What a lovely time of year, as the winter winds down with flurries of fury but mostly hints of hello to the warm weather to come. This week let’s look at those famed and ridiculed open mics.
Call them open stages, open mics, free entertainment, audition time or whatever, these particular events are vital to the scene in many ways. As a basic definition, they involve a host who plays a short set, then coordinates any and all musicians to play according to the rules of the individual open mic. Some hosts feature a certain artist, others play a half-night beginning set then open up the stage to all-comers. Most hosts have sign-up sheets to allow for a degree of order. Some use paper and pen to sign up, others prefer a text or email. Open mics are a great way to break into a scene and make friends in another town. Most large cities have specific web sites (http://openmicchicago.com, for example) dedicated to listing and describing openstage events.
For some prestigious venues, like Uncommon Ground in Chicago, with highexposure open mic nights, the events serve as auditions and even come with cash prizes for best performer. The famed Bluebird Cafe in Nashville updated its Monday Open Mic rules last June to eliminate the long lines of musicians from all over the country that would come to stand outside the door for hours just for the chance to play a song or two at the powerhouse venue. Now you must call between 11 a.m. and noon on Monday and keep calling until you reach a real person. The first 25 callers to break through get to play that evening, and that’s that. Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift supposedly both played the open mic there as unknowns.
In our town, open mics seem to go through cycles, slowing down to a few per week and ranging up to several, as is the current case. I ran one, sometimes two, a week 25 years ago while establishing myself as a working musician. Hipbone Sam did a similar thing in the previous decade. It’s a great way to get to know fellow players, make some cash (sometimes) and get your name out there to the public. Other thrills of being an open mic host involve watching the growth of performers or being blown away by a newcomer. It’s not all fun, as some attendees don’t follow guidelines and ruin it for everybody. Hosts often set limits such as three songs or 15 minutes per performer, a reaction to that one who just won’t quit. All in all, open mics (they gave up on the “mikes” spelling years ago) help venues by getting a crowd out on off nights, offer artists a chance to expand abilities and feed a scene with interactions that are essential to depth, longevity and, hopefully, quality.
With all that said, be on the lookout for open mics on Tuesdays at George Ranks with John Brillhart and Geoff Ryan, and at Weebles with Sam and Kortney. On Wednesday Roger Whitsell and Bob Emison host at Starship Billiards and Bar None has the Wide Open Mic. On Thursday, Antone is at The Palomino Club in Taylorville and Sam and Kortney are at the Blue Grouch. Char & Eric’s Open Jam at the Aqua Club is on Friday, and the Songwriter Circle is at George Ranks on Sunday, with me and Ben Bedford as variations on the theme. Hope I included most of the ones going on. I at least got the ones listed this week in Pub Crawl.
These are generally weekly events and do come and go, so please check ahead, then get yourself going to an open mic.
Contact Tom Irwin at [email protected].
