Rob Hinkal, a member of the band ilyAIMY (which stand for I Love You and I Miss You) and a friend of Kellogg’s, said that he plays the open mic night at College Perk whenever he is in town.
Hinkal grew up in Lanham and learned to play guitar in the stairwells of Maryland Institute, College of Art. He has played more than 500 open mic nights around the country in the past four years.
He now calls Baltimore home and for the last four years he has lived out of his Saturn sedan. He tours the country with the other permanent member of his band, Heather Lloyd.
Hinkal said that open mics are great when he is on tour.
‘‘A lot of our best friends all across the country have been made at open mics,” he said. ‘‘On the road — those open mics are for exploration and advertisement and for meeting new people.”
And as much as Hinkal loves touring, coming home can be just as sweet.
‘‘At home, the open mic is my own private community. It’s where we come home to see all of our friends and their new songs,” Hinkal said of the College Perk open mic night. ‘‘It’s where we get to show off what we’ve written on the road and tell our stories. It’s a place to be relaxed.”
Hinkal can also speak to the benefits of being experience and inexperienced at an open mic night like the one at College Perk.
‘‘I’ve never taken a guitar lesson. I learned everything I know from watching those other performers,” Hinkal said of his early years playing open mic nights. ‘‘I learned about equipment and about running sound and about how to troubleshoot my gear — it really is the ultimate learning experience from a dozen different teachers every night.”
And as he got more experienced he passed on that knowledge.
‘‘The open mic scene is what made me what I am and is what has given me what I’ve got,” Hinkal said. ‘‘When I see talented, passionate people at an open mic, now it’s my job to encourage them.”
The crowd at College Perk is general younger, college students cutting their teeth in front of a forgiving audience.
Café Artmosphere
For performers looking for an open mic night that caters more to hip-hop performers and poets, Artmosphere, a hip café off of Rhode Island Ave near the District border in Mount Rainier, is an inviting spot.
Bomani Armah, a District resident who goes by just Bomani, plays host to the night every Wednesday with a house band called Tri-Flavor, to back up singers and poets.
There is a $5 cover charge and there is a two-song limit.
Bomani described himself as ‘‘not a rapper.” He’s just a poet with hip-hop style and a lot of the other performers would fit the same category.
Deborjha Gullattee, a District resident and grandmother who started going to open mic nights about a 18 months ago, said she always wrote, but she usually kept it to herself.
‘‘Then I broke out of my shell,” she said. ‘‘I learned eight bar and 16 bar breaks. And a 17-year-old-girl taught me to write verses and hooks.”
As Gullattee progressed she felt hip-hop was a great way to communicate with young people.
‘‘If you love somebody and don’t speak their language, the least you can do is learn to say ‘I love you,’” she said.
Gullattee said that open mics are a great chance to hear a range of voices.
‘‘You get to see so many artists and perspectives,” she said. ‘‘I like to come out and give them support because it takes so much courage to get up there. I feel like the parent who goes to all the school plays.”
The positive environment and progressive artists that come to the open mic at Artmosphere also attracted Gullattee. She said she goes to support them since their isn’t much mainstream support for artists with a message.
‘‘People saying something positive don’t get sold,” she said. ‘‘These people are selling CDs out of their trunks.”
One of those artists with a message was Chyann Oliver, a 24-year-old poet from the District who performed a fast, spoken-word piece about sexuality.
‘‘This is a great venue for alternative performers,” Oliver said. ‘‘A place like this empowers people.”
Oliver, who is working on her Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Maryland, said that she likes to talk about issues of racism, sexuality and gentrification in her pieces.
‘‘I do this to educate,” she said.
Old Bowie Town Grille
For an open mic venue with more of an Irish pub feel, the Old Bowie Town Grille on Chestnut Avenue in Bowie is the place to play.
The open mic is held upstairs with a several tables, a few booths and a small bar.
Joe Parsons, one of the people who regularly host the weekly, Monday night jam, said that the Bowie open mic welcomes all performers.
‘‘It’s a great place for people to cut their teeth in front of an audience,” Parson, a middle school teacher and Bowie resident, said.
The night is generally laid back with Parsons performing if slots aren’t filled.
Even the owner gets in on that act at the Grille.
Bob Thompson, who plays with Parsons in an Elvis tribute band, interrupted the night with a version of ‘‘Love Me Tender.”
He sang in a smooth Elvis voice with Parsons playing guitar and doing vocal harmony.
Nancy Lisi, a Fort Washington resident who serenaded the audience with an acoustic version of the song ‘‘The Great Pretender,” said that she liked the open mic night in Bowie because it gives her a chance to practice playing in front of people.
‘‘I come up here when the spirit moves me,” she said. ‘‘It’s just a great atmosphere.”
The pub environment helps performers relax and Parson’s jokes get the crowd involved as well.
‘‘You’re right. That was really good,” he said after finishing up a song.
Compared to the other open mic nights, the one at the Old Bowie Town Grille takes on a more raucous atmosphere and a hometown feeling.
E-mail Ryan McDermott at rmcdermott@gazette.net.
Artmosphere Café
7 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Wednesday
3311 Rhode Island Ave.
Mt. Rainier, MD
301-927-CAFE
Coffee & Cream Internet Café
6:50 p.m. second and fourth Saturday of each month
10707 Indian Head Hwy
Fort Washington
301-336-3911
College Perk Coffeehouse
Every Tuesday at 7 p.m.
9078 Baltimore Ave
College Park
301-982-0587
Infusion Tea Café
8 p.m., first and third Friday of each month
800 Shoppers Way, Suite G
Largo
301-336-3911
New Deal Café
6:30 p.m. the fourth Thursday of each month
113 Centerway
Greenbelt
301-474-5642
Olde Bowie Town Grille
6:30 p.m. every Monday
8604 Chestnut Ave.
Bowie
301-464-8800
