The Central Committee of The Open Mind Record Grind recently convened to review our past, and to look into our crystal ball in hopes of seeing the future. And the harder we looked, the less we saw.
The Open Mind Record Grind – February 28, 2012 to January 11, 2015 – Live Fast, Die Young, Try Not To Scratch Your Favorites
After twenty-five Grinds, we have decided to close up shop. While the dedicated weirdoes who have made our peculiar scene time after time have become brothers and sisters to us (or freaky uncles), scheduling Grind Nights to accomodate the demands of the faithful has gotten tougher and tougher… And, sorry to say, our attendance has gotten smaller and smaller.
Staging the Grinds takes a real push on on our parts and… We’re just not feeling it anymore. Tradition is cool, but life is about the next adventure, or so the beatniks try to tell us.
We want to thank each and every person who joined us, even if only once. Frankly, we had no idea how far our boat would sail, and if you had told us three years ago that we’d hold more than two dozen public hoedowns, we would have been shocked to hear it, and asked you to submit to some kind of drug testing.
Gracias, too, to the onlookers. Seems like every Grind brought on a few passers-by who gave us all the weirdest looks and awkward half-grins: “Who are these people, just sitting and listening… To… Music? Is that allowed? Why do they keep playing different kinds of songs? Don’t they know you shouldn’t do that? It scares people! Why don’t they play any hit songs?! This is wrong, very wrong. I’m calling the cops!”
And a huge thanks to our host for each and every Grind, the amazing Grounds For Thought, in fabulous downtown Bowling Green. While we won’t be wrecking the place with our sonic destructor rays any longer, you can count on us to keep making it out to Grounds for the great free shows and of course, we always need another cup o’ Joe.
But mostly, we want to give a last shout-out to the real diehards… Those who were always in the chairs, and told us how personally important the Old Grind-Ola was to them, and who always brought the most fascinating rhymes and rhythms. We would never have gotten this far without you guys… This next song is going out to you.
We’ll watch for all of you in the record shops and the flea markets. Look for us in the greasy diners, at the hot rod shows, the high school basketball games, the drunk tanks, and hanging out in dive bars with fab juke boxes.
Never stop playing your music. That’s just what they want you to do, you know.
Now, on to the underground…
– The Central Committee (of Retirees)
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