Thanks to all who joined us for a warm night at EAC's November Open Mic—lots of great music, laughs, stories and poems. Madeline Collins returned to emcee the event with radiant cheer and a spunky presentation, sporting her trademark blue hair with coordinating duds and makeup. We're just crazy about her.
We were pleased to welcome Machias residents Duane Ingalls and Clifton 'Tone' Moser, who each claimed a 10-minute slot, then decided to collaborate for both, pulling in Art Lindemanis, from Perry. We enjoyed two two-song 'sets' from this trio, ranging from imaginative renderings of holiday tunes to original material written by Ingalls with text from Shakespeare.
The trio's sets bookended tuneful event sponsor Janine LaForge, who shared a memory of meeting Loretta Lynn as a 10-year-old. "She was wearing a blue chiffon dress and she called me 'honey,'" recalled Janine, who then sang Lynn's iconic tune, "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)." Next, LaForge gave the room a rendition of "Close to You," a tribute to another who inspired her to be a singer: Karen Carpenter. We are very grateful to Janine, who has agreed to sponsor three EAC Open Mics (this was the second of Janine's series).
Syndicated radio personality Jane Lanctot (AKA 'Cracklin' Jane'), from Lubec, announced upon taking the stage, "This is my first open mic of my entire life." She delighted the room with poems written by her 92-year-old uncle. She called her uncle to tell him about the event this past week. "He said this was the first time his poems had been read for an audience," noted Jane. "It totally blew him away that people were responding to them. He was gobsmacked!"
Another traveler from afar, singer/songwriter Cindy Jollotta from Addison electrified the room with performances of original music, on piano and ukulele. Cindy will do a solo show including some holiday sing-alongs next month—Friday, December 6, at Phoenix Fine Wines in Eastport. She also mentioned her Spotify channel and YouTube music videos, for those who'd like to search out more Cindy!
Other performances included Madelyn White with original music; Florence Brunner with a joke; Steve Schmitt with covers of songs he loves; Catherine J.S. Lee with an original short story, "The Lightkeeper"; and Lauren Koss with vintage music. True stories were shared by Carrie Cobb—a tale from her teen years inspired by the current Moth theme of Rivalry—and Charles "Chick" Moore, whose surprise twist tale stemmed from witnessing the HMS Bounty replica ship which visited Eastport for the 2012 Pirate Festival.
Special thanks go to EAC Concessions volunteers Marlene Russ and Helen Swallow, and sound tech/documentation volunteer Jude Kempe. Please stay tuned for news of upcoming Open Mic events.
Madelyn White's heatfelt originals opened the night for us.
Steve Schmitt cast a spell with layered soundscapes, in pursuit of some of his favorite artists' tunes.
Lauren Koss, Charles "Chick" Moore, and Carrie Cobb are shown sharing vintage music and true stories.
Thanks to Jude Kempe and Carrie Cobb who contributed photos for this recap!