Karaoke in Northern Michigan - My experiences, and favorite places to sing. I have been enjoying karaoke for several years now, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do. There is no time like the present to get started. Try it, I'm sure you will like it.

Showing posts with label karaoke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karaoke. Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2007

Christmas Karaoke At Ma Deeter's

Wednesday night, December 19 was our last karaoke night at Ma Deeter's before Christmas, and it was a great night for all of us. Although not all of our regular gang could make it, we still had a fantastic night, and a full house with most of the regulars along with some familiar faces that we haven't seen for a while.

There were lots of singers from all over including karaoke friends from Fairview, Mio, Luzerne, Hale, Lewiston, Clear Lake, Mack Lake and more. We had a great time singing together and enjoying each other's company one last time before the Christmas holidays.

This will be the last karaoke show at Ma Deeter's for the year, but at least this year went out with a bang! We all had a great time and look forward to another wonderful year ahead.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Karaoke is Back On at Ma Deeter's

I just got word this evening that karaoke is back on for this Wednesday at Ma Deeter's in Luzerne after all. I was really disappointed to hear that it had been cancelled until January, and finding out that we would now be having karaoke again this week just made my night. I am really looking forward to it.

In case you haven't been there before, or haven't read my previous posts, you may not know that Ma Deeter's has had a great karaoke and steak night special on Wednesdays for many years. It is a great way to enjoy a delicious meal and listen to some of the best singers around.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Karaoke Fun at A Friend's House

Since I heard the news that there won't be karaoke at Ma Deeter's any more until January, I was very disappointed... In fact I still am. A friend called me up last night though, and he apparently hadn't gotten the news, so I filled him in on what details I could so that he didn't bother to drive out there to sing and find that it had been canceled.

Anyway, while we were talking, we decided that maybe we should just kick back and sing a few songs at his house instead. I grabbed a few of my karaoke disks, and brought them with me. I had a few new karaoke songs I wanted to try out anyway so I thought that this would be a good time. When I got there he fired up his karaoke machine and we spent the next few hours singing.

You know, karaoke bars can be fun but so can spending the evening with a good friend, singing and having a good time singing karaoke together there. It is a lot of fun to try out new and different songs that you normally might not try in public. Who knows, you just might find something new that you would like to sing.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

More Info On Karaoke At Ma Deeter's In Luzerne, MI

We have been enjoying each other's company at Ma Deeter's, singing karaoke and having a great time for the past couple of weeks since they finally got their liquor license back so that our usual Wednesday karaoke night could start again. Of course, this time of year is generally slower at karaoke bars in Northern Michigan because of the cold weather, so Ma Deeter's hasn't been nearly as busy as we had hoped.

Because of this, the owners decided to cancel karaoke for the rest of December. They said that everyone is out Christmas shopping instead of singing karaoke, so karaoke will be canceled until January. I was really disappointed to hear this, especially after such a long time with no local karaoke shows to go to for the past couple of months.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Karaoke is Back On at Ma Deeters!

After a very long wait, Ma Deeters finally has their liquor license and entertainment license back and are once again open for our usual Wednesday night steak and karaoke night that has gone on for many years now. The past few months have really dragged on without my weekly night out with my friends.

The night started out much slower than I expected. I guess most people probably didn't know that karaoke was back on at Ma Deeters again, but as the night progressed things picked up nicely. We all had a great time together and are glad to be back!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Still No Karaoke at Ma Deeters...

It seems like it has been forever since my friends and I have been able to get together to sing karaoke at one of our favorite karaoke bars, Ma Deeter's of Luzerne, Michigan. For more years than I could tell you, Ma Deeter's has had a Wednesday night steak special and karaoke night combination that just can't be beat. Since the return of the former owners, we are all still waiting for the liquor license to go through so that Ma Deeter's can get back to business as usual. In the mean time, we are all missing our regular Wednesday night karaoke there.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Recommendations for Oscoda County...

