff and his mother for the
first time. Jeff is really good on just playing by ear on the piano.
And so of course he played Piano Man. I just looked up Billy Joel -
Piano Man. There's a video there that shows the CONCEPT of the song,
complete with a big bar scene with all the characters.

TUESDAY NIGHTS AT WIRED MONK
On
Tuesday nights at the Wired Monk, Erica Mah has really emerged as a
star. Lots of people have bought her CD for $10, we all really love to
hear her play. My own show on Tuesdays needs a new life. I wish I was
better. I'm going to have to talk to my spin doctors and agents. Part
of my problem on Tuesdays is that Greg gets me to play early, and I
don't have the right songs. Its always hard getting the evening
started, but somebody has to go first.

SEA SONGS
I've been
trying to get into singing sea songs, but with limited success. Last
Tuesday I sang "Lord Franklin" (written by Lady Franklin in 1855) and
"Northwest Passage" (Stan Rogers 1981). Please have a look at the
YouTube video "John Renbourn teaches Lord Franklin", to see what a
wonderful song it is. http://youtube.com/watch?v=0n02qyrlBUk
And then Sinead O'Connnor.

Anyway,
my first attempt to sing Lord Franklin at the Wired Monk was not very
successful. I didn't do a very good job of it, and also nobody knew the
song. I suspect there were people there who might have forgotten
Franklin himself! Just in case YOU've forgotten, Franklin was last seen
by Europeans on July 26, 1845, as he sailed away with 100 sailors to
look for the Northwest Passage. The song was so wonderful that I'm
re-reading all my Franklin books. Currently I'm working on "Overland to
Starvation Cove", which is about one of the expeditions to find what
became of Franklin.

But maybe if people look at the Youtube video of "Lord Franklin", they'll be more interested next time I try the song.
And of course I would be overjoyed if someone else learned these songs.

Also
the week before I tried two other sea songs "Greenland Whale
Fisheries", and "The Old Polina", both from the 1800's. To get an idea
of what I was TRYING to do, you should check out -Shane MacGowan and
the Popes.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VlMKok-7Xj0
You can also listen to the Pogues sing this one.

Please have a look at Great Big Sea - Old Polina
http://youtube.com/watch?v=p5JvPoHcYUk

But
so far, I've had limited success playing these at the Wired Monk, at
least early in the evening. They depend on a certain level of audience
participation which is hard to get at the beginning. And I need to get
better at them. Anybody that plays early has the same problem. What
there needs to be is a special deal that anybody who goes early can
also play a song or two later in the evening.

THE NEW GUITAR
David
Muskett asked me how it was going with my new guitar, the Cort MR 100F
black guitar, which supposedly belonged to Johnny Cash, according to
the pawn shop owner in Grand Forks. There are times when I really love
the sound of the Cort, and then other times it sounds really flat and
dead. The low E string is particularily dead sounding. Its so different
from my trusty Yamaha FG180 (1976). So lately I've gone back to playing
my old Yamaha FG 180 at the Wired Monk. Erica Mah borrowed it last
Tuesday, and even she says the sound was great. Everybody says it
sounds great. People were surprised when I confessed that the strings
are about a year old on it. They are those coated strings (Elixir
Nanoweb Light), and they haven't fallen apart yet. I know the guys at
the guitar stores always say to replace strings every month.

THE OLD FOLKS HOME
One
other noteworthy music session in the past month was when I was
visiting Fran, my mother in law, who moved into a senior's complex last
year. (My dad died in 2004). Anyway, we had gone out to dinner, and
when we returned, there was the most wonderful music in the lobby.
There is a baby grand piano in the center of the lobby and another
upright piano on the side. Both pianos were being played simultaneously
by two ladies, both over 90 years old. The lady on the piano had her
own songbook, just with the words of the songs. At the start of every
song, she'd say the title, and the key, and then start playing. For
example, "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in G. And then the other lady would
pick up on parts of it and play along.

