Sunday, January 1, 2017

El Paso: Open Mic at The Pizza Joint


Open mic, The Pizza Joint. El Paso, Texas. September 2016.


Brother4 visited me for one night and we walked downtown to The Pizza Joint for its Wednesday night open mic.


We arrived a little too early, so we sat around as participants eventually began to roll in and get set up. We didn't stay long because Brother4 had to get up super early the next morning, but we did see a few acts.

El Paso has several open mic venues, which I like to see. What I like on one side is the raw creativity that the artists put out into the universe, not knowing if it will be met with acceptance, rejection, boredom, or enthusiasm. On the audience side, I like the not-knowing, the surprise of what I might see or hear or feel.

A video below of one of the night's acts:



At open mics, you never know what you might encounter. I remember an open mic in Taos years ago, when a woman came onto the stage with a guitar and proceeded to put out the best cover of Jolene I've ever heard before or since.

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