Performers and eager audiences have a new reason to head
downtown on Wednesday nights.
Starting this week on Jan. 11 and continuing every other Wednesday, an open mic night will take over the stage at Nancy O's.
Beginning at 8 p.m., musicians, writers, poets, singers and more are invited to sign up for the 10 to 15-minute sets to gain some
performance experience, test out new stuff or find out what other talent is in the city.
Performers are limited to the technical restrictions of the space, which the host said will likely be a couple of microphones and
perhaps a line-in for a guitar.
Local musician Raghu Lokanathan will switch off with CBC personality Wil Fundal for hosting duties once per month. The two had separately approached Nancy O's management about starting an open mic session.
"When I approached them to do it, [co-owner Garret Fedorkiw] had suggested that maybe Wil and I could alternate hosting the event, just to provide variety and we would each probably draw from a different crowd of people who we could contact to perform at the open mic," Lokanathan said.
As a musician who plays locally as well as on tour, Lokanathan said he was interested in having a place to perform informally while he's in town and to try out material that isn't fully fleshed out yet.
"That's one of the nice things about open mic. It gives you a place to try out something new,"
Lokanathan said.
He said he's hoping to see other songwriters previewing their new music, which provides a different perspective on the work.
"It's different when you write something and then have a chance to present it. It's a place to try something new and see how it goes down, how it strikes people, what kind of response people have to it. Also, when you play something new you yourself get a different sense of whether you like it or not," said Lokanathan.
An open-mic format also allows for collaborations to blossom.
"I'm interested in any circumstance where different people who are writing or making music get to meet and hear each other, too,"
Lokanathan said.
"It's possible different collaborations can be born out of that."
