RV Lounge at Riverview Community Centre

11/13/2024

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11/06/2024

Here's Scott 2.0 given'er!

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11/04/2024

7PM at Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland

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11/03/2024

It's real video! Look carefully.

John Hodgert - words & music, vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, organ, bass, audio & video production

10/31/2024

TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE RV LOUNGE

It’s seven o’clock on a Tuesday night. Maybe you’re home, half-watching the game, asking AI questions no one truly needs answers for. It’s what you do to decompress from a work day or procrastinate on a chore that can probably wait…even longer.

A few blocks away at the Riverview Community Centre (RVC), shadowed figures stride purposefully to the door, some carrying a distinctive case that hints at their mission this evening. They filter into a dimly lit room the size and feel of a rec room at the end of the hall. This is RV Lounge.

Some call out ‘hellos’ and ‘nice to see you backs’ to others, adding another layer of sound to a base line of chairs rumbling into position and the telling tones of an instrument being tuned.

Pot lights stand in for stage lights. John from down the street plays host. And amplification? There’s no need for that here. A performer simply moves their chair a little bit closer to the audience. There’s about one foot of play there between the two.

Here, there’s not much to distinguish artist from audience—nothing but a sign-up sheet by the door, certainly not a stage. The group has come to prefer it this way. Isn’t it more intimate? Doesn’t everyone in the room feel part of the performance? And sometimes you will be when an artist calls out a key and you’re that improvising player across the room who can riff off that.

Many begin a performance with a few apologetic words: “Haven’t played this for some time”, “This one’s a work in progress” or “We’ll see if I can get this right tonight”. Nerves—there are some, despite the low key setting—are given some ease as the regulars banter for just another minute while an artist tunes and finds the muscle memory for that song that went something…like this…

Some rely on their memory of that song, though it fails them from time to time. If your fingers stumble on the guitar, or you need to restart in a key that you can actually sing, this audience won’t take
notice. No one will ask for their money back. (It is free, after all.) No one is looking for perfection. They’re listening for other things—a song they’d nearly forgotten, the mastery in a lick or lyric, the style this artist brings to that song.

Many artists pass through RV Lounge, some for just one evening, leaving questions like: “Whatever happened to that poet?” or “Do you think we’ll ever see that young ringer for Elvis back?”. Many songs are brought to the Lounge—a full range of genres and eras. We’re told this one was written in 1920 and this other just this afternoon by the artist in front of us. The Lounge takes it all in, any three songs the artist feels like sharing, songs that tell us a little bit about the person who chose them or the mood they’re in tonight.

Toes tap to it all and some well-loved favourites will draw out other voices in the room who join the refrain or enrich it with a harmony. The music historians in the room (or those who’ve read a whole lot of record jackets) often pipe up to share little known facts and anecdotes that fill out the evening, giving it all a homey feel of friends nerding out in the rec room.

Yeah, RV Lounge is a dim room at RVC, and the figures seem dark going in, but a little lighter when it’s time to go home. And that’s what’s going on at RVC, down the hall, on Tuesday night at 7. If that sounds like something you’d like to try, come down, bring some songs, leave the chores for Wednesday night.

By Harpa Isfeld-Kiely
Dedicated to everyone at RV Lounge

10/30/2024

We had a great time last night. Just managed to fit everybody in before lights out, but they all got their turn to play, sing, chat, and kibitz. Thanks to Down Home Doug, Curt, Harp (songs - and a spoken word about the RV!), Scott, Paul, and new guy Dan (very welcome sound!). We even had a few drop-ins by folks from Churchill High School. Hope to see them again soon.
See you next Tuesday (American Election Day - shudder!)

10/28/2024

Down Home Doug is serious when he says, "Get on over to the RV LOUNGE OPEN MIC tomorrow (Oct 29)
Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland Ave.
7:00PM."
Don't disappoint him!

10/24/2024

Another fun RV LOUNGE OPEN MIC on Tuesday. Thanks Doug, Curt, Matt, Tom, Susan (and her harp), and Harp (and her squirrel!) See you again Tuesday October 29.

10/21/2024

Here's me and Kenneth, a few RVs ago. He'll be back soon.
But tomorrow (Oct22)
RV LOUNGE OPEN MIC CARRIES ON!
7pm at Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland Ave.

10/21/2024

Here's me and Kenneth, a few RVS ago. he'll be back soon
But tonight - RV LOUNGE OPEN MIC CARRIES ON!
7PM at 90 Ashland

10/16/2024

We had a fun RV Lounge last night! Glad to see some old friends again, Harp, Brett, Vic, Paul, and '2 weeks in a row’ Matt!), along with old reliable and always welcome Down Home Doug. Plus - newbie Kent! Good music and a good discussion about RV’s future. One of the questions we covered was, 'Should RV be every second week?’. Pros include performers having more time to prepare, and each RV being more of an ‘event’. Cons include potential attendees having to check whether RV is ‘on’, and, for some of us, halving the artistic affirmation and the social contact. Please take a few minutes to put your two cents in on this issue. Also, feel free to suggest promotion ideas, including not only ‘what’ but ‘who’. Thanks in advance.

10/08/2024

It's a red letter day!
RV LOUNGE OPEN MIC
Tonight, 7PM 90 Ashland