Sing us a song tonight…

Anyone in the mood for a melody? Patrick over at Charlie Brown’s bar at the Colburn Hotel will get you feeling alright in no time.

Every night, Tuesday through Saturday, you can catch him in the corner of CB’s, the smoky but cozy old hotel bar where the regulars know to show up early for a prime stool around the edge of the piano. (Patrick took over for Paulie, who tickled the ivories there for many years.) I popped by earlier this week for a drink with my friend Rachelle who frequents the place, and before I knew it, I was singing along at the piano with my five new best friends. There seems to be a special bond formed while singing badly to Irish folk songs, classic rock tunes, and pop standards. But Chuck, Susie, Kevin, and Ken didn’t seem to mind my poor falsetto soprano, and they cheered me through my less-than-elegant rendition of Bobby McGee. In fact, other than Susie and Kevin, who both have stage-worthy singing voices, the rest of us pretty much sucked. Did anyone care? Not a bit.

Patrick himself chimes in when the crowd loses the melody, but seems equally content to let his audience belt out the lyrics while he gamely mans the keys. And of course, anytime the crowd gets stuck figuring out the next request, he launches into his favorite song of all time. Because he is, after all, the Piano Man.