Video Review of my Open Mic Night at Lizard's Liquid Lounge

John Ludi is on a mission.
His mission is to travel to Open Mic Night's all over the country and do video reviews of them.
He came to mine this last Thursday and this was the result:

 
Thank you, John for your honest, thorough and respectful review.

Happy 2016 - Updates, Radio Spots and Cute Puppies

Now the lump in my throat 
is a lump in my chest 
and I'm back to doing
what I do best...

Photo Courtesy of David Sameshima

It's a new year, and I hope 2015 was good to you (mine was great!) and that 2016 will be even better. I have started the process of booking shows for the first half of the year, but have no solid dates lined up yet. I will post them here when I do. In the meantime, I am still hosting the Open Mic Night at Lizard's Liquid Lounge (3058 W. Irving Park Rd) every Thursday starting around 8pm. I used to have a really shitty attitude about Open Mic Nights, but hosting one has been such a blast, and has been a really good thing for raising my me in many ways. From raising my local profile, and getting me gigs I normally wouldn't get, to making me up as a performer and event emcee. My formerly shitty attitude has been left by the wayside as I am trying to host the best Open Mic in the City of Chicago (and there are several excellent Open Mics in this town!) Last Thursday, I had several new faces come in to play and by the time they left, they were telling me how great our Open Mic is, which makes me feel terrific.
Life is good. I am a lucky guy.
Although there are no gigs booked, I will be appearing on local radio station WZRD 88.3 on Jan 19th from 9pm-11pm Central Time (The station also streams live online) I'll be hanging out with Alex, playing some tunes, and talking about music and life and whatnot. I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous, because I've never been on the radio before, but it should be fun.

That's all I've got for now. I would leave you with the classic "First Five of Shuffle Mode" but I didn't listen to music today. So instead, I'll leave you with a picture of my cute dogs, Daisy and Bella.



Thank you.

Q

Upcoming Shows

Here are some shows I've got coming up in addition to the usual Open Mic dates on Thursdays.

Sat July 25th @ 10am - 1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

Tues Aug 4th (Time TBD)  - Celtic Crown

Sat Aug 22nd @ 9pm - Fuller’s Pub

Sat Sept 5th @ 10am-1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

Mon Sept 28th @ 8pm Acoustic Explosion at Silvie’s Lounge

Sat Oct 10th @ 930pm Lizard’s Liquid Lounge with special guest Brandon Trenz

Tues Oct 13th @ 8pm Acoustic Explosion/Our Offering Plate Field Trip at Silvie’s Lounge

Sat Oct 17th @ 10am-1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

We Came, We Saw, We Rocked

"And though I once was rich 
I know what it is to be hungry
And though I nearly drown
I know what it is to be thirsty"

"Angel De Mi Guardia" - The Chimeras

Thank you everybody who came out to show your support. Brandon and I (aka The Good Leads) had a blast playing my tunes, his tunes, our tunes and some other people's tunes for you! Crowd-wise, things started out slow, but things picked up later in the night, and we ratcheted up the Rock appropriately. 

It was a special occasion, because (aside from an Open Mic several years ago) it was the first time BT and I had played live together, and many of our tunes were being played live for the first time as well. Hopefully BT and I can play together again in the near future. In the meantime, I have more solo shows lined up this summer, they are as follows:

Mon June 22nd @ 8pm - Acoustic Explosion at Silvie’s Lounge

Sat June 27th @ 2pm - Fuller’s Pub (Afternoon Show)

Sat July 4th @ 9pm - Fuller’s Pub

Mon July 13th @ 8pm - Acoustic Explosion at Silvie’s Lounge

Sat July 25th @ 10am - 1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

Sat Aug 22nd @ 9pm - Fuller’s Pub

Sat Sept 5th @ 10am-1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

Sat Oct 17th @ 10am-1pm - Park Ridge Farmer’s Market

I can also be found hosting Open Mic Night every Thursday at Lizard's Liquid Lounge (Signup starts at 730, music starts at 8(ish)

Thanks again to all who made it out for this very special show!

The first five of Shuffle Mode today:

"Year of the Locust" - Fischer's Flicker

"Lateral Noise" - God Is An Astronaut

"Backwards Blues" - The Fire Theft

"She Hates My Job" - Local H

"Lights" - Interpol

Visit me and hear my sounds on my Soundcloud Page.

"Dirty" Work - Open Mic Nights at Lizard's Liquid Lounge

And if you want a show

Then just let me know and I'll

Sing in your ear again

"Drugs Don't Work" - The Verve

Me and Gene Jammin' At Lizard's Open Mic

I will be taking over hosting duties for the Open Mic Nights every first and third Thursday at Lizard's Liquid Lounge starting on Thursday October 16th. Lizard's is a really cool neighborhood spot, and their Open Mic night has a great group of people participating and listening. It has been curated for the last several years by my friend Cuauhtemoc (aka "Dirty"), so I've got some big shoes to fill. Come on out and join me every first and third Thursday at Lizard's, whether to play us some music, tell us some jokes, or just be part of the audience. A good time will be had by all. 

You can find Lizard's on Facebook HERE. 

Also, Smalls Smoke Shack is right next door, and they'll deliver delicious BBQ right to your barstool. 

Top five tunes on my playlist right now:

"Tough Love" - Jessie Ware

"Lucky Now" - Ryan Adams

"Our Place in the Sun" - Joel Plaskett

"Drugs Don't Work" - The Verve

"It Can't Be You" - Madison Pepper

Cuauhtemoc Cuauhtemoc