There’s no bigger crap-shoot than an open mic is there? My expectations were mostly for the Newcastle and the Chimay on monday night’s open mic @ the Mucky Duck, but the talent wasn’t half bad, excluding a few string-pounders & cries for help. Leslie, the friend of a friend we went to see had a nice couple of originals and a good cover of Patty Griffin’s Every Little Bit. Later in the evening Kim Carson & Kyle Redd played a few together and everything was wrapping up nicely, at which point most of the people we were with left.

Let me point out that leaving when you first want to is always a bad idea, because as soon as you leave something happens that you wouldn’t have wanted to miss; in this case it was Lisa Mills filling up the place with a huge, bluesy wail that breaks in all the right places. It single-handedly redeemed all the nose-singing twang-bangers I’ve ever sat through. Another displaced artist (Mobile) taking up temporary residence in Houston, Lisa showed off her songwriting with a few off her new CD (mp3s) and Kim got her to do an acappella version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me". Hopefully she’ll be playing some shows around Houston while they’re piecing the coast back together.

Head on over to her website LisaMills.com and pick up a CD or three.

Since we’re talking blues, pick up a copy of Ernie Payne’s Coercion Street while you’re at it.