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I go to open mikes to . . .

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#29898 by RhythmMan
Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:40 am
How many people here go to open mikes, and why?

#29920 by philbymon
Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:44 am
I do, for all of the reasons above.

Plus, it gives me a chance to play so many different kinds of music. Usually there is a shortage of bass players at these things, but lately I've seen more & more bassists, & it's beginning to piss me off cuz I don't get to play as much.

Still, I get to network & shoot the breeze w/musicians & make new friends.

Haven't done that in a while, though. Missed one I wanteed to go to last night, but I was bushed from workin'.

Eh, maybe next week.

#29930 by Kramerguy
Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:05 pm
We're going to one tonight, in hopes of finding people to join us, and to start testing the waters with our playing/material.

#29931 by gbheil
Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:08 pm
Perhaps one day soon I will have enough general skills on my guitar to be able to participate in an open mic night. For now I will practice fevershly in my studio.
Too bad really it sounds like so much fun.

#29943 by jimmydanger
Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:20 pm
I not only attend open mikes, I used to host one for seven years. I put together two bands doing that. I still go to an open mike occasionally to try out a new song or when I get the itch.

#29945 by The KIDD
Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:22 pm
Hey Gang,

Unfortunatley,open mic nite /jams are pretty much a thing of the past around here..The ones that do exist are what I would call live karaokee...It used to be a viable way to find bands/musicians and audition all in the same nite...Those of you in the Chicago area 88-94 remember the 12 HR SUN jam we use to have in several clubs in the N burbs?..Rememeber Wally passin out ,hittin the floor, and NEVER missin a note during his break??? :lol: Heck , I packed a lunch for that one...Yeah , hosting one is a patients tryer for sure...You can count on losing SOME equipment ... :lol:...Yeah, its a great social life, kept us in contact for networking, made alot of friends...Chicago, Amarillo, Alburquerque, Columbus OH were some of the great towns of the day hosting as many as 10-15 jams during the week...I hope ypu guys are still able to enjoy...


John

#29978 by blair_rock
Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:53 pm
Started setting up Open Mics shortly after starting a songwriters group.
Put 2 coffee shops out of buisness. Lot of fun and made alot of friends and found some good musicians. Taking a short break to just have some home meetings to work on stuff and to work on 2nd compilation CD. Will start another one soon.

#29980 by philbymon
Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:01 pm
This is the 1st yr since '85 that I haven't either hosted one or been the house bass player in one.

Things are drying up here, too, KIDD.

Scary, that. We're down to 2 in a 30 mile radius.

#29981 by Shapeshifter
Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:03 pm
open mic nights around here almost always turn into an impromtu show by the "host". Even during the few times that I've gone with the intentions of playing, I usually haven't, because it's kind of like playing in between sets for the scheduled band. It's a shame that it's like that, because I have seen some talented musicians show up and decide not to play, simply due to the fact that they don't want to "compete" with the "host".

#29985 by fisherman bob
Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:18 am
I never go to open mics. Show me the cash, then show me the mic. Later...

#29990 by Paleopete
Sat Apr 26, 2008 3:52 am
I went to a number of open mics in Houston and San Antonio years ago, really liked it. Never managed to hook up with a band, but was already in one so it wasn't an issue.

Great way to meet other musicians, get out and play some different stuff, and got to try out my Peavey MX for the first time at one. Hooked it up to a Marshall 4x12 cab, previous night's band had left the amp and both cabs with no power cord (smart guy) but we had the ok to use a cab. Even the Marshall heads were commenting about how good the Peavey sounded that they originally didn't want to play. (awww man...guess we'll have to play that damn Peavey...was one comment I heard, same guy had the best compliments on the amp later on. Of course I did tell him "well, I can pack it back in the car and go home"..."no, no that's ok, we'll try it out."...) Totally clean, but I kept a couple of pedals hooked up or let the guys plug their own in, and left the volume pedal optional.

Can't find any around here, I really miss that, it was a lot of fun. Wide variety of music and playing styles, got to see and play some cool guitars, got to see some really good players pick a tune or two on mine, and got in some great jams with a top notch bass player and drummer. It was pretty cool getting to see someone playing my rig, or most of it, because I got a chance to hear it out front, instead of onstage playing it myself. Drummer was a friend and put it all together.

I'd do it again without a second thought.

#29994 by The KIDD
Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:46 am
Yeah, those were the days Pete when everyone got to play on different rigs all the time...In those days ya had to be good and fast at dailin in your tone ..No presets or ROMs...Never did jam around Houston much but yeah SananTONE was ahappenin..There were some boys on here recently talkin about how Jackson MS has really picked up...The 'Capitol Beer Lounge" and "The Edgewater" used to have SUN jams..The Ramada too I think???...How bout the "Beechwood" in Vicksburg??? I know those are heavy casino towns now...Hopefully the jams are still going...



John

#30003 by Paleopete
Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:25 am
I don't know, haven't had a chance to check out either city much, just went to one of the boats in Vicksburg 3 years ago. That was fun but didn't have a chance to check out the night life much, and right now unless I make money at it I try to stay out of the Jeep...gas went up .12 in one night, too expensive to go anywhere. This is getting ridiculous, gas went from $0.20 to $1.50 in 30 years, from $1.50 to $3.50 in 2 years. That's not inflation any more, it's greed.

In San Antonio it was Carlsbad Tavern, went there a rfew times, heard about another one but never made it.

When I set up my MX it was in Houston, a place on North 45. I just had the guys tell me what they wanted and I'd dial it in as they played, they liked it pretty well, didn't have to do much though since it was set fairly well to begin with, tweak the tone knobs here and there to suit someone's effect box was about all. Somebody likes a bit more treble, somebody wants a little bass...

#30008 by philbymon
Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:37 pm
Some guy named Prichard, I think, used to bring his prototype amps out here to try them out...had all sortsa trouble with a few before he got them working right...that can be a hassle for the rest of us, but he eventually got most of them working...some of the guitar amps he brought were pretty good...didn't like the bass ones, though

#30009 by Kramerguy
Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:58 pm
Well we played our first 'show' last night. It was the bar's first open mic night.

We went in without a bassist, singer, or rhythm guitar. We thought we were sunk. Everyone who promised to show up and "assist" never showed. And yes, we were the 'host' band for lack of a better term.

It's a small bar, and the max head count was about 40-50 ppl.

We figured, the show must go on...

We played our first couple of songs, the drummer filled vocals, and I had to make my guitar sound like an entire rhythm section, and amazingly, we pulled it off. Got everyone dancing and got quite a bit of applause after the songs! I even straddled a bass and we did 'some kindof wonderful' lol. We would do 4-6 song sets, then take a break and invite people to come up and sing/play (which literally nobody did). One guy did come up and do a couple acoustic songs and was well received also.

We managed to make it from 8PM to 12:30 AM before we ran out of songs to play - we've only been playing together about 5 weeks.

We kept the place packed, and everyone had a good time. A nice successful first night out for us, and we needed it, considering all the no-show auditions and member flake-outs we've had lately.

We're stoked now. Lookout! hehe.

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