Jammin With New Folks

Flying solo in Fort Collins, CO, I was on my own last night for entertainment. I checked out an open mic listing on-line and decided to take a trip down-town to Avogordo's Number. It's a cool little bar right next to campus with an amazing sound system and a great room with a stage. I got there early because every place is different and you never know if you're going to get a spot. Avo's has everyone that's there at 7pm draw a number and then based on that number, we take our turn to sign up for a time slot. Starting at 8pm, there are 20 minutes slots. I drew the last number but there were only about 6 of us there so I wound up taking the 9:20 slot.

You never know what to expect when you go to a new open mic. In some places, people are there just as much as artists as they are musicians. Because of this, they would rather hear originals than covers and they are very supportive of those that have the guts to get up and play regardless of how 'good' they are. Some places you wind up being more background music than the main event so throwing a cool cover in can get people's attention. The Avo was an artists' venue and people were there to listen. Nobody talked during the performances and they even waited until the performer was done before getting up and leaving if it was time to go. That's very cool in a way but what I came to realize is that I'm not used to being the main event and not just background music. It actually made me nervous.

As for talent, I think the Avo represented what an open mic typically brings; some talented guitar players and some 'interesting' performances to be kind. There was this one girl, Sarah Spinner, who was f'n amazing. You can check her out on Myspace. Other notables was a guy who played pirate music, which was actually pretty cool and fun as hell and another professional guitar guy who showed some serious chops.

Like I said, I was a bit nervous and because of that, probably didn't put my best stuff out there but after I played, the pirate guy came up to me and gave me big props but said he was disappointed when I went away from my stuff to play a couple covers. That made me feel pretty good actually. Another woman told me I made her cry and still another guy, the pro, suggested I check out a web-site for touring musicians to book small venues around the country. I really do love to play and it's something I would definitely get into more during the off-season if the opportunity presented itself. I think playing more of these open mics would help with the jitters though. Although I love my home venue at the Lewis & Clark Tap Room, it's easy to get a bit comfortable. Stepping out is a good thing.

Keep 'em where you live y'all...