Bedrooms, Basements and Zooming
The 20th Zoom session of our first-Tuesday Songwriters Open Mic is 11/2/2021. SOM began in 1996, so at this point we’re right around 300 monthly get-togethers to play original music. Most of the pre-Covid / in-person meetings were at Oz’s Music Store in Ann Arbor, which was (and is) a terrific space. But after a year and a half of Zooming from bedrooms or basements, I see several good things to appreciate despite the physical isolation, the shortcomings of not being in the same room with an attentive audience of close listeners.
The first consolation: success in a collaborative effort to master the technology. We learned together, over time, how to convey live music pretty well over the internet. We experimented with variations of microphones and DAWs and computer connections, and made cheat sheets for managing the audio settings. We progressed from “it’s better than nothing” to “it’s pretty darn good.”
Also, Zoom widened the circle of performers. Over these 20 months we’ve enjoyed songwriters from coast to coast in the US, plus England and Australia.
And about the community aspect: For many years, the “regulars” of the open mic at Oz’s Music set a committed standard not only for earnest and unflagging efforts at writing and playing, but also for the endearing quality of personal interaction. The post-performance discussion at Songwriters Open Mic has had two primary features: supportive feedback about the songs, and idiosyncratic digressions into amusing rabbit holes of popular-music history. Newcomers often noted these qualities and felt both welcomed and intrigued. I had some concern about whether any of this would carry over to the Zoom world, but learned quickly that all was well. The positive vibe of engaged, knowledgeable and capable amateur musicians definitely prevails, month after month, despite the tech apparatus and spatial distance.
So, it’s another first-Tuesday, and SOM is online once again, open to all, to participate or listen, a virtual get-together. The Zoom meeting ID and Passcode change each month. Songwriters can get the monthly sign-on info and reserve a performing slot by writing me directly or by using the MeetUp app, which is https://www.meetup.com/Ozs-Music-Songwriters-Open-Mic/
Here’s a link to a lightly edited 30-minute selection of songs, from three of the regulars, mostly from August’s first-Tuesday open mic:
Jim
JimNovakMusic@gmail.com
