by Anna Weaver | Jun 22, 2019 | All Posts, US open mics
A couple years back, when I found the Riff Raff Arts Collective in Princeton, WV (pop: 5,822), it was hands down the smallest town where I’d found a poet-friendly open mic. A month later, the Paducah Writer’s Group in Paducah, KY (pop: 24,941), though small as...
by Anna Weaver | Apr 10, 2019 | All Posts, US open mics
Think of a thing you love doing. Sailing, maybe. Or knitting. Or bird watching or baking or basketball. Whatever. Now imagine having done that thing for, say, 2 hours, and now it’s 8:30 pm. On a weeknight. Random dude #1: Y’know, you can do 3 more hours of that thing...
by Anna Weaver | Apr 4, 2019 | All Posts, US open mics
I’ve said it before and I’ll surely say it again: Open mics are ephemeral. What happens there—whether there is Seattle or Gainesville or New York City or Paducah—on any given night hasn’t happened before and won’t happen again. By showing up, to perform or to listen...
by Anna Weaver | Mar 8, 2019 | All Posts, US open mics
Remember when I said it can be hard, in some states, to find an open mic? Not so, Alabama. Because Alabama is home to Birmingham. And Birmingham is home to an event they call Bards & Brews. Hosted by the city’s clearly amazing public library system and held...
by Anna Weaver | Dec 2, 2018 | All Posts, US open mics
When I staked a claim to this whole open mic tourism thing just over 4 years ago, it seemed doable to make 50 open mics before I turned 50. But as the Germans say, work is work and schnapps is schnapps. And side gigs are side gigs. Still, 30 by 50 isn’t too shabby....
by Anna Weaver | Sep 3, 2018 | All Posts, US open mics
Scan the walls at the Front Street Taproom and you get a display of taxidemic skill—turkey, bear, deer, geese. You name it, someone has stuffed it and given it a prominent home within line of sight from anywhere the bar. Front Street also color codes their...
