Bill’s Place is a bar for the most part. It doesn’t serve food. One giant room, with a bar to one side, lined with stools, accompanied by a few tables and one pool table. Open mic is set up in one corner immediately to the right of the entrance. Anybody interested could easily see talent performing. Mark Britell runs the venue and has been doing so for 4 years. Because anyone inside has to be 21 or over, there are no language restrictions. Talent gets 3 songs or 15 minutes. Venue runs from 7:30 to 10:30, and 95% of the talent is musicians. Mostly Mark averages 5 to 7 open micers but can get as many as 12. As for a general audience, figure 8 to 10 attending. The place can seat about 27. There is no stage, and there are two mics set up. A musician himself, Mark is a former DJ, did radio then started open mic. At this venue, sign up is first-come-first-choice. One rule he has, though, if no more than one performer signs up, the show is canceled. That happens every once in a while. Sure, enough, I was the only one signed up that night. It was canceled. I was okay with that, though Mark apologized profusely. It’s part of the experience of doing open mics, and it’s important that I be able to relay to you that this place can cancel the show at times. I see no reason not to give this venue a try. I stayed in Solvang, a terrific wine-tasting kind of town if there ever was one, just a 47 minute drive away. If you’re making a point of visiting the wine country and you’re in the area, maybe give this mic a try.
Bill’s Place is a bar for the most part. It doesn’t serve food. One giant room, with a bar to one side, lined with stools, accompanied by a few tables and one pool table. Open mic is set up in one corner immediately to the right of the entrance. Anybody interested could easily see talent performing.
ReplyDeleteMark Britell runs the venue and has been doing so for 4 years. Because anyone inside has to be 21 or over, there are no language restrictions. Talent gets 3 songs or 15 minutes. Venue runs from 7:30 to 10:30, and 95% of the talent is musicians. Mostly Mark averages 5 to 7 open micers but can get as many as 12. As for a general audience, figure 8 to 10 attending. The place can seat about 27. There is no stage, and there are two mics set up.
A musician himself, Mark is a former DJ, did radio then started open mic. At this venue, sign up is first-come-first-choice.
One rule he has, though, if no more than one performer signs up, the show is canceled. That happens every once in a while. Sure, enough, I was the only one signed up that night. It was canceled. I was okay with that, though Mark apologized profusely. It’s part of the experience of doing open mics, and it’s important that I be able to relay to you that this place can cancel the show at times.
I see no reason not to give this venue a try. I stayed in Solvang, a terrific wine-tasting kind of town if there ever was one, just a 47 minute drive away. If you’re making a point of visiting the wine country and you’re in the area, maybe give this mic a try.