|
Reprint from GUITAR DIGEST
Magazine
P.O. Box 66 The Plains OH 45780
www.guitardigest.com Fall
2009 c
The
Barrington Coffeehouse Proudly Presents
What
The Hell
Is
An Open Mic?
by
Alexander M. Pepiak
www.lostartvintage.com
________________________________________________________
What the Hell is an Open Mic?
The older I get, the more I find that music
defines my life.
Every time I think I am not going to play the
guitar any more I find myself playing even more
and incorporating even more music into my life.
Usually these notions of quitting guitar correspond
with some other tragic happening in my life. A
death or illness or some sort of life changing event.
I never seem to know what triggers it but it
just happens. Then, always as
some event tears
me away, another brings me back.
This last time, my nephew decided he wanted to
learn guitar and bass. So he came to me and
asked for lessons. He really didn’t want to
learn the guitar but wanted to learn songs. He had
acquired some of the basic stuff from a friend
and we used that as a starting off point. We learned
a bunch of easy songs and had fun playing and
singing them together.
Next thing I know, he sees a sign at a local
coffee shop, The Coffee Garden ( 57 E Kings Hwy
Audubon, NJ 08106-1216 (856) 546-6464) and
I found myself scoping out the place to see if
we can perform.
Well, we learned four songs and I thought we could do them well so
we
packed up the gear on a Saturday night and hit
the coffee house scene. We played all four
of our tunes, and they wanted more so we played
the same tunes over. Now my nephew was
hooked and we were learning new tunes to play at
the open mic.
So what exactly is an open mic?
It is a place, coffeehouse, bar, restaurant, etc, that opens
their floor to performers to play their
instruments. This is not anything new and
has been going
on for many years in different forms. In the
sixties open stages provided Bob
Dylan and Joan
Baez places
to play, in the eighties every
bar and restaurant had a comedy open mic, the
nineties had a resurgence in blues jams and the
return to the coffeehouse and the open
mic
for singer songwriters is the current trend.
Most places will have a sign up sheet where potential
performers will sign up and get a spot to play.
Depending on the popularity of the venue, it can
be a couple of hours or a 5 hour extravaganza. Some places only want
acoustic performers or
singer songwriters with original material and
discourage comedians or other types of performances.
The next place we tried out was the
Auction House 100 West Merchant
Street in
Audubon,
New
Jersey, auctionhouseevents@gmail.com 856-546-7755.This
venue is in a historic bank
building
in the borough’s downtown section. It also houses monthly auctions, hence
the name.
The
open mic is run by Russ Edwards, on Wednesday evenings from 8-10 or after the
last
performer
has taken the stage. The venue has a professional sound system and stage
and
can
comfortable fit around 150 people. Although the open mics do not draw that
large of a group,
it
is a nice venue and receptive of all types of music, be it original or cover
material.
Russ
runs
the
night differently than most open mics. He
does not call up the individuals in the order in
which
they sign up. This allows Russ to choose who may follow a not so strong
performance
or
to keep a certain theme or mood going. Some performers do not mind this but it
also is
a
source of anxiety for others who are performing for the first time or not real
comfortable
playing
in front of people.
The
longest running Open Mic in South Jersey is at the Barrington
Coffeehouse.
This
venue is JAMMED every Thursday night and is host to some
of the best pro, semi-pro
and
amateur talent in the area. It is not unusual to find some very talented
songwriters and
performers
there. Many travel a distance to perform on their stage.
Although
small and sometimes cramped, the atmosphere is electric every week. There are
new
people
all the time and some regulars that keep
the place going. The owner, Scott Trifeletti
calls
it the “Wide Open Mic” and it truly is. New Jersey magazine listed it as
the “Best Open Mic “
in
New Jersey.
“Trif” has been a staple on the Philly/South Jersey music scene for a
while and
when
his family took over the coffeehouse, he did what he could to support the
local artists
and
give them a venue to play their music. He is a huge music supporter and fan
and encourages
original
music. It is not unusual for Trif
to sit in on guitar or drums through out the open mic.
The
look of joy on his face as he plays the drums is
something you just have to witness in person.
I
contacted Trif to ask him some questions about his venue and the whole open
mic scene in general.
