P & G Cafe Open Mic

I did a set at the P&G Cafe open mic last night (located on Upper West side of Manhattan). The open mic is very friendly and low key.

I was the only guitar player there who did not have a pick-up built built into the guitar. So they had to mic my guitar, which sounded OK, except when I unknowingly moved the guitar to the right, so that the mic was directly in front of the sound hole. This causes some nasty feedback. Luckily I found this out between songs, not in the middle of one.

This was the first open mic I have ever done. But I have played in front of much bigger crowds than this. The main thing that surprised me was that you can't see a damn thing up there. The room is small and darkish and the performer doesn't look spotlit. But what they do is put a blue spotlight on the performer. You hardly notice it from the audience, but it's blinding from the stage. To me it was a little disconcerting to play to people who I know are there, but can't see at all, except dark shapes, and faces very close to the stage.

The songs I did were:
Mursheen Durkin (traditional)
River in the Rain (Roger Miller) / Into the Mystic (Van Morrison) medley
Lost Highway (Leon Payne)

All "covers", but the Into the Mystic thing is an original treatment, with a special bonus refrain.

This is mostly a singer/song-writer crowd, with mostly original material. Good by open mic standards. I would love to contribute more original material, but I would love for it to be really good. I know you have to start somewhere, of course. A lot of singer-songwriter stuff that I hear recently sounds similar and a little boring. I sometimes wonder whether one guy with an accoustic guitar an earnest heart and guts is still a formula for success in the modern world. But then I think of my favorite singer-songwriters--Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Guy Clark--and I think the medium can always work if the songs are good enough

A lot of what makes a song good (meaning lots of people enjoy listening to it) is to have some words that are easy to remember (less is more). Like "Bye, bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry...", or "Hey, good lookin', what you got cookin'?" combined with a memorable musical line. Songs can have all sorts of sophisticated lyrics, but there has to be something for the audience to hook onto easily. A good song should be jovial and easy to enjoy. Even a sad song, or an angry song, at least has to have a melody line or rhythm that you want to listen to.

I would like to write a really good song like that. I don't have much interest in going on a stage and performing bad songs. I don't have much need to express myself, or make my voice heard in the form of mediocre music. But I know, you have to start somewhere.

In conclusion: this open-mic is friendly and supportive, and there are some interesting singers and performers. Most everyone is serious about what they're doing, and I will go back.