Open Mic Night At Coffee Cabana: My Subculture

For young musicians and myself, there is nothing greater than experiencing open mic night. Coffee cabana hosts open mic nights where musicians can come and perform their music. Coffee cabana is a typical coffee shop with tables, chairs, and sofas. On Thursday nights, coffee cabana has it all: the people, the food and drinks, and most importantly--the music. Singers and musicians come to relax and let the good times roll as we get to perform three songs.

It is mutual among all of us performers at open mic that we must show enthusiasm, and respect for the current performer. Often time this can include tapping our feet, singing along (if we know the lyrics), and certainly clapping real loud at the end of a performance. It is a proper trait to at least act as if we are enjoying the music. Each performer gets three songs, but these songs must be limited to fifteen minutes. It is understood that we should pick our songs so we can get through them quickly so every one can have a turn at open mic.

Musicians at open mic share the same language as well. Often you will hear some guitarist say, "nice lick", 0r , "I dig your solo man." Occasionally we will also discuss what key a song is in or what chords make up the song. We will also discuss our influences. We will sing our covers of songwriters such as The Beatles, Billy Joel, The Eagles.

Musicians from all over the valley travel to open mic night to gather together with fellow musicians and to feel the thrill of performing their own music. Behaviors, phrases, and rules are apart of the open mic life whether it is at Coffee Cabana or any other coffee place.

In My Life I've Loved Them All

As you may be aware, the title of this blog and the title of this post are both references to the Beatles. The photo at the top is a photo of my father who was a huge Beatles fan. Naturally, his love for their music trickled into my life. I can remember my father telling me about his favorite Beatles song In My Life. He would quote, "All these places have their moments with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I've loved them all... Though I know I'll never lose affection for people and things that went before; I know I'll often stop and think about them..." He was fascinated with family history, especially with learning people’s stories. We would go on road trips to where he grew up and he would tell us many of his childhood stories. I was the type to tune everyone out with some headphones and a cd player, but I always took them off when he was telling me these stories. He would go on and on about my great grandfather, my grandfather, and his own childhood. I do not think that I fully appreciated the stories he told. My father died a few years ago and I stumbled across some documents of stories he was writing. I am slightly disappointed that I cannot get him to tell the stories in person but I know there are other ways of learning the histories of my ancestors. Immediately when I came across this course I wanted to sign up so I can discover these people. I hope to delve into the stories that bind my family and I together and by doing it, develop a love for these people. I expect to discover the seeds of my family’s history and say as my father, “Some are dead and some are living; In my Life I love them all.”