This wasn't a concert or
anything, it was just two real people like you or me will be if we're
lucky, that were playing the old songs. There was just one person in
the audience, an old fellow who was really enjoying the music, and
tapping his foot. He had a small box of chocolates for each of the
ladies.

I was overwhelmed with how wonderful the music was,
and so Betsy and I and Fran sat in the big comfy chairs and listened
for an hour or so as they played. I knew that's what my dad would do.
Eventually the wonderful music was over, and both ladies came over and
talked to us (since we were the audience). It was the first time they
had played together, and the lady on the upright was sometimes
discouraged trying to play along, but I knew it must be difficult,
especially when the first lady would pause to correct mistakes.

Anyway,
I told them it was wonderful. When she found out I had left my guitar
upstairs in Fran's place, she demanded that I bring it down, and sing
some songs for them. So I started off with some of the old songs like
"Red River Valley", "On Top of Old Smokey", and we all sung along. Then
they requested a couple of Elvis songs "Love Me Tender and "It's Now or
Never". I was able to impress them by knowning that "Love Me Tender"
was really "Aura Lee" from 1861. (I learned that from Betsy, when she
used to play Aura Lee on the piano.
It's Now or Never is really "O
Sole Mio from 1898. Anyway, it was a wonderful session - you just never
know when you'll get a chance to play!

CELTIC WOOLENS/CELTIC TRADITIONS
One
final thing I have to report is that one dark and rainy night Betsy and
I dropped in on a "session" at Celtic Traditions at 3754 West 10th Ave.
I'd heard about this local business from Linda at Prussin Music. By
day, Celtic Woolens is a store selling various beautiful woolen
sweaters, but the owners have a real passion for celtic music, and so
they run these sessions. Its owned and operated by Michael Pratt and
Lynn McGown, and you can check out their website at http://celticWoolens.com. (In the summer, they run the Jerico Folk club.

The
format of a traditional "session" is a bit different than the familiar
"open mic" format of the Wired Monk. When these people get together for
a "Session", the way it works is that somebody leads off with a
traditional tune, and then everybody can join in if they know it. There
were about 10 fiddle players, and most of the numbers you'd have 7 or
so join in. After about 4 songs or so, Michael Pratt, the organizer
(and owner of Celtic Traditions would sing a wonderful old sea song,
while playing the Concertina (a small accordion). I really liked that.
There was one person there with a guitar, but the main emphasis seems
to be on more "traditional" celtic instruments. However, I'm sure
somebody like John Renbourne would be perfectly welcome if he showed up
and played "Lord Franklin". Its a $5 cover charge. Tarkin (who I saw at
the Wired Monk) have played there at one of their concerts. As for me,
I just listened and enjoyed the music.

(You can now find all my past blogs at my songbook website at http://2a.com/apps/Songbook
Your login code is 'TimothySokol' and your password is 'neighbourhood'.)

January 12th 2008

So I got to the Wired Monk at 7:30 sharp, and the place was already
packed. It was so full of guitars that Tim was thinking there were more
guitars than people. I noticed that the legendary fingerstyle champion,
Don Alder, was back at the wired monk, after being missing for months. A
7 page version of his life's story is in the current edition of the
Vancouver Courier (See
http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/index.html).

I managed to talk him into being the first performer at the Monk. Its
always great to have somebody really good start off, because it gets
everybody's attention, and sets up the whole tone of the evening. Leah's
only instructions to me was that we could perform our number "anytime,
but not immediately after Don Alder, because he's so good".

So Don played, and the place quieted right down. He started with his
harp guitar, and then switched to his beautiful Yamaha LL36 for the third
number. He says he's been working on the electronics a bit and wanted
to try it out.