Ma Deeter's has recently been taken back by it's former owners and though it may take a week or two for all of the legalities to go through as far as the liquor license and such, I think that things will be up and running again very soon. I hope so at least because I have missed singing karaoke there these past couple of weeks. In any case, it is time to give my recommendations for karaoke in Oscoda County, in northern Michigan.

My number one favorite place to sing has for a long time been Ma Deeter's in Luzerne, Michigan. The karaoke show there is run by Jimmy Ferns. The show starts at 7 pm and runs until 11pm, sometimes later, depending on the crowd. For many years now, Ma Deeter's has run a steak special on Wednesday nights along with the karaoke show. It is a winning combination when you can enjoy a great meal and sing or just sit back and enjoy watching the show. There are a lot of great singers there too. You would be amazed at some of the talent that comes into that bar. Not only that, but the atmosphere there is great. It is a family bar, and everyone there is like family. It is a great place to come in and enjoy a night out.

Another fantastic place is the American Legion Post in Luzerne, Michigan. The karaoke show there is also run by Jimmy Ferns and it also runs from 7 until 11 pm. They only have karaoke on the first Tuesday of every month, except sometimes on special occasions. They have some wonderful singers there too.

I also enjoy the Wild Turkey Saloon in Fairview Michigan. The karaoke show there is hosted by Lowell Fox. They have karaoke every other Saturday beginning at 9pm. I have a lot of fun singing there and enjoy some fantastic singers when I go, but unfortunately the every other Saturday thing kind of throws me off. I guess I should write it down because I always forget which week they have it so I always seem to miss the right week. Anyway, it is fun there when I make it so hopefully I'll manage to start catching the right week more often.

If you like things loud, you might enjoy Northwoods, or Big T's as it is now known. They have karaoke on Thursday nights starting at 9pm in Mio, Michigan. It is a little too loud for me when I am trying to talk with my friends, and although I have an open mind to all types of music, I have only been there a couple of times and felt that they really didn't play to the crowd that was there. I mean, if you have a lot of older people in the bar, do you really think that the songs with explicit sex lyrics are what you would be playing? Maybe it is just me, but I wasn't impressed. Anyway, I didn't have a problem with singing there, but I would have had more fun if they hadn't made some of my friends feel uncomfortable with their antics.

I really have nothing against any of the karaoke locations in Oscoda County. I have enjoyed singing at all of them at one time or another, I just enjoy some more than others. Of course we all have different tastes so I guess that if you want to know for sure, you will have to try some of them out and see for yourself which karaoke spot you prefer to sing at.

In the near future, I will let you know about some of the other karaoke spots where I have visited, and some that I currently sing at from time to time that are outside of Oscoda County. I think that you might enjoy some of them too. Maybe one of them might even be closer to home for you, but remember that if you are ever in the northern Michigan area, you should stop in and check out your choice of any of the karaoke spots that I have mentioned here. I think that you will have a great time, and I would love to sing a song with you.

Friday, October 19, 2007

More From Oscoda County

There are only a couple of other places in Oscoda County that I have ever known to have karaoke shows. My favorite of these is the American Legion Post in Luzerne. They have karaoke from 7 until 11 on the first Tuesday of every month and we all have a good time there. Many of the same group who go to Ma Deeter's also go to the American Legion, plus you will also see some new faces there as well.

Aside from those that I have already mentioned, the only other place in Oscoda County I have sang karaoke was at the Moose Lodge between Mio and Luzerne. They don't have karaoke on any sort of a regular basis, but do have an occasional party.

I have attended Open Mic Night at a few places also though, where the singers were welcome to come up on stage and sing their songs. You are always welcome to bring your own karaoke cds to sing from. It is a little different though when you don't have the screen in front of you. It isn't bad if you know all of the words to your song, but a lot of the singers get nervous and forget what they are doing.

Sometimes you can sing along with one of the local bands. That can be a lot of fun. Again though, there are no words on a screen in front of you so it is best to choose a song that you know pretty well. When singing along with the band though, there is usually some kind band member who will step in and help you out in a pinch.

