Here is a Thanksgiving of many years past. We know how to party out in the toolies. We often got the gang together and headed “downtown”, in this case, the almost empty lounge at the Grand Hotel on Main Street. The sharper-eyed among you have noticed that is me on the left (in a suit and tie) playing the accordion. What were you expecting, a four-piece orchestra?
The Christmas decorations are already on the walls. The two women to the farthest right, dancing with the uniformed Chinese staff, are my two youngest sisters. I had the room trained how to waltz, polka and foxtrot. There is one couple dead center I don’t recognize, probably passersby. I still get a kick to this day when local guitarists try to lecture me about what a crowd likes.It is early, I’m biking to Panera for a bagel. My gig starts in five hours. Panera was closed, so I did the Starbuck’s rip-off (my dispute with them is not the high-priced fancy coffee, but the fact that they don’t serve “ordinary” coffee). Then, wanting some bread and butter, I dipped dip into Winn/Dixie. Wow, talk about major people. All ten cash registers running and lineups half-way down the aisle. Does Florida wait until Thanksgiving day to buy the food?
Then I witnessed two people do something strange. The custom is to place your groceries on the belt. This shopper took one item out of his cart at a time, waited for it to scan and read the display before moving to the next item. In the express lane. I thought it was an anomaly, but then a lady two places back in line did the same thing.
Scary, because Florida is a stoopy-doop state. There is no self-correcting social mechanism to rebuke inefficient people out here. Sure, it is a little thing, but Florida is full of these little things. Now add them up. Out west, those who delay others are subject to a constant string of minor “inconveniences” that let them know it is not appreciated. Not so here.Roland, my Canadien neighbour is back. He’s going to help me move the utility trailer tomorrow, he drove here in three grueling days. His storage shed around back got broken into, and he lost his barbeque and a spare fridge. I saw nothing, but I don’t usually go out that direction.
The pictures will be another week, but today was a music classic event. The Jimbo’s Thanksgiving party; packed to the rafters. In [this instance], that means 42-45 people, but the back yard was also full. I’ve played some good ones in my life and this was the ideal scenario for my style. That is what I mean by classic. I played for five hours, including a half-set for some kids that were present. My act is far more interactive than the “listen-dance” approach so highly over-valued by most Florida musicians.
I had the room singing along for most of my numbers, if only the choruses. More five dollar bills in the tip jar, and that is what it is all about. Seven requests for “Country Roads”. The staff (who know all my material) were chanting along in unison. People telling me they had not had such a good time in years. The caterer said I made the show and took my business card. The defining moment was when a lady with a cane set it down and got out on the dance floor. Wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
I remind you that my music is geared to precisely this atmosphere. Every tune is selected primarily on its dance beat, based on having been both an excellent dance instructor and an accomplished drummer in my lifetime. Those are heavy qualifications. (Yet, I’ve met guitarists in Florida who can’t even play a tambourine actually argue with me over what constitutes good dance music!) Moneywise, I made a tank of gas and ate enough turkey and ham to last a week. I’m still going to skip my regular Friday gig.
And if I meet a good singer-guitarist with the right attitude, I’m going to have one kick-ass band put together in no time. My opinion of the local clubs is that they’ve watered down their entertainment offerings so badly that they are past the point of no return. They all have the same dull surroundings and clientele, yet none of them dare to raise prices enough to hire good acts, even to see what works. BJ’s is the only current exception but they are brand new and trying to establish a crowd so I won’t be surprised when they back off on the music as soon as they get thirty regulars. I have to find either a market niche or another Jimbo’s.
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