Galway Pub Paris | Brad Spurgeon's Blog

Life Goes on at the Tennessee Bar Open Mic in Paris – And Bursts Forth at the Galway

August 14, 2014
bradspurgeon

tennessee bar facade

PARIS – As with my report from the Highlander open mic last week, I made a visit to play music at the Tennessee Bar open mic the other day for the first time in many months. But unlike at the Highlander, the Tennessee does not have the same long-standing MC running the show, but has gone through a few changes in the last year.

The first thing that happened was that the longtime MC and Tennessee bar open mic organizer, James Iansiti, left the job after something like six or seven years running the thing. He was immediately replaced by Yaco, the organizer and MC of the Petit Bonheur la Chance/La Tireuse open mic, which was one of the best in Paris. Yaco went on to run the Tireuse on Tuesdays and the Tennessee on Mondays and Thursdays. That was a lot of Yaco, and for reasons I have not found out, he left the Tennessee job and the Tireuse ceased to exist as an open mic.

That brings us to today. I didn’t catch the name of the new MC and like every good journalist, I didn’t bother asking him his name. Some day I will, no doubt! But he was doing a pretty good job – except for the occasional mystery disappearance – and it is safe to say by this one experience that the Tennessee Bar open mic seems to have reborn, somehow, into something similar but different.

But then, up the street from the Tennessee the Galway was overflowing with musicians….

I had the feeling it was a younger crowd, and I had the feeling that the new MC is a hands-on guy, playing with other musicians on guitar and percussion when they want. He makes a list, and basically gives musicians more than just three or four songs if it feels like they are being well-received – he asked the crowd a few times if they wanted more from musicians….

All good so far. The Tennessee may have found its way into a new territory. Having said that, I really only ended up at the Tennessee because the Galway – near by on the Quai des Grands Augustins – was overflowing with musicians and I’d be about No. 25 on the list despite not really being that late to sign up. So, keep an eye on these two Monday night open mics in Paris and let’s see where they go….

Follow @BradSpurgeon

Excuses, Excuses and a Late Report on the Galway Open Mic

June 19, 2014
bradspurgeon

Galway Pub Paris

GRAZ, Austria – This blog post has nothing to do with the dateline of Graz, the second-biggest city in Austria where I happen to be for the weekend. On the other hand, maybe it does. This blog has rarely been so out of date – I mean, I went to an open mic on Sunday night and reported on it on Tuesday night. Now, I am reporting on an open mic that I attended on Monday, and we’re already Thursday. What does this all mean?

It means that I hate being late with such reports, but I do feel 1) the cliché, better late than never, and 2) that I have the excuse of writing a bunch of articles for my weekend Formula One report for the Austrian Grand Prix; traveling to Austria and preparing to travel to Austria; going to see a very funny comedian – David Azencot – perform his show on a boat last night in Paris; and having had some great news that occupied me for a while as I read it over, spread that news on various social media, and basked in the moment rather than reporting on my night at the Galway open mic.

That great news was that a couple of days ago a fabulous music web site featured my music, and more specifically my song and video of “Crazy Lady,” in a regular column it runs called “Music Under the Radar.” The site is called Ben Cisco’s World of Music, and it reflects a vast cross-section of musical tastes and styles in a huge collection of different columns and features. I shared the three-part spotlight with some fabulous musicians, an eclectic group completely different to me – i.e., guitarist Raymond DiGiorgio and a British woman named Jazz Mino, whose song, “The Dorkiness in You” seems to be turning into a YouTube hit, and not surprisingly so. But I’ll stop talking about it and suggest you click on the above link to see the story….

And Yet There is a Word About the Galway Pub Open Mic

Because in any case, my real purpose here was to write about my evening at the Galway Pub open mic in Paris. I have not been to the Galway for quite a while – compared to my weekly visits of recent years – and so I was wonderfully reassured to find that it has not simply not lost any of its fun and lightness and warmth, but it has vastly gained in all those areas. Or maybe it was just a good night. In any case, there were a number of interesting musicians, and there were so many of them that I was pleased the format was reduced to just two songs each – it has often been four songs in the past – so that I could play at a reasonable hour, despite being 10th on the list.

Well, that’s not much said about the Galway, but it is four days late…. I’ll try to get back to my usual promptness in reporting life in the open mics around the world. Keep tuned in the coming days for something about Graz, Austria, by the way….

