Every night after work I've been going to Ogden. Why? Because.
Because, because, because, because, be-caaaaause . . . because of the wonderful nun I am . . . in a play. A play in Ogden.
It's going to be quite a show. Me . . . in a habit.
It's great. Ogden is. In my world it used to be a mysterious place in between Salt Lake City and Cache Valley. That city which my family would zoom by on our way to visit our grandparents.
"What's that?" my sisters and I would ask. "Oh. That. That's Ogden." Our parents would say.
Growing up in France, I thought the United States consisted of Boston, where I was born, Logan, where my parents were born and some mysterious place called Ogden.
My family was living in France because my dad was working over there.
Then, when I was 7 1/2, we moved to Utah. I didn't exactly know where Utah was, but I knew what Ogden was, so I told everyone in my class at the American School of Paris that I was moving to Ogden.
We ended up moving to Olympus Cove and that was when I began to lie.
I told my second-grade class that Eileen Quinn, the girl who starred as Annie in the movie of the same name, was my cousin and she was going to be my show-and-tell. The day came for me to show-and-tell and I told everyone that she had to catch a plane to Ogden because she had to do an assembly up there.
Little-known fact about Ogden: It's about as far away from Salt Lake as Draper. I know. Because I timed it last Monday. So Eileen wouldn't have had to fly to be in an assembly.
Other little-known fact: Ogden has quite the night life . . . if you go looking for it.
I had to ask people in the cast to point me in the right direction, and after a few minutes, they told me about some of those clubs in Ogden's historic 25th Street area.
There's Beatniks, which is really good if you go on a night when there's a great blues guitarist.
Wednesday night at Beatniks is open-mike night, and the master of ceremonies for open-mike night is Robby Kap.
Kap is a large man with a talent that is greater than his girth and this is what I learned about him while I sat in the back and watched him open the show and join in with the bands that followed.
According to Brad Wheeler—a guy who acts as Kap's manager and usually plays the harmonica with him — he has had quite an interesting life.
Kap grew up in West Ogden. Being from Salt Lake, I can only imagine what that means, but Wheeler said that back then West Ogden was a pretty diverse place.
Wheeler said there were six or eight kids growing up in the Kap family's three-bedroom house, which was surrounded by three churches.
I wish I could remember which ones they were. But I do remember Wheeler telling me that one was a Baptist church and that between the three different religious houses, Kap picked up his style of music.
Kap is part of the Kap Brothers, and he usually can be seen and heard at Beatniks every Wednesday night and on the weekends.
He plays the blues. He plays everything, from what I hear, and he's got a grand sense of humor.
Everyone loves him, and from what I observed he was looked upon as a music guru. Especially when he joined in with younger performers.
All of Kap's CDs are sold out, but there should be a new one on the way. So meanwhile, if you want to hear the guy, you've got to go to Beatniks.
Way, way, way up north in Ogden. Perhaps you could catch a flight.
E-MAIL: lu@desnews.com