Friday, August 24, 2007

More Local Karaoke Shows In Michigan

Eventually I branched out into surrounding areas. I started singing at a couple of other local bars. I went to Sky Ranch for quite a while although eventually the crowd thinned out so much that it got a bit boring there. I ended up looking elsewhere for entertainment. I returned there about a year or two ago when I heard that they were having karaoke again, but there was practically nobody in the bar. I guess that all I can say is that at least it was a good place to practice if you are shy about getting up in front of a lot of people. I did get to sing a lot of songs that night.

The other local place I sang was a little bar in Fairview, Michigan called the Wild Turkey. At the time the show was run by J.J.Harmon, a friend of mine who recently passed away. I only stopped in a few times while he was there because they wouldn't allow my daughter to come in and sing with me because she wasn't 21 years old. Since we could sing together at another bar, we went to the other bar instead.

Lowell Fox runs the karaoke show at the Wild Turkey now, although they only have karaoke every other Saturday. It gets confusing for me, and I keep forgetting which week to go. I haven't been there in a while, and I know that I missed it again last weekend.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Ma Deeters

One of my favorite places to sing for the past several places has always been Ma Deeters in Luzerne, Michigan. Jimmy Ferns who, along with his wife Phyllis, treat the whole karaoke gang like family run the karaoke show. It's great when the whole bar becomes one big happy family, and we all have a good time singing together.

There are some exceptional singers there too. I'm sure that most of you would be impressed by some of the local talent from this area. Jimmy's show is at Ma Deeters every Wednesday night from 7-11pm, sometimes later if there is a crowd.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Some of my Favorite Places to Sing

I first started singing at Northwood Gardens, now known as Big T's in Mio, Michigan. I quickly branched out to Ody's on the Lake, also of Mio. It wasn't long before I started began singing at Ma Deeters, which is still one of my favorite places to sing today.

I stayed pretty much within my home county for a while before moving on to other areas. Later on, I joined some of my friends in singing in some of the surrounding areas as well. Stay tuned for more information on some of the other karaoke places where I have enjoyed singing over the past few years.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Double Trouble

Eventually we realized that there were songs that only two of us wanted to sing for one reason or another. Whether my sister didn't like some of the songs that my daughter and I liked, or my daughter didn't know a song that my sister and I knew, there were occasionally reasons why we wouldn't sing certain songs that we would have liked to sing.

Although neither would sing without me, I eventually convinced my daughter to sing one song with me, then later convinced my sister to do the same. No matter which group split off from three's trouble and went on stage, we were known as "Double Trouble". That was the closest any of us had come to even considering going on stage alone.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Our New Group - "Three's Trouble"

After refusing to sing with any less than the group of 6 girls for several weeks, my sister, my daughter and I finally ventured out on our own. We began by singing some easy songs that we all knew and quickly became known by the stage name of "Three's Trouble" by our friends.

We would sing together when we would get the opportunity, but still would not sing with anything less than our group of three singers. There were many songs that we wouldn't sing because there were a lot of them that all three of us didn't know or that one of us didn't want to sing, but we still had lots of songs to sing, so we had a great time singing karaoke.

What is Karaoke?

The word Karaoke is a loose translation of the Japanese words for empty orchestra. It consists of music with no singer. As the music comes over the speaker, the words are displayed on a screen for the singer. The singer can then watch the words and follow along, matching the words to the music as they sing the song. Usually there are background vocals to accompany you as you sing the main vocals of the song, but when you get up on the stage, you are the star.

It is not necessary that you be a good singer to enjoy karaoke. The joy of karaoke is that there are so many types of singers with so many singing styles. Most karaoke hosts have many songs to choose from as well so you can choose the songs that suit your style and your voice.

If you have not tried karaoke, you should. I think that most people would have a great time once they get the courage to get up on the stage and try it. It is a lot of fun!

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