Live on Elgin at 220 Elgin St., hosts an open mic night every Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. The bar, owned and operated by father-and-son-team, Lawrence and Jon Evenchick, opened on June 5 with the intent of fostering the local music scene by providing a venue for up-and-coming performers. Most of the open mic performers have played at Live before–some have hosted their album release nights there and some are more casual musicians.
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Live on Elgin at 220 Elgin St., hosts an open mic night every Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. The bar, owned and operated by father-and-son-team, Lawrence and Jon Evenchick, opened on June 5 with the intent of fostering the local music scene by providing a venue for up-and-coming performers. Most of the open mic performers have played at Live before–some have hosted their album release nights there and some are more casual musicians.
While another staff member prepped glasses and cut lemon and lime slices, Kyle Ivanich adjusted the sound levels before setting up the drum kit, tuning the piano and adjusting lighting for the evening. As he did this, a few performers trickled in to tune guitars and talk over pints of beer. He talked with the night’s local featured band, Valois about how they wanted their instruments set up on stage later.
Sitting in one of the alcoves away from the main part of the bar, Kyle ‘Rocky’ Moon sat playing his guitar. He works at Teriyaki Experience and comes to Live on Elgin’s open mic every week to play in front of an audience. He donated his guitar for the evening so musicians who didn’t bring an instrument could still perform.
Performers sign up at table in front of the stage. There’s a limit of 20 performers each Tuesday, aside from the night’s host and the featured band. Although the first musician on the list, Alain Coull, said he wasn’t nervous to perform, he chose to write his name at the second spot.
No one else signed ahead of Alain Coull, so he ended up performing first. He had difficulty seeing his handwritten songs with the bright lights in his eyes, so Ivanich brought out a light to try and make them easier to see. Coull sang about love and his mother, dropping each song page to the floor as he went.
The featured act for the night was local band Valois. The local music scene is small and musicians in the audience knew them and cheered, calling them “Valoir,” an intentional mispronunciation of the band name. Valois played songs from the album they’re releasing at Live on Elgin on Nov. 19.
Jessica Pearson, a server at Live on Elgin, is also a country singer whose self-released album came out on Aug. 15. Most of the staff at the bar are also performers, using the bar as both a part-time job and a venue. Most of are musicians, but there is also a magician on staff.
After most of the musicians left, Jasen Coulson, the host of the evening, sat down at the piano and played while Jessica Pearson, performer and server, cleared off tables. The Tuesday night open mics fill the bar and usually last until 1 or 2 a.m. on what could otherwise be a quiet evening.
Sabrina Nemis 