Prepare for an Open Mic Night - Top Tips!

[@maineiacts]

Thank You Kindly Lewis!!! Great suggestions!! Helpful as well! Appreciate your time also!😉👍🎶🎸🙋‍♀️

[@paulcollingridge8387]

Thanks, had an amazing gig yesterday but its not always that way!

[@countrymonkOSB]

Hello, Lewis. I finally did my first open mic last night and it went amazingly well! Thanks so much for your helpful advice and support. I don't know that I would have had the courage without having seen your video, man. 🤩

[@countrymonkOSB]

This was really helpful. I hope to do my first-ever open mic in a couple of weeks, Lord willin' and the creek don't rise! This video will help me overcome a bit of stage fright, I think! Thanks for posting this

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@countrymonkOSB thanks so much for checking it out and commenting. Let me know how it goes!

[@countrymonkOSB]

@@lewisforemanmusic I will if I don't die from the fright! GULP! 😆

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@countrymonkOSB deep breaths. Get the first out of the way and you will want to do it every day! The buzz is absolutely worth it

[@countrymonkOSB]

May I ask what you recommend as a set list...? Do all my own compositions or do a couple covers? I recently read someone who suggests that if, for example, you have a three-song limit, to do one cover and the others can be one's own stuff. I appreciate your insights, and thanks ahead of time!

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@countrymonkOSB hey, thanks for the comment. It all depends on the style of the open mic itself. I would always suggest going to check it out first so you can get a feeling for the standard and what people are doing (it's not uncommon to have open mics with all original material). As a rule of thumb, you want to keep people entertained, so I would suggest having mostly covers ready to go, try one of your own and read the crowd. Extra credit if you can make the covers stand out a little somehow. Hope that helps!

[@countrymonkOSB]

@@lewisforemanmusic I'll check out the venue beforehand and try to get a sense of the lay of the land. I'm both excited and scared to death! I'll let you know how it went, if you're still interested.

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@countrymonkOSB absolutely! Please let me know. Sink or swim, the first one will be done and you can look forward to the next. Go for it!

[@theunaccompaniedsenior]

Why do hosts deliberately exclude performers? This happens to me a lot, and I can't imagine that my experience is unique. What's going on?

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@theunaccompaniedsenior hi there, when you say exclude, do you mean not let you play at all?

[@theunaccompaniedsenior]

@@lewisforemanmusic That's right. Oh, they might put me in the queue, but then they'll just keep bumping me down the list until, "Sorry, we're out of time."

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@theunaccompaniedsenior sounds like a poorly run open mic to me. Hosts should always make time for those that have turned up, even if it's one song each and then everyone has another sponge once everyone has played. Explore other open mics in the area if this is repeatedly the case!

[@theunaccompaniedsenior]

@@lewisforemanmusic Yeah, no. I've tried that. It's pretty much the same thing everywhere I go. I've driven as much as three hours on the highway to perform in other cities, only to be told, NO. Then, I'm expected to just sit there and listen to a dozen guitarists who can't sing to save their lives.

[@lewisforemanmusic]

@@theunaccompaniedsenior that's such a shame. Maybe go to some close by open mics and watch, get to know the guy who runs it, see what time people are turning up to get on the list early. Don't let it put you off! If it's consistent in the same place, maybe speak to the manager? "I've been coming here for weeks and no matter what I do, the host won't let me on'?