Dive Bar Singing with Lance

I showed up at The Tug last week, after listening to some fantastic straight ahead jazz, played by Randy Halberstadt at Tula's. Was so hungry for more music and the only affordable thing at 11:00PM was Karaoke at that West Seattle dive bar.

I signed up to sing a few of my favorites. Had a great time - the sound system in this tiny place is really, really good and I sounded pretty good, again. So happy my voice is returning.

A tall, handsome creole-colored man was sitting next to the karaoke host. He complimented my singing. When the host got up to sing Genesis' "Land of Confusion", the man and I both did the background oohs and aahs together, from either side of the bar. I eventually ran up next to him, we got in front of the mic and we became a background singing duo.

We sat together for the rest of the night. His name is Lance and he has a hell of a bass voice! He is from The Bronx and Queens, NY and then moved to Phoenix and San Francisco.

And, once again, I got to hear the "hard luck story" of a man who had "almost made it" in the music business. Lance was in a band that was going places. He had formed it with a partner. One day, the partner was distraught and after snorting some cocaine, he shot himself in the head right on his front lawn. As you might imagine, this had a devastating effect on everyone who loved that man, especially Lance. He never again tried to rekindle his career. The dream of being a professional musician died for him that day.

Lance later made a name for himself in California as a regional voice-over artist and continued writing songs and playing music for his own enjoyment. He wound up in Seattle after a failed marriage and got a job at Microsoft. He is now working on a screenplay.

I have recently encountered many kindred souls singing Karaoke and Rockaraoke. I can't believe that it has taken me 25 years to find them. While I was never even close to "making it", I worked many long and hard hours in my late teens and 20's as a "journeyman" singer. We played 5 sets of music a night, 6 nights a week in tiny clubs, fire halls, banquet halls, theme parks and slightly swanky places. When I traded in full-time musicianship for weekend warrior life, those one-night private party gigs helped pay a lot of bills. I loved the musicians. Very smart men with whom I shared many laughs. There is something about the musicians' mind. The way it twists and contorts and finds humor. I love it. I think I share it. I just have no talent in my hands (or maybe just never had enough discipline to take up an instrument).

Everybody has a story, you know? Lance's is far from over. After hearing him sing one of his original tunes, I could see his passion coming back. Perhaps at 50 years of age, he is finally ready to return to the stage.