As part of The What Have You, the bi-weekly open mic at Evening Star Cafe, Greg covered “Father Christmas” by the Kinks, an irreverent holiday tune about being poor in a decidedly commercialized season.
The arrangement is a very Wilco-ized (or Jeff Tweedy-ish perhaps) version of the more rocking original.
Greg was joined by Todd Pozen on piano, a regular at the open mic and former bandmate of Greg’s in The Mean Ideas.
Back in October 2022, a Greg Roth and his longtime bandmate/collaborator/craft beer pal Gabe Fry started a different kind of open mic at Evening Star Cafe in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria.
Every first and third Wednesday, the two cohosts drag a healthy amount of equipment to the No. 9 Lounge to present The What Have You, a musicians’ hang posing as an open mic and/or band jam wthat welcomes players of all skills levels to show up play and collaborate, often with other musicians they’re meeting for the first time. Think of it as Del Ray’s answer to Largo in LA, minus the actors, celebrities, and Jon Brion.
With a full backline (drums, amps, bass, guitars, a keyboard, and of course the PA), the result has been a freewheeling, but ultimately pretty cool night, with casual Lebowski quotes dropped here and there, and consistently good turnout.
You can learn more about The What Have You at http://thewhathaveyou.com/
