Five years ago, in the afterglow of a Parents Who Rock show that crammed 130 people into & out of Church Street Cafe, a bunch of players - Alma, Ellen (in her soccer uniform), Ben, Ed D., moi & I forget who else (please forgive me) set out to create an open mic here on the second floor. Ben suggested that to make it work we needed a house band. We had some fun trying to grow the gig but, for various reasons, it failed to evolve.
As our fire was flickering out, Jan showed up & organized the remnants of our crusaders & recruited quite a few more. The gig was moved downstairs (Thurs night?), tucked in the front corner of the room between two booths. For months Jan patiently encouraged the varying cast of players until until it basically evolved into a trio - Jan, Carrie & me.
Then one night, Jan didn't show up. Carrie & I looked at each other with (at least for me) expressions of sheer terror. After a minute or two we started playing and didn't stop. Jan had pulled a Johnny Appleseed on us. Now Carrie & I were the house band. The stage was set for all of the music that has flowed from here since then (another story for another day).
Jan, of course, did come back and is a regular player at Studio 12. She currently runs the open mic at
Jiggs's Tuesday & Thursday nights.
