Live and Local: Derek and Open Mic

Derek has been the bartender at Ploughman on Wednesday nights – the night of the Open Mic, which has been going on for over 2 years now, and that I wrote about last year at its anniversary – for most of it’s run. Before him was the legendary Mike Stearns for a brief time. Those were big shoes to fill. Stearns is no joke by any measure.

But Derek made it his own, and he’s since moved on in the way the world makes us all move on from good things. Ploughman and Open Mic will abide, but it won’t be the same, so I am taking this moment to recognize it. Derek is my good friend, and I will miss him. If you were a regular at Ploughman on Tuesdays (Vinyl night), or Wednesdays (see above), you will miss him too.

I don’t even know you, and I know that.

Derek never performed at the open mic that I can recall (unless I missed it, but I doubt it)…but he is a front man. He writes music and he sings, and I’ve never seen him, but I guess he’s probably got a twisty, loud Iggy thing going on. If he were ever a rich and famous rock star, he would undoubtedly do crazy shit that would make for a great Netflix series after the fact.

Derek’s wife is also my friend. Her name is Anne, and she is the best bartender in town (and many other towns in a ring around, no doubt), and also the best front man I’ve seen in a local band (I said what I said). I don’t say that to poke at Derek…he would agree on the bartender thing, and I’ve never seen him front a band, so it’s no offense. Just how things are.

As I described in my piece at the one-year anniversary, Open mic at Ploughman is a great event, and if you’re there, you’re family. The level of musicianship gets better and better and more expanded and diverse all the time. The number of artists who were first seen there and have gone on to gig on their own grows every month.

Jenni Joy

Mike Kessler

Patchwork Complaint Desk

Just to name a few. Plus, other musicians who’ve come through WHILE gigging, like Aaron Samuels, Mat Morris, Scot Snyder, Hopeless Semantics, not to mention Ben Wenk, Llewyn Malick and of course, grand master, Rob Leib, who hosts and pulls this all together to make it the scene that it is. And of course, Cuz - Billy Jones, the harmonica in residence, who is well and truly the end of the road.

There are dozens of others. Please chime in and include yourselves or others. I don’t mean to miss anyone. It’s something to look forward to every week because – primarily – of Rob and Derek.

As for me…well, I’m a writer. But I have hauled my ass up there a time or two, either to sing with incredibly indulgent musicians, or to smack my own guitar around a little and do what I could… mostly just proving that I’m a writer. My one musical goal is to have one song I play well enough that Cuz plays harp on it with me.

Mostly, it terrified me, and when I did it and it did terrify me, Derek handed me the necessary shot of Dad’s Hat and told me exactly how I did, good and bad.

He and I don’t bullshit each other.

Derek’s going to be managing a kitchen at a local spot… I imagine F Lee Ermey from
“Full Metal Jacket”, regulating the hood. Whatever it is, he’ll be great at it and people will love him and also be pissed off at him.

I love him too. He’s the moron younger brother that I never wanted, and who pisses you off the most when you know he’s right.

I would trust him with my dog.

So, open mic will go on. I hope Derek shows up when he can, and I hope Anne still shows up and plays a tune now and then for us even though he’s not behind the bar. If Stearns were to come back behind the bar, it would be like Marino coming back to the Dolphins… but regardless of who it is, it’ll be cool and something to look forward to.

And we’ll still tell stories about when Derek was there.