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Back To The Open Mic

Just got back from the Revue open mic. I haven’t done one of these for a few months at least. I played two new songs. Both challenging. I played Blackbird, and damned near pulled it off without a hitch! I cut it short because I started to get unsure where I was going. The next song was and old gem from the mid 70’s called Charlie, by Split Enz. That was a last minute add. The song i was going to play, I realized, I simply was not ready to perform. In retrospect, I should have played a song I knew better, because Charlie is still too new also. But I hadn’t prepared anything else, so I went with it. I need to get more consistent and learn to finish out the songs with more confidence.

By request, I did get to play Paul Simon’s “Slip Sliding Away” with the very talented Jorge Apsay. He showed me the chords right before he went on. I played it OK. Still have a hard time getting the G chord where you play a G and use the pinky to fret the high G and index finger on the B string first fret. But it wasn’t my guitar work he was after. He wanted my harmonies, which I was more than happy to provide. The funny thing is, I had planned on learning this song when I went to Washington so I could play it with my brother. Ended up I just didn’t have the time to do so.

Oh well, next time i go up there, i’ll be able to play it.