STEVE2.NET

The Enclave turned out to be a really good time!

Arriving in Willoughby I pulled up to a great parking spot almost smack dab in front of the coffee house, almost as if someone had reserved it for me, very cool. Went inside, got a big hot cup of green tea, introduced myself to the barista, sat with local guitar player talent Mark (sorry, but Mark’s last name escapes me - me thinks have it written down somewhere) who was there doing some drawing. It’s always good to see Mark around the town, especially at Open Mic Nights when he has his guitar in tow, he is fun to listen too and play guitar with. Anyhow, proceeded to scope out the PA, and got to work getting things setup. This was a new room for me, and it’s a long room at that – I didn’t know what to expect in terms of what equipment would be available, I had brought all my own stuff to work with (and set it all up anyhow for the bass and monitor whatever etc.) it turns out that the Enclave house PA is a really a decent setup (they even have microphones and extra cabling), so no equipment problems.

Steve Pohl arrived shortly after the PA was turned on and he got right to work setting up his contraption kit. S.P.’s kit has always been one of the most unique contraptions, what with all the decoration and vintage parts and mini sized cymbals - but S.P. has really outdone himself recently by adding lights to the kit. Now, the bass drum lights up on the beat, and the snare head glows with this really cool blue light. Very nifty! A brief history: S.P. and I have played music together on several occasions and that’s how we got the “Steve Squared” nick name, all those Open Mic nights with Mary Clare and Sarah Schinko dontcha know. Eventually I decided I liked the nickname enough, changed it slightly too just plain old Steve2, and bought the domain name. So, we got to work playing some tunes. We sounded pretty good in spots, and also a little rough at times – we could use more practice as a duo. Steve really hung in there for the entire evening and did a fine job of playing even though he said his knee hurt real bad, I know all about that, that’s what happens when you start to degenerate into middle age. Probably the highlight of the evening (and some of the best playing) was the jam at the end of our set featuring Tim Fry on electric guitar and Alex Brandy sitting in on bass guitar – they really sounded good and made Steve P. and I sound really good too. Thanks dudes!

My buddy Ryan Smith (Guitar player singer songwriter with Miranda’s Moon) is hinting around that he is coming out to the
Arabica this Saturday to hang out and sit in on a few tunes, and I am looking forward to getting into some jams with Ryan he is one of my earliest Cleveland friends. If he can make it, it will be an extra special evening! This Saturday will be the second time out for the ‘new’ PA (one Peavey PA cab and an amp – early Christmas and birthday gifts to myself – and only a small pang of guilt to go along with the purchase which I put on my credit card – hey, some things you can’t live without) it’s going to be nice to finally have decent equipment out there at Westwood Arabica, in the past I have used ‘problematic’ guitar amps as PA gear and all that nonsense has come to a stop now – no more equipment hassles! Yeah for me!

See you out there?