I've made a personal goal here in Chicago (at least during these first few months) to play my sax somewhere in public at least every other day. As I've mentioned before, the number one piece of advice I've been given is to keep showing up to things, especially places you want to play. Therefore, I'll be hitting every jam session, open mic, or street performing spot that I can; some new, some old.
So, since I didn't make it out to a club last night, I knew I needed to play somewhere tonight. Plus, it's a Friday (well, now technically early Saturday morning) and it's sometimes depressing as a musician NOT to have someplace to play on the weekend. And really, how hard should it be to find at least an open mic in this vast musical city.
Well, turns out it's a bit harder than I thought.
Looking back, I guess it makes sense. There are tons of open mics and jams on early nights of the week (especially Wednesday for some reason). And I guess it seems logical that clubs would want to have more tried-and-true bands play on the weekends, their busiest nights. And while open mics can be decent draws, at least for musicians, most of the general public would probably rather listen to a professional band, rather than risking the sometimes awkward surprises that open mics can bring. And I've seen some weird (AKA: bad) stuff at open mics myself.
However, after doing quite a lot of Googling and a phone call, I did find one place that has open mics on Friday. This place:
Ok... I'll admit, not your typical looking Chicago club. And the free Bibles and soda advertised on their webpage confirms this. But hey, this whole Chicago-living thing is a big adventure so I'll try anything.
So I take the Red Line and the 74 bus and arrive a little before 8. And...great. I'm the only one, along with owner Rocky and his friendly (maybe too friendly) dog.
And yeah, that's a LOT of crosses! (Pretty impressive, actually.)
So I start chatting with Rocky, and pretty soon the whole evening goes by in a flash. It turns out he's like the nicest guy ever. Not only does he give me a full tour of his church/club/house (including a trip on top of his roof), but also records my playing and gives me a labeled CD with case! And no charge for anything! So of course, it turns out, like so many of the other things I've done here, that I'm so glad I came.
The world needs more people like Rocky. And I don't necessarily mean more hard-core Jesus freaks. The world needs more people that are willing to take a risk and try things, like starting a club in your own house. The world needs more people who do things, not because of a specific end result, but because they love it.
In the eyes of the business world, Rocky is not going to "make it." No way. After all, he doesn't charge anything for anything. But really, he's not even trying to "make it." I think he just likes people and music, and so this is what he's going to do. If you're not a fan of his style or religion, your not a fan of his style or religion. Big deal.
And even if only one person stopped by this week at his Friday open mic, that's still one guy who went away happy.
So, since I didn't make it out to a club last night, I knew I needed to play somewhere tonight. Plus, it's a Friday (well, now technically early Saturday morning) and it's sometimes depressing as a musician NOT to have someplace to play on the weekend. And really, how hard should it be to find at least an open mic in this vast musical city.
Well, turns out it's a bit harder than I thought.
Looking back, I guess it makes sense. There are tons of open mics and jams on early nights of the week (especially Wednesday for some reason). And I guess it seems logical that clubs would want to have more tried-and-true bands play on the weekends, their busiest nights. And while open mics can be decent draws, at least for musicians, most of the general public would probably rather listen to a professional band, rather than risking the sometimes awkward surprises that open mics can bring. And I've seen some weird (AKA: bad) stuff at open mics myself.
However, after doing quite a lot of Googling and a phone call, I did find one place that has open mics on Friday. This place:
Ok... I'll admit, not your typical looking Chicago club. And the free Bibles and soda advertised on their webpage confirms this. But hey, this whole Chicago-living thing is a big adventure so I'll try anything. So I take the Red Line and the 74 bus and arrive a little before 8. And...great. I'm the only one, along with owner Rocky and his friendly (maybe too friendly) dog.
And yeah, that's a LOT of crosses! (Pretty impressive, actually.) So I start chatting with Rocky, and pretty soon the whole evening goes by in a flash. It turns out he's like the nicest guy ever. Not only does he give me a full tour of his church/club/house (including a trip on top of his roof), but also records my playing and gives me a labeled CD with case! And no charge for anything! So of course, it turns out, like so many of the other things I've done here, that I'm so glad I came.
The world needs more people like Rocky. And I don't necessarily mean more hard-core Jesus freaks. The world needs more people that are willing to take a risk and try things, like starting a club in your own house. The world needs more people who do things, not because of a specific end result, but because they love it.
In the eyes of the business world, Rocky is not going to "make it." No way. After all, he doesn't charge anything for anything. But really, he's not even trying to "make it." I think he just likes people and music, and so this is what he's going to do. If you're not a fan of his style or religion, your not a fan of his style or religion. Big deal.
And even if only one person stopped by this week at his Friday open mic, that's still one guy who went away happy.