Open Mic - Road Rally Alley

[neilzim]

Hey fellow TAXI people!Elizabeth & I ran the Road Rally Alley Open Mic (RRAOM) on Thurs., Fri. and Sat. nights of the Rally. We are TAXI members and not official TAXI staff.Just want to say a big THANKS to all the talented folks who performed at the RRAOM. We saw over 150 performances across those three nights. A huge range of music genres, voices and instrumentation. Also some quick hallway collaborations produced many one-time "bands" which were fun, musical and interesting.A BIG SHOUT OUT to Roland, who provided the P.A. and keyboard. Also to Luna, who donated an acoustic guitar.In response to a number of email inquiries, the following:(We did make this announcement at the RRAOM, but not everyone heard it)The last night (Sat.) of the RRAOM WAS recorded. I'm happy to report the quality of the recording is TERRIFIC. It'll be a fun listen for all those involved.I'm probably going to make this recording available as a Podcast. Believe it or not, there's 6 1/2 hours of recording, and really too many performances (and some humorous banter) to cut it down song-by-song. So I'm thinking I'll post it as 1/2 hour segments, witn text indicating what performers/songs are on each segment. It'll be a downloadable MP3, so should play on anything.If you wrote down your email address on the RRAOM signup sheet, you'll get an email telling you the Web location of those files - as soon as they're ready. Hopefully within the next few weeks.Again, big thanks to all for making the RRAOM such a success. A wonderful time was had by all!--Neil Z. (and Elizabeth) of Pairadeuxwww.pairadeux.com

[jamesm]

Thanks SO much for running the Open Mic. Your trick with the throat soother/music stand lubricant was priceless! Like last year, the two of you kept it rolling and interesting, and you kept the atmosphere positive. I wished I could have stayed for more but I had to leave early Saturday night. It's great news to hear that I'll be able to catch all the acts online!- James

[augustheat]

Neil:Sorry I wasn't there to be the "bouncer" this year! Say hello to Elizabeth from me!Blessings,

[tedsingingfox]

Wow. Very cool to hear it was recorded. I didn't even make it and I'm eager to hear several of the performers.You guys are amazing to keep that going every night. you ROCK.Ted in Taos

[stick]

Yeah, I'm stoked to get a chance to hear it!

[michaeldean]

Hey Neil,Thank BOTH OF YOU for putting in so much time & energy to run that open mic! It was really fun hanging out up there with you guys!Your positive energy was much appreciated. Joan and I really enjoyed the whole scene in there.It was a pleasure meeting the two of you - if I ever come through Denver I'll look for you guys...Cheers,Michael(I'm the "Michael" you were talking to about the Roland rhythm box on the shuttle Sunday evening...)

[misselizabeth]

Hello Everyone!!!Miss Elizabeth here on my first post/reply as a full fledged member, (not just neil's partner/guest). I can't wait to post some lyrics and have everyone tell me what they think!!! I think It is Friday and I am still working my way through the mountains of info and contact information that we collected over the weekend. Please be patient if you wrote us, we are catching up as quick as we can.Thank all of you for your kind words about my hosting abilities, believe me, it was all just flying by the seat of my pants, hoping not to crash and burn. My only focus was to make people comfortable and get them up and off stage with ease and speed. I can honestly say I didn't get to hear as much music as I would have liked but I did get to talk to everyone that played!!! Listening to Saturday night's recording is like being there for the first time for me...OMG, "Chuck, The Head" is seared into my brain, I just sing the chorus over and over in the car, people think I am crazy. (what's new?)I will post my experiences with the rest of the rally in the other posts more appropriate for that but I just wanted EVERYONE involved to know how much it means to me that they enjoyed themselves at the RRAOM. There were people who would NEVER EVER perform their music anywhere else and here they were feeling able to do so and that is so special. We perform 100+ nights a year and it is old hat to us, but when we played our ORIGINALS at the RRAOM, even I was a bit nervous...this is my baby and what if they don't like it...? I forgot the words to MY OWN SONG EVEN...So thank you all again for making the weekend special and for sharing your gifts with us and all there.Yes, we missed our bouncer!!! Mr August Heat, next year? Ted, we will look for you next year!!! Michael, say Hi to Joan for me!!! I have used up my allotment of time for posting, mapping my time, gonna use what I learned at Debra's class!!!I will be back later on!!!Namaste Everyone!!Miss Elizabeth of Pairadeux

[hummingbird]

Elizabeth & Neil you two did a FAB job of hosting the Open Open Mic - thanks SO much for all your hard work & patience!! You guys rock something serious!!!!luvHummin'bird

[ccwheaton]

Yay, yay, yay Elizabeth and Neil!!And... GASP... you recorded Saturday night? (Meaning my botched F# chord will be etched in stone for eternity, not just something memory might fade....?!?!?) oh groan, I will die. You see, I had actually never played that song before, only occasionally sung it with accompaniment (Full Serve Blues: The Sunoco Song) but impulsively decided I had to do that one... so I guess I'm a living example of unpreparedness that someone was kvetching about on the "terrible" thread. At the time, people didn't seem to mind.... but recordings are unforgiving. Anyway (get over yourself Carey) the Alternative Open Mic was TOTAL FUN on Saturday, with the most warm and supportive audience you could ask for, and some hot performers and magic moments. (That fellow on the "terrible" thread obviously missed out on this GREAT experience.) Thanks for doing it, guys!! Namaste right back at ya, Carey

[Casey H]

Quote:Yay, yay, yay Elizabeth and Neil!!And... GASP... you recorded Saturday night? (Meaning my botched F# chord will be etched in stone for eternity, not just something memory might fade....?!?!?) oh groan, I will die. You see, I had actually never played that song before, only occasionally sung it with accompaniment (Full Serve Blues: The Sunoco Song) but impulsively decided I had to do that one... so I guess I'm a living example of unpreparedness that someone was kvetching about on the "terrible" thread. At the time, people didn't seem to mind.... but recordings are unforgiving. Anyway (get over yourself Carey) the Alternative Open Mic was TOTAL FUN on Saturday, with the most warm and supportive audience you could ask for, and some hot performers and magic moments. (That fellow on the "terrible" thread obviously missed out on this GREAT experience.) Thanks for doing it, guys!! Namaste right back at ya, CareyHi Carey! For me, Carey's performance, missed chord and all, exemplifies why so many of us had so much fun at the Alternative Open Mic. She had the audience in stitches with her "Full Serve Blues", everyone loved every word of it, and no one gave a **** about the missed chord. I know everyone sees the purpose of open mics differently, but for me it was for moments like this-- to have fun.Way to go, Carey!! Casey