Perfect

Firstly I have joined a new social networking type site aimed at musician in the South West. You can find my page here. Although there is no music on the site, I hope it will offer me the chance to network with a few more local musicians.

Last night saw the very first Perfect 5th Open Mic Night which was a huge success. Loads of artists turned up including some of Tauntons new young bands which was really good to see. I want to give a special mention to The Darlingtons who just had a really cool stage presence and I hear that their electric sound is excellent. Plus I am told they opened with a Neil Young cover which instantly puts them at the top of my Tauntons young indie bands from college chart. They are playing at The 5th again soon and I will definitely be attending that show.

I was nervous yesterday about how the night would work. would the music be held upstairs in the bar/cafe? would there be a good turn out of artists? would the whole thing be a poor excuse for an event and simply a lazy way to try and attract some drinkers?

We arrived at about 8ish to find the downstairs area pretty full and a singer songwriter already onstage. The room had a really mellow atmosphere and it took no time to get into the open mic vibe and enjoy some really great live music.

As the night went on more and more people started to arrive, the venue filled up and the list of artists grew and grew. It gave me such a buzz to see so many people supporting local original artists and really enjoying what they were hearing. It also seemed that many of the performers had gigs booked at The 5th which they were plugging during their sets. Hopefully a small community will develop where we will be able watch new, young artists perform their first live sets at the open mic and then, as they get more confident and their ability becomes greater, be playing proper booked gigs in the venue.

I was also really enthused by the high standards of performance. There were some great musicians and performers but what really caught my attention was the quality of the songwriting displayed. I struggle to tell how well my sounds and ideas come across when playing live but I definitely know I can improve and came away yesterday feeling inspired to pick up the guitar and get writing and rehearsing for the next show.

I have been attending open mics nights for a while now and I thought I had them sussed. As an original artist trying to forge a sound that is my own I often find it hard to get by on the live circuit and wonder whether to simply drop the idiosyncrasies and join the rest of the pub bands. Last night showed me that there is a thirst for talent, for original artists who have something to say and want to do something different. Also that there are venues willing to take a chance on these artists and who are willing to invest time and money and to mix things up a bit to get things going.