A lot of professional musicians think there isn’t any more time in their Lives for open mics. I think that’s a horrible mistake! Open mics are a wonderful mixing of generations, talents, styles and individuals. It’s where most all of us get started – and we shouldn’t ignore those roots!
I’ve been proud to have run some of the very coolest open mics in the Washington DC / Baltimore, MD area (declared thusly by DCDownload.com) – and having played more than 500 different open mics across the country, I feel like I’ve got a right to be opinionated on the subject! I’m actually SO opinionated that the Library of Congress asked me to speak about open mics and their influence on American music and folk culture. If you’re curious about what I had to say, the text and video are here : Open Mics and Evolution. In addition, Teavolve Cafe & Lounge is one of 48 venues across the nation that was asked to participate in Shure’s National Open Mic Nights. We’ve been sponsored by both Shure Microphones and QSC and our featured artists at Teavolve Cafe are partially sponsored by Focus Music, a non-profit dedicated to providing opportunities and a sustainable Lifestyle to performing musical artists.
I try to foster an environment that’s just as warm and welcoming for the open mic virgin as it is inspirational and strategic for the touring road warrior. Open mics keep the juices going, the blood flowing, they keep us creative, fresh and they keep us humble – for every artist who has never hit the stage before, there’s going to be another that does something you’ve never seen before or who gets you thinking “holy crap! I hope I’m not NEXT!!!”