On Sunday, April 14th, the Community Music Hangout gathered for the 52nd edition of the Hang. Coming just two weeks after another major milestone, this week we achieved a year’s worth of Hangouts! Of course, we had a fair bit of rain / scheduling unavailability; the Hangout started on November 12, ‘22. That was 74 weeks ago. We managed 52 weeks out of 74. That’s good for 70%! Fantastic. I’m proud of the effort I’ve consistently put into this event, and so grateful for the dividends it has shown. Thanks go to everyone who has stopped by to share a song or a smile. Special thanks to all the regulars who have made the CMH a part of their weekend! On Sunday, we were a part of the Inner Sunset Flea Market. Thank you Sunset Mercantile for having us. When we rolled up to the stage, Frances was just finishing her performance. She played really well! I invited her to stick around for the Music Hangout; she dropped her stuff off at home and came back with some auxiliary percussion to add to the rhythm section. Excellent! We also had Zach wheel his travel kit and wagon across the park from the Richmond to join us. Thanks for making the trek! Plus, we had Ang with her cajon. It is always nice to have a rhythm section. And we had Kyle back with us as well, so the rhythm section was solid and tight throughout the day. What a treat to play in front of these guys. And, to think, we all met around the piano! What a fun way to form a band. Another early regular in attendance was Brian. I would like to dub him “Can’t Miss” Brian because he’s surely got the attendance record among Hangout regulars! Thank you for making us a regular part of your weekend, and for all the wonderful singing! Next up we saw Carly and Adam and their super cute pup. The humans both sang some tunes with us (great job!) but unfortunately, the dog did not contribute much beyond cuteness. Though, in fairness, the dog was prolific in that department. Then, I had a young lady named Ellie ask me if I knew any James Taylor; she also offered that she was from North Carolina. Well, we just had to do Carolina on My Mind. And Ellie took the mic and sang it for us. Lovely. None of us knew that was going to happen right up until it did. That’s the hallmark of the Hangout.


We also saw Marshall again and he did another fabulous rendition of “Dock of the Bay”. Check out the video above. I love his voice and presence! I hope to see you all again soon! Then we had a newcomer to the Hangout in Annelise. She sung a beautiful rendition of “All of Me”. Another fabulous voice and presence at the Hangout. I feel so lucky to draw folks like this into the orbit of the Hangout. Keep coming out, everyone! You’re the ones who make the event what it is. Check out a video of our “All of Me” below. I actually played a semi-coherent solo, which I found exciting!
As we were getting close to winding down, I saw a lady walk up with a guitar on her back. So I invited her to join. Her name was Joyce and, it turned out, she was playing the time slot after ours. She was kind enough to join us for one last number together before we handed the stage off. I thought that was a fun way to transition from our act to the next one. And she sang great. Thanks for joining!
Given the nature of the event, we had a hard stop after two hours of Hanging. Two hours is usually the length of the warm up period when we’re in the park! Nevertheless, we had a great time playing out there in the middle of the street. It’s always fun when you’re jamming with the Community. We’ll be back again for CMH #53 on Sunday April 21st back at the usual spot (JFK & Blue Heron Lake Dr) starting at 11:30 and going until we run out of gas (at least 2:30, often later than 4). See you there!