How to Start an Open Mic

by David Fishken (cont'd)

Now comes the tough part, convincing the club owner to have an open mic night. Your calling card is that your musical evening that will bring more bodies into the club. You'll present music that is easy on the ear (mostly), and that the crowd will be comprised of "good citizens." If the club owner shows an interest, make an appointment for a reasonably lengthy business meeting during hours when the club is closed.

Be honest with the club owner, and with yourself. You know what the club owner wants out of an open mic. What do you want: fame and glory, a paying gig, an outlet for an altruistic expression of your love for folk music? Get this straight before you sit down for a business meeting. At the business meeting you will:

- present your overall idea

- explain the potential business benefits to the club owner

- express your concern for the owner's business success, thereby laying the groundwork for discussing financial success or failure candidly in the future

- discuss all the mechanics of how it would work in that club, including PA placement, patron seating, etc.

- present everything you know about regulations and licenses

- lay out your plans for publicity

- make a carefully worded projection of eventual audience size

- discuss money issues in a businesslike manner

- ask the club owner to express his or her concerns

- plan another meeting, thereby allowing the club owner to think things through so that as many concerns as possible can be discussed prior to decision making.

Here are a few more considerations:

The economics of the club are none of your business, but the economics of the evening are. You'll want feedback about how well you're doing. Convince the club owner to share the numbers with you. Ask for a trial period, six months at the very least, so the numbers have time to stabilize.

The next topic is your compensation, if you want to be paid. A cover charge may seem fine, but the owner may feel this will turn his regulars away. Perhaps the owner will agree to pay you for your evening of work. Perhaps open mic players will donate a few bucks each to make it worth your while.

You may want to make an arrangement for free food and drink. This is a nice perk and it gives you some time to get friendly with management, wait staff, bartender, patrons and open mic players. And it wouldn't be a bad thing if other players started coming early to join you for dinner...

Okay, says the club owner, Thursday nights it is. Kid, if you can increase business in here with that open mic of yours, you can stay.

You've passed the major hurdle. But there is no rest in sight. You must keep the folks coming in. Constant promotion is required. Here are a few last thoughts and recommendations:

- Use all the free publicity that you can. Contact local newspapers for a story every now and then and take advantage of the regular events listings.Contact area radio stations - especially public radio, college and community stations. Call your friends. Play other open mics and invite the musicians there. Develop and use email lists.

- If you can budget it, use snail mail lists and posters. Make sure you clear all publicity with the club owner first - remember that the club's image and reputation is reflected in everything you do.

- Attract open mic patrons - and the press - with special theme evenings.

- Adopt the attitude that you are in promotion mode wherever you are.

Above all, maintain a good relationship with the club owner. Keep the lines of communication open. Then you won't have any unwelcome surprises a couple of years down the line when your "successful" evening suddenly gets cancelled.

Now, get out there and good luck.

- David Fishken

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David Fishken, an experimental psychologist by trade, was raised on Ramblin' Jack Elliott records in the early 60's. He teams up with singer Ellen Groves to form a duo 'in the tradition.' Fishken describes their stage act as "a kind of gender reversed Burns and Allen" - aimed at those who can remember. They play frequently in the Boston area and plan to begin gigging throughout the Northeast. Their stylistic interpretations of familiar folk and country tunes, new and old, appear on their debut album, Going To The West (release party at Club Passim, 9/14/01). You can email David or check out his page at cdfreedom.com.

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com