Scéne Ouverte! (Open Mic!)
Guitar Life in Montpellier
As long-time readers of our ‘sletter know, Carolyn and I both play guitar. She’d tell you I’m a better player and I will tell you she’s the better singer (but you’d figure that out on your own in about two beats of any given song).
Immediately after we purchased the apartment in Montpellier I began worrying about how to get a guitar to France. My first thought was that I’d bring one of my favorite guitars with me. I have two versions of a Gibson L-00 that were made by the same luthier, Lawrence (Larry) K. Brown, of Asheville, NC. I went to our local flight case manufacturer, Calton Cases, and ordered up a case. Calton works fast and I had my new case in two weeks. All set, I thought….and then we packed for the big move and it was obvious that bringing the guitar was a bad idea. We left the guitar and new case at home and brought a Journey Instruments carbon-fiber travel guitar with us.
The Journey guitar is fine, it fills perfectly the niche it’s meant to fill - an easy playing, good-enough-sounding, portable guitar for times when the elements or space constraints prohibit a traditional guitar. But for us it’s not a permanent substitute for a good acoustic or electric guitar.
My go-to on-line music retailers in Europe are Thomann and MusicStore. I have purchased a good bit of gear from both places now and haven’t had any issues at all other than managing to be home when the delivery people arrive with the package. I purchased a Gibson LG-2 reissue from Thomann and a Danelectro 57’ reissue from MusicStore. (Side note: Gibson is in a great place right now, the stuff coming out of their factories is excellent - I discussed this recently with my friend Peter Keane.) Carolyn and I also ordered a little practice amp from Positive Grid - I have one of these amps in the US as well and think they’re lots of fun!
Montpellier does have a guitar store, Studio Musical on Av. Georges Clemenceau. I had to go about a dozen times before it was finally open when I arrived. It’s the kind of guitar store I like: stuffed to the gills with a mix of new and used instruments from cheap to professional. The guitars, banjos, drums and mandolin-family instruments are everywhere, standing in racks, or on the floor, hanging from the walls and ceilings and there are so many nooks and crannies that even when you feel like you’ve seen everything you can probably find something cool you overlooked. They welcome you to pick up and play the instruments. The Owner lives a few doors down from the shop and seems to be a competent luthier/technician as well. We bought a used Fender Telecaster and a small-body acoustic guitar for Carolyn at Studio Musical.
Near the end of our last stay in Montpellier, Carolyn noticed a sign advertising a Scéne Ouverte (Open Mic) at The Black Sheep Bar, very close to our apartment (but one we hadn’t yet visited). We had been looking for a local music scene and were thrilled to find this venue, we agreed that we’d go but leave the guitars at home. You’ve gotta check out the local skills before you bust out with some John Prine or Guy Clark!
The bar was narrow, deep, and dark - serving only beer and wine, it could have been a bar in Austin in the late 80’s. The stage was in a small space at the back and there was already a healthy pile of gig bags and cases when we arrived and slipped into the two seats a the last free table. We ordered a beer and a cider and watched while the host set up mics, checked levels, and passed around a sign-up sheet.
Finally, as I started my second beer (more beer than I had consumed in the last year!) it was show-time. The emcee said a lot of stuff in French: there were loaner guitars if you need one, be polite and supportive, there’s a two song limit, if everyone who signed up got to perform then they’d open the stage for anyone who wanted to do another song. I didn’t understand all of the French but I got enough words to recognize the usual open-mic preamble. Then he called the first performer, an older gentleman who performed seated in a chair on stage. He played original songs that he had written out in the same blue paper exam books I used to buy for school. He struggled with basic guitar chords and wasn’t a confident singer. His songs were short so when he performed three songs instead of two it didn’t matter. Everyone clapped when he was done. So far so good. The room was not too advanced and the crowd was supportive, essential qualities for a good open mic.
The next performer was more confident and did two songs on his amplified acoustic (steel string) guitar. Then he announced that for his third song he was going to play a Stevie Ray Vaughan cover. The host interrupted reminding him of the two song limit. L'autre gars a joué trois chansons!, (The other guy played three songs!) he protested as he launched into Pride and Joy; the host just rolled with it. I was distracted by the French accent on top of Stevie’s lyrics, but mine was the minority opinion and the crowd whooped and applauded as he finished the number.
Then the rider on the pale horse came; the crowd knew him. He started confidently, easily the most professional performer of the night but his songs were VERY long and his singing was difficult to understand. The songs sounded like 90’s post-grunge/alt-rock (think Pearl Jam). Carolyn looked at me and said “I can’t understand what he’s singing. I’m not even sure if it’s English or French!” Did I mention his songs were long? Each song was over four minutes long and they sounded EXACTLY the same. Like the previous two performers, 90’s Guy also played three songs at which point the host started to introduce the next musician. 90’s Guy wasn’t having it, “I think the crowd wants one more, right?” he asked (somewhat rhetorically), putting his hand to his ear. His friends in the audience, maybe two people, made a lot of noise right on cue - this was clearly planned advance - and AGAIN the host backed down on the song limit. 90’s Guy launched into his fourth long-ass song of the night!
Carolyn and I got up and left - we were tired and neither of us could drink another beer, we certainly weren’t ready for four more minutes of 90’s Guy. All said we had a fun evening and agreed we’d come back ready to play next time.
Can’t wait to hear about your reception at the next open mic. You’re going to kill it ❤️