This reminds me of an open mic several years ago. A young fellow was up flailing away at his guitar unmercifully and hollering at the top of his voice. It was BAD, and I moved to the back of the room to get as far away from the noise as possible. I then turned and rolled my eyes at my friend Jim, one of the long-time open mic regulars. Jim then said,"you know, this is an open mic and we have to give everyone a chance." With that remark, I knew he was right. Fortunately a string snapped and put the guitar player and everyone else out the their misery. I think another open mic regular talked to him in a nice way, suggesting how he might improve. But then he never came back. So that's how it goes sometimes.

We have another singer who's so bad that he's developed a sort of cult following, and always gets a big round of applause. But then we have some great performers and everything in between. That makes the open mic interesting. We have a great community of musicians that really care about the music and helping new performers. And a great listening audience. The only downside is that we're too popular and most times it's just a one-song night.

I can't think of a better way to get involved in the music. The more participants the better.

Cheers, S. in Seattle