Follow @BradSpurgeon

Another Double-Header Open Mic Hop in the Latin Quarter

January 28, 2014
bradspurgeon

Galway Pub Paris

PARIS – Just a quick post to mark my territory about another Monday night at the open mics in Paris. It started at the Tennessee Bar open mic on the rue Mazet near the Odéon, and from there, off to the Galway, just off the Place St. Michel.

Two excellent open mics, but probably the more interesting one last night was the one at the Galway, just because I met an American commercial pilot – formerly of the navy – who flies 777s for his job, but who likes to stop off when he can to play music in open mics… like last night at the Galway.

That is one of the things aside from the musical adventure that really feeds my love of going to open mics. Meeting a broad cross-section of people in situations that you would not expect. That and listening to the many variations of the musical experience itself.

Well, that’s about all I have to say for today. Not much. But I have to save my breath, as I feel a cold coming on, and wonder if I am about to join the legions of coughing, sneezing, hacking Parisians. Hope not, that will somewhat limit my singing ability and pleasure….

Follow @BradSpurgeon

Battle of the Mics on Monday Night in Paris

January 14, 2014
bradspurgeon

PARIS – It was quality all around at the open mics in Paris last night in the Latin Quarter, and it was clear that the musician were running from one to the other in order to find the best venue….and realizing there was no best…. At least, that’s the way it felt and looked between the Coolin and the Tennessee Bar, and I did not even make it to the Galway.

The last two or three times that I went to the Tennessee Bar open mic on Monday nights, business was a little slow. I had gone to Coolin and found business either as usual, or bigger than usual, and the quality continuing to climb. So last night, naturally, I decided to go to the Coolin first to sign up for the open mic at around 9:00 PM, and then go off to the Tennessee to put in a set there first, since I was already 12th on the list at the Coolin.

I was taken slightly by surprise to find the Tennessee Bar having returned pretty much to its own affluence of wonderful vibes and great musicians, and a nice sized crowd. I had a beer, listened to the acts, and kept my eye on my iPhone clock…. I kept watching and thinking that I would fail in my bid to play at both places, as the Tennessee had come seriously back to life and it was full of performers.

By the time my slot was announced, it was 10:43 and there were two or three others to go up before I would. I had situated my slot at the Coolin for around 11:00 PM. So I had to desist, pack up and leave a great open mic at the Tennessee Bar. I would never sign my name up to an open mic and disappear permanently without telling the MC, and I did not want to be late.

So I returned to the Coolin and there, what did I see? A vast number of the performers who had played early at the Tennessee were now there at the Coolin and about to play, or had already played! I also knew there was another at the Tennessee who would soon arrive for his slot at the Coolin…!

Both open mics last night were well attended and attended by cool musicians, and both had nice crowds. What might be happening at the Galway open mic not far from those two, I have no idea. But I suspect there may have been some who did all three….

In any case, I was glad to see the open mics in the Latin Quarter had all come seriously back to life!!!

Tales from Tennessee to Galway

December 17, 2013
bradspurgeon

Wild life in Tennessee

PARIS – I guess that headline is meant to be a little misleading, since the Tennessee refers to the Tennessee Bar and the Galway refers to the Galway pub, and not to the places in the U.S. and Ireland. But for all the different nationalities of patrons and musicians present at the two open mics in Paris last night, it might as well have been the real Tennessee and the real Galway.

The highlights of it all? Well, the Tennessee open mic seems to be attracting more and more French performers, singing often in French, and that’s refreshing. I loved hearing Audrey’s voice again, after I met her and jammed with her at the open mic of the Arte Café in Paris, which is no longer running. Audrey has a tremendous blues feeling to her strong voice.

And speaking of French, Ollie, the MC, did a new French language song, and it was massively cool! It reminded me ever so slightly – or more – of Jean-Louis Aubert of Telephone, the French rock band of a generation ago. And speaking of blues, there was this guy at the Tennessee who sat as an observer, and then came along with us when we headed over to the Galway, and he ended up telling me his story. He lives in New York City and just came for a short trip to Paris to check out the music scene and have a holiday.

He calls himself Blues Buddha, and plays all over NYC. He has some interesting videos up on the web on his cool web site, and when we got to the Galway, I decided to ask if he wanted to join me for a song or two. Unfortunately, although I love the blues – the best of it – and so much rock it based on the blues, I do not myself play any pure blues song. But we managed to find a song on my repertoire that we both know, and that was the classic “Stand By Me.” Even, there, though, I play a pretty bad, bastardized version of it.

In any case, the Blues Buddha joined me for that one and sang. Other than that, I had another American, Max, join me on violin for my other three songs at the Galway, and he added a few backup vocals too. All in all, a great evening at the two mainstay open mics of Monday in Paris (not counting the Coolin).

