Innisfree Irish Pub gives local musicians from the Tuscaloosa area a place to showcase their talent in front of a live audience during open mic night Mondays starting at 10 p.m.
“People just need to be aware there are venues around town for people to go and play live music throughout the week,” Ken Cupp, UA graduate and host of open mic night said. “You’re not judged on talent. It’s just an opportunity to get up and play for an audience. The way it works is, I host the event and have a different local guest musician open with me each week and play a couple songs. It helps to change it up and get local artists up there along with recreational guitar players.”
Innisfree open mic night is sponsored by Guitar Gallery Tuscaloosa, a supporter of local music.
“We’re a guitar store owned and operated by musicians, so we’re excited to support live music in Tuscaloosa,” Scott Smith, co-owner of Guitar Gallery Tuscaloosa, said. “Its a way to give back to the customer. Innisfree is doing something really cool for the customers. There’s a lot of work involved. It’s a great opportunity for people who don’t have a gig at the time to get in front of an audience.”
Cupp said he has been hosting open mic night for almost a year and a half.
“It started as just an idea to get people to go out on a Monday night,” Cupp said. “It has been a great experience for me to keep in contact and make connections I otherwise would have never made. That has been the coolest part of the past year for me.”
However, open mic night is not limited to musicians.
“We have had people come in and do a stand-up comedy skit to people reading poetry,” Cupp said. “Those are extreme cases. It’s primarily musically oriented, but it doesn’t have to be. It is just for artists to showcase their talents. The overall goal of open mic is to allow beginners to professional musicians to hangout, meet new people and hear some live local music. We encourage anything from original music to covers, just any genre they are comfortable playing.”
All participants will be entered into a drawing each Monday night for an Innisfree gift card. At the end of the month, there will be a larger drawing for $100 to Guitar Gallery.
“The guys at Innisfree have a drawing at the end of every month, and every musician that plays will be added to the drawing,” Smith said. “The more you participate the better. We understand the customer because we’re the same guys. We’re just musicians looking to have fun and relieve a little stress playing music.”
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Site funds creations of students, professors
Health Hut takes ‘Cash Cab’ approach to students’ health education