Following Don Alder was Aiden Mayes, also a seasoned performer. And
then Steve Beck followed her, performed his song Dancing with Orion, and
then a John Prine number, and finally, the wired monk "house song from
last year "Pancho and Lefty" (Townes Van Zandt 1972). He claimed that
although I told him it was the house song, he had never heard it at the
Wired Monk! Well I guess that shows how things just keep changing...
Certainly last year at this time, you'd never go through an evening but
that somebody would play it.

The next performer was Ann Eberline, with her song "I am Fragile". I
was really getting into the beat of that song, really solid rythym.
Then Erica Wong played three absolutely beautiful songs.

Then it was Robin and Leah (that's me!) with just two songs:
The first was "Long Long Time". I started off singing out of key, since
I always do it in C, but once Leah started, I was able to recover.
When we got to the third verse, Leah took it alone, and did a beautiful
job, and she got a huge applause. Our second song was Patsy Cline's
"Faded Love", from 1963, with Leah throwing in a few licks with mandolin,
and then doing a whole verse on just the mandolin, to a great applause.
We had done this once at my house, and I assumed Leah must know the
song. But Leah claims that she just learned the song from me singing it,
which certainly makes it impressive that she could play a whole verse
just having heard my crank it out a couple of times.

Next up was Darian and David George. These days David George is the MC
on Wednesdays, whereas on Tuesdays it is Greg Monforton. So tonight,
David was just singing.

Second last in the evening were Jonah and Erai who promised us they
would put some good energy into the room and we could all sing along. Sure
enough, they did, with that old Rod Stewart song from 1971 - Maggie
May. Erai really had the routine down, pointing his finger dramatically
into the air at various parts of the performance. And then they closed
with "Hey Jude" (1968), and everybody got into the endless jam at the
end "na - na,na na na na na na na na na na Hey Jude".

After that, Pamela did her song "You Cheating Bitch" on an subdued
electric guitar, and we were out of time for another evening.

On Thursday night (January 10), it was time for music night at "The
Center" (my house). It is the second Thursday of each month. This
thursday, people just kept arriving (about 10). It started off pretty wild,
with 10 diverse people playing every song, but eventually settled down. I
do remember a few great successes like "Lying Eyes" (Eagles), with Bev
and Betsy on recorder and penny whistle. And then some great 4 person
whistling on some Gordon Lighfoot songs. The worst song ever was our
attempt on "California Dreaming", with everybody going in every direction.
Next time, we've got to have just one person start. Anyway, after that
disaster, everybody's morale could only be recovered with a good round
of "Bad Moon Rising" (Creedence Clearwater 1969, a song impossible to
blow. Then Tom Campbell finally got his chance to play the part of Stan
Rogers and lead Barrett's Privateers. He's been wanting to do that for
months. Initially Greg Stoltmann was confused on the protocol, and was
singing the lead with Tom, until Tom informed him "There can only be
one Stan" on this song!

Later in the evening, we discovered that we had some real John Prine
fans. I could hardly believe anyone but Tom and I knew "Subu Visits the
Twin Cities Alone 1970", but Steve Beck was right in there. And then
"The Torch Singer" 1972".

One song that worked was "Those Were the Days" which was lead by Silke
Gumplinger and Anita Miettuenen. They sang each verse, and then we all
sang the chorus. As you may know, Gene Raskin put English lyrics to the
Russian song Dorogoi Dlinnoyu" written by Boris Fomin. It was recorded
in 1968 by welsh singer Mary Hopkin, produced by Paul McCartney.

Silke Gumplinger grew up in East Germany when it was still Russian, and
Anita's family is from Finland, so they are good people to lead a
Russian song. That song always makes me think of some Russian comrades out
in Siberia somewhere, drinking Vodka and wallowing in the hopelessness
of the old Soviet Union. I just had to gulp down a beer that Jim had
brought, just to feel more "Soviet" for the song.

The evening closed with both Betsy and then Silke playing Pachelbel's
Canon in D (1680) on the piano. Anita remembered it from when Betsy,
Denise and Anita were visiting an old church in Europe.