The Village Underground
Jul 1, 2003 myMusicShare/Save
Whew! What a night! Went to the 5$ soul/funk/R&B open mic at the Village Underground tonight, hosted by Grammy nominee Schon Jomel. The band there is tight. And they know like every classic soul/R&B song you’ve ever heard of, and most of the ones you haven’t. So imagine my surprise tonight when I got up there tonight, all dry-mouthed and shaky, and they told me they didn’t know Ordinary Pain. I mean, it’s only the last song on the first disc of the best album by the most popular soul/R&B singer of all time! There I am, trying to figure out what the keyboard player and I both know while he’s busy telling me I look like Justin Guarini, and having to tell a crowd of hard-core R&B heads that I’m from “Ridgewood.”
But then I got to sing. I sang Knocks Me Off My Feet, also from Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, but for some reason they knew it. I don’t think I sounded too great, cause I couldn’t hear myself, and my throat was REAL dry. But they loved it. Schon Jomel let me scat with the band, and this singer/songwriter invited me to her concert on Sunday night. It was cool.
Why am I going on about this? Because it was my FIRST TIME SINGING SOLO IN NEW YORK. For a real NY audience, that is – rather than my high school. And I dare say, it went rather well.
July 1st, 2003 at 9:41 am
Don’t underestimate the importance of singing in front of your hs. Kulzlazi, rock on!
July 1st, 2003 at 10:00 am
Extra tall props, brotherman. Some time you’ll have to tell us about these things you do.
July 1st, 2003 at 10:50 am
Congrats! At least now I don’t feel crazy (the whole Justin thing).
July 1st, 2003 at 7:49 pm
Etan, you ARE crazy.
Evan, don’t worry I’ll start telling you guys soon. Right now, I’m like the sole adventurer who must discover his destiny alone. Once I figure out what I’m doing, you’ll all be in the loop.
August 21st, 2003 at 3:41 pm
hmm, i can’t believe that you have lived in nyc your whole life, and I have lived in new hampshire my whole life up until march, 2003, and yet *I* was the first of us to perform in public in nyc… somehow that doesn’t seem right… hope to see you knock everyone dead at the sidewalk or other open mics around the city.. i’m going to email you my list of open mics when I get home today.
August 21st, 2003 at 7:26 pm
Yeah, I’m slow and shy. This is not news, I’m afraid. But I will eventually break it out and attempt to murder some hapless listeners. If you already sent that e-mail, send it again – my silly inbox was full…
September 17th, 2004 at 7:29 pm
Whoa. Definitely the most interesting spam I’ve ever received. I’ll leave it up for a bit…