The Community Music Hangout gathered for the 62nd edition of the Hang on Saturday, June 22nd. Although dawn broke with super low and heavy fog, the trend for the day was a clearing one. We had tons of sunshine with a glorious cool breeze to keep us from overheating. It was a fabulous day to spend a bunch of hours in the park making music with whoever was around. And, you ask, just who was around? Read on to find out! We were lucky enough to have a full rhythm section at CMH #62! We had Kyle on the standup bass and Eric on drums. Excellent. Great playing with you two, as always! The Hangout is best when we have a rhythm section. Also present in the early going were super regulars Joe and Brian. Great to see you guys, as well! And so, we were off and rolling right from the off. Next up, we met Ian. Thanks for joining the fun! Next up, Alex sauntered up to the piano with a lovely floral shirt on. The Hangout is a fan of floral / Hawaiian shirts! Alex is also a super-regular at the Hangout and we’re always glad to see him. This time around, he took the mic for the first time! Singing in public can be a harrowing undertaking; it is so much more frightening than simply playing music. For me, there’s something about singing a wrong note that feels like a personal failure in a way that playing a wrong note doesn’t. Which is to say, I had a good idea about how Alex was feeling singing for the first time at the Hangout. And he did great! Thank you for taking that chance with us. I think it paid off. Sing another one next time, and we’ll build it up from there! Next up we had newcomer Sean step up to the mic and sing a Beatles tune with us. Great stuff, Sean! Then, Nina was back with her cello. It’s always a joy to look up from the piano and see her toting her capacious white case and instrument. Thanks as always for classing up the Hangout, Nina! A little while later, Gary biked up to the piano to play a few. Haven’t seen you in a bit, dude. Nice to see you again and great playing / singing as always. The day was just fabulous by this point. We had a lovely crowd, the energy was high, the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing. What more could you ask for? We were rolling right along, happy as can be. Next up, we welcomed another newcomer in Benjamin. He was out for a run, but we intercepted him and he played and sang a few numbers for us. Great stuff! Thanks for joining / hope to see you back again soon. Moments later, Annelise arrived at the hangout with her adorable golden retriever, Luna. Annelise sang beautifully, as always. I especially enjoyed her duet with Brian on “What a Wonderful World”. Fabulous. Following that up, Kathrin was back at the Hangout and singing. Lovely. Thank you for joining us again! Around this time, and basically all the time, I was asking, “Who’s going next?” and encouraging folks to step up. And we had a taker for my offer in John who stepped up, thinking he was just going to sing. But his buddy applied the perfect amount of peer pressure and Jon played as well as sang. Great job John and friend. Hope to see you both back at the Hangout soon. As we were beginning to wind down, we saw Lief and Emma back at the Hang! Gosh, it must have been 20-30 Hangouts since we saw you guys last? Super fun to reconnect and I just love the way Lief’s uke functions as a groovy texture in the rhythm section. Great stuff. Last, but definitely not least, as we were about to pack up, we had Monica and Viola step up to the piano and ask to play. I think it was their first time playing or singing in public! I am so pleased to be able to create an environment where people are down to have their first public music experience. They did great! I hope we see them back again at the Music Hangout soon. It was nearly 4pm by the time we finally packed it in at CMH #62. What a lovely day! I especially enjoyed the new folks who stepped up to the piano or mic to share tunes with us. I know that jumping in can be a nerve-racking experience, so I’m just so pleased when folks feel comfortable enough to take that plunge with us. Well done, all! We’ll see you next for CMH #63 on Saturday 6/29 starting at 11:30 at the usual place!