Notes from the Road - Rumba Café, Columbus, Ohio Monday, July 23rd Rolled into Columbus at about 2 pm. Something I’ve noticed about the cities north of the Mason-Dixon: while they have just as many billboards as we do, their signage off the interstate is harder to see. I don’t know if its sign ordinances, the rolling terrain or what, but you get off the highway, drive sown a side street that does not look anything like a place where a hotel would be and then all of sudden BOOM, there it is. That happened here. I’m on a little narrow side street seemingly in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden there’s the Comfort Inn. The gig at the Rumba Café has been difficult to schedule. I was originally to be part of Jason Quicksall’s Cowtown Songwriters’ Round on Thursday, July 19th, right after Johnson City, Tn. Then they shifted the night to Monday, July 23rd. Then a booking glitch changed it from a songwriters’ round to and evening of solo longer sets. I was initially booked to start at 9:30 followed by Victoria Vox at 11:00. Then Jason emailed me that Victoria need to go on at 9:30 and I’d be on late at around 1:00 am - yuck!! I told Jason that on a Monday night that sounded really bad to me (i.e., I have trouble staying up that late). So he switched me to 8 pm. Then when I showed up last night it turned out that the fourth act of the night had gotten stuck in NY due to airport delays and there would only be three of us (including Jason) performing. So, I ultimately went on at 9 pm -which was good because the Rumba has a little bit of a later evening crowd. Did you follow all of that? Welcome to the world of booking for a solo folk singer!! The Rumba is another TERRIFIC fledgling music room. They host a wide variety of music 5-6 nights a week, but tend towards the folk, singer / songwriter, newgrass type artists. It is “U†shaped with the stage in one corner of the base of the U. Full lights, ceiling mounted sound, excellent stage monitors and a dedicated, enclosed, center of the room sound booth with engineer. Outstanding sound!! Pretty good crowd particularly for a Monday night, a little loud (not necessarily a listening room atmosphere, but they were hearing the music and responding) and great music all the way around. I played for an hour, followed by Victoria Vox (excellent - look her up on the net!) and then Jason Quicksall, our host and the local favorite and an terrific writer and performer. I’d love to come back to the Rumba - really a great room. If you are in the Columbus area please check it out and support what they are doing. They’ve not been open a year yet, still they are building a good following and working hard to establish themselves as a home for independent music in Columbus. Columbus is lucky to have this room! Today, I drop back down into WV by way of Tn. - I’ll pass right through Johnson City again. Wednesday night I’m at the Purple Fiddle in Thomas. Victoria Vox was just there on Sunday and she says its really a wonderful place - looking forward to it! Stay tuned.