There is room for humor in music. There is room for fun in music. There is, on rare occasions, even room for joy in music. But there is never room for disrespect of music in music.
Drunken audiences, people playing "air guitar", inane chatter interrupted only by orders for one more round show more than lack of respect for musicians. They show lack of respect for music.
For years, Vaugn Deel has put on first rate open mic shows here in Tidewater. At these performances I have watched some very hard working young musicians get better with each performance . Victorian Station in Hampton, provides the best venue for open mics that I have encountered.
There is truth in timeworn lyrics. "Farther Along" says more to many people about the root of good and evil than can all the verses of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Habakkuk combined. Three verses of "Keep on the Sunny Side" boil down three years of counselling on fighting depression. Several Steve Earle songs teach us that what was still is, but that it does not have to be that way in the future.
But the lyrics must be heard to matter and Victorian Station is a place where they can be heard. At the moment Songwriter's night is the first Thursday night of each month and only original songs are performed. I hope that the future will bring back the weekly sessions that made Victorian Station so special.
If you want to play good music, and if you want to hear good music, open mic nights at Victorian station are where you belong.
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