An early start to today as I wanted to get to the Guitar Center to see about getting a hard case before heading over to the legendary music venue in the Village, the Bitter End, to stand in line (as I was sure there would be a sizeable queue) for the popular Saturday afternoon open mic there. Perhaps a bit too early of a start actually, as the music store wasn’t open yet when I arrived at the W.14th Street address… It was after that that I ended up at the Silver Spurs Eatery for breakfast and their non-existent wi-fi, and then hit upon the Coffee Bean for their nice coffee and existent wi-fi. I then discovered a fabulous artisan market very close to the Bitter End, but realised that I could easily spend so much time idling around there that I would be in danger of finding a long queue outside the Bitter End when I finally made it along there. So I cut short my perusal of all things handmade and retro and went along to the live music club at 11.40, to find two people already waiting outside. Given that the sign-up wasn’t going to be until 12.30, that was dedication – and I wasn’t about to lose my place at the front of the queue, so I joined them for an hour’s idle banter and increasingly cold hands. It was worth it though, because it was a fab afternoon – I got to play my new little travel guitar with the pickup that I fitted yesterday, sang a new song and an older trusted faithful, got really nice comments afterwards, and thoroughly enjoyed the other acts – including the Kate Bush sound-alike Samantha Echo, who kindly took the photo of me performing. And guess who came over to me as I was saying my goodbyes and said, ‘You’re not from around these parts, are you?’ None other than Matt Sage, host of Oxford’s equally legendary Catweazle open mic, who happened to be visiting New York with his son this very week - a small world indeed!
The MC, a nice guy called Evan, had some running joke going about my name, however – he clearly found it hysterical (Mandy Woods, that is, not Randy Moods…), and I have no idea why. Am I being dense/naïve?? Somebody else came over to me after I’d played and said he had no idea why Evan thought my name was so funny either…
After the open mic I headed back over to Guitar Center, only to be persuaded by the sales chap that the soft case would be fine as long as I took the guitar as cabin baggage each time – he’d flown to Israel with the very same model guitar and case and it had survived intact. So, happy not to have to shell out another hundred bucks on a hard case, I took his word for it and made my way to the subway to catch the train back to the apartment. There on the platform, however, I was seduced by the most gorgeous-voiced busker – Silvia Jhony – her details are in the photo – check her out! So seduced was I, in fact, that I caught the wrong train and ended up having to get off at 42nd Street and ask a NY cop how to get on the right train. Very helpful he was too, and two trains later I found myself on the now-familiar 86th Street platform and close to home.
A long but enjoyable and productive day. I may take tomorrow off from the open mic trail, but am hoping to play at the Sidewalk Café on Monday, the day before I head off to Nashville…
The MC, a nice guy called Evan, had some running joke going about my name, however – he clearly found it hysterical (Mandy Woods, that is, not Randy Moods…), and I have no idea why. Am I being dense/naïve?? Somebody else came over to me after I’d played and said he had no idea why Evan thought my name was so funny either…
After the open mic I headed back over to Guitar Center, only to be persuaded by the sales chap that the soft case would be fine as long as I took the guitar as cabin baggage each time – he’d flown to Israel with the very same model guitar and case and it had survived intact. So, happy not to have to shell out another hundred bucks on a hard case, I took his word for it and made my way to the subway to catch the train back to the apartment. There on the platform, however, I was seduced by the most gorgeous-voiced busker – Silvia Jhony – her details are in the photo – check her out! So seduced was I, in fact, that I caught the wrong train and ended up having to get off at 42nd Street and ask a NY cop how to get on the right train. Very helpful he was too, and two trains later I found myself on the now-familiar 86th Street platform and close to home.
A long but enjoyable and productive day. I may take tomorrow off from the open mic trail, but am hoping to play at the Sidewalk Café on Monday, the day before I head off to Nashville…
 |   |
RSS Feed