Open Mic

April 20th, 2008 at 02:32pm Jonathan Bradley

If you read Part 1 of, “The State of the Music Scene”, last week and are looking for Part 2 don’t worry…it will be coming shortly. I intend it being a multi part series so I will be spacing them out. This article will be dedicated to open mic nights.

I’ve been participating in open mic nights since I was 16. It is a great opportunity for a young musician to showcase their talents and get used to playing in front of people. That doesn’t mean that only teenagers will enjoy an open mic night, quite the contrary, as the majority of these nights are filled with those 20 and over who either do not have a band or don’t want to do anything special (like playing a show) and just want to play. There are a few places that I know to have great open mic nights. From personal experience I can say that Chubby Rain House of Tunes in Poplar Grove is a great place to go on Wednesday nights. The sound system they have there, in my opinion, is excellent and so far the best I have experienced for open mic. I have heard that Mary’s Place on Madison Ave. in Downtown Rockford has open mic nights but I’d like to hear more about it. I was there for the first time last Friday for a show and had a good time…that’s all I can say about Mary’s Place from my experience. The last one that I’ll bring up here is JDs Sports Bar and Grill. I’ve spoken with them about their plans to help the ‘Local Music Scene’. They’re looking to add an open mic night in the near future and every Saturday night they are wanting to feature live acts that are new and want to get exposure, but only have enough material to play for maybe an hour. Finally, if you’d like to have a more relaxed setting I’d suggest contacting Border’s. Upon approval they give acoustic acts up to 2 hours to showcase your stuff. The point of this is that there are plenty of places in Rockford that support and encourage new artists. Check ‘em out and let me know your thoughts on this. Lastly, due to contractual obligations, Jason Pope.

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