THOMASTON – Thursday night at the Highlands Coffee House local musician's gather for three hours of music performed by people looking to try out new material, new performers, old performers that just like the ambience created from an open mic night.

Adam Williams is the man behind the open mic nights in Knox and Waldo Counties. Williams, along with the Highlands open mic night, puts on the same stage at Bell the Cat  in Belfast on Tuesday's and starting Friday, Nov. 23 Williams will be holding Open Mic at the Time Out Pub in Rockland.

For those unfamiliar with how open mic night runs, musicians show up and sign up on a time sheet to play. Williams picks one performer every week to be the feature performer and they get 6-7 songs to perform. Everyone else does three or four depending on how many people sign up.

The music runs the gamut on any night from folk to country, blues, rock, celtic, and much more. Some performers are musicians, some are singers, all have the common love of music in most any form. Spoken word and comedy along with the music is also encouraged.

This past Thursday night John Coleman was the feature performer and he along with some friends, JIm James on harmonica, Adam Williams on guitar and Philip Anderson on drums, rocked the house with an assortment of tunes including a sing along at the end.

"John always takes us on a full tour of the emotional mindscape with his great picking, singing and wide variety of material" said Williams on is FaceBook announcement  of Coleman as the feature performer.
 
Anderson goes to almost every open mic night at the Highlands and sets up his drums. This allows him the ability to jam with a lot of different performers. Anderson also told me that he does allow other drummers to use his equipment if they need it rather then have to keep moving the stage around a lot.

The time between performers is minimal as William's has a routine down, knows what he is doing and gets the stage changed out in about 3-5 minutes each time a new act hits the stage.

Any time you get a chance to check out one of these open mic nights you won;t be sorry. The quality of music heard ranges from well that was OK to outstanding. Some performers may be hitting the stage for the first time, some are seasoned acts that just want  to perform, or as stated earlier, maybe want to try out a new song or two. Either way, it's live music, their is no cover charge, tips are accepted, and you get to hear all kinds of different music in one sitting.

"I love hosting a stage where anyone can step up and deliver a performance," said Williams. "I think it brings out the best in people and I also am thrilled with how often I am impressed and/or touched."

If you are a musician, all you have to do is show up at any of the establishments on open mic night and sign up. Williams can be reached at adamviva@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

If you are a musician or a fan and want to be able to know when not only open mic nights are happening, but also many bands and performers that post their gigs check out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/midcoastmusic/

PenBayPilot's  Ron Hawkes can be reached at ronhawkes@penbaypilot.com; or by phone at 207-956-0079 (home office) 975-2311 (cell)