Open Mic night at The Root Hill cafe

I have to say, I really enjoy living in this neighbourhood, Gowanus, Brooklyn.
After a weekend full of walking around the Gowanus Art studios it has reaffirmed my love for this area. My favorite place is still Canal Bar. It has always been a safe haven for me to get away from all the noise and B.S. that is inherit in any big city, especially Manhattan. That said, Brooklyn isn’t by any means perfect. It smells, it’s not THAT safe ( I witnessed a mugging on my street early this year- apparently the dude had a gun with a silencer, I inadvertently scared him away by walking towards what I thought was a domestic dispute.) But that aside, and amidst the random gunshots, it’s all good.
Recently this new coffee shop opened up on the corner of 4th ave and Carroll Street.
It’s named The Root Hill Café and I’m sure that I’ll be hanging out there a lot more since my new schedule has me freed up to work on some personal ideas in between Tek Jansen.
They Have an open Mic night every Monday which I encourage people to check out. Hopefully I’ll have something to show in a few weeks, until then, I leave you with these sketches this past Monday….

The singer/guitarist played a song by bright eyes, it was very nice.
The comedian seemed like a funny person, but didn’t make me laugh.
The host is a riot, he has a voice like Tom Waits.
Mick was there performing with his band, he’s warming up his Didgeridoo in this sketch.

Open Mic night at Brooklyn Bean.

So after a sip and a bite and a nice little walk, Zartosht and I strolled into the two empty seats at the front of the packed cafe. It felt just like life drawing class, except they don't have their liquor license just yet so.... It was like life drawing was back in college. Canal Bar lies just an avenue south, and since I'd been there the two nights before, I had faith that it would still be standing there in an hour or so, stocked full of cold beer. Precisely at the aforementioned time, right at the beginning of an atrocious rendition of Ave Maria by a sweet, sweet woman, Z stumbled to the exit with his sketchpad leaving me alone with the rest of the crowd. I could hear him coughing as he passed me, but I knew all too well it wasn't a cough, in fact, I could picture him outside laughing to himself out loud while smoking a cigarette. Doing my best to disguise my impending laughter, I became overwhelmed with the markings on the coffee table, as if examining it for the first time. I studied them as I would a teenager laying his eyes on his first playgirl centerfold (one in ten folks, one in ten!!!)
I somehow managed to contain myself, but just barely. I didn't post any drawings of her, because, well, I didn't draw her. I was just pretending. These two, however played some great guitar and sang some beautiful songs!