Open Mic, March 3, 2018

Eclectic Musical Styles Abound at the Arts Center

Host Robert Foster kicked off the show with a trio of folk favorites that included "Souvenirs," by John Prine, "Vincent," by Don McLain, and "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive," by Darrell Scott. Foster, a fingerstyle guitarist with a mellow voice, plays frequently at the Old Delina Country Store.

Jim Yarbrough came from Hazel Green to perform his "outlaw" country set. He started with "Angelina," an original song about that lady in the audience who knows every word to your songs. He followed that with "Whiskey On Ice," by Hank Williams Jr., and "In Color," by Prine.

He ended his set by calling his grandson, Levi Joseph, to the stage to help him perform "Feelin Better," by Hank Williams Jr.

Next up was Pianist Ian Bonner who played "Aurora Borealis" and "Maple Leaf Rag." "We bought the electric piano and a small drum kit especially for the performing arts shows," said Arts Center president Ron Hackett. "We wanted to make it easy for people like Ian to come and play a 15-minute set without having to haul in a lot of equipment."

Randall Mills from Franklin returned again this week to perform a trio of his favorite country songs. He started with Getting You Home," by Chris Young and followed that with Hurt," by the late great Johnny Cash. He finished "Wagon Wheel," Darrius Rucker and Bob Dillon. Dillon wrote the chorus, but left the song unfinished. Rucker added the verses and recorded the song.

Avant-gard guitarist and singer Thunderbyrd Newman is a regular at the performing arts shows. Newman is a fingerstyle guitarist who performs his own original songs. He started with a tune called "Evangeline" and finished with "Baby in a Women's Disguise" and "Only for You and Me."

Ron Hackett, the Arts Center president and the shows co-host, closed out the first round with three instrumental guitar works. He began with "Autumn Leaves," which was written by Joseph Kosma and "All of Me," by Seymour Simons. Shifting from jazz to country, Hackett finished with "Windy and Warm," a tune by John D. Loudermilk that Chet Atkins made famous.

With time left for an encore round, Foster took the stage again to perform "Whiskey and You," by Chris Stapleton and "Great Compromise," by Prine.

Newman followed Foster and performed three more of his original songs that included "You Just Don't Get It Do You Baby," "Free," and "For Real."

Hackett closed the show with more of his instrumental jazz solos on the guitar. He started with a French tune by Henri Betti called, "C'est Si Bon (It so good)." Betti said that the first nine notes of the song come into his head while he was watching a lingerie show in Nice. Next Hackett played "Corcovado," a bossa nova written by Antonio Carlos Jobim about the mountain that overlooks Rio de Janeiro. For an upbeat tune, Hackett played an old Duke Ellington tune called, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." He finished with another bossa nova that was written by Luiz Bonfa. It's the title tune for a Brazilian reinterpretation of a Greek play called "Black Orpheus." The classic Greek play was reset in a favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro.

Photos

Photos courtesy of Ron Hackett

Robert Foster

Jim Yarborough

Jim Yarbrough and Levi Jose

Ian Bonner

Randall Mills

Thunderbyrd Newman

Ron Hackett