(From contributing blogger Ryan Galloway)

I recently read a blog by Don Mak about setting up an “open mike tour.”

“Great idea!” I thought. But being constantly on the road as a management consultant, I believed I would never have a chance to try it.

Then I started poking around on www.OpenMikes.org, the site that Don suggested we all use to book our “open mike tour.” To recap from Don’s article, this is an awesome site. Just go to the main page and type in your city or ZIP code. Tell the form how far out you want to look from the epicenter (25 miles, 50 miles, etc.). Then simply click “OK” and you’re off. You get list of every registered open mike night within the area specified.

But that’s not the best part …

Now it gets really cool, because you can ask the tool to tell you just the nights of the week you’re interested in. A quick click on Tues and Wed check boxes and another “OK” and you’ve got your listed narrowed down. There are links to the venues, reviews and maps. Click an “I’ll Be There” button for the gig and it will arrange a list of your appearances in your profile area, so you can keep track of where you’re supposed to show up.

I’ve been traveling with my Yamaha Silent Guitar — basically a neck, a frame, a battery and an acoustical modeling computer—because it’s the only thing I can bring easily on the plane. I dabbled with doing an open mike night at The Mission in Augusta, Georgia and a coffeehouse in Atlanta on recent assignments. Though the guitar can be too brittle for recording, it plays great for live gigs so I’ve been using it a lot.

So suddenly I find myself in Newark, NJ for a four-day-a-week, three-week consulting stint. Hmm. I haven’t played in New York since I played next to CBGB’s 30 years ago. Off to www.OpenMikes.org. I plugged in Manhattan, NY and within minutes found a list of open mike and open performance venues. Okay, so I got a little hung up on the one that featured anything goes, including poetry, strippers, and performance art. I finally decided against that one. I mean, I’m good but I don’t think I can follow a stripper. For one thing, my mouth will be too dry. Once again…a whole ‘nuther blog.

For the next two weeks, I’ve got four open mike nights booked. I’m not only excited about playing to a New York crowd, I know it will be fun listening to the material everyone else has to offer. Ryan rocks NY? Why not? How about you?

Read about Ryan’s Open Mic Tour experiences in Part III

Ryan visits NYC and puts his Open Mic article into practice.

Author: Ryan Michael Galloway, “The Gigster”–and a founding leader of the Collin County Songwriters Association

http://www.gigsterclinics.com

http://www.CCSongwriters.org

http://www.myspace.com/rmgalloway

http://www.CDBaby.com/cd/rmg

http://www.RyanRocks.com