Little Grill Open Mic: June 28, 2007

So what if I had to tell Tom Weaver where the band Three Dog Night got its name from, it doesn't take anything away from his musicianship. He was truly rockin' out on 'I've Never Been to Spain'.

It was actually a Three Chris Night at The Little Grill Thursday as we had Chris "The Renaissance Man" Lythgoe do an original blues song (with Alex Albrecht on guitar). Best I can do for a title would be "Struck by Holy Lightning".

Chris 'Excalibur' (not really his last name but the brand of his guitar?) strummed his three-song set, including 'Ventura Highway' by America, and 'Driving With My Knee' (by Peter Mayer?).

Chris Howdyshell, venerable M.C. for the Little Grill open mic each week, sang an original love song on the aforementioned Excalibur. Even though I asked him the title later, the best I can do now is to quote from the lyrics: "I'm not afraid to love you, if you're not afraid to live."

Other standouts for the evening included Billy Brett of Buck Gooter fame playing the electric guitar that hangs on the wall above the Little Grill stage with a wadded up newspaper, then switching to the mouth harp. The reverb added by Mr. Howdyshell in the sound booth only added to the mystery.

I commended Steve-o on his heartfelt poetry. He's been writing for a year, but had never read it aloud to anyone. Excellent stuff about love that made you believe. A star is born.

I sneaked in between this hail storm of talent with my first one-sentence poem: 'God Speaks to Me Through the Free Book Rack'. Some controversy apparently exists as to whether a sentence can in fact be a poem, but I looked at the title/concept and realized that it was.

Proof of the essential point of the poem was the very used book (from 1966) I held in my hand, The Complete Poems and Selected Letters and Prose of Hart Crane, from which I read Chaplinesque, it being my intention to donate the book to The Grill when I've perused it fully.

I then did a sonnet called 'The Worst Nine Words in the English Language' which somehow seemed fitting for the evening's events. I rounded my set out with It Could Be'. I wrote the last two in aught six, it just took me this long to get them up at my site.

Also notable Thursday night was the re-emergence of Noah, this time accompanied by 'The Girl With the Purple Hair'. He also did some one-sentence poems, filling me in on the history of the genre.