Alexander M. Pepiak: How did you get involved in
hosting the open mic?
Scott Trifeletti: It started out
as something to do on Thursday nights and soon turned into something
more, a commitment that I made
to the previous owner and his evening customers, many who
eventually became personal
friends. It was partly my wife’s idea and I never pictured myself a
host though it seemed
someone had to do it right.
There really wasn’t enough places to play
original music for
the longest time and I’d been to
the few known open mics that were in the
Delaware Valley area over the
years, most all of them gone today perhaps partly because the
hosts were running the shows
like they were torturing their own captive audiences, manipulating
the stage with overbearing
agendas and such.
As someone uncomfortable with cliques,
capitalism,
and even dreaming while sleeping
for that matter, I figured there was opportunity for real
reform if the chance ever came
along. There are certainly some songs we can all sing together,
we just needed a good location
outside the (Philadelphia) city limits.
Where else can you go to be
surrounded by like minded people
respectively who love their music so much they’re as compelled
to learn how to do it as you are
about your passion? The format gives excellent access for writers,
singers, musicians and performers
to attract and meet their likely supportive public at street level.
We’re here to hear
each other!
Before any kind of limited local social
music networking site, with a
beatup acoustic guitar in hand,
pro enough sound gear to deliver reasonable quality, an easy walking
distance from my house and over
nine hundred CD’s still boxed and unsold from my debut release
to give away free (now out of
print), shop was setup in my own hometown with “build it, they’ll
come”
risk. They may have been
previously operating the open mic every other week
with rotating hosts
but it was unfocused and
uncommitted with the owner hardly even there.
This could easily be better.
Luckily, there are a few other
very talented performers around town, right here in little Barrington
with similar
stories…coincidence? Though some of us may have even picked up a lot of
moderately
tested musical theory,
organizational and leadership skills over the years, we can still be
unprepared
for the weekly juggernaut
that keeps any good open mic so interesting.
AMP: What do you as a coffee house owner want to
accomplish with the open mic night?
Trif: The open mic is a crucial
leg in our table, we just want to keep our heads above water, maybe
make a little to invest back
into the business and have a great time with everyone doing it.
Our goal is to provide a first
class listening and performance arts venue to coincide
with a comfy homestyle gourmet
café. We’ve pretty much achieved this heading into our
third year since taking
the business over, with
plenty room for improvement ahead.
Artists
from
all over the globe play here every weekend and I’m not surprised to say that
the local
scene here is equally as
entertaining, and it’s really spiritually rewarding to help bring
these
noteworthy local artists to
light. You can’t help but notice a great act when they get to the mic,
they hush the room, which gives
them a perfect chance to audition for a featured weekend show.
We’ve been able to keep the
open mic famously free, which accomplishes something all together
different from the Friday and
Saturday night shows where there’s a real chance to make a few
bucks playing your songs
for about an hour instead of only two open mic numbers, we don’t even
take a cut of the cover
charge.
As a host and venue owner I’m just looking to support
the arts and
improve access
to the stage for everyone. Wide Open Mic overflow has worked it way to
Wednesday
nights which have become popular
with acoustic songwriters circles and music workshops, they can
even be more fun than the open
mic for some folks as they’re mostly unplugged and a bit
more intimate.
AMP: How many people usually show up on an
average night? What is the lowest amount? What is the most?
Trif: The venue only holds
about forty folks comfortably and there are twenty lines on the sign-in
sheet.
The likely scenario is a soloist
with a friend or a duo act but most folks who come alone to play are
here
to meet up with friends
too. Sign-ups start, in person only, at 7:30pm and
the show runs from 8pm Thursday
to into Friday morning
sometimes. The sign-up sheet is full about 80% of the time, three
quarters
about 15% and half full
maybe less than 5%.
AMP: How do you encourage accomplished musicians
to show up?
Trif: Primarily, by making an
honest and professional environment for them in which to
thrive. We seem
to have just found each
other but I’m sure there’s many more
out there, even just in the surrounding towns
alone. We were blessed
pretty early on when a great crop of players began
playing every week.
