Bluebird Cafe Open Mic

Let me start by saying I hope you’re reading this in line at the Bluebird Cafe for next Monday’s open mic because you need to be there already if you want to play.

Don’t Be Late

Arriving around 5pm, which I thought was early, for the start of sign-ups at 5:30, I located the first available parking space. This happened to be three strip malls down in front of a Verizon store on Hillsboro Pike. I quickly found myself about 80 people deep in the line of guitars and sweaty songwriters. It was hot.

After chatting with my line neighbors about the heat, the line, the stickers on this guys guitar case ,and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation the line started to move. As I inched closer it became apparent that not everyone was going to get in, but I held out hope, and did eventually make it through the door. 35 people did not even make it into the venue so I stress, get there by 5 if you want to be sure you’re going to get in. 4 of those people were my girlfriend and company, so I was on my own in the mecca of the Nashville songwriters universe.

By that time seating in the Bluebird (75 person max occupancy) was all but gone. I filled out my name on the sign up ticket ( a scrap of paper) and tossed it into the first try bin. Anyone who showed up at an earlier date and didn’t play gets priority, there were bins for 1st and 2nd timers. I squeezed my way passed the bar where I picked up a can of Bud Light thinking there was a two drink minimum (there wasn’t), and made my way to the only place left to stand. For the first hour and a half of the show I was pretty much standing in line for the bathroom, watching the show via mirror strategically hung above the bar for the people lucky enough to call that spot home.

After everyone had settled, the substitute MC Steve Goody got up on stage and went through the rules and general procedures of the night, which were pretty much be ready to play, say your number (I was 32!), play your song, and get off the stage so the next person can play. All in all 59 people signed up, but only about 35 got to play.

So far I guess I could have expected the crowd outside and I could have expected the somewhat rushed performance situation,  it is the bluebird after all, but what I didn’t expect was the level of talent. It wasn’t surprising in that it was the best I’ve ever heard at an open mic, in fact I thought the open mic I played at the Commodore Sports Bar had a much better pool of talent. Like I said it is the Bluebird, so my theory is that anyone passing through town is going to choose that open mic over any other exclusively because of the venue’s reputation as the #1 songwriters hang in the #1 songwriters town. About 8 of 10 songs were average to weird, and I’m not saying that from any kind of arrogant standpoint, everyone there thought the same thing.

That being said there were some great writers too, but they were few and far between. Some of which you’ll read about in my next post.

When it finally came my time to play I had secured at seat at the bar and found a volunteer videogropher, so I was ready. I made my way to stage as the first first timer to play that night, plugged in and stomped out my song ” Life Leaves Me Alone” Check out the video below!

I was very well received, and made my way back to my seat through a barrage of business cards and good jobs, which made me feel great because, it’s the friggin Bluebird! I got the chance to talk to Trent Jeffcoat who is a new writer for Montage Music. I first heard about him at the NSAI pitch to publisher night I wrote about here. Trent is a great writer and seemed like a down to earth guy. Anyone paying attention to the Billboard charts will surely see his name there as a writer or an artist sometime in the next few years.

Was it worth it? Yes!

Those kind of experiences are why playing open mics is a great thing to do. Are you going to get signed to a staff deal just from playing open mics? Probably not, but they do provide a great opportunity to meet people at all levels of the hustle, guys like Trent who are about to break out, and people like you and me who hope to be where Trent is now, a few years down the road. Everyone has something to offer, and that means there is always something to learn.

On Deck

In my next post I’ll elaborate on how playing the Bluebird Cafe open mic lead me to another (better) open mic that lead me to being in the semi-finals of a songwriter competition at Puckett’s Grocery in Franklin, TN. Oh yea and that was in less than 24 hours! Check back tomorrow for that story and leave some comments if you’ve had similar experiences at the Bluebird or know of any other open mics I should check out around Nashville!

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