open mic nights

For a while now, I've wanted to try performing at open mic nights. I may not be a prolific songwriter, but I've written a few good ones.* The problem is that I'm not a good guitarist. My singing? As a singer I'm a wonderful guitarist. Still I've been having the itch.

But the inertia is strong in me, and I haven't been up for trying to figure out where there are open mics that are convenient to me.

But a friend, not knowing that the whole thing was on my mind, mentioned that she goes to an open mic near where she lives in West Hempstead, at a place called "Creative Corner" and maybe I'd want to come? It seemed practically like  bashert. That's me below, performing "Never Kill a Man Twice" at this week's showcase. As billed, my guitaristry is nothing to write home about. And I'm struggling to sing anywhere near in tune. But I'm having a great time.

I have been there twice. The first time I didn't bring a guitar -- I was planning to just watch. Get the lay of the land and all that hooey. I don't need to be the best performer there, but I don't want to be so egregiously worse than everyone else that I get remembered as the guy who sucked. At any rate, it was a really cold evening, and the crowd was a bit sparse. They ran out of performers, so Blair and my friend (and her other friend) started encouraging me to sign up. I had been put at ease that I wasn't copmpletely outclassed by the other talent, so WTH. I borrowed a guitar and did three songs -- "Music No One Else Can Hear," "Never Kill a Man Twice," and "Five Missing One." I didn't do well. Either I was too far from the mic, or I didn't sing loudly enough, or the mic level wasn't high enough. Whatever it was, no one could hear my vocals.

But I had fun anyway.

So I was back this week, prepared to improve my performance. I will be heard, I had decided. The crowd was a bit bigger, but still pretty sparse and nonthreatening. So, two songs -- "Five Missing One" and "Never Kill a Man Twice." And I could be heard. Flaws and all. But it was great. Next week, I think I'll do "Jackpot" and some other song to be decided on at the last minute. Maybe "Bionic Joe Theme" or "Funny in My Head" if I can finish writing it. I'm also tempted to ask if anyone cares to join me -- "the chord structure is simple -- watch me for the changes."

The thing about these open mics at Creative Corner is that people seem to be there to have a good time. They're not there to judge. They just want to enjoy some music even if it's not expertly played. And I'm cool with that.

*By "a few," I mean five. But I have a bunch of good songs in various states of progress. And I've written a shit-ton of bad songs, so I have that going for me, which is nice.