Giglet: Open Mic July 24

This is a reminder about our giglet tomorrow . . . .

Wednesday, July 24, 9 pm - 9:30 pm at Cafe Paradiso.

We're doing a half-hour set for Open Mic starting at 9 pm at Cafe Paradiso, featuring our new drumless* sound ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

* No drums yet, but I've been shaking the tambourine lately and snapping my fingers when I'm not singing, and I welcome you to join in, too.   As a matter of fact, snapping your fingers is the special Burnt Sugar Blues call for encore.   A snap a second ~~ that's the way we start Fever, one of the first songs we did as a group. 

A donation of $2 supports Open Mic and other musical affairs at 
Cafe Paradiso, 101 North Main St, Fairfield, Iowa

Giglet: July 24

Wednesday, July 24, 9 pm - 9:30 pm at Cafe Paradiso.

We're doing a half-hour set for Open Mic starting at 9 pm at Cafe Paradiso, featuring our new drumless* sound ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

* Maybe drumless, but not entirely percussionless:  I'll snap my fingers when I'm not singing, and I welcome you to join in, too. 

Cafe Paradiso, 101 North Main St, Fairfield, Iowa

Gigletto

Last year I gave the word "giglet" another meaning: a short performance of two songs, like 10 minutes at an Open Mic.   I decided to change it up a bit . . . so the new word for a 2-song gig will be "gigletto", a tiny little gig, while the term "giglet" is reserved for a half-hour gig, like a feature performance at Cafe Paradiso's Open Mic night.   Like the one we'll be doing on July 24.

July 3 giglet-party

Announcing our next Open Mic giglet at Cafe Paradiso:

Wednesday, July 3, a ten-minute spot between 8 pm and 9 pm.

We've been drummerless for a few weeks so we arranged songs with no drummer ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

Chocolate chips for everyone!

At our last rehearsal, Russ said, "How about we do Open Mic on Wednesday after next?"

We all agreed, and when I got home and looked at my calendar, I noticed that Wednesday was July 3, my BIRTHDAY  ~~  a happy way to celebrate!   I'll bring chocolate chips for everyone.

Cafe P is at 101 North Main Street in Fairfield, Iowa.   A $2 donation helps keep nights like this happening at the cafe.

* * * Update: July 1
I'm now calling this kind of performance a gigletto: a tiny little gig. 

No Drummer (again) (sigh)

We have no drummer again.   (sigh)

Okay, we do have a drummer . . . for a limited engagement: Keith DeBoer is lending his hands for our upcoming Open Mic giglets.   And that's really cool because Keith has a great touch with our songs and glides right into the grooves.

We're prepping a couple songs for a 10-minute spot (maybe two) and also prepping a half-hour feature, both for Cafe Paradiso's Open Mic, hosted by {ta-da} Keith DeBoer.

* * * Update:  June 18
Keith is hugely busy this summer and bowed out of our project, so we do indeed have no drummer.   We're prepping the songs anyway, and they sound smooooth, like silky dark chocolate.

Shakin' All Over

lollipop (or sucker)
first & fourth verses
photo ~ Gregory Bastien

Shakin' All Over was the name of the first song we played for Open Mic last night  ~ Russ, Mike, and me at 8:10 pm.


"Shakin' all over" also describes my initial state of nervousness on the stage.   I put a positive spin on it, thinking, Well, maybe actual physical shakes might add to the emotional authenticity of the song.   I heard my voice shaking as I sang the opening lines, but it wasn't as obvious to other listeners as it was in my ears at the time.

chocolate
second verse

Burnt Sugar Blues was the second song we played.

The second verse was inspired by a headline: women say chocolate trumps sex.   Holy cocoa, Batman, not for me!

honey
third verse

Winnie-the-Pooh was my muse for the third verse.   Really.   The honey-lovin' bear inspired wonderfully wicked ways to indulge in honey.

Writing about honey and chocolate makes my sweet tooth ache.   Lucky for me I have a jar of honey in the cupboard, so I'm dipping in and trying not to get the keyboard sticky.   Mmmm, yum...

Giglet

We're planning to take part in Open Mic again with one song from the sixties, Shakin' All Over, and our namesake song, Burnt Sugar Blues, which we played at the February party.   We'll be undrummed again with Mike, Russ, and me.

I thought "giglet" would perfectly describe such a short performance.

So I looked it up and found that "giglet" means "a giddy, playful girl".   It's obvious we need a new definition for the word.   The Urban Dictionary says it's "large quantities of something; opposite of a niblet".   That's cute, too.

Jazz musicians started using the word "gig" in the 1920s for paid performances.   Well, I guess the audience pays attention, and Fairfield audiences are famous for paying exquisitely conscientious attention.

Having stated for my own edification the wherefors and whereases, I therefore now declare with all due pomp and one true circumstance:

Yes, we got us a giglet!

Our First Open Mic

We (Russ, Mike, me) did our first Open Mic last night:  "undrummed" was our theme for two songs.   Here's the audio file.



Things We Said Today is an early Beatles tune.   Mike played the intro twice because the mic was off when I was supposed to start singing.   I wrote Would You Catch Me in December and Mike and Russ made chords for it in February.   After our set, Keith DeBoer, the MC, introduced my son Shane for the next act.   Shane wrote the first tune, and the second is Stand By Me.



Topping off the night as the featured act was Global Cooling led by chanter Chandra Das, who filled in on a few hours' notice for Jonas Magram who'd had an accident and couldn't make the show (he's doing okay).   Global Cooling's bass player didn't make it, so Russ joined in to fill out the bottom end.

Update:   Jonas supplied the "news report" of his injury ~

Undrummed

We're doing a new sound for our first appearance at Open Mic this Wednesday, April 4.   "Undrummed" is softer and more relaxed, and a whole different sound than what we did in February.     Only the core songwriters will be on stage ~ Russ, Mike, and me ~ so we can get on and off the stage in the 10 minutes allotted per group.   That leaves a lot of space between the notes in these three songs.

We'd love to share these with you at Open Mic in Cafe Paradiso.   Don't know exactly when we'll be on stage; performances start at 8 pm.

Lo-Cal taste of Sugar Blues

the West African drumming group Foliba
played at the February 22 Open Mic

Coolio musicians meet friendly audiences at Open Mic in Fairfield.   I enjoyed three of these after they started up again in January at Cafe Paradiso.   That alchemy combined with Tuesday's practice when we were developing a new Celtic-bardic-ballad-sounding song and somebody said it might sound nice with just guitar and voice.   The cauldron brewed until Wednesday evening when a new idea wafted up, so I emailed Mike about Open Mic and the notion that he and I could duo as a low-tech taste of our band.

Open Mic that night was beautiful and touching with storytelling, poetry, and singer/songwriter sounds.   Mike liked it and we're getting songs ready for some time soon.

Update, March 12, 2013: We did perform that Celtic-bardic-ballad-sounding song at Open Mic on April 4, 2012.   We call it Would You Catch Me.