PS, unfortunately I’m in a place with an internet connection that is not as fast as my fibre optic connection and it is taking forever to upload the videos. So I’ll have to upload more later.

Follow @BradSpurgeon

2 Open Mics and a Traffic Jam at a Jam in Paris

December 3, 2013
bradspurgeon

PARIS – I finally feel really back in Paris. After so much travelling the Paris I feel back in has moved into full swing in the open mics and jam sessions. In fact, last night I decided to visit a jam session that I went to a few times in the past, but have not been to for a long long time, and found so full that it was impossible to get down into the basement room from the groundfloor bar to hear – or play. But I’m jumping ahead.

The jam crawl started Sunday night with my visit to the Lizard Lounge open mic, which had been closed down for several months as they sought a new group of people to run the open mic. This is one of the longest standing open mics in Paris, and it is run only on the first Sunday of the month. I was not in Paris for the first one last month, the first of the return. But I was there on Sunday, and the place was bopping when I arrived a little late.

The format has not really changed: The basement room of the Lizard Lounge lends itself perfectly to music and an open mic, and thank goodness they have started again. There is a drum set, a couple of mics, and you can play solo or with a group. I was lucky to arrive late and still get a spot on the list, playing second last or so.

From there I went home and nursed my jet lag and then decided to change things on Monday night and instead of going to the Tennessee Bar or the other open mics in the St. Michel area, I decided to go up to the jam session at the Cariatides bar that happens every Monday night and is run by Doréa SisDee, who also has a great Facebook page on Paris jams and open mics. I had been to her session once at the Cariatides, but the previous times I went it was somewhere else. So last night I was completely taken by surprise to find the Cariatides absolutely bursting with spectators and musicians.

It was impossible to get down the stairs and get a chair to listen or play. So I settled for recording a few minutes of the jam over the speaker on the groundfloor bar, just to give you a taste and mark my territory with the video camera.

Realizing quickly that it was gig over at the Cariatides, I headed on over to the mainstay Galway Pub open mic. There I find it equally kicking up a storm with copious musicians and spectators. And I managed to get a table and listen to a night of music, with some very inventive stuff, and I got to do four of my songs. The only downer was that I did not have enough charged batteries for my Zoom Q3HD recording device and had to revert to my iPhone for a couple of the songs – and the rotten sound quality that entails….

In any case, it was a fine, fine night at the Galway, and I was pleased all in all to see so much life in the Paris open mics after I’ve been gone so long….

Follow @BradSpurgeon

A Mid-August Night at the Galway, Keeping the Open Mic Awake Through Holiday Dry Out

August 13, 2013
bradspurgeon

PARIS – You would not have known that it was mid-August last night at the Galway Pub off the Place St. Michel. Unlike a couple of other open mic venues in the Latin Quarter that usually run on Monday nights, this bold and brave institution decided that the client comes first: They did not close down the open mic for August holidays. The result was a very well populated bar and open mic, with some different sounds and faces.

It is a wonderful place to play also in terms of the open front window that makes it so that your audience is not just in the long pub ahead of you, but behind your back, in the street, and also comprises passersby who you can try to imagine attracting into the pub as you croon. (Or scaring them off, whatever the case may be.)

I had not been to the Galway for a longtime, for one reason or another, but never for anything to do with the Galway itself. So it was nice to be back and to hear the latest performers, some old ones returning, and especially the MC, All the Roads, and his velvety voice and inventive songs and guitar playing.

I think that the open mic was also all the better as it focused musicians to come to one spot, rather than spread out to three potential ones in the same area…. So August in Paris can be not so bad after all….

Another Lesson for Life at Paris Open Mics

April 3, 2013
bradspurgeon

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that I often learn lessons about how to tackle life through the adventures of my open mic attendance around the world. The last two days were yet another example.

Monday night, I showed up at the Coolin open mic to find that I was too late to get on the list for any reasonable playing slot – ie, maybe if I was lucky I’d get a slot close to 1 AM, if they went on that long – so I felt completely let down and a little like that was the end of my night. But I did not give up. First I went to the Tennessee. There, though, pretty much the same situation, and after buying a pint of beer and listening to a few musicians, I decided to leave half the beer and head off to the Galway Pub.

There, eureka! A wonderful crowd of spectators and a sizable number of musicians and an available slot midway through the night made this the ideal open mic of the evening – even better than Coolin, as there were plenty of people to talk to, much talent, and a great sound system – which is lacking at Coolin.

