The End of an Era - "The Last Open Mike" at Tara's Joyce Family Pub IN 2010 - The great news is that this event has resumed in 2012 and every thursday night is open mike again at the now named "Tara's family pub"!!
The Email Invite to the Farewell Event on 11/18/2010: Thursday Night: Here is some big news for this week!! You might remember that my last email was soliciting suggestions for what might make the open mike at Tara's draw more attendees and I thank all of you who responded. I passed on your suggestions. Tara called me this weekend after looking at the books (as any good business person should) and has made the decision to stop the open mike through the Holiday Season and re-evaluate it in the new year with the possibility of bringing it back and incorporating some of the suggestions that were received. This Thursday is the LAST OPEN MIKE at Tara's Joyce Family Pub so it would be great it anyone who has been involved with it in the past come come join us for a Grand Send-off with the hopes that it will return, or at least celebrate what this event has been and meant to so many. I can tell you what this event has been to me and it will always hold a special place in my heart, soul, and ears. I moved to RI in 2002 and shortly after getting my family settled into our new home I went in search of Bluegass and was directed to the Joyce Open Mike where I met Eric Neff and Tom Donovan. I participated in every open mike for the next few years until the "Dunegrass Boys" (named after a bunch of dune grass that used to be outside the back door before it washed away in a storm a few washouts ago) had been a spin-off band of the Joyce open mike crew. For an audio time machine go out to http://www.davemorettimusic.com/the-dunegrass-boys.html and listen to Blackberry Blossom with Eric and Tom and I (2004), and Feast Here Tonight with Mike Boulay and the Dunegrass Boys and the Rank Strangers(2004). Good times, good memories, great people!! Eventually the Open Mike Torch was passed to me by Eric to carry; which I did faithfully every week for the next few years until I had to go to a half time basis because my Friday mornings with little sleep were affecting my abilities in my day world. I finally cut that back to half again when I shared the remaining nights with Gil so that I could be fresh and accel on Fridays mornings in my new career - I did not want to let go completely. Over the all of these years, the literally hundreds of nights playing in this room I had, I have have meet some of the best people and musicians in my life, and definitely have had some of the most inspired moments in music I have experienced; especially during the Tammi Jams at the end of the night. What a great open mike this was when at the end of the night it turned into a truley awesome jam based on putting together random strangers and friends and just letting it go where it wanted to. Most of my closest friends, and definitely most of my musician buddies have at one point or the other, wandered through the doors there on a Thursday Night and changed my trajectory a little for the better. I thank everyone on this distribution who have been involved in this institution (I think this is one of the the longest running open mikes in RI - going for the last 15 years or so) for your contribution and the experiences you have shared with me. I am looking forward to see what the next adventureland will be but also hoping this one will revive a little further down the road. If by chance you would like to try to catch lightning in a bottle one more time I would love to see you on Thursday night for a Big To Do, A Fair Thee Well, A So Long - may you come back soon to this wonderful event that has touched so many people.
Photos from the farewell event (Click on a photo to enlarge)
The Email after the event:
I want to first thank the folks (friends) that showed up last week to usher out the Last Open Mike at Tara's!
What a great and emotional night! There were tears of Joy, Laughter, and Sadness all at the same event. I will be either sending out another email over the weekend dedicated to this evening with some pictures, or setting up an archive page on the website and sending out the link to share this evening with you all.
I truly appreciate the friendships that I have found there over the years and the ones that came down to share a special music evening. It was awesome!!
I want to first thank the folks (friends) that showed up last week to usher out the Last Open Mike at Tara's!
What a great and emotional night! There were tears of Joy, Laughter, and Sadness all at the same event. I will be either sending out another email over the weekend dedicated to this evening with some pictures, or setting up an archive page on the website and sending out the link to share this evening with you all.
I truly appreciate the friendships that I have found there over the years and the ones that came down to share a special music evening. It was awesome!!