The MARCH 2004 OUTMUSIC OPEN MIC, Carol Channing, Spongebob Squarepants (?!)...and more!

OUT AND ABOUT

An out-of-drag Flotilla DeBarge (AKA Kevin) with Original Village People Cowboy Randy Jones before Ari Gold's show at Joe's Pub on Tuesday, March 15th.
Flotilla, Randy, and Mark Bego. What's wrong with this picture? The fact that it's mid-March and we're still wearing winter coats. Enough already!!! Randy, Mark, Will Grega and I never actually did see Ari's show that night. Don't ask why...
That's me with pal and best-selling author Mark Bego, after catching "An Evening With Carol Channing" at B.B. King on Friday, April 15th.

Carol Channing
That's Carol's husband, Harry Kullijian, who joined the diva onstage for a dance towards the end of the show.

Mark Bego's latest book is a lively biography of 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne, entitled "Jackson Browne: His Life and Music". The paperback book features 12 pages of photos, eight of them in color; as well as 31 pages featuring an extensive Jackson Browne discography, Jackson Browne appearances on video and DVD, and a resource of Browne's songs recorded by other artists. (ALERT!!! Great gift idea!) You can buy this book at www.amazon.com. And be sure to visit www.MarkBego.com.
The current gay celebrity of the moment, spotted in Times Square by Jed and friends after we caught Dame Edna's show at The Music Box on Saturday, March 12th. There's a great injustice in the fact that in an entire city of celebrities, this was the only star that we ran into that night. But at least I scored points with my two pre-pubescent nephews.

RON MORRIS HOSTS THE MARCH 2004 OUTMUSIC "OUT LOUD" OPEN MIC
The host for the March 2005 Outmusic "Out Loud" Open Mic on Monday, March 7th was the bear-a-licious Ron Morris. Performers that night included Tracy Stark, Frank Grimaldi, Jim Cantin, Kristen Gass, Robert German, Jonathan Dalin, Steven Ziagos, Robert Urban, and Toshio Mana.

Tracy Stark (left, with Robert Urban) has reasons to be excited lately. In addition to her long list of impressive credits, she was recently nominated for a 2005 MAC Award for Best Debut, Female. Check out her vibrant website www.TracyStark.com. You can also catch this multi-talented performer on Tuesdays at one of my favorite hotspots, Don't Tell Mama, located at 343 W. 46th St. (bet. 8th and 9th Aves.). There's an Open Mic after 10:30, and Tracy promises "all kinds of music!" And... there's no cover. Check out www.donttellmama.com for more info.
That's Toshio Mana and Frank Grimaldi. Frank will be one of the Outmusicians at the premiere of the new location of Kris Landherr's FAGapalooza on Monday, May 23rd. The new venue will be SOHO 323, at 323 West Broadway (Canal & Grand, across from the Soho Grand Hotel). Showtime will be at 7PM and will also feature Yolanda, Swivel Chair, and Michael Todd (Presumably, no relation to Liz Taylor's third husband) & Midnite Circus. FAGapalooza is now twice a month-- check out www.FAGapalooza.com for more info.

Tosh later took the stage for two songs: V*I*R*G*O's "Rent Boy" and the "short version" (approximately 30 seconds) of "Life".
That's me with New Jersey songwriter/singer Jim Cantin, who was at the Open Mic for the first time that night. One song, "Let the Peace Ring Out", was a Christmas song which makes the listener ponder the question: How come we almost universally celebrate "Peace on Earth" during the holiday season, but can't maintain that same feeling all year long? It was a much-needed message of peace in these current war-minded times. Jim's second song was "The Commitment Ceremony Song".

Steven Ziagos (middle) and fans. Steven took to the piano and gave the C-Note two songs. This was Steve's first time at the Outmusic Open Mic, and judging by the reaction by the crowd, hopefully he'll be back!
First-time Open Mic attendee Kristen Gass

Newcomer Jon Dalin (lt) and Open Mic fave Robert German (rt). You can visit Jon's website at www.JonDalin.com
Ron and friend Walter

Robert Urban premieres a new song, "Emotional". How new was it? You'll notice that RU was wearing his glasses so that he could peak at the words! With the owner of The C-Note poised to sell the venue for a bigger place, Urban is working harder than ever to find just the right venue for his regular New York City GLBT live-in-concert music series, "Urban Productions Boldly Presents". Over the past year, RU has been responsible for bringing queer music from across the country for New York City audiences to discover and appreciate. The past few months have brought us-- among other artists-- Scott Free from Chicago, Saturn from Baltimore, Mekole Wells from North Carolina, and Kim Char Meredith from Hawaii. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. And I have a hunch that Robert Urban will never stop doing this-- what he does is too important! Stay posted for news about future Urban Productions shows at www.RobertUrban.com.

Outmusic's Ed Mannix, Frank Grimaldi, & Toshio Mana
(These two are spending an awful lot of time together. I'm starting to wonder about them...)

After the Open Mic, the crowd stayed to hear the 9 PM show: Urban Productions Boldly Presents Mekole Wells. Click on http://jedryan.com/reviews/mekole.html to read a full review of that show... and see more pictures of this lovely diva from the Deep South.

RON MORRIS' "SPEAK TRUE" CD RELEASE PARTY AT THE C-NOTE
A few weeks later, on Saturday, March 26th, Ron celebrated the release of his new CD "Speak True" at The C-Note. The original CD release party was at the C-Note on January 22nd, but a lot of folks missed it due to that nasty snowstorm. You can read my review of "Speak True" at http://jedryan.com/outmusicspotlight/ronm.html. But better yet, see Ron Morris live again at the C-Note on May 27th... and in Nashville for Bearapalooza on July 22nd and 23rd. Other performers will include Freddy Freeman, Yolanda, Bobaloo, Dave Montana, Kendall, Jeff Altergott, Mike West, Matthew Temple, Andy Northup, Max Christopher ... and I'll be there too! Jed Ryan in Nashville? The Bible Belt will never be the same! Check out www.Bearapalooza.com for more info.

Ron Morris (right) & me
Ron & friends

Ron and "The Crew": Matt, Chaim, Inez, Ron, and Walter. Inez is holding copies of Ron's "Speak True" CD.
Also seen that night: Toshio Mana and soce the elemental wizard

JED & FRIENDS
My 34th birthday was on March 21st, but I didn't really want to make much of it. I mean, big deal. It's not like 21, or 25, or 30, or (gasp!) 50... And due to scheduling conflicts, I kept putting off any possible celebration... and putting it off, and putting it off, etc. Maybe, I was subconciously hoping everyone would forget. But my 65-year old mother didn't want me to forget... so she surprised me by throwing a party in late April with just a handful of close family and friends.

Me with friend/traveling companion Mark
Mark & Michael
Robert & Roger

Roger
Joe, Michael P., & Michael C.
Morgan & Robert

I couldn't imagine a more delicious closing shot!!!