Flipping through the paper while in Toronto last week, an ad caught my eye. It was for an open mic night at a club on Queen Street and I saw that a friend of mine was hosting it, a friend that I hadn't seen in a very long time. I decided that I would go down to Mitzi's Sister and check it out.
My friend Chris Staig was the host of the night and we gave each other a big hug when I walked in the door. It was great to see him and hear him play again - it had been a while. After he played a couple of songs, the night unfolded in the usual way that open mic nights do with a rotating cast of people playing their original songs. Chris was a gracious host, giving everyone big introductions and sometimes accompanying the performers on his guitar.
At some point in the evening, he showed me a picture of his young son that he had on his cell phone. Moments later, he ran on stage to help someone plug their guitar in. As I watched him adjusting cables, I remembered that as long as I've known Chris, he's had some kind of regular gig playing music, either a house gig or maybe hosting an open stage like this one. He's a working musician in the truest sense, and he's also a great songwriter who puts out his own records.
Here's a song of his that starts out in the second most popular place a musician hangs out in after the bar.
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