I had the opportunity to play drums on one of Mike's recordings and over the years backed him up a couple times. Every time I saw him I thought to myself how great a guy he is and I felt fortunate to know him. I always loved his songs and his quirky lyrics and great voice.

I have my clock he made out of a old Beatles LP ticking away right here next to me.


I'll miss him.

I was 22 years old and playing open mikes all over the area. I decided to hit the Folkin' A down at Gilrain's. I was the youngest person in the room by at least 20 years and was intimidated beyond belief. I sat alone and waited, fretting about how these veteran songwriters were going to pay me no mind, as a young hack with too much to learn. When I was called up, I shook a bit then went right into it, playing my three songs and walking away. To my surprise, the people there had paid attention. Quite a few even had some nice words and criticism for me, saying I had some elements of John Prine or Greg Brown and me perplexing them when I said I had never listened to whomever they were mentioning. Comments like, "You need to listen to those early Dave Van Ronk albums," would follow, opening me up to new branches on the musical tree.

This is the schooling that every young songwriter and musician needs, but one that is not always cultured. The people at the Folkin' A really wanted to help out, to pass on what they knew and I grab as much as I could in the weeks and months that followed. This comraderie can be traced right to the man who ran this open mike: Mike Duffy.

Duffy was one of the most caring, loving people I have ever met in my musical travels. The man cared about two things when it came to music- a good song and a good time (though at times the latter lead the way). He had a killer smile and a way with words. I used to sit with him at Gilrain

Brian Goslow has written a nice piece on Duffy on www.wormtown.org.
link

My only real memory of Mike was when he was played this song at the Lucky Dog. I'm not sure of the title but the chorus was about him wearing a heart shaped metal pin to remember his girl, and the chorus was so funny with the word play "I've got a metal heart on" which sounded a lot like hard-on. That shit fucking cracked me up.

I hope he's in a better place that has all night song swaps, continuous coffee and all the vinyl records he ever dreamed of having!
TT

Last night was beautiful. I am really glad that I went and got to be a part of it. Ron Carlson very nearly brought me to tears.

It's Memorial Day eve and I'm doing some remembering.
I saw Mike Duffy last night at the Dylan Birthday Bash .
He's pictured here with Ursula Papp . Mike's in the camoflague container.

Deb and Hannah Duffy brought him and I said hi to them then Mike , I didn't hear a response back though , from Mike.
Mike's still making the "rounds" on the local folk scene.
Heres a clip from this years Duffy show this past April.
I'm performing his song "Changing Table". I don't have any video of Mike but I do have on of his clocks , and a broken string from his guitar.

He's onstage on the chair to my right with a microphone , I bowed to him at the end.
I and many of the Folk'n A'ers , still speak of and think about Mike alot and his music and memory still lives on.
Happy Memorial Day
Rich