More on "Cat's Meow"

Faithful readers of this blog will recall that I have done a bit of mocking of the "karaokecam" that is located at Cat's Meow in New Orleans. It started with this post, where I let my adoring fans know that the webcam was not working.

When I ran into a site that listed KaraokeCam as one of the best 25 webcams in the world, I naturally had to post a followup.

I had the pleasure to visit New Orleans in March of 2009. I went down there with high expectations, since I had wanted to visit there for a long time. I was fully expecting that I would be disappointed, not so much because of Katrina, but just because I was expecting so much.

I was not disappointed in the least. New Orleans was fabulous. The cuisine, the 24-7 party atmosphere, the friendliness of everyone, the music, the music, the music, and yes, the music!

I also stopped in to sing karaoke at two places. Sorry to say, that was a tiny bit of a let down. Each place had a song "book" that was a single sheet of paper, printed on front and back. Neither place had more then a few hundred songs in the library. That blew me away. I don't think a KJ could survive in Milwaukee with less than a few thousand songs. But it was ok, really. I didn't visit New Orleans to sing karaoke. And maybe that's why they don't need more than a small collection of songs.

I ran into an article that has me confused again. The article talks about the top five nightclubs in New Orleans. The Cat's Meow is on that short list. To my surprise, the article had this to say:


it was one of the first clubs in the US that had karaoke, and fanatics say that it is one of the best (if not the best) karaoke club in the whole world.

Wow.  I am not sure that the Cat's Meow was one of the places that I sang at. I was there for a week. I was looking for karaoke. I think I would have found it. If it was one of the places that I sang, then I really don't understand the fanatics would say this is the bests karaoke spot in the world.  If didn't sing at the Cat's Meow, then I guess I really missed something big. Yet another reason for me to take another trip to New Orleans!

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.