well, i sucked at something new tonight.

[mopinko]

i sang in public. crashed an irish music jam at the beach at the end of my street.
they couldnt have been kinder. i was so nervous.
worked out what key, cuz singers are supposed to know that, but i dont.
they could have let me do wild rover and left it at that. but they called me to do 2 more pretty tough tunes- green fields of france and 4 green fields. rangy tunes.
backed me up when i blanked, and made me feel terribly welcome.

they do this every other week. i told them there prolly stuck w me til the end of the summer at least. same cats play a weekly gig at a pub near by.
they dont rly have a singer. they treated me like i had some reason to be there.
it's great to find your tribe.

[elleng]

1. OH GEE!

Thinking of your beach now!

[mopinko]

3. it looked like we'd be rained out.

but it broke shortly before. got a couple drops, but that's all.
i'm embarrassed to say i rarely go to the beach, which is less than a mile from my house.
rarely took my kids there, but that could be due to the fact that i had to rescue both my sons from drowning at 1 point.

[elleng]

4. Sorry I never got there. Hyde Park 'beaches' in view of a couple of my apartments there.

[blm]

2. 🍀😻🍀

[frogmarch]

5. That is so COOL!

I love Irish music! Is there a video of your performance you could post here?

[Warpy]

6. 4 Green Fields? The old Irish rebel song?

Even in pubs back in New England, the band would wait until they were sure everybody was plastered before they'd attempt that one. I was always stone cold sober, so I just did a lip sync. It's a bringdown of a song unless you've got a couple of hundred drunks bellowing along off key, way off key. Everybody sucks at that one, so no harm, no foul.

"The Old Maid in the Garret" (and not the clean version) was more my speed.

[mopinko]

9. one of the players knew the son of the guy who wrote it.

he explained all the metaphors.
it's just my song. i have 4 pieces of property in my urban farm, i have 5 kids. i've had to fight for it. unfortunately my sons are cowards just like their father, but my 3 girls are all warrior queens like their mother.
but the fields are the original kingdoms. ulster is the one still in bondage.
now i love it more. yeah, a song from the troubles. the important thing is, i didnt cry.

i put 'grace' on my list more cuz i love it than cuz i'm good at it. they wanted me to sing it, but that one i passed. i'll have it nailed down for next time.

i'll check put the old maid. need a good bawdy song. i can do a passible dicey riley, but you can never have too many nsfw songs.

[moniss]

12. Have you seen

the grand-daughter of Bobby Sands? Great family resemblance.

[mopinko]

14. oh my.

thank you. wow.

[mopinko]

10. if i cant get a man i'll get a parrot 😜

ok, goin in the set list. it's safe to assume that a song w a whole page on amazon is one they'd know.

[moniss]

7. I'll try to help

with a tip or two. Most people who are not professional singers should not really try to hit the changes in musical notes in a song. That is not to say you sing monotone but just stay in a narrow range where you are comfortable. To become more comfortable with your singing voice you should choose one or two songs with simple lyrics and that are sung by a singer who is not singing in a wide range. John Prine and Bob Dylan come to mind. Learn "Paradise" by Prine or "Tomorrow is a Long Time" by Dylan for examples. Try to get used to the timing and expression. You don't have to sound like them but once you learn the lyrics, phrasing etc. you can do these songs acapella while you are alone in order to practice getting comfortable with your voice. After awhile you will become more confident in your singing and you will stay in your comfortable range and sing the lyrics of even songs fairly new to you while giving them some inflection and expression. You won't be worried about hitting notes and everybody will be just fine with how you sound.

[mopinko]

8. i've been taking lessons for over 2 yrs.

w a very good coach. i have a solid octave range in my head voice. dont get to use my chest voice a lot. need to find some tunes in contralto.

[moniss]

11. You're in good hands

but I got the impression from your post that you are uncomfortable with your singing.

[mopinko]

13. this was the 1st time in public,

and the 1st time w any player but my coach on keys,

[lunatica]

15. You have a wonderful tribe!

I’m jealous.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

16. Woot! Congrats Mo!

Glad you had a great time and made some new bandmate friends!

Good on you!

[mopinko]

17. sadly none of them appear to be actual irishmen,

it was only half the usual crowd, so maybe there's 1-2 in the rest of the bunch. i was looking forward to meeting some irish dudes. i'm trying to stick to my own kind. lol. the thing about an irishman is, i'm prolly not the 1st bitch queen they've met. i can just ask them about their mom, and know where i stand. lol.

turns out they'll do any kind of roots music. which is exactly my jam.
but the young guy in the group called out a white stripes tune. i was- wait, not just irish? no one told me. there's a couple of decent voices in the group, but not someone who actually knows all the words.
they pulled up words/music on their phones and i was again- wut? i had my ipad. if i have the lyrics to just remind me, there's about 100 songs i could do.

they play by a little food shack and the owners seemed to take me as an actual musician. took a lot of pics, and tried to put my chili dog on the band tab. folks in the crowd were smiling, and did clap pretty hard.
they were very kind to me, but nobody told me i was good. which is totally fair. i was good enough that if i would sing a song they loved, they'd put up w it. i picked a good list to start off w.
when i told them i'd be back in 2 wks, i didnt detect any horror on anyone's face.

they rly need a singer. they're playing for tips. if you want folks to tip, you have to do requests and you have to get them in on the act.

[3Hotdogs]

18. Where is the beach?

[mopinko]

19. on lake mich, almost at the northern border of chicago.

and about 8 blocks down my street.

[highplainsdem]

20. Mo, I don't believe for a second that you "sucked" in that performance last night, even

if it was something new for you. The musicians you were singing with wouldn't have encouraged you and made you feel welcome if you had.

Anyway, I'm thrilled for you that you found a new tribe you love. And kudos for trying something new.

[ultralite001]

21. Awesome to hear...

You inspire this old bird to try flapping her wings after a long time out...

May the road rise to meet you...

That is all...

[mopinko]

23. ty

?️😘

[UTUSN]

22. FanTAStic!

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Good For You!

Because my wife, a few of her friends, & my sister have been bugging me about it for a year, I'm playing a solo set (just me & a 12 string guitar) on the 27th.
Little wine bar near our house.
My setlist is finalized and I just have a few lines here & there to commit to memory.
My wife says it will be big fun. We'll see.

[mopinko]

25. good luck.

this making a set list thing is the most fun i've had w my clothes on in forever.