The 18th meeting of the Community Music Hangout gathered on Sunday June 18, 2023 at the West Piano i.e. Carly. Despite steady onshore winds and plenty of marine layer on Saturday, we were treated to ample sunshine and mostly-comfortable breezes. I can confidently say that #17 was the best hangout yet! Wow, we had quite a crew of familiar faces as well as a whole slew of new friends! It feels as though the Hangout is starting to gather some momentum and that’s a great feeling. Rikki was back this week! And Sage and wordsmith Brett! Brian biked up too! For #18 we were helping celebrate Kara’s birthday. Happy Birthday Kara! It was fun getting to meet Kara’s people and singing songs together. And music always goes well with celebration! Who else did we see at the hangout? Rikki was there! And Ken biked up again for some Billy Joel (I’ve got to get some more of those in the book!). And just as we were casting about to find another piano player, I turned around and saw Ryan has biked up. Perfect timing. With another piano player in our midst, that meant I could hop on saxophone! And we jammed. It is always a treat to improvise music on the fly. And the Hangout is the kind of place where you can ride up on your bike and then be jamming or singing along within moments!
As the Hangout rolled along, we also sang a few tunes with Tracey, voice teacher to Rikki and I! We also sang a bunch of songs with Janice. And we had Preston step up to the piano to share a song. We hope he comes back with his sheets so he can play more in the future! Finally, it’s something of a tradition at the Hangout that some of the most interesting things happen when Rikki and I think maybe we’ll pack up and head home. CMH #18 was no exception! This time around, we met the family of Jen, Jon, Clara, Judah and Vanessa. As you might imagine, Judah’s song is “Hey Jude”, so we all sang that one together.