Thomas Abban

By Simon Calder

Every Tuesday night from 8pm JT Viele hosts a special event on the second floor of the moto-i sake brewery. It’s an Open Mic night, at which literally anyone  could play literally tomorrow were they / you to text JT on 651-334-3433 any time today (Monday) requesting to perform within a particular hour, and yet it is also one of the best nights of free music one could hope to experience in one of the best music cities on the planet week in and week out. It holds a special place in the heart of Back to the City curator and host Simon Calder, since it happens to have been one of the primary  gateways through which he first discovered the twin cities’ rich music scene/s. For instance, Simon fondly  remembers many a performance there from one-time regular Thomas Abban, who joined Back to the City for a discussion about his debut LP “A Sheik’s Legacy” shortly before being nominated as the #1 “Picked to Click” act by City Pages’ music contributors  at the end of last year:

Simon even had the pleasure of witnessing The Chalice (feat. Lizzo) perform an impromptu set there in early 2013, as discussed with Claire de Lune of tiny deaths (and formerly The Chalice) in one of the earliest episodes of Back to the City, back when it was a radio show on sianetradio.com :

More importantly, JT Viele’s weekly OpenMic MPLS remains a vibrant hub, attracting some of the cities’ most exciting new songwriters, from those who you could be among the first to recognize as the next big thing to Troubadour Wine Bar residency-holders Liam Gerard  and Laura Hugo, who just exceeded her kickstarter goal by over $1,000 and who Back to the City expects to be making quite a  splash with her debut LP next year:

Ten current regulars from moto-i’s weekly Open Mic will be kicking off this month’s Back the City Showcase with a series of 2-song sets in the 6-8pm Songwriters’ Showcase portion of that evening at Mortimer’s Bar on Thursday July 26th, both because they are some of our strongest new talents in the local music scene and because they wish to harness their talents to help another moto-i regular, songwriter Lauren Smythe, to whom all proceeds from that benefit show will go, for reasons explained on this facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/184787858862607/

This month Back to the City is building up a YouTube playlist spotlighting OpenMic MPLS at moto-i. At present that playlist includes recent performances from two regulars, Chuck Cannon and Ernest Rhodes, both of whom will be performing at Back to the City’s Benefit for Lauren Smythe at the end of this month..

Tomorrow’s OpenMic MPLS will be preceded by a special moto-i rooftop event “In Memory of Jake Allan,” following the tragic loss of songwriter and drummer Jake Allan  (Buffalo Fuzz) at the end of last month: https://www.facebook.com/events/271384203597008

For more information about OpenMic MPLS visit openmicmpls.com