This past Wednesday, The Vinyard in Bristol, Tennessee began the first series of Open Mic Nights hosted by Greg Smith and Richard Houser of the blues laced band, Blue Rapture. Joy Rudder is the owner of The Vinyard and has a reputation in Bristol as one of the area’s best caterers. This restaurant has been known for its great Italian menu and the new place leverages that reputation with a ‘do or die’ passion to have a live music venue in the heart of Bristol.
Greg told me about the gig a few nights ago and I was ready for something new to shake up my weekly routine. Besides, I’d really like to see Open Mics gain more attention.
An Open Mic night has unfortunately become the entertainment at a restaurant’s ‘slow night.’ I guess they feel the talent can be a little more loose, but that didn’t matter tonight. The musicians on this stage seemed to be eager to make a difference and what is usually so pompous (rock star stuff), the Open Mic night is an honest and unpredictable platform for many of the region’s artists.
I’ve met Richard Houser a couple of times. He’s joined the Reagan performance here and there and I’ve heard him front the new band several times over the past few years. When I got to the restaurant around 7.30, Richard and Greg were playing acoustic instrumentals and I was completely surprised. I knew Richard could sing, but he’s a good guitarist and a great songwriter. Together they have a great chemistry and are creating wonderfully original works that I look forward to hearing again.
Reagan Boggs joined us for this inaugural night and was in agreement with me…’it was great to be out of the house.’ I ordered a bottle of Chianti and my usual Italian ‘get-acquainted meal’…Chicken Marsala. The food was good, but it seemed the restaurant was a little unprepared as they were out of vinaigrette and no Tiramisu.
Richard and Greg played through several originals in a room that is even more spacious. The Vinyard used to have a large banquet room behind the stage. No more. They’ve tore the walls down and this restaurant/venue now has room for about 300 to 400 people.
Big room, but lousy crowd. By the time the guys took a break, maybe 15 people were in the room. Mark Mahonney and Zane Wooten took he stage over after that and we listened to both the guys work through an impromptu set of cover songs that spanned from Jimmy Buffet, Bob Seger and The Rolling Stones. Mark continues to surprise me to. He plays guitar, synths and sings too. I enjoyed his ‘Can’t Always Get What You Want’ number and hope I can perform that with him one day.
I mentioned the crowd was small, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t important. Everyone sat up close and seemed most interested in listening to the music. Mike Strickland from WETS-FM was with his girlfriend along with a 6.6 man named ‘Tall Bob.’ Videographer and promoter Jeff Malone with The Verge was at the show and it was great to see him. We haven’t been in contact since Fun Fest.
One of the bright spots of the night was a guitarist who plays often with Virginia Ground. Like me, he’s a weathered player, but his songs and act were very intriguing. He played an acoustic with some new electric gizmo that allowed him to play a phrase, loop it and play over the playback. He performed some inspiring swing and jazz tunes that had my complete attention. Reagan mentioned he was a instructor in Bristol and I was impressed.
The Chianti had settled and I setup my rig on one of the biggest stages around. In a few minutes, me, Reagan and Greg were performing Reagan’s original music. It was a warm rendition of ‘Loose Change’ and her newest upbeat love song, ‘Share them with You.’ We wrapped up with a performance of Nora Jones, ‘Turn Me On.’ Fun as usual and it was nice to not have to complete a long set.
Luckily, I got to stay on stage and perform with Greg and Richard. Richard, a painter in his day job is a subtle and distinct blues voice and Greg Smith has one of the most easy sounds of any guitarist I know. We jammed on a couple of blues song – including John Hyatt’s ‘Looks like rain.’
The show was over around 11pm and the drive back to Kingsport from Bristol was like it is most of the mid-week nights….desolate. Maybe one of these days, there will be a parade of cars in front of the mall, but for now, the Open Mic night will be unpredictable. The next one occurring on Wednesday, November 16th. Bring your friends and bring your gear.