Open mics are an important cultural institution that is a vital part of developing songwriting communities and encouraging new talent.  It’s because of this that I was concerned last year when I found out that Caffe Vivaldi – along with its long running open mic – was closing.  Luckily, the host of the open mic, […]

I should confess that even before I started songwriting, I wanted to be an open-mic host.  But alas, I think I lack the consistency in scheduling, even temperament and unyielding patience to be even an adequate one.  That’s why I’m always impressed by people who have managed to run successful ones – Ben Krieger, Somer […]

I can’t remember how I first ran into John S. Hall.  I mean, I think technically I still haven’t run into him yet.  Which is surprising, because we have several friends in common.  (I suppose that New York City is very very big though).  Which is probably how I heard that he was releasing a […]

It’s funny how long you can know a musician and yet never hear them play a live set.  If you’re not a musician yourself, this is near unforgivable, as it’s not difficult to make time to see someone perform, just like it’s not difficult to meet someone for drinks.  If you’re a musician, I think […]

If I remember correctly, I first ran into Mike O’Malley a few years ago at the open-mic at SuperCollider, a now-defunct venue at the very very south end of Park Slope.  Mike was the host of the open-mic back then.  The closing of the open-mic was a bit unexpected, because music venues usually closed when […]

I believe I first saw May Cheung about four years ago at an open-mic at the Sidewalk Cafe, if I remember correctly doing a live version of the song “A Thousand Years”, which is on her forthcoming record, The Departure.  Since then I’ve only seen her around about a handful of times – more a […]

I caught August Wells (website / facebook) about a half a year ago at the last Big City Folk Festival in Long Island City, where Ken played some tunes off of his then-forthcoming record Madness is the Mercy (iTunes / Amazon).  There’s a patient pacing in August Wells tunes that seems to have stuck in my head […]

As part of the regular content we’ll be featuring on this site, I’ll be doing interviews with singer-songwriters that I know in the city.  The interviews will be music-focused, listening to a recent release of the artist, with questions about the music.  This week, we sit down with Rue Snider (website / facebook), a man I […]