So you have a handful of original songs and you feel like trying them out on a listening audience?
You’ve played them at your local coffee shop ad nauseum. People like them. But you want to spread your wings and see what a new audience might think?
Try an Open Mic tour.
What is an Open Mic Tour?
Simply put, an Open Mic Tour could be a short one or two week intiative to try out other open mics in your region. For example: You might choose a 100-mile radius to search out Open Mics, and add them to your schedule over the next two weeks.
How Do I Find Faraway Open Mics?
There are a couple great online tools to help find open mics in your area.
OpenMikes.org:
The hands-down best place to look for new open mics is OpenMikes.org (go figure!). This site, run by Paul Roub, has a slew of great tools. You can search for Open Mics within 25,50,100,150 miles of any city or zip code. You can also print out search results in a printer-friendly format that will look good on your fridge. You can search by city, state, zip code. It’s remarkable and Paul has spent alot of time making it easy to use.One note: Always call the Open Mic before attending to ensure that they are even still hosting one. There are a few out of date entries.
Google:
While OpenMikes.org is a great site, there are many Open Mics that are not listed on the site. So, another great way to find Open Mics is good ole’ Google. You’ll be surprised at what you will find.Try conducting searches with phrases like: “open mic” asheville, or “open mic” “los angeles”. Make sure and put the phrase “open mic” (or “open mike”) in quotes as shown. That way Google will make sure and treat the search phrase as one item and search for that exact phrase. Do the same thing with any states or cities that are two words: “Los Angeles”, “New Brunswick”, etc.
Setup the Tour
OpenMikes.org has a great Open Mic tool called I’ll Be There. Paul talks about it on the OpenMikes.org blog and showcases it’s usefulness with some band examples.
I took that a step further and used a site called CommunityWalk in tandem with the tools at OpenMikes.org.
Based on a combination of searches on OpenMikes.org and Google I came up with a great list of open mics within 250 miles of my hometown of Asheville, NC. I then took those addresses and plopped them into CommunityWalk and added specific Open Mic information for each one, including contact information, who the host is, and so forth.
If you click on the link to my tour map below, notice how you can actually click on the little green markers on the map and get more information about each open mic. You can also zoom in (since it is using Google Maps) and get directions. You can also get driving directions from one open mic to another! Priceless!
Click here for the public view of my list.
This is a really great way to get a birds-eye view of what is available in the region as far as Open Mics go. It leaves all that information visually available and easy-to-access.
Conclusion
Sure, a new open mic might be an hour drive or more, but an Open Mic Tour is a great way to try your songs out in front of a new audience and network among musicians.
What have been the results of these Open Mic Tours?
Some songwriters have even booked gigs and shared bills with other performing songwriters by doing an Open Mic Tour. It’s safe to say, a relationship with an artist in another town is almost always mutually beneficial.
I hope this article inspired you to try out an Open Mic Tour of your own.
If you book an Open Mic Tour, let us know how it went in the comments below. Did you meet new musicians? Get any gigs? Sell some CDs? We want to hear from you!
Happy songwriting!
Read Part II - Contributed by Michael Ryan Galloway:
Songwriters, Get Out of Town II
5 Comments until now.
Thanks for the nice comments on openmikes.org. One minor nitpick: I don’t know of open mikes that don’t *want* to be listed on openmikes.org — but there are many, many venues that just don’t *know* about it. Whether we’re talking about a missing night, or an out-of-date listing, openmikes.org users can pitch in and fill in the blanks. I’d say *most* of our listings actually come from performers and hosts, not the clubs themselves.
Thanks for the clarification Paul. I’d love to figure out a way to get more club owners to post their Open Mics. -dm
I have used openmikes.org to find and perform at a number of venues within 100 miles of my home. I have met many wonderful songwriters, musicians, writers, and singers. I recommend open mike tours to every songwriter out there. There isn’t a better way to try out new material and fine-tune your performance, and to get your music heard. You make new fans one at a time and an open mike tour is a perfect vehicle for doing that.
Remember that it is important to call first before you take the long drive to a venue. I have been disappointed more than once after arriving at a venue only to discover that the open mike was cancelled.
A special thank you to Paul Roub for creating his website. Paul, it is an excellent tool for performing songwriters to find a space to express their creativity and I am grateful openmikes.org exists. Sincerely, Ricky Dean Fisher
Yep. I would definitely agree with calling the venue first. I too have been burned a few times by not calling. Thanks for the tip. DM
… and if you happen to live in Asheville and want to meet up at an open mic, get in touch with me using the contact form link at the bottom of this page.
-dm