Open Mics: The Best Way To Find Paid Gigs And Network With Other Musicians with David Craver

When I first moved to Indianapolis from Nashville, TN I thought my performance days were over as Indy wasn’t known for music like Nashville. But to my surprise, there are a lot of local musicians here gigging and networking year round! I just needed to find a way to get my foot in the door…

And that was Open Mics. I quickly realized that this is where they were all hanging out and if I wanted to meet some local musicians and get paid gigs, I’d have to show up to an open mic and show what I could do. Just from this one open mic I got my calendar booked with gigs for an entire summer and met some really cool people who would play some of these gigs together with me!

So if you’re looking to get more involved in your local music community, maybe get a paid gig or find some people to play with, open mics are the way to go. Let’s talk about how they work.

What Is An Open Mic

An open mic is typically hosted at a bar or restaurant where anyone has the opportunity to go and play! Some open mics also feature poetry and comedy, so be sure that you’re searching for music specific open mics.

Usually you have the opportunity to sign up for a performance spot at the beginning of the open mic when you get there. Depending on the location you’ll get to perform anywhere between 1 to 5 songs, typically 3 songs. Then it’s the next person’s turn!

What you sing is up to you! Some open mics are original music only, so be sure to check the guidelines. You can either bring backup tracks, accompany yourself or bring a buddy to accompany you. Most open mics don’t let you bring a full band set up as that takes too much time to set up and tear down between sets, though some open mics will have a full set up that you can use (no need to bring your own drum set!).

Also, all skills are welcome. I have seen some really amazing musicians and some that are just starting out at various open mics. Don’t feel like you’re not good enough yet to go. It’s a great way to get some performance experience for musicians and singers of all skill levels in a very supportive environment.

Open Mic Etiquette

Open mics are a great opportunity to meet other musicians. I definitely recommend sticking around for the other musicians to play as well to show your support and see who you’d potentially be interested in playing together with. I personally have found some really great people to help me play gigs where I needed a more full sound than what I could do on my own. And of course, I also made some great friends there too 🙂

Please make sure that you’re not talking during the other musician’s sets. It’s quite rude and the other musicians in the crowd will get annoyed at you. Show your support by listening and cheering the others on - no matter how good or inexperienced they are.

Where To Find Open Mics

A good friend of mine - David Craver - created a website https://www.openmic.us/ to make it super easy for musicians to find open mics in their town! Just pick your city on that page and pick the open mic you want to go to.

There’s also an app called Open Mic Finder that works the same way.

The Singer’s Club

If you love singing and you’re looking for way to sing together with others, I highly recommend you join The Singer’s Club! They have pop up choruses where you learn 1 song in 2 hours in 3 part harmony. They happen all over the US and you’ll get to sing with tons of other singers once per month. And the best part is, it’s free to attend! To learn more about the Singer’s Club and join, click here: https://thesingers.club/

🎧 To learn more about open mics and the Singer’s Club, check out the full episode here

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