The Monday night open mic at the Mucky Duck was a regular hang out for a great group of singer/songwriters. It was a place to try out new material, as well as give and receive encouragement. I had been a regular there since shortly after I began writing my own songs. I was bound and determined to sing from memory and improve my not so great memory. The open mic’s are a place where the music is done for the music but is also a place of dreams and hopes and possibility and I had always heard that I should write about what I know. “The Troubadour” wasn’t just my story but the story of countless other singer/songwriters at countless other open mic nights.
It was less than a year after immortalizing the troubadour that I got my first paying gig (The Red Lion in Houston) and it wasn’t long before my trips to the open mic became fewer and fewer. The summer of 2012 Cynthia and I went back to Houston and between recording sessions and a House Concert that reunited us with old band mate Ted Miller. Ted and I took out time to take a trip down memory lane and went to play at the Monday open mic. It’s still the best gig in town!