So, I thought last night’s show went pretty well.

I thought I sounded pretty good; sold few CDs and pulled in some tips in addition to my fee, and, probably most important to the venue, brought in some friends who ordered lots of food and beverages. The staff (who I generally get along with anyway) were very complimentary, and all told me they’d enjoy having me back.

We’ll see, though conversations are ongoing on a couple of fronts.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit more nervous than usual about this one; it was, as I’ve said, the first time I’ve gotten paid to play for the muggles in quite a while, and dug way back in the archives to build a solid roster of more mundane tunes that’d fit the occasion. Didn’t stop me from playing a lot of the usual original stuff, but I worked in some interesting covers to fill the three hour slot, and apart from absolutely murdering Joni Mitchell’s “River,” I think I nailed most of ’em.

That said, after about twenty minutes behind the mic, I shook off the ennui leftover from another “forty hours in the can before Thursday’s workday is done” week and started to find my energy, which I really needed, especially after the four hour online quarterly process review meeting with the CIO I’d wrapped just a little while before heading over to the bar to set up.

I really needed that last night.

So thanks for all for coming out or wandering in, thanks to Tom and Tori and the staff for having me in; let’s do it again sometime!

Not sure about the weekend plans; should be a short workday today (see previous comment), and if that pans out, I might take a run up 95 to grab a certain child’s Christmas present. There are plans to meet up with friends visiting from out of town on Saturday maybe, and then the usual stuff like groceries and bills.

This week’s playlist isn’t exactly random (but it is shuffled); I just set loose the playlist I made up to run through the P.A. while I was on break between sets – lots of rootsy alternative rock, a friend or two, and flashback tunes to the Central PA 90s music scene:

1. “Angeline is Coming Home” – The Badlees
2. “Good Kisser” – Lake Street Dive
3. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – Pat Benetar
4. “Banditos” – The Refreshments
5. “Buried Alive” – Kyle Davis
6. “Sorry, Mom” – Mikey Mason
7. “8 Miles Down” – Big Back Forty
8. “Dark Lord Sleeping on My Sofa” – The Blibbering Humdingers
9. “Wanted Dead or Alive” – Bon Jovi
10. “Love You Forever” – Rob Cheatham
11. “Endless Summer” – Superchunk
12. “My Dad Is Rich” – Draco and the Malfoys
13. “Worry With You” – Sleater-Kinney
14. “Penny on the Floor” – The Clarks

Oh, and speaking of the 90s Central PA music scene, The Badlees have a new, self-titled record out this week, the first with the original five-piece lineup since 2002! And it’s pretty damned good, as one might expect.