Third time's the charm for open-mic night.
Steven Nery took the reins of the open mic at the Blue Dragon before it closed for good two years ago, had a short-lived run at the now-defunct Hunab Hookah Lounge, and then developed the event into an above-average open mic extending beyond the standard guitar/singer setup.
"It's total amateurs to seasoned performers," Nery said. "You have the divas, the rappers who bring their own beats in. And it is very important - you always get the metal guy who'll come in with his guitar and his ridiculous distortion and sing songs solo, which is my personal favorite. There are numerous instruments including bagpipes and tubas and accordions - everything."
A crowd of about 50 people gathers every Thursday at 7 p.m. at Winning Coffee Co. at 111 Harvard Blvd. S.E. for open mic night.
Nery runs the soundboard, which is his passion. Alex Borawski, who used to run sound at Outpost Performance Space, is also at the helm of the soundboard. His first and only performance taught him the merits of preparation, and he uses his experience to joke with open mic newcomers.
"I never performed, save one time, which was incredibly embarrassing," he said. "Rule No. 1 of open mic - despite what other people tell you, despite your skill level - you never go up saying, 'I'm going to make this up as I'm onstage,' unless you're spoken word. It was a sad event that involved a tiny Casiotone that you had to press the duct tape in the back to keep the batteries in. I don't know what got into me - maybe too much coffee or something, but I convinced (two friends) to come back me."
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He said it's one thing to go up solo and not have a plan but that it's another thing to pull two people down with you.
"You know those kind of alienating performances where everybody in the audience is alienated and they just clap and pity?" he said. "That's the kind of thing it was."
Outer-space enthusiast Margit Jean Hammer has the distinction of being the first performer at Winning's first open mic night more than a year ago. She regularly sings about Mars on her accordion and guitar.
"I have an obsession with outer space in general, I guess," she said. "You think about yourself as, like, this thing that's just sitting on a planet and hurtling through space. Most people don't really think about that in their daily life. You have to think about what's inside of you and what's outside of you."
Nery is putting together a compilation album of open-mic night performers who will either submit their own recordings or may record a song with Nery's help.
Hammer said she might submit a song about not wanting to wear pants with an elastic waistband.
"I had to do my laundry, and I hated those pants - they're so freakin' uncomfortable and dorky," she said. "Plus, they're tapered.. I have this recording I did that's really ridiculous. I don't even know if I was sober when I did it. I just put some messed-up shit over a bunch of
other messed-up shit. I think people might like it as something to have because it's just so ridiculous and so true."
Nery draws performers' names from a hat at the end of the night to determine who wins either a $10 gift certificate to Natural Sound or a kitschy, thrift store-bought coffee mug of the week, as well as whatever else Nery decides to bring along. The idea sprang from when he gave away an unreturnable rug from Target as a musician's prize at the Blue Dragon.
Because of ASCAP and BMI rulings that establishments must pay large monthly fees to play music from major record labels, no cover songs are allowed unless they're public domain. Nery said he feels bad about having to enforce the rule but that it is a good incentive for people to write original work.
"I don't agree with the strong-arm tactics, like calling small coffee shops and shaking them for royalties for music they'll never play," Nery said. "Musicians would make more money if their music was heard instead of driving their fans into the ground. But it's become this awesome night of four solid hours of original music. There are lots of young performers who are extremely talented who aren't really writing their own music and getting their bearings down. What am I supposed to tell little 10-year-old Johnny if he's been practicing "Stairway to Heaven" in guitar lessons? What am I supposed to tell him, 'Go write your own music, kid'?"
Nery said it's one thing to get performers to show up but another thing to secure a loyal audience, which he has done.
"It'd say it's the above-average open mic - it's become this thing that's bigger than itself," he said. "The energy is just insane at the open mics. Every Thursday, I get home and I'm exhausted, but I'm pretty excited."
