The 5th Friday

There was quite a crowd for Fifth Friday at Comma Coffee in Carson City Nevada last night. A user friendly coffee house... free wireless with every cup of coffee and dogs are welcome. So after my 5 hour drive from Ashland it was such a pleasure to check my e-mails, blog a bit, and rattle my cage with a cup of tasty java. Trusty Pete at my side.







And then the show began. Our MC, Rita Gile, "Think Cabaret" kept the the show on track. A poet and singer in her own right, she was the mortar and shellac. (drea4er@yahoo.com)

Susan Priest made a dark and moody statement "palisade the juju queen" and "39 gashes", but her dance near the end of the show preformed with background guitar of Susan Botich ethereal and quite captivating. ( www.susanpriest.com)

Next, my dear friend and long time confidant shared tails from the Reddog Reveiw #34 and #6. The woman can really turn a phrase as she tales from life's more scandalous side. In part two she did "Anna Sadhorse" one of my favorites. www.ashabot.com

My favorite was a piece preformed by Susan Botich, called "Byways" and it spoke to me about taking responsibility for my own happiness and getting about the act of doing what makes me happy. She wrote the piece just for this event. Her voice strong and clear, her guitar playing impeccable. (sbotich@charter.net)

And then the open mic phase of the program began. Names of audience poets where drawn from a hat. Really a talented diverse group can be found in the capital city. The Mad Hatter herself performed translations of french animal"Prayers from the Art" that added a bit of lightness to the serious trend of the poets.

Then the renouned Ellen Hopkins(www.ellenhopkins.com) read from her Book "Impulse". A book based on the rigors and angst of the teenage years. She was accompanied by budding young performers, Zack Trippiedi(Z_Trippiedi@yahoo.com), Roman Valenzuela(romanvalen@sbglobal.net), and Lindsey Stoeberl(alindseyha@yahoo.com). "Impulse" Can be found on Amazon.com.

Than came Pete's favorite. Scott Sarni(s_sarni@hotmail.com) preforming a monologue from "Hamlet". Pete sat up for the whole thing and slept through the rest of the show.

Dave Fritz(dave@davefritz.com) played guitar for intermission. He was so good everyone found it hard to leave their seats. I really wanted to look at eveyones wares and leave a donation so I did finally pull myself out of the chair.

Part two was more of the same. Much like a second helping of spagetti. Very filling but worth every bite. I do have to add a picture of Susan Priests free form dance. Exquisite.

And also kudos to the young lady that preformed pieces from Ellen's book "Crank", Haley Bennnett(passionforarte@yahoo.com). A most believable performance as well as a good stage presence. "Crank" Can also be found at Amazon.com

What I night was had by all, performers as well as we the audiance. Fifth Friday comes only four times a year. And maybe with a little luck another one at the Comma Coffee(http://www.commacoffee.com/) will happen again. In the meantime be sure and check out the links I've incorporated into this blog and support our artists.