Open mic All Hours

Evening Strumpets,

I`ve been thinking a lot lately about The joy that is Open Mic nights. More often than not, these are really nice nights where a pub which is finding the old recession, along with daft prices in the supermarkets a barrier in getting the "punters" in. As a result, you can find yourself in a pub, which ten years ago would have been full to the rafters, playing banjo to four blokes and a dog. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, because the actual act of getting up and hearing yourself amplified can at times be a particularly effective laxative.

I`ve had the misfortune on a couple of occasions to witness really talented musicians dry up, and virtually run out of the pub, never ever again daring to get up and display their talent. This is such a shame, because you realise really early on, that everyone pretty much in the pub is on your side. They`re willing you to do well, but the pressure we put on ourselves doesn`t allow, at first, us to see that.

I first played an open mic in The George and Dragon in Yarm on St Georges Day 2009. More than that I was playing me banjo, which I`d been playing since Dec 26th 2008. Do the maths, that is not a long time. But I`d been promised by a friend who`d heard me play that I`d go down a storm.

I practised Cripple Creek a million times. I took the banjo to work with me, and practised in me dinner break. But when the mouth is dry, the phrase "Cripple Creek" is about as simple to say as Deoxyribonucleic acid. Too many "K" sounds. That was me song. That was the one I could play, but would I dare sing?

I got there on the night and it was heaving. I was told I`d be second on. I waited with me half a diet coke, and waited, and waited. Eventually the first lad got up, and as he did the place suddenly filled with about thirty people with T-shirt with his name on, all screaming for his "songs" He was good at first, but to be honest he went on a bit and he was losing the rest of the punters aside from his fanbase. Right there I made a valuable decision. If I was ever going to have a crack at this open mic stuff, it would have to be with a mix of a song for them, a song for me.

I got up and played, and it was an absolute blast. I decided to sing, and truth be told it wasn`t too bad. Such a buzz people coming up to me afterwards and telling me how much they enjoyed it.



I`ve since played quite a few open mics, mostly at The Crown and Princess Alice. On Wednesday in the Alice for the first time I played nothing but four songs of me own, (Great North Strum, Whole, Time Less Classic, and Sick on My Shoulder) and they went down really well. Ian Swinbourne, a guy who has such a talent, was there. He has been asking me for a while to go to Loftus on a Thursday for their open mic, but it`s a heck of a distance, and I`ve always passed, purely as it would mean getting home really late.

Ian promised that if I got there he could guarantee an early slot. So I went. The first person i saw when i got there was Vin Garbutt! A real legend. Blimey, this was not going to be any ordinary open mic spot.



I got up and played "GNS" and "Sick" and had some cracking banter with the (busy and very talented) crowd. And that was that, until Mr Garbutt came over and told he`d really enjoyed me songs. How cool is that. I was smiling all the way home.

All I`m saying is, I could have gotten to this age without ever having had the joy and pleasure that is playing S Club 7 or the Stranglers on the banjo to a bunch of bemused seasoned drinkers. I strongly urge anyone with any talent to get up on an open mic night, it could lead to you driving home with the biggest smile on your face.



Till the next one, learn something new.

Mark.