On Sunday, April 28th, 2024, the Community Music Hangout gathered for the 54th edition of the Music Hang. We gathered under ample sunshine and a lovely breeze. It was, again, a beautiful day for making music with friends new and old. It was not a great day for forgetting my Camelbak which contains my water and sandwich and, crucially, sunscreen. Alas, we pressed on. Freddie was playing well, with a bit of honky-tonk vibe setting in as the notes drift out of tune over time. I rolled up to the piano and got set up at the appointed time. Soon, Brian biked up and joined the fun. We had some really great early duets with tons of space and beautiful harmonies. I really enjoy the way our musical rapport continues to grow over the weeks of music hangouts. The highlight of this period was a lovely “Across the Universe” where I let the piano ring out and we took it home with just our voices. Beautiful. Thanks, Brian! Soon, Nick showed up to the Hangout with his guitar and wee practice amp. Always good to see you, bud! At basically the same time, newcomer Ryan joined the party. It was around this time that I noticed that I had forgot my Camelbak and was in trouble. Ryan jumped right in to save the day by biking up to the food trucks at the other end of JFK to get me some water and chips. A show-saving move, to be sure. Thanks man! Next up, Michael biked up and jumped on the piano. Nice to see you again, dude! Thanks for holding it down on the piano. We were rolling right along, we had a nice little rotation of singers and players at this point. Soon we had youngsters Sam and Ralph share a quick little number with us. Thanks for jumping in fellas! Always good to see you guys at the piano. The day started on the slow side, but by this point we had an excellent crew of people. Next up was Jess to sing a couple numbers for us. Jess and I met at the piano and she told me about a fun event she runs each month. Fans of the Music Hangout should definitely check out The Vibe at the Studio. It’s a monthly concert series in an intimate setting in San Francisco featuring great local artists and, as the name suggests, a wonderful vibe! Thanks for coming out, Jess! In a bit, we saw Hangout newcomer Joel. In the last week, I joined a band being formed to play Joel’s upcoming EP. And this marked the first time we ever played together! Pretty cool. A great way to break the musical ice, if you ask me. Thanks for coming out, man! See you at our first rehearsal tomorrow lol. Next up, we had another hangout newcomer in Kathrin. She sang a couple of lovely tunes with us. Thanks for coming out! Hope to see you again soon. And last, but never least, Josh joined the party. Always nice to see Josh and hear his excellent trumpet. Thanks for coming out, man! And, with that, we wrapped up the day. We ended on the early side at CMH #54 at a mere 4 hours. The sun was too much for me and it was time to go eat some proper food. So, we packed it up after another fabulous day of music with whoever was around. Thank you to all who stopped by and took part! You are the ones who make this a Community Event. We’ll see you next for CMH #55 on Saturday May 4th from 11:30 – 2:30 (or later!)