The sandwich shop turns out was a good performance workshop. The clientele changed every twenty minutes or so, so if I wanted to I could work on a song over and over. No one seemed to take notice of me. There was no pressure to do well. Although I still managed to invent reasons why I couldn’t open MIC there, Carla’s stubbornness was unyielding. I kept playing and kept improving; they liked me there and most nights let me play all evening. I kept buying equipment.
In the beginning of 2005 Carla took me on a whirlwind tour of Open MICs all over Chicagoland. Seven or eight stages in a two week period. I was in heaven. I was beginning to build confidence as a performer. Carla looked on the internet for “gman blues” no one had the name, and she suggested it. I began to perform under that name. Milestone number 4. Having a name, is the beginning of having your own "brand". My Brand Identiy Statement became: Upbeat Acoustic Rock and Blues
After that first round of open MICs in the competitive world, I continued to open MIC around the city. I played Wednesdays at Ballydoyle Pub, and every third Friday at Sandwich open stage. Ballydoyle had a state-of-the-art Bose sound system, and a professional sound man who recorded the performances. They were a wonderful refinement tool. One of the problems with Ballydoyle however was the excessive number of players. Often I had to wait hours to play. At that time I only drank water because I still was somewhat unsure of myself. One of those times I broke protocol and started drinking “Black and Tans” while waiting for my set. I was feeling pretty good by the time I got on, and asked the house band to play with me.
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