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Just posted the roughest possible demo of a brand new song. My voice is shot, my G string goes out of tune midway through, and I don’t care ‘cause I’m happy to have finished something. I’ll make it perfect later.

It’s called “Half Way Home”, and you can find it here

Hope everyone’s holiday weekend went well. Mine involved kids, pools, puppies and NASCAR, so chalk that one up as a win.

But to the point — just added a show for this coming Wednesday (July 9th), at the Iron Post in Urbana, with Eleni Moraites.

Showtime is 8pm, I’m on first, and the cover is $3.

Details, as ever, at paulroub.com/gigs

At some point, the choices narrow down to:

1. Get a gig, already. The “I just moved” excuse dried up months ago. Or…
2. Dedicate yourself to the “notoriously reclusive musician” path

The former seems like much more fun.

So, three weeks from tonight (Thursday, May 29th), I’m at Aroma Cafe in Champaign. 8pm, followed by Carl Hauck at 9.

Updates, address, etc. are at paulroub.com/gigs, as always.

So who was better last night? Ben:

or Ben?

Ben Lee was just amazing — despite, or perhaps a little because of, ongoing equipment issues. No guitar in the PA? Just walk to the front of the stage and serenade a packed house unamplified. And continue to be amazing. No problem. He was just loads of fun, and impossible not to love.

And Ben Folds?

Was Ben Folds. And then some.

Being an old guy in a large crowd of UI students, it's easy to start off smiling nostalgically at the puppy-like quality of the bouncing, shouting, crowding-the-stage kids... until I realize I'm bouncing every bit as much, doing all my crowd-vocal jobs, screaming my head off when "Philosophy" started up...

In summary, music continues to be the best.

Oh, and who was better? Easy. Ben was.

Any day where I have soldering irons and guitars in my hands is a good one.

More explanation at the work blog.