I know my blog has been kind of quiet since my return to Texas. I've been back home for over 4 weeks and I can't say too much has happened. I've felt some tinges of boredom which is rare for me. My life in Houston can be pretty routine but in all honesty I'm rarely if ever bored.
Since I currently have no regular job, no girlfriend, and no real direction I feel this a perfect time to explore any long time repressed latent artistic talents. How does that sound ? I'm picking up a pen, dusting off my guitar and turning on the mike. The typewriter keys are flying and my mind is in three places at once. Here, there and everywhere but nowhere in particular. You know, stream of consciousness. The inner critic is barred from participating. I have no room for the perfectionist. I'm leaving myself alone.
The artist life is a fun life. Fun things happen. A few nights ago I was at Valhalla (Bar on Rice University campus) and I ran into a guy of European descent who grew up in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). His name is Ian and I met him a few months ago but hadn't seen him since. He's been living in Houston for 11 years. I didn't know it but Ian is likes to sing. That very evening he planned on singing Karaoke at the LZ Pub and asked if I'd like to join. As a singer/songwriter I play an open mike every now and then but its been awhile. Karaoke is a great way to get use to being on stage. The music is canned and the lyrics are presented on a screen so a singer doesn't have to worry about forgetting the words. Audience expectations are usually low and making a fool of oneself is appreciated more often than not. If your a horrible singer it just doesn't matter. No one will tell you. Everyone's a Star !
In my opinion I can sing ok. As I said, the inner critic is not participating. I'm not saying I'm a great singer but I can definitely sound respectfully decent as long as I stick to songs within my range. No Steve Perry or Mariah Carey. Country tends to be the genre where I do best. Alan Jackson's “Chatahoocee” is a good warm up.
I left Valhalla around 9 pm and drove to the LZ Pub. It was kind of hard to find. I drove past it four or five times before I found it. When I walked inside there was Ian, a couple of bartenders, a karaoke DJ and maybe a couple of other people. Other than that the place was quiet. Ian bought me a beer as our Asian American karaoke host broke the silence with a Journey tune. The host's name is Donovan and he's a talented singer when it comes to 80's rock. He can hit the high notes !.... Around that time there was a crowd of 4...I sipped my beer and stared at a fish tank in the corner of the room...
Ian got up first with some classic pop song from England then I followed with Alan Jackson's Chatahoochee. A couple of more people arrived. Some guy wearing a blue tie sang a Weezer song as he rocked out with a Guitar Hero video game Stratocaster for a prop. Wow ! He didn't miss a chord ! Then Donovan sang another Journey song before an older middle aged lady sang something that sounded like a Carpenters song...Eventually I got up and sang Dwight Yoakum's “Guitars and Cadillacs” and found my voice..... Up to that point the evening was fairly normal.....
As midnight neared Donavan belted out a Bryan Adams song for what appeared to be a crowd of about 10. The vibe was high energy, free and easy. Everyone was getting into it. No one seemed to care about what anyone else thought so alter egos were more than welcome. Performances became more animated. The quality of singing didn't seem to matter as much as the presentation. Donovan's humorous comments between songs became more colorful and witty.... An African American by the name of J Fressh Flow (at least I think that's what he said his name was) started busting out some free style rap. He was really good and knows how to own a stage. Very entertaining. Just yell out a word and he throws out some witty rhymes. I'm not a big fan of rap but I quite enjoyed it. The night was happening.... Ian disappeared and returned with more beers. He then got up on stage and began dancing with a young looking married woman as she sang. She liked the attention. Afterwards she seemed to lose her interest in singing and was more interested in dancing for whoever was singing. I guess her husband wasn't there ? A couple of guys gave her dollar bills. She happily accepted. Around 1 am things seemed a little surreal so I sang a Sinatra song.
Close to 2am Ian belted out a really good heavy duty slow rocking version of “Three Little Pigs”. Hat's off. Ian delivered. I followed with Nickelbacks “Rock Star” and ordered a water. Wait, maybe I sang that song before “Three Little Pigs”..????.... It was a great close to the evening and I figured 2am was late enough for a Wednesday night. Donovan thanked me for participating and invited me to join anytime. I intend to go again..... It felt great to allow myself to be an entertainer on stage. Especially when others are entertained. At least I think they were ? Then again, Karaoke ? It doesn't matter. Everyones a Star !
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