So I played my set, had fun, spoke with people, and left feeling like it didn’t really matter if the first option failed, there was a second option, if I persisted.

Well, last night I was so busy with a work-life crisis, that I did not get to post on this blog. But that in itself worked out fantastically, as I had the exact same thing happen as on Monday night as far as the open mics went. I arrived at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance open mic and found that I was 17th on the list and it was not even certain I would get a spot to play.

Again, I had bought a pint of beer, and again I decided to drink part of it, and leave the rest on the bar and head off to another open mic that I knew existed. So I took the metro and went to the Pigalle Country Club where I had attended the new open mic a few weeks ago, and not felt like it was totally my thing.

This time, it WAS. And how! It started kind of quietly, but after I went up and played a few songs with my guitarist, Félix Beguin, and people began to sing along, suddenly, the night turned from fairly quiet and low speed, into a magic, rocking, rolling, hot musicathlon of wild craziness and amazing young Paris rock talents. I not only enjoyed my slot, but I enjoyed as much that of the others, and all the people going crazy in the crowd, dancing, moving, shaking – and I even had one crazy uncouth woman feel me up on the dance floor. Which was clearly because of my singing talent (and nothing to do with the amount of booze she had imbibed)….

Anyway….the moral of this story is clear: If you think all is lost, just keep going, there will be an alternative out there that could end up not being an alternative but the thing you were actually really looking for in the first place. Check out the videos.

New Stuff at Old Haunts

February 26, 2013
bradspurgeon

This blog has almost reached the turning point on the repetitive weekly open mic trail in Paris. What I mean by that is that in two weeks I will again begin my worldwide open mic and open jam musical adventure, the fifth year running, and with another 20 countries and most continents visited. That’s a way of saying, “Hold tight, the repetitive Mondays in Paris will soon be mixed in with Mondays elsewhere in the world – including in airports.”

But last night all the pieces fell in place on my triple header of the Tennessee Bar, Galway pub and Coolin pub open mics. And if it was the same three places, there were many new musicians, and I myself decided to try out some new songs.

It is often difficult to try new songs because as a performer, I always want to please my audience, and when certain songs “work,” it is always easier to stick with them. But last night I decided to play one I rarely do – my song “Sing It” – and I also played for the first time in these places this old Irish song by Christy Moore, that I have sung since I was around 16.

I had completely forgotten last week that I knew by heart all but two verses of the song. So I memorized those, and got the better of my usual aged, fading memory, and tried to inject new life into this song. I had always thought the song, “I Wish I Was in England” – I THINK that’s the title – was a traditional Irish song. But it was written by Christy Moore in the late 70s or early 60s.

Anyway, the OTHER acts were great. I liked the violin and guitar duo at the Coolin – and also saw them at the Tennessee before they played and before I cut out. I liked the young duet at the Galway, but as I had to play right after them, I went upstairs to tune my guitar and missed most of their songs. I liked the soul singer at the Tennessee.

I managed by a great bit of luck to play at each place thanks to: Arriving too late at the Coolin and signing only 14th on the list; arriving early enough at the Tennessee that there was practically no one there; arriving earlier than ever at the Galway after the Tennessee and before returning to the Coolin, and so the list was short enough that I got on almost immediately there too. I did a total of nine songs for the night.

Another good open mic crawl in Paris….

Scoring Two Times Out of Three at the Paris Places

February 19, 2013
bradspurgeon

I managed to score at two of the three open mics I went to last night. No, no, I’m not talking sex. I mean that I got to play behind the mic at two of the three open mics in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It went like this: Sign up at the Coolin, 11th on the list, go to the Tennessee, take in a few acts and realize I could miss my spot at the Coolin if I stayed to play at the Tennessee; so return to the Coolin, take in some acts and then play my songs; then head off to the Galway and play my songs there.

I have said it before, so I’m becoming repetitive, but what the hell: I am not going to remain loyal to any open mic as long as I can double or triple my fun by attending others at the same time or separately. I do NOT have the same philosophy in sexual matters – and in a way I wonder why not!? But ANYWAY….

I struck it lucky at the Coolin and then again at the Galway also by having Rony Boy accept to accompany me on his Godin guitar as I did my songs, or rather, some covers and my own Borderline. It was back up against the wall stuff, as we played songs we have never played together, including the “Miles From Nowhere” of Cat Stevens that I never thought I could adequately do with another musician since I tend to make a mess of the timing….

There were many other excellent musicians, including the superb singer/piano player at the Tennessee. So all in all it was a complete and indelible score for the whole evening….