By BEN OLSON/for The Herald — I had played 1500 gigs before I finally had to call off because I was too sick to sit on stage and sing. The emergency bypass surgery during my 3rd summer wasn’t really a “call in sick” kind of event. With a few phone calls, I erased my schedule and took some time to recuperate. I was back out there with my guitar within a month.
The only time I had called in sick was in January 2020, about 2 months before Covid shut down the bars in Florida. I missed one gig and was sick for a couple days with what people would later describe as Covid, but several months before anyone thought it was here in this country.
Be mindful of the flue season when you’re out and about
Fast forward to late November, 2022. After watching my wife hacking and wheezing for 10 days while I felt just fine, it finally hit me last Friday, about the time I was finishing up at the Dexter Lake Club. With a few days of R & R, I figured that I would be ready for doing the open mic at the 3 Legged Crane on Thursday.
Well, trouper that I am, I could have gone in there and done it, and had fun, but I was worried that I might get somebody else sick. Ditto with today’s happy hour concert at the Crescent Park Retirement Residence. I’d hate to see any of those old folks get ill on account of me.
All that said, I will be back at the 3 Legged Crane this Thursday, December 8, to orchestrate the open mic. There will be my first Christmas tunes of the year, as well as some chestnuts that I’ve dredged up from some old song lists, you’ve never heard me play before.
I’ll get things started around 6:30 p.m. Please stop in and listen or play a song or two, or at least enjoy a pint.
Double-header at the Crane
On Saturday, December 10, there will be a double-header that you won’t want to miss. Peter Wilde and Tom Heinl will be trading tunes beginning at 7 p.m. While I’m familiar with Peter’s hilarious, and occasionally serious, original songs, he has told me that Tom takes the absurdity to another level.
Heinl released 4 albums back in the early 2000’s before taking some time off from performing. Showtime is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The 3 Legged Crane serves appetizers, sandwiches and dinners and has a wide selection of hand-crafted beers and ales. There is no cover charge for the live music. They are located on 1st Street in uptown Oakridge.
That’s all the information I’ve got for this week. I wish that I had more to report. Support live music and the musicians who make it. Please drop me a line if you know of a live music event taking place in the Highway 58 corridor.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
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