Down at the Pub ...

Went yesterday to an open blues/rock jam at a pub on the West Slope, twixt Beaverton and Portland, off Canyon Road, place called The Lehrer. Probably fifteen players, mostly guitars, but there was a sax, harmonica, keyboard, a cello, and a soprano uke to go with my tenor.

The venue features live music most nights, and business is apparently not all that good, but it's a nice-sized place, pool tables, pizza, burgers, like that. You are in the neighborhood, drop by and support them ...

Good selection of songs, ranging from "Nobody Knows You When You Are down and Out," to "All Along the Watchtower." Couple of little kids with their father, a teenage girl who had a terrific voice, and players older and younger than I.

Somebody would offer to lead a song. They'd write the chords on a whiteboard, and then we were off. Had to figure out when to switch chords on your own, and you either knew the words or not, but the group was surprisingly tight. 
I didn't take a solo, nor did I get up and lead a song at the mike, but I strummed away pretty good, put a couple of scratches on the uke, wabi-sabi ...  

Aside: Wabi-sabi, a Japanese concept about aesthetics, is fascinating. Three basic tenets: Nothing is perfect, nothing is finished, nothing lasts ...  

Next time, I'll try a solo break, and maybe even offer to get up and lead a song. Hubba, hubba ...

Acoustic, in that most of us weren't plugged in save the keyboard and a bass player, but the song leader had mikes for vox and whatever instrument s/he played.

Fine time, good dark beer, three hours. My beautiful spouse sat at a table nearby, nursed a beer, and crocheted ...