On the first Friday of every month, the Provo City Library hosts an open mic night to encourage new musicians to perform in front of an audience.
On Friday, Dec. 6, the most recent open mic night, about a dozen performers braved the stage to show off their talent and original songs.
Although the event itself only lasted for an hour and a half, performances have been ongoing since 2019.
Dave Lemings, Provo City Library’s event coordinator and the creator of the library’s open mic, said he was looking for a way to incorporate music into the library’s activities.
“I've spent, you know, years in bands and actually working sound in clubs and doing that kind of stuff. So I kind of had a skill set to pull it off,” Lemings said. “I went to my director and pulled out this idea and he really liked it and gave me the green light.”
Lemings remembered how intimidating it was to be a beginning musician, trying to play in clubs, bars and other open mic events, he said.
“I always thought they could be pretty intimidating, you know? And not always the most welcoming if you're not a seasoned musician,” Lemings said.
Lemings also said he wanted the library’s open mic night to be free and as welcoming as could be.
“I really wanted to make a program that was just really inviting — like welcoming somebody who's just learning that first song and wants to get out there and show it off,” Lemings said.
And while Lemings intended the open mic to draw in lots of beginning musicians, it also drew in a large and musically diverse crowd.
Performers played a myriad of songs and on a variety of instruments ranging from the ukelele to the musical saw.
One of the performers, Rye Rhodes, who performed on the guitar and then the musical saw, said the event has helped him expand his musical horizons, especially when it came to instruments.
“There's a band called Neutral Milk Hotel. They wrote the second song we played and I was obsessed with them,” Rhodes said. “They have a saw player in their band. And then I looked into it and it's actually really cool. It's like history — Appalachian tradition.”
It took Rhodes a filed down saw from the ‘50s and lots of YouTube videos to figure out how to play the instrument, he said.
“It is not made for music, but it works,” Rhodes said.
Ezra-Jean Hipwell, another performer at the event, said although she has only been playing the guitar for about eight months, she has come to love the atmosphere of the crowd.
“I like the community feel here,” Hipwell said.
Several audience members sang along during the performances and seemed to enjoy hearing the unique musical perspective of every musician.
“It’s so good to just come together with music, because it brings light when there’s darkness early outside,” Mimi Triana, a member of the audience, said. “I love live music for that.”
Lemings encouraged interested musicians and music fanatics to come to the library’s fourth floor, “The Gene Nelson Attic,” and participate in the next live music event.
“That was kind of my idea to just make a family friendly welcoming kind of thing. And it's really turned into something really cool. Better than I could have imagined,” Lemings said.
The Provo City Library’s acoustic open mic night is on the first Friday of every month. The next open mic night will be held on Jan. 3, from 7-8 p.m. For more information about events at the Provo Library visit the library’s calendar here.
