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14 Mar 07 - 02:57 PM (#1996709) Subject: Field Guide - Acoustic Music Open Mic From: Stewart In a recent thread, Art of the Solo Performer, there was this post from dwditty: "Stewart...now there is an idea for a companion book - The Art of Running an Open Mic. Of course there are all kinds. Locally, there is one focused on mostly original songs…. At the other end of the spectrum is a very successful open mic… in a bar… My point is that while very different, there is still much that such a book or workshop could offer both of these nights. Let me know when you publish!" Now I am no expert on open mics and probably not the person to write such a book. However, I am becoming a sort of open mic junkie and currently perform at three different ones. I think there is a need for such a book. Barry Foy, a Seattle Irish session player and host wrote a book, "Field Guide to the Irish Session". It's a humorous "guide to enjoying Irish traditional music in its natural habitat," which tries to tell what the session is about and proper session etiquette. I think a similar book titled "A Field Guide to the Acoustic Music Open Mic" would be very useful. Does anyone know of any such book? Anyway, I'm thinking about collecting some material on the subject and would be interested in any suggestions, observations and anecdotes (humorous or otherwise) that 'catters might want to contribute. For example: The sound man who set up the mic over my wife's hammered dulcimer so that it slowly descended on top of her instrument in the middle of her performance, while he disappeared for the interval. The professional (or thinks he is) performer who comes just in time to be introduced by the MC ("isn't it great that Joe Blow has graced us with his presence tonight"), promotes his latest gig, sings his song, and promptly leaves. Or the sweet young singer songwriter who sings her newest song in umpteen verses about her latest love crisis (as if we should care!), and takes the time of two performers. Or the guy who opens up his instrument case on stage and then begins a lengthy process of tuning (and what's your next song?). I'll collect these, perhaps to put together on a web page on open mics, or to think about a "Field Guide to the Acoustic Music Open Mic." Cheers, S. in Seattle |