There’s a
couple of other open
mics that have recently sprung up within only a few miles from here and this
has opened
up more places for these fine
musicians to jam several times a week, meet more hiding in the woodwork,
and expand each others’ networks
. I’m also convinced that it doesn’t hurt to have
just installed a state of
the art Bose 802 Panarray
speaker system that’s perfectly Hi-Fi for this smaller room, as well as the
cool lil
Roland V-drum kit that gets
setup every Thursday night, perfectly produced rhythm sounds with a
volume
control vital for acoustic
music. Bass and drums are nice to have on hand because most artists are
bringing
guitars. I’ve witnessed over
the years some of these great players transition into electrifying their
favorite
acoustic guitars…last of the
breed.
AMP: Did you ever have to ask someone to leave
the stage, and why?
Trif: If someone’s oblivious
to their allotted stage time, the audience will let you know right away
when
the third song starts. I hate
doing it, but I might try to bum rush the mic before the song gets
launched
with a ‘thank you for that
wonderful set…’ but only had to do it once or twice in a long time. I’m
the worst
for it, in any mood and I get
inappropriate laughs out of some of the most annoying stuff, so it gets
crazy
often.
The creed of the open mic is to let it happen, unscrewed with, and just
because folks don’t want to
hear it doesn’t necessarily
mean it’s not going to get a six-minute slot. The next act to take the
stage
very soon may very well be worth
the wait, such is life We’ve all started from somewhere, so let’s
give them some slack but if it
appears the offending person should probably know better, like they’re
drunk, I think I’ve maybe
stepped in once so far for that particular offense and maybe had to cut
someone off for cursing too much
twice.
AMP: Talk
about being NJ’s #1 open mic and how you got to be there?
Trif: Wow, what an honor! It’s
really a special combination of everyone involved. We do what we can.
There’s no formula, just a
basic ethic and a place to finally test it. I’ve been running this show
every
Thursday night except
Thanksgivings for going on seven years now and it’s been a lasting pleasure.
I probably have over fifty
thousand digital open mic pix on my hard drive by now…great memories.
There are new open mic pix
posted on the website from time to time, part of July 2009 are up,
both nights had the coolest
vibe!
We even released an ‘Open Mic Friends’ CD a few years back which
certainly helped bridge this
living breathing music community we now share. Everyone from dedicated
singer songwriters to the
uncommon music lovers alike from all over Jersey and beyond are seeking
quiet listening rooms,
rather than bars and parties, to really hear a good song or at least hear a
song
“good”.
A dynamic open mic in the right room is really kinda
magical. We even had stickers with a
cool homemade logo on a
sea of guitar cases in every corner. The tag has a good name, right from
the start…WIDE OPEN MIC!
More inclusive sounding, I hope?
The capacity is just right for an intimate
amplified sound, crisp
with CD quality on the selected custom house sound system. (Mounted
overhead
for best dispersion).
These easily overlooked details, all added up
to really make a significant impact,
like that it doesn’t matter
where you sit it all sounds pretty much the same throughout the room.
Many of these fine folks are
casual gearheads on some level, whether acoustically or electrically,
firewood (guitars) are always
getting passed around, there’s usually someone about who can provide
first class accompaniment
on request and a bunch of regular folks just might start singing
harmony
with you at
any given moment, you got to stay in tune.
There’s a kind of engaging family here after
all these
years and there really isn’t any exclusive cliques,
all kinds of music, everyone’s welcome.
This is a family run
business.
For me, I had to find a certain rhythm to
run one. Don’t try too hard
to produce
and direct, worry more about the engineering. Update websites, send out the
emailer
every
week, print out the weekly sign-up
sheet (I’ve saved every one) write and/or learn a new
song by 7pm, get camera
ready, show up late, setup while saying
hello, remembering one’s tea,
play a one song soundcheck…make
it good, get saved by a handful of trusted technical minded
musicians sitting next to the
mixer and be ready at any second to unsuccessfully take control
directing this random
chaos now created as the night is turned
over to your waiting guests by
humble applause.
I’ve been told I’m a good host but I don’t really know what makes me
different.
AMP: If you could change anything with the open
mic what would it be?
