Globex Corporation Newsletter

You're never going to change the world by playing at an open mic. That's a pretty simple statement, I suppose, but it could hardly be any truer. You're not going to effect any great social change or influence the price of a gallon of gasoline by simply deciding to play in front of people. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try, though.

I've been lucky enough over the last month or so to see lots of people play in front of folks for the first time. I can't tell you what a cool thing that is to see, to watch someone to nervously attempt to entertain an assembled crowd. I've never seen anyone not affected by it to some degree, they're all nervous, but I've never seen someone not leave the stage with a big smile either.

A couple of months ago it was Amanda at Dunn Bros. You could see how nervous she was. She had obviously played quite a bit of guitar and had sung a lot. That's most of the skill you need when playing in front of people, but another important thing you need to learn is how to sing into a mic. Amanda could sing, the mic gave her a little difficulty, my guess is she didn't practice through a PA at home. Hey, who does? She's been playing at Dunn Bros every week now since then, she's one of my favorite performers. She has a sweet voice and writes most of her own material, her lyrics straightforward, but just quirky enough to keep my attention.

Three weeks ago I filled in for Joe as host of the Border's open mic. I admit that I don't get to that show as much as I should. Part of that is that I don't enjoy playing solo as much as I used to and TSA works on Tuesdays. Still I headed down and was pressed into "hosting" duties. Even a simple small show like Border's makes me respect the host of these things. The big thing is to keep everyone happy. It was looking like I wasn't even going to get to play, which I was actually OK with, but I found a slot for myself at the end of the night. It was about then that a young mother with two kids approached me. I had seen her there every time I'd attended this show. Some people show up to these things because they like the music. I'll admit that if I were to have some horrible harmonica tragedy, I'd still show up to open mics just to listen. But her name was Amber and she wanted to play. "I don't play guitar or sing too well," she said, "but I have a couple original tunes I want to do." I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say this, but she didn't play guitar or sing too well. It was her first time ever playing in front of people, nobody ever sounds their best under those circumstances. She was a better guitar player than me, though, and she was definitely good enough to do this in front of people. Her songs were really magical, very personal. The thing about Amber is that I imagined her coming to Border's every Tuesday, packing her kids and her guitar into the car, thinking that this is the week I'm going to play. For what ever reason she kept putting it off, the nerves simply getting to her. I don't want to take any credit for her decision to finally play, but I'm very happy that she decided to finally give it a go while I was hostng. If I had anything to do with her decision to play that night, I feel immeasureably better about myself as a person. Still, it doesn't change the price of gasoline here in Rapid City.

The Keystone Dunn Bros. show has provided a few people a first time playing in front of people. Last week a young girl (10 or younger) sang a Rascal Flats song. Visiting the area with her tourist family, she had seen the flyers for the open mic and really wanted to sing. She got her family to bring her. It was really cool to see someone that age in front of a crowd. I wish I had started at her age.

Last night's Keystone show had yet another first time performer. Arnie Jordan, a computer teacher at the school where I sub and I had talked about GPS technology quite a bit at school. We actually had quite a bit in common. Funny, we never talked about music. Then he saw the Slappy is Jebus Farewell Performance at the Heritage Festival. We talked music a little after the show and I told him about the open mic scene in the area. He showed up to Dunn Bros. in Rapid City the next week and started coming down every week. Eventually he let me know he played, so, like with everyone I meet who plays, I urged him to play sometime. Now the RC Dunn Bros. show can be a bit intimidating. It's grown into the area's biggest show. A lot of people hang out just to watch the performers. I can see why someone wouldn't want to play their first time there. Mike and I told Arnie about the Keystone show, attendance has been pretty sparse, it's a great beginner's show.

TSA and I were on stage when I noticed someone walking up the boardwalk with a guitar. For a split second I though it was TSA's dad (who I'd love to see come to one of these things), but it was Arnie. There was actually a pretty good group of performers last night, so Arnie got to sit there and have a chance to reconsider. To his credit, he played anyway. I'm not going to say that anyone who can play and sing a little but doesn't do it in front of people is wasting their talent. Music should, first of all, be for one's own pleasure. It sure is special when someone who's obviously played quite a bit finally breaks out and does it in front of people. Arnie was nervous, you could see it, but he had it under control. Unlike most first-timers I'd seen, his nerves didn't seem to affect his performance at all. And by the end I could have sworn he was a seasoned open mic veteran. I sure hope he comes back. I hope he finds as much enjoyment in the open mic scene in our area as I do.

I didn't realize how unique or scene is until this week. Five hours to our east is Sioux Falls, the state's biggest city, about twice the size of Sioux Falls. I have been calling around and have been unable to find even one open mic in Sioux Falls. Unbelievable! Those people don't know what they're missing.

BOJ