2009 in karaoke

I spent a lot of time not blogging in 2009. Here are some highlights that I might have written about...

I was quoted in the March issue of Milwaukee Magazine. I was excited to see the article, but I was a bit disappointed when I read it. Aside from the two paragraphs in the middle that I contributed to, the article does not portray karaoke as a very positive activity. I sent a letter to the editor.


In March, I went to New Orleans on a trip for my regular job. I presented at the conference and gave a tutorial (which were both fun). Actually, I got a little good PR on my tutorial!

The biggest part for me, though, was New Orleans. I have always wanted to see New Orleans, and was worried that my expectations were so high that I would be disappointed.But I was definitely not disappointed at all. Live music was everywhere. The food was fabulous. Bourbon Street is one solid 24/7 party.  And yes, I tried the Hurricanes. At many establishments. And the people?  Nowhere else can you find people more accommodating and friendly.

Here are two very memorable things from my trip. The first was running into a Doo Wop quartet that just happened to be singing as a trio because the bass was gone. Naturally, I jumped right in for him.

But that experience was soon trumped. I went to Preservation Hall, which is kind of ground zero for New Orleans jazz. It is a small place with very little seating, but the jazz group was great. They did a few songs and then moved into What A Wonderful World. They led the audience and I sang right out with my Louis Armstrong impression. The band leader heard me and had me do a verse by myself.

I can die happy. I can say that I sang a solo at Preservation Hall.

In May, I was honored to be asked to sing at a wedding. That is something I hadn't done in four years. Always a pleasure. I didn't do Louis Armstrong, though. I did learn another country song, though: Amazed by Lonestar.

There was a string of five weeks starting in mid-July where I hosted seven karaoke gigs in addition to my normal weekly gig. For me, that's a lot. Several of those weeks, I had three gigs.

I should explain here... I have a full time job. KJ-ing is a hobby job for me. When I first started this, I was thinking that I would do a gig a few weekends a month. Then the Bootleggers gig came along, and I had fun. I kept doing it. Tuesday mornings, it's hard to get up and keep moving, but I love it. So... Three gigs is perhaps another 20 hours of work on top of a full time job.Those were five long, but exciting weeks.

One of those summer gigs was at State Fair! Yes... I hosted karaoke at State Fair!!  Well. It's actually not as impressive as it sounds. It was for a company party. They rented a tent. I ran karaoke in their tent.

In 2008, I had a karaoke party for my 50th birthday. In 2009, I had two more 50th birthday karaoke parties. No, I didn't turn 50 for the third time. They weren't my birthdays, I just hosted karaoke for them. And this coming Tuesday (January 19)?  I will be hosting karaoke for yet another 50th birthday party. My fourth!

Stop in. I will be at Joe's K Ranch in Cudahy.

I am pleased to say that I have taken on a partner for my KJ services. Anthony (AKA "Sven") is co-hosting the Bootleggers gig every Monday night. He and I have a group on Facebook. Bringing in Sven was a fabulous decision. Yes, I get less money, but he totally rocks. I can't keep from patting myself on the back.

As for numbers, I had 69 gigs all together. My songbook went over 8,000 songs. My website got 1,408 hits.




So... that was the year in karaoke.