Moments, moments, moments.
That pretty much sums up the time I was able to spend at Debi Champion's celebration of the 5th anniversary of the start of her writers nights at the Commodore Grill. Debi, of course, is known for being a solid supporter of writers and giving them places to be heard long before this five year period, notably at spots like the Broken Spoke (which I heard about often back when I was still living in Minnesota). The place was absolutely packed with writers and friends who came out to play and show up in support of Debi and join in the celebration. My stamina gave out so I couldn't spend the entire evening there, but I will share a few highlights of what I heard.
- Dakota Grove. Oh my gosh. I have told you about these folks before (Daisy Dern, Camille Wallin, Scott Sanford and CJ Watson). They just get up there and make magic with their voices, their songs, their playing and their onstage rapport and charisma. Something's gonna happen with this group.
- Boomer Castleman, Pam Belford and Jim Sales in an amazing round: Boomer adding tasty guitar to the haunting rhythm of Jim's first song, his own guitar artistry during his turn, and Pam Belford charming us and making us laugh. My favorite thing was watching Pam during Boomer's and Jim's songs; she looked as if she was in absolute nirvana taking in the music. We were feeling much the same way out here in the audience.
- Lisa Aschmann totally surprised and impressed me with her two acapella songs. I don't think I'd ever heard her sing before, and to draw in the audience like she did without accompaniment was no easy task.
- A great series of rounds featuring many hit writers: Jimmy Payne, Glen Todd, Bill Carlile Jr., Tony Lane, Chris Wallin, David Lee, Stan Webb, Craig Monday and Jerry Foster. From these folks we got to enjoy and sing along with such hits as "Woman Woman", "Skip A Rope", "I'm Tryin'", "Love Me If You Can", "Don't Blink", "Lucky Man", "We're From The Country", "Got A Little Crazy".
...And much, much more, I'm sure I missed.
You can catch Debi's writers nights during the week at the Commodore Tuesday-Thursday nights. Happy anniversary Debi. Love ya. Love this town.
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