Notes From the Grid is a bi-weekly column about the Columbia County music scene written by Rob. It is featured every other Friday in the "On the Scene" supplement of the Hudson Register Star. See all »

December 17, 2011

Open Mics

There’s a lot of Open Mics around here, a lot of song circles as well. I’ve been attending a few lately trying to get a feeling for each of them and also attempting to figure out what the difference is between an “excellent” open mic or one that is just fine. There’s occasionally some overlapping nights, most of the hosts are unpaid and just attempting to lift the mantle of creative encouragement, though some hosts enjoy playing at the these gatherings as well, a situation that I find better suited for the song circles. More about that later first we’ll try to define our terms.

Open Mic: A scheduled event which allows musicians and/or poets to share selections of their work in an allotted time frame. It usually includes a sign-up sheet, and occasionally a featured performer. Popular open mics can develop problems due to regulars knowing the ins and outs of signing up to play. Often the list of performers is filled before the event even starts, sometimes hosts will actually accept e-mail requests for slots so that the casual or uninitiated performer has no chance of getting onto the stage to perform their stuff, a situation which most venues not only accept but embrace because it guarantees action on the stage all night. This situation must be balanced carefully by the people running the event. New acts are generally revered so if a venue develops a reputation of “sameness” i.e. the same people and the same friends each week the open mic can be perceived as “stale” so a bit of novelty is valuable.

Song Circle: A regular meeting of a group of musicians for exchanging songs, sometimes working from a common repertoire. Often these meeting can be open to the public “hootenanny” style and in a place that is public, a library, a tavern of a church basement. Sometimes anyone can participate and sometimes it is a closed group.

My favorite area open mic was at the legendary Supreme Bean on Park Row in 1995. Little did anyone know that the clientele and performers at this little short-lived basement located coffee house were to be come local legends. Rafe Kozaka and Holly Shea were regulars. Rafe Pomeroy often performed there. To help move things along there was a rule instated specifically for one certain folk musician that there would never be more than two songs per act, which later had to be amended to read that neither of the songs could exceed five minutes, all due to one particular performer. High school poeters and poetesses, without the aid of the internet but usually assisted a powerful thesaurus on their nifty new word processor could express their angst over the cruelty of life and the frustration of interpersonal relationships. Hosted by the late David Higgs who held these evenings together brilliantly, always flexible in case a something exceedingly interesting or a venerable personage showed up, but giving equal status to every request for stage time. Mr. Higgs was an excellent performer in his own right, but he would rarely elect to perform himself, his philosophy being that a the stage should be reserved for those who journeyed for the occasion rather than as a showcase for the host.

In today’s modern Columbia county there’s plenty of options for playing music in front of other people on a weekly or monthly basis. Patrick Barnett-Mulligan is hosting a popular regular Open Mic the first Saturday of each month at the Peint O Gwrw on Main Street (518) 392 BEER. These events feature a house band available to back up musicians if needs be. There is an ongoing Blues Jam at the Spencertown Academy second Wednesday of each month. (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)). The Academy has been a bastion of musical experience for decades, I recall that it is the site of the first open mic I attended in this area back in maybe 1978 – no kidding) There are occasional open mics (usually during milder weather seasons) at the Valatie Community Theater (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)). I’ve been told about an ongoing song circle in Malden Bridge hosted by Beth Lawton and Chuck Irose of the great band Ampersand which is probably the area’s most ancient musical get together having been located through the years in Chatham, Spencertown, North Chatham Library and various living rooms throughout the county. (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) )

Ampersand

Then there’s the ongoing Bluegrass jam Sunday afternoons at the Taconic Wayside in in Copake Falls (518) 329-4401, and closer to beaten track, the Thursday night song circle at The Parlor Coffee House hosted by Marilyn Miller is gaining a reputation for being a great place to sing and play traditional Americana type music, ragtime, blues, bluegrass as well as contemporary singer/songwriter stuff (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)). The big nights in Hudson for inclusive music making are the Tuesday and Wednesday open mics at the extravagant and spiffy Club Helsinki Hudson nightclub/lounge/ballroom/restaurant et cetera and features a state of the art sound system for their open mic. On the Club Helsinki stage the performers sound as good as they possibly can.  (518) 828-4800 on Tuesday and the adept accordion virtuoso Rob Johansen hosts a popular and smoothly operated open mic at the Red Dot on Warren Street (518) 828-3657 most Wednesday evenings.

In the coming months I intend to frequent and describe a number of these gatherings so that you aspiring interested professional and amateur can make an educated choice concerning your options as far as playing with strangers or playing for strangers. Never fear those who have song circles and open mics not mentioned here. I am aware that you exist and I intend to find you, especially over in Greene County where I’ve been told there are plenty of opportunities to play. E-mail me (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or get in touch with the Register Star or the Daily Mail and let me know what’s happening.

Last Sunday I went to check out a weekly song circle at the Black Swan in Tivoli, just across the Columbia County line and less than a half an hour from Hudson. Alt Country and Country Rock seemed to be the flavors of the night, all competently played by a consortium of accordion, upright and electric bass, 6 and 12 string guitars, banjo and mandolin while a fellow kept time with brushes on a drum set. This is an on going session and it was obvious that they’ve done often and regularly by the size of the very large book of charts each player read from. The crowd was sparse and mostly interested in the game on the bar TV but there were a few appreciative listeners and a younger woman (mid-twenties ) would occasionally amble up and supply some nice support vocals. The actual players mostly had a gray tinge to their hair and I might have surmised that this was a bit of a “closed” society but my friend Liv Carrow assured me that the musicians are quite welcoming of any decent peers and the later the evening gets the better the music gets. and when a fella at the bar suggested they play a reggae tune – the response was immediate and competent.

I’d like to recommend the Black Swan option for a Sunday evening to my readers – here some of the other places mentioned in a nice tidy listing.

Open Mic - Peint O Gwrw on Main Street, Chatham (518) 392 BEER 1st Saturday
Open Mic - Club Helsinki Hudson Columbia Street (518) 828-4800 Tuesday evenings
Open Mic -  Red Dot 321 Warren Street (518) 828-3657 Wednesday evenings
Song Circle -  Parlor Coffee House 742 Warren Street Hudson (518)828-2210 Thurday evenings
Song Circle - The Black Swan 66 Broadway Tivoli (845) 757-3777 Sunday evenings
Blues Jam - Spencertown Academy, Spencertown 2nd Wednesday .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Bluegrass Jam - Taconic Wayside Inn in Copake Falls (518) 329-4401 Sunday afternoons