Open Mic Night at Taproot

Once a month, on the first Tuesday, Taproot Lounge & Cafe hosts an open mic night where anyone and everyone can show up, sign up, and perform. I'd attended the open mic session once before and it was a fairly odd and eclectic experience. This month I saw the event pop up on facebook and I sent a message over to my boyfriend who I thought might want to pull out his guitar and play a few songs. He wasn't interested in taking the mic that night, but his daughter (who's quite the musician herself) was, so I met them over there around the 7pm start time.

When I arrived, a small crowd was gathered, and most people appeared to intentionally be there to witness or participate in the open mic night. They were still setting up and messing with the sound system for a good amount of time past 7:00. Eventually everything got settled and the night got started.

First up (unpictured, sorry, failing at my blogging duties here) was a duo of two guys who looked to be in their 20s. One played guitar and other played cello (or a cello-like-instrument...).  They sounded good and were very smooth, but only played one song! I wanted more!

The next performer was a young guy, I think in his teens. He started off his set by saying that he had a friend who plays the trumpet who was supposed to join him but bailed. The audience groaned/booed. But he chimed in, "No, he's a really good guy! I introduced him to a girl and now I regret that." I thought that was pretty cute :).  He played somewhere around 4 songs, and I think they were all originals that he had written. He was really quite good and had a pop-y vibe to him. I enjoyed it.

Next up was a certain 13 year old that I was there to see :).  She played a cover of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. I know I'm probably biased, but she had only learned the song two days before (!) and performed it like a pro. She sounded great with her sometimes light and airy and sometimes raspy qualities.

After that, an older guy took the stage to perform a song acapella. Really, anyone who has something they want to share with the world is welcome to do so!

Then there was a lull in performers, so the MC of the night told a somewhat disturbing story involving baby possums... He asked if anyone else had a story to tell, so a guy got up and told what he claimed was a true story about two elderly people making out in a car...  Yeah...

I should also mention that my bf enjoyed his grilled pb&j! (And fries too, of course.)

By then 8pm had rolled around and minors were getting the boot, so we left so I cannot speak to what the rest of the night held. The hour I was there for was interesting though and I felt like it was worth participating in. Just to give you a taste of what other types of acts you might see, last time I was there, we went at a later time of night (it goes until 11pm!) and saw acts that included things like your traditional guitar players, a couple stand up comics, a beat boxing group, and a spoken word/poetry performer.  So, you really don't know what you might end up with!  I assume that the next one will take place on February 7th. You might just want to give it a try. And if you have some piece of creativity bubbling up in you that you'd like to get out, even better!