Brian Hinderberger

The open mic: where stage fright goes to die.It's one of the only places in the world where you can wash your laundry while toasting fine tequila over a game of pool as you tap your feet to the strumming rhythms of a singer/songwriter's acoustic guitar. The M&J Tavern is a proud host of a weekly open mic on Wednesday nights. If the tavern with its cement floor, pool tables, video poker machines and long rustic bar and old school juke box, could be personified it would be Bob Dylan during his country stint in the late 1960s.
 
It's been just over a year now since I first signed my name on the open mic performer's list. The sign-up sheet is sometimes full with visiting and local musicians. On other nights it's marked with just a few signatures. Initially, I was motivated to get a new music project, Kousefly, then a duo, out of the stuffy garage and in front of people; it was a nerve-racking, gut-wrenching and humbling experience. But I loved every second of it and was hooked immediately.