SC, Columbia: Bill's Pickin' Parlor

So we stopped by Bill's Pickin Parlor Friday night, hot date night, out for wings and looking for some live music. It was Open Stage and Bluegrass Jam night. I was reluctant to go to Bill's without Reiner. {Sorry, Reiner, wish you were here!}
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Bill's has a tiny music shop in the front with the concert room in the back. There's a small concession area and tons of rickety folding chairs. The folks are friendly, the music is fun and it's a great thing to experience once in awhile.
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These guys were great. Check out the holes in the banjo player's hat. The old duffer on bass needed help getting up there. They were singing a ballad to Katy Lou, asking her to come down the mountain and I sure didn't want to know what for, I was trying to telepath Katy Lou to stay on up that mountain, sister, just stay put.
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But what was very cool was when Wale Liniger, Distinguished Lecturer with the Institute of Southern Studies, USC, the "Blues Professor" got up there with several of his students playing an instrument I've never heard of before: Dan Moi mouth harp. This instrument originated in Vietnam and is made from brass shell casings and various weaponry from the Vietnam War. The students played the Dan Moi free-style with Liniger on the guitar. The Dan Moi is performed with various gestures and twanging noises. It sounded a little like twanging rubber bands, but the students managed a variety of pitch and tones. It was amazing, I loved it. I was also impressed that the students would come out and have fun like this. Walter Liniger will return to Bill's, bringing several of his harp students on November 19, 2010.
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But other than the Dan Moi and the banjo duffer with the gun shots in his hat, it was hard for me to focus. All I could think about was this stupid duct work above me.

Because when I looked at this:

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What I really saw was this:
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The Claw!

And I just knew any minute it would lower and snatch one of us up and out of there. {{The claw is our master, it will choose who will go and who will stay.}}
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Bill's Music Shop and Pickin' Parlor, 710 Meeting St. Columbia SC. 803.796.6477