Last night, I slipped into the Kirby House for food and fine drink. I
skipped the food, but I hear the pizza kitchen upstairs will bake you
up a pie late into the night. I've been pretty successful at asking
the staff for late night dinner requests. They are so serious about
hospitality there, you would think they worked for the Harbor
Restaurants! Well, to be precise, I had dropped by the Kirby House for
a pint of Vander Mill's Hard Cider and planned on sipping and rolling
down to the the Theatre Bar. That didn't happen. Rich Burkholder,
performing as RockStar Karaoke, had gathered up quite an energetic
scene on a Sunday night. As for the praise in the title, I've been
watching the "Most Interesting Man in the World" commercials for Dos
Equis, and I'm thinking the Dos Equis guy is really Chuck Norris in
disguise. I also belong to the Queen Elizabeth School of Flattery. I
will look up the quote. Promise. But I understand some courtiers
flatter. Queen Elizabeth advises applying flattery with a trowel. It's
not a stretch to call Rich Burkholder the "Most Interesting DJ in West
Michigan". So as I set out to flatter with a trowel, sincerely, let's describe my
waitress last night. She had black hair in a style from a 1920's
silent film, the hairstyle a flapper might wear. You really want to
ask where she has her hair done, and if you're lucky, learn the name
of her hair conditioner. If it were a wig, it would be a best seller
but it was undeniably all hers. Her cheeks, pinchable as Shirley
Temple. Not that I would pinch Temple's cheeks or a Gilmore Collection
waitress's cheeks. Unless she insisted. The Gilmore Girl, I mean. A week ago, I was sitting at the illuminated counter of 22 Below, and
I was having a great conversation with two excellent men of Grand
Haven. I had my Malbec wine on a chill disk, and it worked for the
high altitude Argentinian wine. They checked their watches, paid their
checks and invited me, "Hey, it's Burkholder at the Kirby. He's doing
karaoke. Come on along". A lot of people bounced from 22 Below to the
Kirby at that time. I think what I saw before me, a throng at least one hundred people
strong, was the Grand Haven class of 1998 home for the holidays. A
woman standing beside me gave me this intelligence, a winsome woman of
thirty-three, surely a kayaker and camper. Bet she has a little black
dress up in the closet with her Woolrich and Columbia garments and she
looks formidable when she wears it. She held up three fingers to make
sure I understood thirty-three. I am sure twenty guys got up to sing a
song together, and it was bawdy good fun. The womenfolk dug it to
because they all stood up and boogied in place. Screamed upon
conclusion. When the girls didn't boogie in place, they got up on the
stage with Burkholder. When a man requested a song not on Burkholder's
play list, he downloaded it for the occasion. Burkholder has a
distinct advantage when the action dies. He can either sing as Neil
Diamond or Johnny Cash. Not that the action died down last night at
the Kirby Grill. Burkholder has at least five facets to his nightclub empire. Over at
22 Below, he is a pure Detroit style Electronica Turntablist. He
promotes these evenings under the title, "The Burkholder Sessions".
It's an appropriate name because although he is using songs from
various sources you can download yourself, the way he presents them
and mixes them can never be repeated. Over at Jack's of Spring Lake,
he's the host for Tuesday night trivia. You know about RockStar
Karaoke, which he brought over from Jack's. He fronts a tribute band
called Cash Diamond, which honors Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. I
haven't heard Oregon Dreamchild, his personal band, but that's a
matter of time. If only he doesn't get the call to California first.
I'm betting he has a dueling piano act that he's quietly trying out in
a smaller venue. I betting Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, Michigan. It's a fact that Karaoke and Karaoke first and foremost pulls us
through the long winter nights in West Michigan. The only Karaoke
practitioner who compares to Burkholder is Tim, who has a video
karaoke night Thursdays at the Acorn Theater of Three Oaks, Michigan.
Sometimes Tim brings an abundant tray of his astoundingly good pot
roast. Oregon Dream Child
http://www.oregondreamchild.com/ Rich Burkholder
http://www.richburkholder.com/ The Kirby House of Grand Haven Michigan is a Gilmore Collection
Restaurant. The Gilmore Collection web page has a menu item discussing
how to barter services in exchange for food and drink? And who is that
songstress singing the theme music? Did Burkholder pick that out? She
makes Katy Perry sound dowdy.
http://www.thegilmorecollection.com/ Dos Equis Guy
http://www.dosequisguy.com/ Is Burkholder still running Trivia Nights on Tuesday at Jack's of Spring Lake?
http://www.trivianights.net/ Twenty Two Below in the Zephyr Building. Arrive early and keep your
drink cool on a chill disk:
http://22-below.com/ The Vinyl in Rich Burkholder's hands are not the only chill disks at 22 Below:
http://www.chilldisc.com/ Thursday Night at the Acorn Theater of Three Oaks, Michigan, with Tim
of Bailey's Cafe.
http://www.acorntheater.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&I... Vander Mill Cider Mill and Winery. And brew pub soon?
http://www.vandermill.com/ Is there a pair of pianos at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, Michigan?
