"Be My Husband" on the Lower East Side
Posted on June 21, 2010 with 0 commentsSo in a previous entry I mentioned the Recoup Lounge. That Thursday evening I spent there began with one frustration after another, and ended with magic...
I went downtown in the first place with a friend to do an open mic at The Catweazle Club. After an hour and a half of subway/foot travel (remember how I said I live in that "special" part of Manhattan that's far away from everything?) Enrico and I arrive at a nondescript brownstone-type building, climb the stairs, convinced that we are invading someone's home, and open the second floor door to discover a peaceful-looking black gentleman snoring on a couch. Oh crap.
But a girl appears and explains on her way out the door that yes this is The Catweazle Club, but it's closed right now - open mic was last week. (I hate when people don't update their websites. I hereby resolve to update mine very frequently.) So Enrico and I wander down Avenue C to the Recoup Lounge, which also claims to have an open mic night on Thursdays. The doorman named Bruno says we are misinformed, and that the club no longer hosts open mics. (Again with the website shenanigans.) Tonight's lineup includes only pre-booked artists.
I must have asked him too many questions, or rolled my eyes, or he just got tired of me, because without too much further prompting he agreed to let me steal the stage for 10 minutes and sing.
I was the last set of the night, and did 2 covers - one Regina Spektor, one Nina Simone - both a cappella because I didn't feel like carrying my piano. It was a little tiny stage in a corner with water dripping from the ceiling into a blue bucket that I tripped on once or twice, but my mic worked and the crowd (which had been loud all night) miraculously listened, and I was in heaven.
The best part of the night was meeting some new city people, who I have to mention here so you can check out their talents for yourself (view their sites by clicking on their names)...
Dye Violets : a folksy duo made up of Adam (guitar) and Sarah (Sarah plays the accordian! which means she is automatically cool.) They did one of my favorite songs of all time, "This Old House." Look it up if you need to cry ever.
Shaun : Shaun and I got to chatting after I started making comments about the amount of video footage he was taking of Robert and Diego during their set. (He's a longtime friend of theirs.) I only found out later he's also a writer and journalist who - on the side - pens a hilarious blog called Beefpiranha, which you can get to (and you should get to) by clicking on the link here: http://beefpiranha.wordpress.com
As noted above best friend from college (only remaining friend from college) Bob (now known as Robert) had a gig last night on the Lower East Side.
Recoup Lounge. $3 dollar domestic beers happy hour. Hole not in the wall, but in the ceiling… leaking on the stage.
Followers of BP know that I managed his band a decade ago and we had a pretty decent run until the band folded because of drugs, women, and lies about unicorns…and I absconded with the money and moved to North Carolina to start my career in Journalism working for the now struggling Freedom Communications and Jacksonville Daily News.
In a way, I’m glad I got to write for a newspaper as it’s one of those jobs that simply won’t be around in the current medium toward the end of my lifetime, maybe sooner…maybe earlier…I may eat fish from the East River this summer (details to come!)
Anyway, while the guys were mingling with the fans and supporters a guy and girl sat down next to me and we started chatting.
Andrea.
Andrea showed up for an open mic that was no longer happening as this was a Thurs night of time-slotted performers. Tenacity abounding, she persuaded the owner to let her have a set at the end of the night.
She said that she played piano…but since there was no piano she was just going to hit the stage acapella and hope that she could be heard.
This wasn’t Madison Square Garden, it’s a little dive bar…but it’s New York and as we all know…everyone’s a fuckin’ critic. Moreover, it’s the part of the LES that you could get booed off the stage.
For such a pretty girl wearing a shirt that read “Prosciutto,” that was some major Cojones.
She enlisted Diego and Robert (Bob) to play some hand/foot percussion as she covered a little Jeff Buckley.
Note: The video and audio is raw, but fitting as Andrea’s performance is raw, without care or trepidation and just a little bit sexy.
Be sure to visit her website with wonderfully produced tracks
I’d bet good money that she’s on her way. It takes more than talent and a look…it takes guts…and this girl has tons.
Thank you, Shaun!
(The above was an excerpt from Shaun's entry. You can read the full entry here: http://beefpiranha.wordpress.com/page/2/
Just scroll down to the title "El Nacho and the Gringo," dated June 18th.