Yep, it's still open but they don't have me to kick around anymore. They decided that after over three years of playin' Fridays there, Thursdays as well the last year, that all of a sudden I wasn't right enough for the place. First they canceled my Thursday when I was doing both Thursdays and Fridays claiming there wasn't enough $ to have me there both evenings. Then I found out that they were still having music Thursdays but (I guess) they just didn't want me there that evening. I started hearing complaints about all those that they tried to fill the Thursday evening with because they all played too loudly. On top of that they had told me for over a year that they couldn't afford to hire more than a solo on that evening but then they managed to pay enough to have a duo come in and play. I guess they were too loud too because they never got on steady. After a year of working there with my friend Jack, most of the last year, they complained about his guitar, his voice and the combination of the two of us working together. Our show was very solid after several years of working together there and elsewhere and it still is. Jack and I put on a great show. The owners wanted me to work up a new show without Jack. They switched me from Fridays, a relatively successful evening in terms of audience participation, to Thursdays toward the end. They said if I came up with a new show they would consider putting me back on Fridays. Thursdays had few patrons that showed up so I don't blame them for wanting to not spend the extra $ for live entertainment. I bent every which way to make them happy and did as they requested. Given how little a fee they were willing to spend for my efforts and their fickle nature I should have figured my time was limited there. I guess I was too busy trying to fulfill their every whim. "Don't put your glass there. Turn it down. Don't talk so much." Mostly complaints from the owner's new wife who was a micromanager of sorts. I started working with new folks, some really great talents, on Thursdays. We didn't use a PA as there were so few eating dinner that we almost out numbered them and didn't need the extra volume. The patrons loved what we did but after only a short period I was told that they were unable to support music on Thursdays and that maybe in the fall. Of course they never called back and gave my Fridays slot to the guy who had been working every Saturday there. Shortly afterward, something strange happened, the place next door caught fire and burned right through to the restaurant and they had to close their doors for about three months. Mind you I was not even in the vicinity when it happened. I guess insurance must have paid for the damage because they are reopened. I chalk up the odd timing of the tragedy to that strange force called instant karma. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it's casuals in those low bars and dives for me.


If it ain't broke, don't fix it, words to live by.