My buddy north of me and I visited our local open-mic on Dec 11th and sat in to listen to the house band. Although my chops weren't up to snuff, my buddy got up and played his 2-song set...a Ukrainian folk tune and a Martin Taylor tune, "Musette to a Magpie."
My buddy did the 2 songs justice with minimal clams, and was warmly received. When my buddy asked if he could visit again, the host said, "I'm sorry, you're too good for us." Then as my buddy was putting his guitar away, the host said through his mic to the audience, "Would you folks like to hear him again?" And the cheers and applause was heavy and thick.
Because we both had an early morning Zoom meeting, my buddy said his thanks to the host from offstage and said he'd return soon. With a few "aw's" and "don't go's" we humbly made our exits and watched through the window as the house band brought in the next guest.
The experience was encouraging enough that it inspired me to practice more so next time both of us could accompany one another, or at provide some charts for the house band with which they could join in.
The open-mic will re-open after New Year's, and we're both looking forward to visiting again.