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Sunday, September 12, 2010

LIVE MUSIC = NAVASOTA


Last Friday night, the cool and the astute might have have discovered there were two, (2) thats TWO excellent live music performances going on in downtown Navasota.. BEFORE the Sept 11 Bubba Can Freedomfest on Saturday.

Blues Alley offered Navasota born Tony Taylor, and free food and beer, and Corner Cafe featured Mike Gallo, guitarist, composer and performer. A nice crowd supported the free stuff, but considering the quality and value, very few did either and even fewer did both.

Tony is on his way to big things, as he is young, hard working, extremely talented and looks like Mel Gibson, except a bit better mannered. I would have taken pictures but I was in a stupor after preparing the store all day. Sorry Tony, I'll do better next time! Hey, at least we had the beer and food, and a few dozen folks to cheer you on.

And Mike, well, my apologies Sir. You gave an impressive show, and displayed your considerable talents as composer and performer... and you deserved a much larger audience. But frankly, our community has not supported the Corner Cafe very consistently. At the very beginning, I explained to the visionary owner of the Corner Cafe that it was absolutely imperative for the store to attract out-of-town trade or die trying. Navasota is a relatively small and economically challenged town, and her upper class is not committed to supporting the arts... at least not regularly.

Never-the-less, Mike sang as if he was comfortable and enjoying himself, and it was a real pleasure to see him in his element. He is a good song writer and a very polished entertainer. And he is regularly financially compensated for doing what he loves the most. I submit a drawing of him, done by is adoring, loving wife. How cool is that? Mike, ignore the clueless masses, you may not be famous, yet, but you are a rich man.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike put on a great show and the crowd loved him. Let's talk about the crowd; you make it seem there was no one there, but there was. We totaled 18 plus 6 no pays. This makes 24 people who heard Mike and enjoyed his music immensely.
Now add the staff of 4 plus 2 grand children you have 30 people who enjoyed Mike's performance immensely. This is a pretty good crowd for a football Friday, Bubba Can Cook, and a free all you can eat and drink party down the street.
As far as Navasota is concerned, they will learn to appreciate The Corner in their own time. If they miss out, its their loss and we are not responsible for that.
I just want to thank those who do come and tell my friend how much I appreciate his kindness and concern. Blessing to you my friend.

Russell Cushman said...

Dear "Anonymous": You and Corner Cafe owner Phil Hiebeler have a wonderful "glass is half full" attitude. Keep drinking that Kool Aid...But SIX no-pays kind of speaks for itself... Let's see, that's 25% of the attendance... pretty awful response to something...and just for the record, I was not one of them for a change.