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Post by Marshall on Apr 29, 2023 15:38:22 GMT -5
Went to one I hadn't been to before. About 10 miles away. Very nice place. They do a twice a month Open Mic. WOW ! Did I really like that place ! Great portable sound system in the room. A Sound guy that worked his butt off making is sound great. But moreover, The quality of music was terrific. And it was mostly younger people. 12 performers. Probably 4 older guys like me. The woman that MCs was great and encouraging. Interestingly there was a lot of original music. Only the old guys did covers from the 60s & 70s. I did 2 originals and a cover. But one thing surprised me; how much attention the crowd paid to the music, even though it's a loud room with lots of conversations. My last song was Merry-Go-Round. I was walking to the bar afterwards and a 30s-something guy complimented me and asked, "So, who's accusing you of singing the blues too often?" (The open line from my song Merry-Go-Round. ) So, I'll defintely go back. I'm looking for places like this that I might get a gig this summer. I'm trying to hit the Brew-Pub circuit. **smirk, smirk**And interestingly enough, there was a map on the wall in the hallway that shows all the Breweries in CHicago metro area. Here they are:  There's a lot of them. |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 29, 2023 15:40:02 GMT -5
This place is Pollyanna Brewery in Roselle, IL  They have an outdoor area that gets used a lot in Summer.  |
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Post by dradtke on Apr 29, 2023 17:28:56 GMT -5
Looks like a good place.
You'd love kj's hideaway in downtown St Paul. It's a music club, used to be Artist's Quarter jazz club years ago, in the basement of the Hamm Building. The open mic audience is actually there to listen to the music, and some of the players book gigs elsewhere. There's a grand piano on the stage for anyone who wants to use it.
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Post by RickW on Apr 29, 2023 18:42:25 GMT -5
Brew pubs are some of our fav places to go. Not many here have open mics, though.
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Post by Marty on Apr 29, 2023 19:00:01 GMT -5
Looks like a good place. You'd love kj's hideaway in downtown St Paul. It's a music club, used to be Artist's Quarter jazz club years ago, in the basement of the Hamm Building. The open mic audience is actually there to listen to the music, and some of the players book gigs elsewhere. There's a grand piano on the stage for anyone who wants to use it. The original spot for the Artist's Quarter was on 26th at Nicollet. On the other side of the street was the Black Forest Inn and Little Tijuana. Saw a young redheaded girl sit in with the Fabulous MN Barking Ducks one night. A year earlier I saw her practicing alone in the music room at the Silver Dollar but didn't know who she was. A year later and everybody knew who Bonnie was. |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 29, 2023 23:05:15 GMT -5
Looks like a good place. You'd love kj's hideaway in downtown St Paul. It's a music club, used to be Artist's Quarter jazz club years ago, in the basement of the Hamm Building. The open mic audience is actually there to listen to the music, and some of the players book gigs elsewhere. There's a grand piano on the stage for anyone who wants to use it. Next Saturday at KJs there’s a songwriter event for people in the mostly MN on-line Singer/Songwriter challenge. Hanners put me on to that group. Most the songs I’ve written last 3 years come out of their “prompts.” I coulda signed up but it’s too far to go to play 2 or 3 songs.  |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 29, 2023 23:57:53 GMT -5
And interestingly enough, there was a map on the wall in the hallway that shows all the Breweries in CHicago metro area. Here they are: There's a lot of them. There are 183 Breweries on that map of Chicagoland. |
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Post by dradtke on Apr 30, 2023 8:43:38 GMT -5
Looks like a good place. You'd love kj's hideaway in downtown St Paul. It's a music club, used to be Artist's Quarter jazz club years ago, in the basement of the Hamm Building. The open mic audience is actually there to listen to the music, and some of the players book gigs elsewhere. There's a grand piano on the stage for anyone who wants to use it. The original spot for the Artist's Quarter was on 26th at Nicollet. On the other side of the street was the Black Forest Inn and Little Tijuana. Saw a young redheaded girl sit in with the Fabulous MN Barking Ducks one night. A year earlier I saw her practicing alone in the music room at the Silver Dollar but didn't know who she was. A year later and everybody knew who Bonnie was. I worked at Children's Theater when Black Forest was a favored hangout and Artist's Quarter was across the street. Later I worked at Actors Theatre in the Hamm Building when Artist's Quarter moved downtown. I think they were following me. |
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Post by dradtke on Apr 30, 2023 8:46:19 GMT -5
Looks like a good place. You'd love kj's hideaway in downtown St Paul. It's a music club, used to be Artist's Quarter jazz club years ago, in the basement of the Hamm Building. The open mic audience is actually there to listen to the music, and some of the players book gigs elsewhere. There's a grand piano on the stage for anyone who wants to use it. Next Saturday at KJs there’s a songwriter event for people in the mostly MN on-line Singer/Songwriter challenge. Hanners put me on to that group. Most the songs I’ve written last 3 years come out of their “prompts.” I coulda signed up but it’s too far to go to play 2 or 3 songs. I checked the list. I know a couple people on it. |
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Post by Village Idiot on Apr 30, 2023 20:05:03 GMT -5
I learned about open mics by visiting my good friend, Jay (whom you met years ago Marshall) by visiting him in Batavia a couple times last summer. When I come back this summer I should let you know. I should also let Joe know as well in case he and his wife are visiting the in the area.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 30, 2023 22:29:27 GMT -5
Haven't seen you in Illinois since River-Jam. |
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Post by Marshall on May 6, 2023 12:41:50 GMT -5
Did another open mic in the city this week at a venue a block from the DePaul Campus. The Golden Dagger. I had a great time. Seems like the youngsters are more receptive to original music. I'd say over half the songs played were originals. Absolutely no 60s greatest hits were played. I kinda like that.  The MC posted this shot of me. |
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