Celebrity Sightings and Singing with a Cold

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One of the first things you learn as a musician is to give 100% all the time, because you never know who’s listening. This was certainly the case this past Monday, when I played at the Active Aging senior center in Meadville. In the audience was Cootie Harris.

Harris, who played with the Count Basie orchestra, is somewhat of an institution in northwest Pennsylvania, on account of his extensive mentoring of innumerable jazz musicians throughout Crawford County. I got to meet him after the show, and the digging was mutual. 87 years old, and still sharp as a tack.

On the national front, most have you have heard of the band Train, who won a Grammy in 2001 for their multiplatinum “Drops of Jupiter”. Their lead singer, Pat Monahan, is from Erie. Well, last month I was backing up Tom Hitt at Presque Isle Coffee House, and Monahan was in the audience. I didn’t get to meet him, but still… It’s not every day one gets to entertain a Grammy winner!

Later that week I played at the Barking Spider Tavern in Cleveland. I was getting over a doozy of a cold, so I was worried about my voice holding out for the two-hour gig. There are some things a singer with a cold can do (eg. avoid high notes, detune the guitar, insert more instrumental parts into songs), but for the most part, you just have to tough it out.

I eventually made it through, playing to about a dozen people. Two minutes after I was done, the place filled with customers! Turns out a band was playing at the Grog Shop (another live music venue in Cleveland). The band members were not allowed to drink at the Grog Shop. (I guess there had been an “incident” previously.) When they were done playing, they came to the Barking Spider and brought all their peeps with them.

I would have loved to play another half hour, but I had to save some of my voice; I had another gig that very next day!

(N.B. The man who opened for me, Ernest Elshaw, commented that I sang like Graham Nash. That’s like being told one writes like Shakespeare!)

Meanwhile, there have been numerous improvements to the website. I added a link to Tom Hitt’s homepage (www.janglepete.com), new photos from Charlie’s Pub and the Main Perk, and live sound clips of two songs (“Alone” and “Humble Street”).

Meanwhile, the live gig train keeps on rolling. In addition to my semi-annual tour of senior centers, I have the following bar and coffee house gigs coming up:

Sat. 3/13 – The Main Perk (Girard): 6 – 8

Fri. 4/2 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland): 8 – 9:30

Fri. 5/7 – The Creative Crust (Meadville): 6 – 8

Fri. 5/21 – Artists Cup Café (Meadville): 7 – 9

Sat. 7/3 – Barking Spider Tavern (Cleveland): 8 – 9:30

So… That’s my newsletter. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? I always love hearing from mailing list members, and do my absolute best to reply to every message I get.

Rock long and prosper,

Frank

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