Throughout the year The Bama Theatre will host Acoustic Night in The Greensboro Room. The series is random, although they are usually set for Monday through Wednesday, and happen after a band or booking agent reaches out to The Bama Theatre.
“It is mainly for solo or duo artists but some bands perform depending on sound quality and how many people are in the band,” said David Allgood, manager of The Bama Theatre.
Allgood said that with the correct advertising, bands are able bring in 30-50 people on average.
The first Acoustic Night of the fall semester will take place on August 31, doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. It will feature Mark Cobb and Abby Jones. The cover for the event is $5 and drink specials will be offered.
To find out when Acoustic Nights are scheduled continue to check the calendar on bamatheatre.org.
Q&A’s from David Allgood, Bama Theatre
Q: How do you get people to participate in Acoustic Night at the Bama Theatre?
A: Artists will send in CDs with their music on them. Also, national booking agents will book the show for them and handle their business. It is mainly for solo or duo artists but some bands perform depending on sound quality and how many people are in the band. Usually no drums are included.
Q: How often does Acoustic Night happen?
A: It happens in a random series. There are no set dates for months in advance. It is only available to happen when no other big performances are booked for the large theater. Mostly it is set for Monday-Wednesday. The public can always check the website to see when the dates are.
Q: How many people usually come to watch Acoustic Night?
A: It varies. Usually it depends on how well the artist promotes the night they perform. The room can hold from 1-100 people but usually the average people who show up with all advertising going good usually range from 30-50 people on average.
Q: What is the difference between Acoustic Night at Bama Theatre and other music concerts, shows and music venues around Tuscaloosa?
A: It is the only actual listening room. It begins earlier than most bars that hire bands. It begins at 7:30 and usually is over around 10:30. They make sure to have at least 2 artists and 3 if they can fit them in the set. It is a no smoking venue and no talking is highly requested. The music that is provided is mostly original and they do not really accept cover artists. Also, the only price you have to pay is a cover and it is never more than $5. All the proceeds from the Acoustic Night go 100 percent to the artist who played. The venue does not take any portions. Which means, the cover you pay is for the artist. Also, merchandise is always sold to support the music that was provided.
Q&A’s from Mark Cobb
Q: What do you love about music?
A: Singing came before talking. (Thank you, science!) Music does things to us we can’t always explain; it’s like laughter and its medicinal properties. Sometimes the feeling is funky or weird or silly or inappropriate; sometimes music lifts us up out of the mundane, and makes the blood pound in our arms ‘til we believe we can do anything. A great song can make you fall in love with life and everyone around you. It can take you to a higher ground, or down to the gutter, where there’s a great view of the stars. And then sometimes it just makes us dance
Q: What makes you passionate about performing music live?
A: I’m a shy guy. I suck at parties. You can only loiter in the kitchen for so long, and there’s only so much booze you can shovel down your gullet. So I used to be the guy who looked around the party for the guitar or piano. Gradually I got louder, and slightly better. In my day job, I write things that go out on paper the next day. Despite occasional nice emails or people who stop me at the diner to say thanks, I rarely know if what I’m doing has reached anyone. With live music, you know in the moment. If a song works, you can feel it, a connection with the crowd. It’s something – Thank you science! Again! – to do with the theory of entanglement, the way our lives intersect in ways other than the purely physical. Since I play guitar, maybe I should call it “entwanglement.”
Q: What do you do besides play music?
A: Besides music, I write, act, swim and occasionally marry people. My day job is editor of Tusk and arts/feature writer for The Tuscaloosa News. I’m also completing rewrites on a novel, gradually composing a stock-car-racing-meets-“Hamlet” musical called “Big Wheels,” and have written a handful of 10-minute plays, which have been performed at the Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Shelton State and UA’s Guerrilla Theatre. I’m a co-founder of The Rude Mechanicals, a summer outdoor Shakespeare troupe, about to enter its 10th season. I write original music for our shows. I’ve performed with UA’s theater department in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Ragtime,” “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” “You Can’t Take It With You” and a few others.
Q: For Acoustic Night, what do you plan on performing?
A: For Acoustic Night I’ll be playing original material, going back about 15 years to when I first started trying to write songs. Some of them were written for my bands The Corvairs, The Crying Jags, The Damn Dirty Apes and The Simpletones. Some are more personal. I’ll probably throw in a few from my co-writing gig with Shakespeare – perfect collaborator, because he writes great lyrics and is too dead to argue – and a couple of songs so new I’m not even finished with them as I write this, nine days out. I’ve got one song that’s pure happy, “Hot Now,” about falling into sweaty summer love with a Krispy Kreme waitress. I usually close with that.