Trif: Not much! Can’t ask for
much more, it wouldn’t fit! We’re just going to keep on doing what
we do. I think it’s wonderful
that individuals have posted websites with info on open mics in the
area. More free advertising of
the arts is essential. I’d love to build an actual stage someday
but there’s something very
personable about performing at the same level as your audience,
sitting at the table right in
front of the monitor. With the red curtains closed in the background
and the hot glow of the lights,
the stage is all setup (LED lighting’s on our “to do” list).
As nice as things were before
being selected as the best open mic in the whole state, new folks
who heard about it are
now flocking to the coffeehouse and
enhancing the enjoyment even more
than could have ever
been expected.
The secret ingredient for any open mic is open
listeners,
they’re always appreciated.
Many acts warm-up outside anyway, when you ride by you know
there’s live music going
on, we’d all be thrilled to fill the place with more listeners at
times,
to get the word farther out
about how great this local scene is!
It’s challenging to sit with your
friends and not get loud once
and a while. One thing might be that a bigger room would let the
talkers in the back off the hook
but it also takes them out of the main event as well and enables
separation, nobody here wants to
play while conversations are going on. A little coffeehouse
noise is to be expected
but the helpers know to only turn on the cappuccino machine between
songs.
It’s a bit of a trick maneuvering around the tight
quarters but it’s all part of the packed show.
Everyone’s pretty
cool though and the regulars at
least are fairly respectful saving the noise for
between acts. The magic
really happens when everything inside is
stopped in its tracks by a
great performance. Man…what
more can you ask?
AMP: How do you handle folks that are not even
ready to perform at an open mic?
Trif: Well, first off the rule
is to be in tune with song in hand when walk up to the mic, we’ll
scramble with the mic
placement and getting you plugged
in.
I’ve had to turn down offers
for featured shows until
they were ready and some have proudly risen. I’ve seen several of
those so-called rookies now
hanging with those well healed seasoned players. At the open mic,
a couple of us get up regularly
behind any act who wants accompaniment, full keyboards,
bass, drums and lead guitar,
it’s fun for the players to improvise an unrehearsed song and
rookies have gotten quite a lot
out of it too, week after week. Don’t give up when it doesn’t
work out the first time and
perhaps not everyone is made for the stage but that doesn’t mean
you can’t sit back and be a
part of the night. You have to feel folks out and be as honest as
you can in a respectful and
friendly stageside manner. We handle it by putting up with it and
giving them encouragement.
AMP: What would you tell someone who wants to
start doing the open mic circuit?
Trif: There are possibly
websites that document the open mics in your area, if you Google
‘open mic jersey’ it
should be easy to find us. Every night of the week there’s likely an open
mic
around somewhere.
Don’t be shy to go and visit some of these area
venues, leave your guitar
in the car, if you may just want
hang out for a while and observe the scene. We just had a nice guy,
who comes to many featured
shows, come out to the open mic this past Thursday and knocked
everyone out with a great solo
performance of his own, who knew?
Be prepared to sit around awhile
and not talk about yourself too much but don’t let that stop
you from asking about
everybody else, you’ll
make friends fast.
AMP: In an act of shameless self promotion
please give you web address and contact information.
Scott ‘tRiF’ Trifeletti
The Barrington Coffeehouse
131 Clements Bridge Road
Barrington NJ 08007
856.573.7800
www.barringtoncoffeehouse.com
contact: skatrif@comcast.net
Yes, the Barrington Coffeehouse is New
Jersey’s best Open Mic. The most endearing aspect is
the welcome feeling you get from Trif as he
introduces the acts and encourages the performers
and the welcome feeling from his daughter and
wife behind the counter serving the drinks and
food stuffs.
There is no substitute for truly nice individuals.
So, you want to get playing again, perhaps you
had something happen in your life where you
gave up performing and want to put it back into
your life. Look up you local open mic scene
and start up new friendships with musicians and
like minded individuals.
Al Pepiak has been performing and buying and
selling vintage instruments almost his entire life.
Check out his music on myspace,com/lostartUSA
or Lost Art on facebook.
For interesting musical gear check out www.LostArtVintage.com.
You can always get in touch with him at alpep@lostartvintage.com.
Return
to Home BCH
Music Calendar
|
