Open Mic @ the Parliament...
It's been a while, but let's see how this works...tonight, I got the chance to perform at an open mic night back in York. I lived in the city (well, kinda) nearly 16 years, and recently was back there for a Dharma Fools reunion. Tonight, I got the chance to play the room at the Parliament Arts Center in the city.
Now that's slick, innit? Lovie and her partner Natalie are the operators of the Purple Giraffe, and hosted the open mic. They've done a bunch of these over the years, and it's a good way to read, put over some new material, and try a few things.
You in theory should be able to click on the link, and that'll take you to the video. Here, Lovie talks about her life, her artistic tendencies and urges, and more...then came Angelia, who writes under the pen name A.D. Hunter...
Angelia's works are like historical fiction, but with an urban, and spiritual bent...very intriguing.
Then there was me...
This particular format is something I have tried in the past. Reading from Searching for Roy Buchanan to begin with, then adding for the first time, the music I wrote for the story...
Gratuitous picture of me...I read from Searching..., plus the two pieces, "Walkin' Out of San Francisco," and "Got the Blues." The former is kind of a Jimmy Reed sort of piece, while the other is a W.C. Handy type of country blues. Both fit the moments and moods of the story...and I guess they went over okay. They applauded, so that's good.
I think I did read a little too long, and I must choose a different portion of the sequel, Call it Love. That is not going to be out until later in the year, and I'll certainly let YOU know about that!
But as it's open mic, many of our friends in attendance followed...
Vincent Walker (pronounced Rocker) read some short pieces. He reminded me a little of Charles Bukowski, but he has his own style, and has a new book of works coming...we'll have to get him for the relaunched Brown Posey Press Show...(on the BookSpeak Network).
Daniel Dror followed, with some short pieces that reminded me of Irvine Welsh, and darkly funny.
Heath Brougher followed with some short poems, and we ended the night with Tyler Wolfe and standup.
All in all fun...I think I got some good response and compliments for the work and the music. I'll need to tighten this up if I want to continue doing these, depending on time.
The section of York where the Parliament is, East King Street has always had artsy stuff in the neighborhood, but the buildings are being renovated, and I'm impressed by what I saw down there. York was once a Dead City, but there's life in it, in more ways than one.
