Onwards to 100 open mics. For some reason I started a diary with the details of the songs I played at my first open mic back in Feb of 2013. I had hoped to reach the 100 milestone by the time my 10th anniversary of starting playing happened. Covid had other ideas, no open mics at all for a while.
Played 2 open mics in the last 2 days, #92 and #93. Woo hoo. Both were very different. Justin has talked about having various songs in your back pocket for when the chance to perform happens. Ensuring there is a variety of songs is also very good.
My nerves did concern me a bit as I’d played a couple of songs for friends at home after a dinner party we hosted the weekend before and was surprised to see the old performance anxiety creeping in when I least expected it.
First was an amateur night hosted by a local musician and beekeeper. It was at a local hall and was standing room only. A draft version of the programme was emailed out a week before and after reading it I changed what I was going to play significantly. The programme was mainly high school students playing piano or fiddle. And the programme was very full. So I switched to a couple of shorter and more recent songs. They are also 2 of the easiest songs I know. Both were songs from recent movies, trying to cater for the younger audience. Maybe it’s time and Don’t let the old man in. Finger style and played slowly.
The performance on the night went very well, felt relaxed and confident and the audience was excellent. A good friend who was in the audience said you could have heard a pin drop during my performance, they were all paying attention and I could feel it on stage in spite of the spot light meaning I couldn’t see any of them very well. Walked off the stage feeling on top of the world, like I was walking on air, it felt really good. The sound was also very good, the foldback was superb. Here’s a picture taken by my friend in the audience.
Second was an open mic at the local pub, just 1.5 km up the road from our rural property. It’s the only pub in our small village of about 500 people and the next closest pub is a good half hours drive away. It’s a popular place and on a friday night was very full. A very noisy venue.
The open mic was being run by a musician who’s performed at the pub as part of a duo a number of times recently. While the pub has had open mics before, they’ve not been happening for well over a year and as such I was a bit nervous about how the setup would be. Earlier this year I played at a pub open mic where it was the first open mic by a new host and it was a ghastly experience. I tend to be reasonably confident so I’m happy to be the first to perform. In that case it was a mistake as the sound was ghastly. Muddy sound with terrible feedback in spite of me using. a feedback buster in the sound hole. He moved all the performers after me to a different part of the stage. So with this open mic my plan was to be the 2nd performer.
As it turned out, I was the only performer there so being 2nd wasn’t an option. The host played a couple of songs and then it was my turn. Thankfully the sound was good. I also chose a much different set of songs to play. More up beat and sing along songs. Stuck in the middle with you, I can see clearly now and Lodi. Strummed (using Justin’s thumb and finger technique) and easy to play. These songs worked well and a small number of people were singing along including a particularly drunk young woman who at first situated herself about an arms length from my face just to the left of me. Sigh. After the first verse she went and sat down beside my wife who was sitting at a table on her own nearby. My wife was not impressed with her either. More sighs.
A minor distraction and a bit funny. The host asked me to keep playing after those three songs so I continued with Have you ever seen the rain followed by Maybe it’s time (finger style) and I finished up with Signs, another song that I got help with from a local Justin Guitar community member when I was learning.
I was very happy with how that performance went as well so as you can imagine my confidence level is quite high. Here’s a photo taken by my wife.
Open mics certainly are a great learning experience and I encourage others to play them as well. They can be a bit daunting so don’t force yourself to do it no matter what if you are struggling with either the motivation or the confidence. Go along as an observer and see what the vibe of the place is. I’ve been to open mics where the predominant style of music was vastly different to what i do. And I’ve been to plenty where i fit right in.
I’ve really enjoyed reading through your learning log, thanks for sharing your story 
and nice that there are photos… looking great… just teach those people how to press the video record button next time 
Well done.