Performing at the March edition of Open Mic Night at the Starkweather Arts Center in Romeo are Larry Everhart with Larry Stevens on guitar. (Photo by David Pyrce)
BY DANIELLE BLESSING
For the past decade performers have been polishing up their acts and finding an audience in downtown Romeo.
Starkweather Arts Center hosts Open Mic Night the fourth Friday of every month from 7-10 p.m. with the next show scheduled for May 24.
The gallery, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary of open mic nights this past February, is a great place for all to gather to either watch great performances or to perform themselves.
It’s also an excellent place to gain performance experience regardless of age, whether you’re a beginner or seasoned professional.
The doors open at 6 p.m. Because the gallery is nonprofit, they charge a $4 admissions fee ($3 for Starkweather members) and those who wish to perform may sign up upon paying the fee.
Nearly every Open Mic Night is hosted by David Parks, who originally brought the idea to the art gallery.
“Dave wanted to promote local music and local musicians, and (he) approached Starkweather,” Starkweather Music Coordinator David Pyrce said.
The idea came to Parks during the economic recession.
There had not been a lot of donations coming to Starkweather as a result, and Parks, as a Starkweather board member, tried to brainstorm ways to bring in extra money to keep the art gallery running.
At the time, Parks was having some friends over every Friday night for a jam session, so he decided to begin bringing them to Starkweather.
“We’ll be playing music anyhow,” he said.
Parks emailed some other friends to let them know and it wasn’t long before the word was out throughout the community. Open Mic Night was successful right from the start.
Parks hosts nearly every Open Mic Night, while his wife, Kim, helps set up.
Once everyone is settled, Parks opens up with two or three of his original songs to get the audience warmed up. After his music set, he begins by calling each performer up in the order on the sign-up list.
Each performer gets to perform two or three songs, depending on the amount of people signed up that night.
All age groups perform. The oldest is currently 70 years-old, while the youngest just turned nine. The average ages tend to be in their thirties and forties according to Parks.
The genres vary greatly as well, from folk to rock to country to occasionally rap.
One Open Mic Night regular plays a lot of indigenous music, bringing in a variety of unusual instruments, such as Eskimo flutes. He will even explain where the instrument comes from prior to playing it.
“You don’t know from one open mic night to the next what will show up and what you’re going to hear,” Pyrce said.
Open Mic Night is usually held in the upstairs gallery at Starkweather, though several times, it was held in the alley next to Starkweather, and once in the nearby gazebo.
The 10th anniversary show was held in the nearby Masonic Temple.
For the big event, each participant was only allotted one song, as the performance lineup consisted of forty performers.
You can bring your own instrument or, for all pianists, there is also an electronic keyboard for performance use.
Open Mic Night is also open to non-musicians.
Pyrce said that they have also seen several poets, one dancer, some comedians, and even a couple of story tellers, though they are few and far between.
“Our best feature is the fact that you got a small audience of other performers that know what it’s like to get up in front of people and are very supportive,” Pyrce said. “You tend to feel more support(ed) here than at most other open mic nights.”
Both Parks and Pyrce agreed that many performers feel much more at ease performing at Starkweather than they would elsewhere.
While most other open mic nights take place in bars where the patrons are mostly interested in talking or watching a sports game on the TV, the audience at Starkweather provides a very kind and supportive atmosphere according to the two organizers.
Parks explained that one thing he loves about Open Mic Night is the opportunity it provides for other musicians to get their music out there.
“A lot of (other) open mic nights are cliquey and people don’t always feel comfortable,” he said.
One of his favorite other open mic nights he’s been to in the past took place at the Shelby Music Society.
“I wanted to base the model of operation on how they did it because they made me feel welcome,” Parks said.
“(Open Mic Night is) just a great way to spend an evening… you get to hear great music, sometimes created on the spot,” Pyrce said. “It’s worth checking out at least once.”
