For the last four years,  Pete Collin and I have done a Christmas show.   The first two years were at Canaseraga Hardware & Coffee Company.  Last year was at Boulder Coffee.    This year we planned to do it at Chocolate Bar.   That was before the news came that they were planning to close at the end of the year. 

I wanted to make it a special sendoff,  so after checking with Pete,  I decided to invite musicians who have performed at Chocolate Bar to come back and do a short set.    The response I got was great.

W.B. Blues opened the show with some Christmas Blues.   Ross Bracco then wowed the audience with some virtuoso guitar work on The Nutcracker.    Warren Paul then took the stage and showed us why he was a favorite at Chocolate Bar.  Next came Connie Deming with a performance that can only be described as inspired.  Her rendition of "O Holy Night" to finish her set was absolutely magnificent.   Brian Coughlin was the first performer at Chocolate Bar,  and it wouldn't have been a show without him.   He wrote four very short,  very funny "Christmas Carols"   for the occasion.     Next up were George Hochbreuckner and Jesse Sprinkle.   They held the crowd captive with a Bo Didley style "Little Drummer Boy"  featuring Jesse going to town on the cajon,  a South American percussion instrument.    Tim Shea and Mike Latoski got the crowd going with a mix of originals and some rousing Christmas music.   Lisa Bigwood was next up and boy was I happy to hear that beautiful National Guitar of hers again.   She even pulled out her own poignant version of Little Drummer Boy.    Finally,  it was time for Pete and I to take the stage.   Ross Bracco joined us on bass.    Man,  it was fun.   We did some traditional carols,  some sing alongs, played a nice love song for a couple who was celebrating their 50th anniversary,  and ended the night with our kazoo laden version of Heat Mizer/Snow Mizer   from the old "Year Without A Santa Claus"

We decided to donate all money in the tip jar to the Salvation Army Red Kettle Fund,  and raised about $175 for the cause.

I'll be sorry to see Chocolate Bar go,  but what a way to send them off!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

 I spent just about all day Tuesday in the emergency department at Strong Memorial Hospital.  I'm ok now,  thank you.   Tuesday morning was a different story.  

I won't go into the details of why I was there,  but I would like to publicly thank the Livonia Volunteer Ambulance.   They are a true asset to the community,  and I would strongly encourage anyone reading this to remember them,  or your own local volunteer emergecy responders when you are in possession of a couple of extra bucks.

Since Sept. 11,  we have used the word "Hero" to describe firefighters, police, and other rescue workers.   But the image that commonly comes to mind is these brave people responding to disaster.   We tend to forget that they are there for the smaller scale issues that happen every day. 

I'm going to do my best to remember that too.

I'm starting to feel it.   The holiday spirit, that is.    In the past,  I've felt numbed by this time because stores like Wegmans and Wal-Mart have had Christmas decorations out since Halloween,  or even before.    Christmas music in October does not inspire me.   Instead of getting mad about it,  this year I decided to ignore it.   Which is to say,  if they don't have enough respect for the true meaning of the holiday,  then I choose not to patronize them.    It's kept me in much better spirits this year.

But now,  we're into December,  and I'm ready for a little holiday spirit.  The spell of warm weather last week let us get some decorations up,  and I've started to reherse some Christmas carols.   As a matter of fact,  I even recorded a couple.  You can check out the sounds page to hear one.

 Last Saturday night I was booked to play at The Brown Hound Bistro.   I really like this place and the people who work there,  so I was looking forward to it.   Through some kind of misunderstanding,   Bill Brown showed up, guitar in hand believing that he was booked to play.     I suggested that we split the night.  The Brown Hound isn't big enough for both of us to set up and play together, so we figured I'd do a set,  then he'd do one  and so forth.    That worked out just fine.

At the end of the evening,  the crowed had thinned out a little,  and was down to a few tables who were really listening to Bill finish up the night.    I decided to get my harmonicas out.   That's when the fun began.   Bill and I have played together before,  but it's been a while.    I forgot how much fun it is to play with him.   We ended up playing for almost an hour and a half longer than we were scheduled to play.   The folks at the tables had long finished their dinners but stayed for another bottle of wine.   The waitresses who normally want to get out of there after a long night seemed to be just hanging out and enjoying the music.   There was a woman there celebrating her birthday,  and she told us it was the best way to spend the night she could possibly think of.

The great thing about music is that nights like this just happen sometimes.  If we planned it,  it probably wouldn't have been as fun.   It was just serendipity.