http://www.sevenstepsup.com/
skipped the food, but I hear the pizza kitchen upstairs will bake you
up a pie late into the night. I've been pretty successful at asking
the staff for late night dinner requests. They are so serious about
hospitality there, you would think they worked for the Harbor
Restaurants! Well, to be precise, I had dropped by the Kirby House for
a pint of Vander Mill's Hard Cider and planned on sipping and rolling
down to the the Theatre Bar. That didn't happen. Rich Burkholder,
performing as RockStar Karaoke, had gathered up quite an energetic
scene on a Sunday night. As for the praise in the title, I've been
watching the "Most Interesting Man in the World" commercials for Dos
Equis, and I'm thinking the Dos Equis guy is really Chuck Norris in
disguise. I also belong to the Queen Elizabeth School of Flattery. I
will look up the quote. Promise. But I understand some courtiers
flatter. Queen Elizabeth advises applying flattery with a trowel. It's
not a stretch to call Rich Burkholder the "Most Interesting DJ in West
Michigan". So as I set out to flatter with a trowel, sincerely, let's describe my
waitress last night. She had black hair in a style from a 1920's
silent film, the hairstyle a flapper might wear. You really want to
ask where she has her hair done, and if you're lucky, learn the name
of her hair conditioner. If it were a wig, it would be a best seller
but it was undeniably all hers. Her cheeks, pinchable as Shirley
Temple. Not that I would pinch Temple's cheeks or a Gilmore Collection
waitress's cheeks. Unless she insisted. The Gilmore Girl, I mean. A week ago, I was sitting at the illuminated counter of 22 Below, and
I was having a great conversation with two excellent men of Grand
Haven. I had my Malbec wine on a chill disk, and it worked for the
high altitude Argentinian wine. They checked their watches, paid their
checks and invited me, "Hey, it's Burkholder at the Kirby. He's doing
karaoke. Come on along". A lot of people bounced from 22 Below to the
Kirby at that time. I think what I saw before me, a throng at least one hundred people
strong, was the Grand Haven class of 1998 home for the holidays. A
woman standing beside me gave me this intelligence, a winsome woman of
thirty-three, surely a kayaker and camper. Bet she has a little black
dress up in the closet with her Woolrich and Columbia garments and she
looks formidable when she wears it. She held up three fingers to make
sure I understood thirty-three. I am sure twenty guys got up to sing a
song together, and it was bawdy good fun. The womenfolk dug it to
because they all stood up and boogied in place. Screamed upon
conclusion. When the girls didn't boogie in place, they got up on the
stage with Burkholder. When a man requested a song not on Burkholder's
play list, he downloaded it for the occasion. Burkholder has a
distinct advantage when the action dies. He can either sing as Neil
Diamond or Johnny Cash. Not that the action died down last night at
the Kirby Grill. Burkholder has at least five facets to his nightclub empire. Over at
22 Below, he is a pure Detroit style Electronica Turntablist. He
promotes these evenings under the title, "The Burkholder Sessions".
It's an appropriate name because although he is using songs from
various sources you can download yourself, the way he presents them
and mixes them can never be repeated. Over at Jack's of Spring Lake,
he's the host for Tuesday night trivia. You know about RockStar
Karaoke, which he brought over from Jack's. He fronts a tribute band
called Cash Diamond, which honors Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. I
haven't heard Oregon Dreamchild, his personal band, but that's a
matter of time. If only he doesn't get the call to California first.
I'm betting he has a dueling piano act that he's quietly trying out in
a smaller venue. I betting Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, Michigan. It's a fact that Karaoke and Karaoke first and foremost pulls us
through the long winter nights in West Michigan. The only Karaoke
practitioner who compares to Burkholder is Tim, who has a video
karaoke night Thursdays at the Acorn Theater of Three Oaks, Michigan.
Sometimes Tim brings an abundant tray of his astoundingly good pot
roast. Oregon Dream Child
http://www.oregondreamchild.com/ Rich Burkholder
http://www.richburkholder.com/ The Kirby House of Grand Haven Michigan is a Gilmore Collection
Restaurant. The Gilmore Collection web page has a menu item discussing
how to barter services in exchange for food and drink? And who is that
songstress singing the theme music? Did Burkholder pick that out? She
makes Katy Perry sound dowdy.
http://www.thegilmorecollection.com/ Dos Equis Guy
http://www.dosequisguy.com/ Is Burkholder still running Trivia Nights on Tuesday at Jack's of Spring Lake?
http://www.trivianights.net/ Twenty Two Below in the Zephyr Building. Arrive early and keep your
drink cool on a chill disk:
http://22-below.com/ The Vinyl in Rich Burkholder's hands are not the only chill disks at 22 Below:
http://www.chilldisc.com/ Thursday Night at the Acorn Theater of Three Oaks, Michigan, with Tim
of Bailey's Cafe.
http://www.acorntheater.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&I... Vander Mill Cider Mill and Winery. And brew pub soon?
http://www.vandermill.com/ Is there a pair of pianos at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, Michigan?
http://www.sevenstepsup.com/
1 comment:
Rich Burkolder and Oregon Dream Child are great. Have heard the band several times and always enjoyed it. As far as dueling pianos at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake...probably not. Now, if he wants to bring his acoustic guitar here, we'd be all over that. We'll be having Alice Peacock here for a "Pin Drop Concert" on March 3rd. Just her, her Martin guitar and an electronic keyboard.
Enjoyed your blog and thanks for the plug.
SEVEN STEPS UP
www.sevenstepsup.com
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