Open Mic Night

Have you ever been to an "open mic" night? I went for the first time this week. My friend Nate recently moved down to Austin to be the guitarist in Riverbend Church's Resonate Band. But Nate is also a singer/songwriter and typically has gigs throughout the week. Until he gets gigs rolling in Austin, Nate goes to open mic night to perform. So I headed to BD Reilly's to hear him sing.

No I have heard that open mic nights are hit and miss, but I can attest to it first hand. I mean it is like American Idol for songwriters! Some are really good and some would not make it past Simon's wrath. The first guy who played thought he was quite the musician and would not stop singing. Typically each person sings three songs. But after song three, Bucko (that's what I called him) started singing a fourth song. Painful!!


Nate was up next. And he was great! He can sing, which is a plus. But I am bias so whatever you can listen for yourself. Click here.

The next guy kind of sounded like Seal which was a nice surprise, but he kept telling us how great he was...that simply isn't endearing. Sigh. He sang a Coldplay song. So it was like Seal singing Coldplay while telling us how awesome he was. A jumbled mess. He should have just sang Kiss From A Rose and kept quiet. Oh but wait, that would have been karaoke. And suddenly the line between Karaoke and "Open Mic" night became very thin.

Before the line was completely crossed, a young lady got up and sand. She was brought us back to where we needed to be, Jewel-like guitarist with her own songs. Phew.

Overall I would highly recommend going to an "Open Mic" night near you, they are entertaining and more importantly it is great to support your local artists. For all you know you may see the next Alanis...

RXW

What Rox: Here is a list of the Top 10 Open Mic Nights in the country. Click here.