Countdown to 100: 10 - Fair Bean Coffee
Chronicling the final 10 out of 100 Open Mic and Showcase performances I have done since June 2011. This is # 91.
Photo by Amy Zamarripa
Friday night was low-key & sweet, just a few of the regulars for the day after Thanksgiving at one of my favorite open mic venues - Fair Bean Coffee. After a lovely Thursday of traditional Thanksgiving festivities with my cousin and her friends, it was great to spend some time with members of my adopted Austin musical family, sharing songs both new and familiar.
I did have a first though, a woman having coffee asked me to sing something for her significant other’s birthday. After a quick mental scan through of my songs, I thought I better look up the actual Birthday Song on my phone and then I wrote down the chords in my notebook so I could see them easily.
While it’s an incredibly simple song, and I pulled it off good enough to create a special moment for the couple (I even saw him taking a picture or video of me when I got up for a second round of songs), the experience made me realize that knowing the Birthday Song by heart is probably one of those unofficial requirements of being a gracious musician. Imagine the difference in feeling between someone asking you to sing Happy Birthday and being able to launch right in, and saying “Oh, yeah, uh, I don’t really know it, I just write my own music, I don’t really know other stuff.” Even if you don’t know how to play it, leading the singing would be good thing to do.
I also had a sweet moment at the counter where one of the baristas asked me which song I had sung earlier, and I told her that all the songs I had performed that night other than Happy Birthday were ones that I had written. She said she liked it and I told her I would be recording them in March, and maybe she’d also like them then with more instruments and such and she said she was sure she would. It was nice to know that at a place where I’ve been playing a similar handful of songs for the past 6 months that at least a couple of those songs are recognizable and appreciated by the staff who pretty much has to be there.
Songs:
Round 1) Happy Birthday, Rain Song, Keep Telling Me, Jonah’s Whale
Round 2) Shoreline of Alaska, Anchor, Wings
Host:
Amy Zamarripa
Location:
Fair Bean Coffee
2210 South 1st Street, Suite I
Austin, TX 78704
Favorite Fair Bean treats:
Iced White Mocha, Red Symphony Latte, Orange Bars (like Lemon Bars but with orange!), Veggie Chorizo Empanadas, Hard Boiled Egg
Other things I like about Fair Bean:
Fair Trade coffee, comfy couches, plenty of plugs for laptops, big glass windows to let in the light and allow for people watching.
